Hi Grant, I'm just back from holiday and have ELEVEN episodes to catch
up on.
Thanks a lot!
Z
On 20 Aug 2010 17:30:01 -0500, " +Grant. " <+Grant@grant.grant> wrote:
>
>
>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
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