Intimidation!

[SaiFightsMS]

Oh please, you have me intrugued as well.

[Jiggy9]

=-=-=-=-

 

"Perhaps it isn't mcuh of a reason," said the engraver " but frankly I am curious to see how you yourself teach karate."

 

Ready like many young men, to take offense, Matsumura cried anfrily, "How pigheaded you are! How many times must i tell you - I dont watn to teach Karate!"

 

"Then," said the engraver, his tone of voice rather less polite, "if you refuse to teach mem, will you refuse also to grant me a match?"

 

"What is this?" asked Matsumura incredulously. " You want a match with me? With me?"

 

"Exactly! and why not? In a match there are no class distinctions. Futrthermore, since youre no longer teaching the head of the clan, you dont need his permission to meet me in a matchn. And I can assure you I'll take better care of my legs and my shoulder than he did." By this time the engraver's wrds as well as his tone of voice couuld only be regarded as insolent.

 

"I know youre said to be very good at Karate," siad the young man 'although ofcourse I have no idea how good. But dont you think you may have gone too far? It wouldnt bea a matter of being hurt of not; it would be a matter of life and death. Are you so set upon dying?"

 

"Im quite qilling to die," replied the engraver.

 

"Then I'll be happy to oblige you," said Matsumura. "No one, ofcourse, can foresee the future, but there is an old saying : If two tigers fight, one is bound to be hurt and the other to die. So whether you win or lose, you may be sure you will not return home with an unscathed body. The time and place of our encounter," Matsumura concluded, " I leave up to you."

 

The engraver suggested 5 oclock the following morning, and Matsumura concurred. The place agreed upon was the graveyard at Kinbu Palace, which lies behind Tama Palace.

 

Promptly at five o clock the two men stood facing each other, a distance of some twelve yards between them. The engraver made the first move, closing the gap by about half, at which point he thrust out his left fist in a gedan position and held his right fist at his right hip. Matsumura, having risne from the rock on which he had been sitting stood facing his opponent in a natural (shizin tai ) position, with his chin resting at his left shoulder.

 

Baffled by the posture his opponent had assumed, the engraver wondered if the man had taken leave of his senses.It was a fighting posture that seemed to offer no hope of defense, and the engraver prepared to launch his attack. Just at that very moment, Matasumura open his eyes wide and looked deep into the eyes of the other. Repelled by a force that felt like a bold of lightening, the engraver fell back. Matsumura had not moved a muscle; he stood where he had stood before, apparently defenseless.

 

Sweat beaded the engraver's brow, and his armpits were alerady damp; he could feel his heart beating with auaccustomed rapidity. He sat down on a nearby rock. Matsumura did the same. " what happened?" the engraver muttered to himself. " why all this sweat? Why is my heart beating so wildly? We havent yet exchanged a single blow!"

 

Then he heard Matsumura's voice : "Hey! Come on! The sun is rising. Let's get on with it!"

 

The two men sore, and Matsumura once agains assumed the same natural position he had taken earlier. The engraver for his part, was determined to complete the attack this time, and he advanced towrd his opponent - from twelve yards to ten, then to eight... six...four. And there he stopped, unable to proceed any furtehr, immobilized by the intangible force that flased from Matsumura's eyes. Hiw own eyes lost their luster, and he stood entranced by the radiance from Matsumura eyes.

 

At the same time, he was quite unable to tear his glance away from that of the opponent; in his bones he knew that if he did, something very terrible would happen.

 

How was he extricate himself from this predicament? Suddenlt he gave voice to a great shout, a Kiai, which sounded like "Yach!" and boomed across the cemerery, Mura still stood unmoved. AT this sight, the engraver once again sprang back startled and dismayed.

 

Master Matsumura smiled. "Whats the matter?" he called. " Why dont you attack? you can fight a match just by shouting!"

 

"I dont understand," the engraver repliued. "I've never before lost a bout. And now..." After a amoment's silence, e lifted his face and called quietly to Matsumura : "Yes, let's go on! The result of the match has already been decided, I know that, but let's finish it. If we dont I'll lose face - and I'd rather be dead. I warn you, I'm going to attack in sutemi' (fight to the finish)

 

"Good!" Matsumura called back. "Come On!"

 

"Then forgive me if you will," said the engraverrrrrrrrr as he launced his attack, but just then there issured frmm MAatsumura's throat a great cry that sounded to the engraver like a thunderbold. As the lightening of Matsumura's eyes had earlier immobilized him, so now did the thunder of matsumur's voice. The engraver found he could not move; he made one last feeble attempt to attack beforefalling in a defeated heap to the ground. A few feet away, Matsumura's head was gilded by the rising sun : he seemed to the prostrate engraver like one of the ancient goldy kings who slew demons and dragons.

 

"I give up!" cried the poor engraver. "I give up!"

 

"What?" cried Matsumura. "Thats no way for an expert to talk!"

 

' i was a fool to challenge you,"said the engraver, rising. " The result was ovious from the very beginning. I feel completely ashamed. There is just no comparison between my skill and yours."

 

"Not at all," replied Matsumura gently. "your fighting spirit is excellent, and I suspect you have a great deal of skill. If we had actually fought, I might well have been defeated."

 

"You flatter me," said the engraver. " the fact is, I felt completely helpless when I looked at you. I was so frightened by youre eyes that I lost whaever fighting spirit I had"

 

"Matsumur's voice became soft. "Perhaps" he said. " But I know this : you were determined to win and I was just as determined to die if I lost. That was the difference between us."

 

"Litsen," he went on. "When I came into your shop yesterday, I was very unhappy about being reprimanded by the head of the clan. When you challenged me, I was worried about that too, but once we decided on a match, all my worries suddenlty vanished. I realised that I had been obsesed with relatively minor matters - with refinement of technique, with the skills of teaching, with flattering the head of the clan. I had been preoccurpied with retaining my position. Today, I am a wiser man that I was yesterda. I'm a human being, and a human being is vulnerable creature, who cannot possilby be perfect. After he dies, he returns to the elements - to earth, to water, to fire, to wind, to air. Matter is void. All is vanity. We are like blades of grass or trees of the forest, creation of the universee, of the spirit of the universe, and the spirit of the universe has neither life nor death. Vanity is the only obstacle to life."

 

With that, he felt silent. The engraver was silent too, pondering the invaluable lessons he had been taught...

 

=-=-=-=-=

[Karateka]

Excellent!

 

 

[SaiFightsMS]

There are so many levels in that I must think for a long time.

[JORDAN]

On 2001-11-27 04:29, *Joanne Siddall* wrote:

 

I'd laugh at people who tried to frighten me by cracking their fingers at me!! What would make it even funnier is if they broke a bone whilst fighting!!

BY CRACKING YOUR FINGERS YOU LOOK A FOOL BUT BY WINKING, BLOWING KISSES AND SMILING YOU LOOK VERY CONFIDENT AND THIS HELPS THE FIGHT PSYCHOLOGICALLY. TRUST ME CAUSE IT WAS ME BLOWIN EM AT THE E.K.G.B COMPETITION

[username237]

yes i no , and it was the quickest fight ive ever seen!

 

Hajime

 

Yamay

 

Shikaku!

 

well funny!

[SaiFightsMS]

Jiggy do you have any more stories like that you can tell us?

 

 

[Gloi]

You can get these stories in a book called Myths and Legends of the martial arts by Peter Lewis

 

I think this url might work to get to see it on Amazon

 

http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/1853752711/qid=1008144342/sr=1-1/ref=sr_sp_re/026-3039069-9097233

 

 

[Jiggy9]

I sure do Sai..

 

[ This Message was edited by: Jiggy9 on 2001-12-12 03:05 ]

[username237]

mmmm ok!