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Subject: +*+*+*+ Solomon's Private File #306 "Ki To Progress" +*+*+*+
Date: Wed, 08 Mar 2017 23:38:29 -0500
From: " +Grant. " <+Grant@grant.grant>
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Solomon's Private File #306
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 29 in this story, in the Fall of 2055.
Solomon's Private File #306 "Ki To Progress"
START Page
As Jack, I shifted to the Academy gym. Stan and Rama were there. Rama
said, "The Iron Lady has a new student that you sent to her." I said,
"A gift, yes." Grins. I said, "She has the best awareness and control
of Chi I have ever seen in a martial artist who wasn't a Senior. And a
great person. Good that you've met. Now, how are MY students doing?"
Stan said, "Don't you know?" I said, "That's complicated. I can see how
good you are now, but performing for me adds pressure, and could change
what I see of you, and what you know of you." Rama nodded. I said to
Stan, "Is it fair to him, what you do like that with me?" He said, "Oh!
I apologize. Won't happen again. No more games." I nodded. Rama didn't
comment.
They did their forms, advanced techniques, attacked the wooden
spinner, and sparred. I said, "I see very good improvement. Now for a
new thing you will do only while supervised. There is a little danger
involved." I touched the gym control, and two helmets appeared, and
with two shinai, the split bamboo kendo swords. Their faces split into
big grins. I said, "These shinai have extra padding at the tip, for
some protection from thrusts. The helmets have throat and neck guards."
Stan said, "I don't see any other protection." I just grinned. Rama
laughed. I said, "You have different experiences and abilities, so you
might think one might have an advantage over the other in this. You
don't. This is unlike any other weapon in features, and in how it's
used. The haze walled area will give you tingling warning when you
approach a wall. The weapon will go through it, but you won't, with the
helmet on. Yes, this is new. Now all the Senior Master schools have
this. You know how it is." Grins. Rama said, "I heard about the new
building at Shaolin." I said, "I've been there. Other Senior Masters,
too." Stan said, "We will be practicing this without you?" I said, "He
who built this, monitor's its use. Touch the control and ask, and it
will happen. Don't bother him with gossip." Chuckles.
I said, "How much longer are you going to delay this?" More chuckles.
They picked up their helmets, and I picked up the shinai. I said, "A
little warning. Ki works best when you let it, not when you force it.
Strong emotion will interfere with it, such as blind terror." Chuckles.
I did some practice moves, and said, "That's how you usually hold and
use them. You don't really go after each other, you might find out how
good these things are in another use, called caning." That got their
attention, and so did my grin. They went into the active area, and put
on their helmets. I said in the mike, "Can you hear me, raise a hand.
Your own, preferably." I could tell they laughed. I said, "I'm handing
you each your weapon, and no, it not some big slimy worm. On the
buzzer, you may begin. I may say some things while you're doing it." I
sounded the buzzer. They immediately went to work, swinging wildly. I
said, "Stop! Those are not chainsaws, and you are not in a forest. Find
a target, before you toss those things around." The signaled
acceptance. Buzzer. They were more controlled. They shifted their
stances, and avoided the walls. Their heads turned toward each other,
often. I said that in a whisper. Then Rama whacked Stan in the side,
and he went wildly swinging all over the area. I said, "Lose control,
and you lose more than control." He calmed down. Suddenly, he poked
Rama in the chest. Rama swing back, and hit Stan on the arm.
Then they traded blows, and one backed off, and they started missing.
They they stalked each other, back and forth. Sometimes they reacted to
each other's Ki, and blocked the weapon, which I announced. Then I
said, "Stop! Helmets off. Review these crystals for some possible
surprises." They did, with some wows. Stan said, "We actually blocked
sometimes!" I said, "And not by accident. You did best, when you didn't
try hard." Rama said, "Yes. Difficult to relax in that situation. I
know, deliberately. Great training! I didn't realize that before." Stan
said, "I agree. A little fun, actually." Yoda appeared, and said,
"Learn, you are!" Then he vanished. I said, "Oh, well." Chuckles.
I said, "And now for something VERY different. Stan, stand
comfortably. I want you to imagine your ki flowing all throughout your
body, in a circle. Make that your iron will. Now extend that loop down
into the floor, and make that your iron will. Extend your arms straight
out to the sides, and make your Ki loop through them as well, making
them unmoving, and make that your iron will. Keep that going! Rama, try
to lift him by the arms." He tried, and said, "I can't move him at
all!" I said, "All, relax." Stan said, "Wow! I didn't know I could do
that!" I said, "I did. Rama, now you." And he did the same, and with
the same wow. I said, "You wondered when we would get to real Senior
training?" Grins. I said, "One step at a time. This is now dangerous.
Don't try to skip ahead. You are able to strike with Ki, but you don't
have enough awareness and control to do it safely, and you could tire
yourselves dangerously, throwing away your own life force. For
exercises, what you have been doing before, and the shinai sparing. And
this, the circulation of Ki. You should be doing that ALL the time.
Yes, continuously. Not through the floor, or to make things stiff,
state. With enough will and practice, it should become an automatic
thing, as it needs to be to advance, as all Seniors live." They said,
"Oh!" Rama said, "So it really IS a different state of being." I looked
askance at him, with a half smile, and he was embarrassed. Stan said,
"I was skeptical of that, too." Nods, one being of gratitude.
I said, "When you each can sense that steady state in the other, call
me. If I agree, we'll go on from there. If you want to practice more
now, up to you. I'll see you next time." We bowed to each other, and I
shifted out. A week later, Stan's boss called me, and said, "Trainer
improvement. I've seen it before. Happening now. Being noticed. Moving
smother, and reacts faster, but doesn't look it." I said, "Prep work
done. They're into real Senior Master things now, even if they don't
fully realize it. For them, it's a new normal." He said, "Oh. Thanks
gone, and we wonder where it went, and so fast." He said, "True. When
are you going to switch over?" I said, "So that's what you call it?"
Chuckles. I said, "Next time, or the one after." He said, "Wow!" I
said, "Included." Chuckles.
I met with the iron Lady in her office. I said, "Month or two, and
I'll take over as me, for my students. You know how fast it will go
from there." She nodded, and said, "Your gift should be ready then, for
you. Together?" I said, "Sure. Give them a treat, us, er, you and Jack
sparing, before the changeover?" She grinned, and said, "Sure. And not
just for them." I said, "Not the shirt thing!" She laughed.
A Senior Master in London called me by way of the room control. I
said in the air, "In your office." His students looked awed. I was
grinning, when he came in, and said, "You're the first." He grinned
back and said, "The Star wars thing is inspired!" I said, "And to
think, all this time I thought it was training." He tried to ignore
that, and said, "A great way to practice Ki awareness in combat without
real damage." I said, "So far. It's actually possible to thrust so
hard, the shinai could break, and send a sharp cane end into somebody."
He said, "That's why the supervision." I said, "And to smooth over lost
tempers." Chuckles. He said, "I've got an idea. That spinning monster.
What if there were a hard ball on a chain on the end of some of those
arms." I said, "Oh, starting a new inquisition?" He said, "That bad?" I
said, "Worse. Bashed in skulls, and other broken bones. Add physics to
that." He thought a while, and said, "Oh, I see. The whip effect.
Right. Can't do that."
I said, "Can do something else. Really annoy them, though." He
grinned, and said, "Please!" I said, "I wonder about you." He laughed.
I said, "What sticks out can vary in length actively, and randomly, in
each or random spins. Don't test it in front of your students." He said
with a grin, "I'll be sure not to." I said, "In place in all locations,
and in the change list. You don't get credit, though. Better luck next
time. Oh, the Abbot has an idea. Should I start regretting this?" He
said, "No." I said, "Oh, alright." We hugged, and I shifted out.
I said to the Abbot of Shaolin, "What's your new idea?" He said, "I
don't know how to explain it in words. May I push it at you?" I nodded,
and he did. I said, "A resistance field. Would have to be very
carefully programmed, or it would restrict breathing, and if you try to
run, your tender parts might be left behind." He said, "Oh! I should
have thought of that." I said, "And there is blinking. And talking. How
long will it take to fall? Not for impatient lovers of floors." He
laughed, and said, "I didn't expect that one." I said, "The best kind,
and better causing images. Yes, humor is a er, serious study." He said,
"Oh, and you would know. Thank you for the education." I said, "If you
want resistance to movement, without getting fat, strap on weights. You
already do things like that. Resistance to training, is another
matter." He said, "True. Students these days want everything
immediately, and with no effort." I grinned, and said, "So speaks an
old man who chooses to forget his youth." He said, "So true. Something
you can't do."
I said, "We all have our own burdens. "You can die and reincarnate
into new adventures. I can't die, just get more work to do. You can
have the joys of childhood again. I can just watch." He said, "Dying is
a good thing?" I said, "It is. A renewal. All the founders of my group
have died. All but one, could have renewed their youth, but chose not
to." He said, "I think I understand." I said, "And too long as a
leader, holds your people back." He said, "True. Will I die soon?" I
said, "Soon, is a matter of judgement. And don't expect me to tell you,
even if I knew." He said, "Do you?" I said, "How I sometimes know these
things is different at different times. For some, it's seeing probable
futures. For others, it's feelings about God's will. None of those
things, from my perspective, are certain." He said, "Will you be here
for my time?" I said, "If I know, yes. Until then, you had better act
very alive!" He grinned, and said, "I will." We hugged.
A Senior in Japan had an idea. I shifted to his office. We bowed. He
said, "It would have some benefit to train in extra gravity." I said,
"Yes it would. There are also problems with it. I know this more than
anybody here, personally. You are familiar with my circus time?" He
said, "Yes! The high gravity planet. You also trained at regular
gravity." I said, "And that's the problem. It requires complete
retraining, switching from one to the other. The difference isn't just
how heavy you are, but how much effort it takes to move things, and how
fast they fall. It requires different judgements and reflexes, that are
not learned in a day. We had that problem on the Smithsonian Moon trip.
There's more. Changes in gravity to your body, and it's adjustment,
don't happen instantly. Your kidneys work differently, so does your
swallowing, and lymph system. Your eyesight has to adjust to the
different stresses on the eyeball, and that's different to the
individual. And there are other health risks I think you can imagine,
not to mention incontinence. The human body is just not made to live
correctly at different gravities, without some long term adjustment,
and that won't be perfect. Live for years on the Moon, you can't come
back to Earth. Your bones will break. Live at high gravity, and blood
will pool in your legs, and could cause strokes."
He said, "Oh! I should have thought of some of that." I said with a
smile, "Not really. Too unusual. Living in it, forces you to notice."
He smiled, and said, "Thank you. You know we talk to each other. Three
more, soon?" I said, "Not a secret? Oh, what have I done!" He laughed.
I said, "Could be. We'll have to see. New toys." Grins.
I said in a dojo in LA, "You want a SWIMMING POOL in here?" He said,
a little diffidently, "It's a thought." I said, "So is thinking you're
Napoleon." He had to smile at that. I said, "Has to be on the floor,
not under it, so you sure can't dive into it. How do you get in? Have
to have a ladder. How far can you swim in it? Not very. What happens
when they get out, dripping water all the way to the locker room?
Important enough for those limits and problems?" He said, "Ah, no." I
said, "Not that, either. Or that." He laughed. I said, "Spend some time
thinking a little more about these things before you spring them on
me." A fish fell into his lap. He laughed almost hysterically. I said,
"Hawk agrees."
END Page
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Grant
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