Solomon's Private File #295
These stories about Stephen and Solomon take place starting in
1950's. Stephen wrote about his life in letters to a penpal, and then
in a secure blog, in case he lost his memory again, in the master
computer in his school for gifted students, which he started attending
in 2016 in a new incarnation, until his death. Now his son Solomon is
attending the same school, and is writing in his own secure blog for
his future incarnations.
All characters are fictitious, even if some of them might have names
that belong to some actual people, or act like people we know.
Solomon is 28 in this story, in the Winter of 2054-2055.
Solomon's Private File #295 "West Point Final"
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I shifted to Rama's room at West Point. He said, "We have found a
house here!" I said, "I didn't know it was lost." He grinned. He said,
"But I can still keep this room for meeting with you. I was right about
you being asked to teach here. They asked me what you would think about
it. I said you told me you wouldn't. I hated to disappoint them." I
said, "Eh, you'll get over it." Chuckles. I said, "I'm not really
needed here. Good teachers." He said, "I'll tell them that." I said
with a grin, "I know you will!"
On our way to the gym, I said loudly enough for our followers to
hear, "Wouldn't it be interesting if we walked all over the campus for
fun, and never went to the gym, and those who followed us, never knew
that?" He said, "Yes, that would be interesting. Shall we do that?" I
said, "Well, not this time, because I think they heard us discuss it."
said, "Possibilities. Hmm, I hear some comment behind us." Grins.
We changed in the locker room. Back in the gym, he said to me, "You
heard them speak behind us, and I couldn't. How?" I said, "You were
supposed to ask that." I said to the Cadets, "None are more interested
in learning, than when they ask questions." Rama said, "And a good
teacher causes those questions to be asked, and I fell for it!"
Chuckles. I put a portable music player on the table, and had it
playing marches. That caused some grins. I made him stand with his back
to it. I said, "When I stand with my back to you, move your arms to the
sides in different positions, and I will copy you." He did, and I did.
Then I said, "Now we change positions, and you will copy my movements."
We did, and he didn't do well. We stopped, and I turned off the music.
I said to him, "Do you know the purpose of this?" He said, "Yes. I was
to use the interrupted sound of the music to my ears, to determine
where your arms were. You did that much better than I did." I said, "It
isn't just the sound I was using, but the hairs on my body, and the
sense of air pressure, too. That's what sound actually is." He said,
"Oh. May we try it again?" We did, and he was a little better. I said,
"As in all things, practice can improve the ability. Almost all." He
said, "What can't be improved?" I said, "Well, blinking, for one."
Chuckles.
I said, "A lesson in absolutes." He said, "You did it again!"
Laughter. I said, "And now you may explain it." He nodded and said, "We
tend to think in simplified ways out of habit. That often involves
absolutes, such as always, never, and impossible. Absolutes seldom
exist in reality, and thinking that way can get us into serious
trouble. Deadly trouble. Not just because we could be wrong, but
because that wrongness could cause a disaster." I said, "Oh, it will
never happen, and then it does. Try not to look stupid in doing that."
Nods and grins.
I said, "Because of our discriminating and prioritizing brain, most
of our constant sensory inputs are ignored. With training and practice,
you can refine how your senses work, to perceive things you couldn't
before. For example, a musician can hear music more accurately than an
air guitarist. And look a little more sane." They laughed, Rama the
loudest. He said, "It's the surprise of those things that gets me the
most." I said, "So?" Chuckles. I said, "One way to increase the acuity
of a sense, is to ignore the others. Well, our brains can only do so
much at a time. Said in a different way, you can often hear much better
with your eyes closed, and the other way around. Practicing that way,
will increase both of them, even when later used at the same time."
Nods of understanding. I said, "And we have other senses that are
underused. Your feet can detect the vibrations of the footsteps of
others. The hairs on your body can detect the slightest movement of the
air, and so warn of that, even when you couldn't hear or see it. Smell
can help with that, too. We all smell different, and that's caused by
what we eat, and our body chemistry. It's been said in the past that
some races smelled different to other races. That perception wasn't
caused by prejudice, although the expression of it often was, but
mostly by diet. Ask a vegetarian. He'll tell you that meat eaters
smell different. If he thinks you won't punch him out for that."
Chuckles. I said, "Train your use of your senses, and that could save
your lives someday, and those of your command." Nods.
Jim said, "That's very true. The smell of a gun that had been
recently fired, alerted me to an attacker behind me. Saved my life."
Rama said, "Often, an attacker will breathe differently and more
strongly before an attack. Knowing that, and hearing it, saved me many
times when I was a child." They knew his story by then, and respected
him for what he went through and survived. I said, "And when attackers
tense up before an attack, they sometimes fart. I know that's funny,
but it's true. A useful, if smelly, warning. You do NOT read about that
in books!" Nods. Jim said, "And what a person eats can linger on his
breath. Garlic is one of those things." I said, "Many infiltrators were
betrayed by their own bodies in this way. The night is not a full cover
for stealthy actions." Nods.
Then we did some forms. Jim did the strength form well, and the
Cadets appreciated it. I said, "We need strength, and in balance for a
health reason, too. It's very possible to punch so hard, that if you
don't hit anything, the force of that can pull your arm out of its
socket. Yes, that's happened. You need to be like a hoarder in this.
What you throw out at your opponent, you'd better keep. That means that
the muscles you use to punch, have to have the opposing muscles be just
as strong. But that's not the only way you can hurt yourself. You know
from locks and submissions that joints only bend in some ways. Go
beyond that, causes injury, and you can easily do that to yourself if
you aren't careful." I took off my top, and said, "See this punch? My
arm isn't perfectly straight. The elbow is slightly bent. While the
punch might be slightly more powerful with a locked elbow, if you get
hit on that elbow in that position, it could break. Yes, that's
actually happened way too many times. So in most martial arts schools,
they try to teach not to lock joints in techniques."
Jim said to me, "Have you met teachers who require locked joints?" I
said, "I have. Those who make children do that, well, I helped them to
change their minds. Er, pain is quite a motivator." Nods. I said, "I've
been sent to some schools for that purpose." Rama said, "Oh! Good." One
said, "Have you ever beaten somebody up?" I said, "I have. Were you
asking for yourself?" He said, "Oh no, sir!" Laughter. I said, "In my
personal testing of my students for belt advancement, if they don't do
as well as they should in sparing, we go full contact if I think its
needed. They know that and agree to it. We schedule it for just before
a healing." Nods. I said, "For some people, they can't reach their full
potential in something that isn't real." Some said, "Oh!" I said,
"Something your instructor has lived, that very few would have
survived, and even fewer to become a good person. You are VERY lucky to
have him here for you." Nods, and more respect for him.
I said, "A new form." I did it, and it flowed well, in fast and slow
actions. I said, "This is for multiple attackers. At some points, two
techniques are used at the same time, which is why it can look a little
awkward and out of balance." I demonstrated with Jim and Rama, what the
techniques did, and why. Rama said, "This is very good!" I said, "Well,
we hope." Chuckles. He tried it. Then he said, "It's much more
difficult than it looks!" I said, "Try to imagine real opponents,
instead of just concentrating on the movements." He did that, and
improved. Jim said, "Wow! I actually felt that! The air movement!" Rama
said to me, "Please?" I said, "Could cause a problem. Oh, alright." I
said to them, "He wants me to show an attack using air. I don't think
he was supposed to know I could do that." Chuckles.
I said to him, "And you are the opponent." He nodded. I did a strange
dance, and made it faster, and then almost too fast to see, then I
stopped, closer to him, and the wind knocked him over. I helped him up,
and said, "It's not very practical. Just ask any politician." Laughter.
I said, "Jim, Rama, please spar with each other. Light contact, with
nothing to the head." I started them, and soon it became obvious that
their styles were very different, and that Jim was more powerful. Rama
was more fluid, and most of the time, faster. I stopped it, and asked
them to comment. Jim said, "I couldn't touch him! Some times he blocked
softly, and sometimes he just wasn't where I was striking." Rama said,
"He's strong! I couldn't use hard blocks, or he would go right past
them." I said, "Rama, now with me." He did that, and with every
technique he tried to use use, I tied him up in a lock and submission,
mostly in his own style. Jim's eyes were almost popping out. We
stopped, and I said, "Jim, next. Do it real. Full speed and power. I
won't hurt you." I used aikido, and tossed him all over, and did some
holds.
I said, "Rama, tell me why I used different styles, to do mostly the
same thing to each of you." He nodded, and said, "For Jim, who is
strong and with a hard style, you used a soft style that redirected his
strength. That would be less effective with me, so you used my style
with greater skill, to defeat me. My style, while it could be used to
defend against him, it would be less effective in offense, with his
fast hard blocks. With the both of us, you could have struck us at
will, if you had wanted to." I said, "Tell us the lesson." He nodded
and said, "You must fit your fighting techniques to what would work
best against what you know of your opponent, in keeping with your
objectives." Jim said, "And to do that, you need to know about your
opponent. Learn about him as much as you can." I said, "And watch him
in action. The more you know, the better you can do what you want with
him, but never think you know all. Don't be surprised by being
surprised. Er, or something like that." Smiles.
I said, "You also have to know what YOU know, and part of that is
knowing how you will respond, and that includes in emotions, to danger
and real action. Learning about that is a LOT safer among friends,
believe me!" Nods. I said, "And learn more than one weapon, which
includes styles, because as you now see, the idea of one size fits all,
only applies to military clothing, not action." Some smiles with the
nods.
I said, "One more thing for today." I started building up my Ki, and
letting it flow. Jim and Rama reacted. I said to them, "Explain." Rama
said, "He is building up his Chi, and letting it flow from him as it
usually does with most people. He had been restricting it." Some knew
what that meant, and whispered it to others. I said to the Cadets, "The
biggest and strongest of you, come and push me down." He did, and I
didn't move. I said, "As hard as you can, punch me in my stomach." He
did, and bounced. He said, "Wow!" I held my hand out, and said, "Make
it move." He couldn't." Jim said, "It's also called, Ki, which he's
using to protect himself." I nodded the Cadet back with the group. I
said to my two, "Accept a soft thrust?" They nodded. I pushed a double
palm thrust at them, and from three meters away, they were obviously
made to fall down. I said, "We all have goals for what we would learn,
or try to have them. I've just shown some. Is there even more?" I said
with a grin, "I'm not going to tell you!"
I said, "What we do here is for us and you, and no others. Do you
understand?" They did, and loudly. I said, "Questions?" One said, "Sir,
are you a Senior Master?" I said, "Yes I am, but mostly in secret. I'm
in inside worker of the FBI. We are not to be known of, on the outside.
We prefer our targets to be on the range, not in our people's homes. I
see you haven't thought of that. A few years ago, we had a terrorist
bring a bomb into the FBI bounding. He was detected. If he could have
has a protection detail. When I'm with him, it's er, me." Grins. One
said, "Are there a lot of martial artists in the FBI?" I said, "More
than average for a work force, yes, but it's not required. Special
Agents do carry guns. When they aren't needed, it usually just police
skills that they need. We get a lot of applicants who are martial
artists. Most we don't accept. We need investigators, not fighting
hobbyists. Some don't take that well." Grins. Jim said, "They know
about the lamppost." I said, "In my office, he tried to attack me."
Wider grins.
I said, "It wasn't what you might be thinking. He pushed his Ki at
me, because I had been restricting mine, so he thought he was better."
Grins. I said, "I pushed back, and ordered him to leave the building.
He had to obey. Yes, a powerful Ki can do that, but it's a big risk.
Might rebound from a stronger opponent, and there's no telling how long
it will last. Never underestimate your opponent. The most dangerous
adversary, is one you don't suspect. Oh boy, was HE surprised. That's
why he took it out on that poor defenseless lamppost. He paid a big
price for that." They knew. Rama said, "That's all for today." We went
into the locker room to change. Jim said, "I sense something. This is
your last public teaching here. I think so, because I think I've
reached my limit." Rama said, "Not your limit. There is none. Think of
it as more specialized training." Jim looked gratitude at him. I held
out my hand, and a crystal and memory card appeared in it. He took
them. We bowed. Rama and I walked together back to his room.
There he said, "I knew it too. Your demonstration of the goal." I
said, "As intended. Less awkwardness than having to tell somebody. Yes,
I'm a REAL psychologist." Chuckles. I said, "We won't be using this
room anymore. You'll be ported to my Academy for more of this, if
you're still interested." He said, "You know I am!" I said, "And you
should still practice here when you can. Wouldn't be too bad to do some
of that with Jim." He nodded, and said, "I like him." I said, "And he
likes and respects you. In fact the last thing you said to him, got
some love out of him." He was embarrassed, and I grinned at that.
I gave the Iron Lady the crystal and file, and she read it. She said,
"Good. He and my guy are ready for each other. I'll take it from here
until I leave." I said, "Change of teacher and fellow student will do
him good, and not just because I like surprising him." We traded grins
and a hug.
He was surprised, and grinned, too. They are doing well.
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Grant
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