Warrior Spirit

In front of the huddled crowd that knelt on the floor, the grandmaster wove his fingers together and muttered something low and unintelligible. Then his voice barked out nine syllables and everyone around Annja shouted the same. The grandmaster and all the students clapped twice, bowed low, clapped again, bowed once more and then the grandmaster turned to face everyone.

From her right, someone said, “ Sensei ni rei .” Annja knew that meant bow to the teacher.

Everyone bowed and said “ Onegai shimasu .”

The grandmaster sprang to his feet and instantly started demonstrating techniques using a small knife. As he taught, someone with an Australian accent translated from one corner of the room for the benefit of the non-Japanese speakers like Annja. On the other side, someone else was translating into Spanish, of which there seemed a fairly large contingent in attendance this evening.

“Let’s go,” Ken said. He led her toward the front of the room and produced a small training knife from his gi pocket. His eyes twinkled. “Ready?”

Annja nodded and Ken came at her with the knife. Annja tried to remember what the little man had done to evade the attack and disarm his attacker. Ken’s knife stabbed her in the stomach.

“Not quite,” Ken said. “Try it again. But sink your hips first.”

Annja did as he instructed and when he attacked again, Annja found the movement easier to perform. The knife stabbed past where her midsection had been seconds before.

“Now bring your hands up to guard against the back slash. My tendency will be to cut back in a real situation, so you need to be prepared for it.”

Annja brought her hands up and saw how much easier it was to effect a disarm when they were properly positioned. After a few more tries, she and Ken switched roles with Ken assuming the defense and Annja attacking.

As she slashed in, Ken deftly evaded her attack and Annja found her knife had vanished, followed by her legs being swept out from under her. Unlike the other martial arts she’d experimented with in the past, this time when she hit the floor, there was no time to regain her breath. Ken quickly used her arm to rotate her around from her back onto her stomach, effectively pinning her before she could react.

“ Do gaeshi . It means body reversal. Pretty cool, huh?”

Annja smiled. She could see how devastating it could be if applied with full force. “You could have broken my arm.”

Ken nodded. “And once you were on your stomach, I would have broken your shoulder girdle, as well. Nasty stuff, but fun.”

Annja handed him the knife. “I’m ready to try again.”