The Adventures of Stevie #31
These stories were told to me by friends and other people. Some of them
are true. Some of them are only partly true. Some of them should have
been true. LOL
My first post about Stevie ("Call me Stephen!") was when he was 12 and
in summer camp and was told by another camper. This was from a time
before computers would fit on a desk and when people communicated with
friends in other countries by actual letters sent through the postal
service. When children did this those friends were called "penpals".
Carlos is Stevie's penpal in Argentina and knows English. This is a
fictional contrivance to enable Stevie to tell us his stories because
he isn't here in person. I think.
All characters are fictitious, even if some of them might have names
that belong to some actual people, or act like people we know.
Stevie's school is for gifted children who don't fit in regular schools.
The stories may not be posted in chronological order.
Stevie is 11 in this story. It takes place 3 weeks after story #30.
The Adventures of Stevie #31 "Your Own Advice"
Dear Carlos,
I have to tell you about "ki" so you will understand something later.
It's something like inner power. Some people say it's a special energy
and some people say it's just applied physics and physiology of body
movement. I don't know, but people who are extra special experts in
fighting can use it to do some things most people say are impossible.
Now I can tell you what happened.
Chad went with me to dance class. When it was over he asked why we
had to learn how to dance. I started laughing so hard he thought I was
going to choke. Cosmo asked me what the problem was. I calmed down
enough to talk and said "Remember the big question I asked you last
year?" He said "Yes, what about it?" I hugged Chad and said "Chad just
asked me the same question." He said "Marvelous!" My mouth dropped open
like I was waiting for some bug to fly in. Cosmo gave me a big fat grin
and said "Now you can tell the whole class the answer." Me and my big
mouth!
I told them. Then I said to Cosmo "You were right. We danced at camp
and I met a wonderful girl I wouldn't have if I couldn't dance. I had a
great time and I owe it to you." I said to Chad "Now you know?" Chad
mean look and made claw hands at him, and he ran around behind me and
said "Yes I do, yes I do!" What a tease.
Chad knows about my special claw hands because he saw me practicing
in fighting class. I had to tell him when he tried to copy me, he
shouldn't try to do what his body isn't ready for yet. He has to learn
the basics first, and only do what I teach him, or he could really hurt
himself real bad. He wasn't happy about it. Teaching is a lot tougher
than I thought it would be, and that's saying a lot, because I thought
it would be tough before I started.
One day I got the idea to try something new. I wanted to see if I
could make my jump away problem do something more useful in fighting
than help me go up a wall. Maybe I could punch better with it. I was
alone in the gym. I like it that way when I experiment. I put a
breaking board in the vertical frame. The board is 1 inch thick and 12
inches square. Big schools have students hold the boards in a special
way for people to punch or kick at them to break them to test how good
they are in fighting. Why? Boards don't scream and have to go to the
hospital. We don't have enough people for holding them, so we have a
metal stand with a frame which can hold them. I stood in front of it
just relaxed, and stuck my arm out and rested my fist up against the
board. Then I imagined my monster being grabbed hard, but this time
made the feeling start at my feet and travel up my body and out through
my arm to my fist into the board so fast it was like no time, and the
board exploded away like it was shot by a cannon ball. That was very
strange because my fist had not moved at all I could tell. It was still
where I left it, where the board used to be.
Sensei yelled "STOP!" at me, and ran over to me and grabbed me and
shoved me down to the mat. That surprised me for more than one reason.
I was concentrating so hard I didn't hear him come into the gym, and he
never did what he just did to me, before. He said very tensely, "Don't
move a muscle." He ran his hands all over me like he expected me to be
hurt. I didn't dare tell him how much it tickled. He asked me if I hurt
anywhere. I said "No, I'm fine." He baked off and told me to sit, then
he sat in front of me. He asked me what I was doing. I told him I was
trying something new to see if I could use some of the extra energy I
have to fight with. He said I was using ki. I was surprised. I knew
about it, but never expected I could use it myself.
"What you did was very dangerous." I said I didn't understand. He
said "Energy set to do something WILL do something, but not always what
you want it to do." He could see I still didn't understand. "When you
break a board with a strike, it is because the board absorbs the total
energy of the strike, and not your fist. The breaking of the board
releases the energy. What happens if you don't focus your normal energy
correctly, and the board doesn't break?" I said "Your fist hurts." He
said "Right. What would happen if the board fell away before you hit
it?" I said "I would pull my fist back." He asked "Would that hurt your
arm?" I said "No, because both muscles are equal so I couldn't punch
harder than I could pull it back." Then he said "Ki flows only one way
when you use it to power a strike. Chess it."
I did. Then I figured out I made a really BIG mistake! I could have
died! If I had not been standing just right, and not off balance even a
tiny little bit, or if the board were not tight in the frame, all that
ki could have bounced back on me and mess up my internal organs, or the
opposite. It could have pulled my whole arm off my body. I could never
have pulled it back if I missed the board. Thinking about that made me
want to throw up. I started crying. Sensei hugged me. I was surprised.
He never did that before. Maybe because I never cried in front of him
until now. He said "Lesson over. Dismissed." He was right. I didn't
need him to tell me I wasn't strong enough to do what I just did
safely.
I knew something else too. I just did what I told Chad not to do. Now
I know why you have to teach, to learn more about fighting. I wish I
had listened to myself better. I will try my best not to make that
mistake ever again. I discovered you don't REALLY know something until
you teach it to somebody else, and be your own student at the same
time.
Your friend,
Stephen
--
Grant
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