Legends of the Martial Arts Masters (15 page)

This time the young woman thought perhaps she might try to do the kick fifty thousand times. She counted ten, twenty, fifty, a hundred. After the hundredth kick, she decided she would never be able to do a thousand kicks much less fifty thousand. She snuck off the training floor and went out to her bike.

After a short ride, she came upon a karate school. Maybe this teacher could teach her to fight without so much repetition. She parked her bike, went inside, and asked the teacher to teach her.

“Are you willing to practice?” the teacher asked. “Of course,” said the young woman.

“Good,” said the teacher. “Your first task is to learn to block. Do it like this.” He showed the young woman a basic high block. He worked with her until her technique was correct. Then he stepped off the training floor. “What I want you to do is practice this block fifty thousand times. When you have finished, let me know.”

The young woman was disappointed. This teacher was just like the others. But she really wanted to learn to defend herself, so she began to practice the block. She counted a hundred, two hundred, three hundred. At four hundred blocks she was positive that she understood the technique. She went to the teacher.

“Teacher,” she said. “I’m ready to learn something new.”

“Good,” said the teacher. “Have you done the high block fifty thousand times?”

“Yes,” the young woman lied.

“Fine,” said the teacher. “Come with me.” She brought the young woman to a beautifully made weapon rack. The young woman looked at the handcrafted tonfa, nunchaku, and eiku. This is more like it, the young woman thought to herself. I would love to learn to handle one of these fine weapons.

“Reach up to the shelf on top of the rack,” her teacher said. “On the shelf you will find a bo, a long staff. We’ll need it for your next lesson.” The young woman reached up to the shelf. It was far above her head. Standing on tiptoe, she felt around until she felt the bo with the very tips of her fingers. She rolled it forward carefully, but as it rolled over the front lip of the shelf, it slipped through her fingers and dropped. She scrambled to catch it, but it fell, hitting her squarely on the top of her head.

“That’s strange,” the teacher said. “Most people after fifty thousand high blocks would have blocked that bo automatically.”

The young woman felt her ears grow red with embarrassment. “I didn’t exactly finish the fifty thousand,” she said.

“I didn’t think so,” said the teacher. He picked up the bo from the floor, replaced it on the shelf, and walked off the training floor. The young woman rubbed the growing knot on her head, and began doing high blocks.

 
ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Susan Lynn Peterson is a professional writer and Gold Medallion Book Award finalist. She holds a third-degree black belt in Okinawan Shuriryu karate and is a USA Karate Federation national champion. She has studied karate, kubudo, Shaolin Chuan Fa, and Tai Chi Chuan, and has taught karate and kobudo at KoSho Karate San in Tucson, Arizona. She is also the author of
Starting and Running Your Own Martial
Arts School
, and her magazine articles have appeared in
Black Belt
,
New Body
, and
Fighting
Woman News
.