Friday, November 14, 2014

The Power of Myth and My Last Fight in High School

Friday Knight News


“The best fighter is never angry.”  Lao Tzu

My last fight in high school was the culmination of what the majority of my instructors used to sum up the purpose and meaning of the martial arts. That is the ones that looked beyond the core principles for fighting. At this point in my life I had already had half a dozen martial arts instructors, but only one out of this group do I now still consider to be a sensei to me, (I had not yet met my present sensei). My first instructor had been a Golden Glove Boxer before WWII and he had earned his black belt in Japan, he was there during the occupation and afterward. Most of my boxing knowledge came from him as did the foundation of Kempo Karate Jujutsu that served as a template for the various facets of partial martial art knowledge I was to accumulate throughout the years.

For the most part these other in between instructors served as way-points along my path. The training I received from these individuals were predominantly a combination of karate and kickboxing. A few of them had backgrounds in some form of kenpo (different from my original kempo), and or jujutsu. These short term instructors were independent backyard, basement types of schools, often with only a few students. Much like my first sensei but I found not with the same character. They all seemed to have broken away from their various associations for various reasons. I did earn rank from a few of these in between individuals, but I never mention them as I would rather focus on positive aspects. Years later my wife and I lost the majority of our possessions that we had in storage due to a fire. This included most of my youthful martial art memorabilia along with our wedding film that went up in smoke, but back to the story.



The winter blizzard set in hard my senior year, and our school froze up, and this forced us to be bused to a new school until the frozen pluming and burst pipes could be fixed. So once again I was the new kid on the block. The other kids in my class were well known in the new school as they had played football, basketball, and baseball against this host school all through their school years.

It was during this time that I recalled that people became reluctant to fight with me after I began to refuse to fight. When I explained that I would only defend myself against fights there was a tendency for people back away from purely ego driven confrontations. This also seemed to extend in verbal confrontations as well. As an example, one time a fellow on the football team was jealous of the attention I was getting from a young lady and he had tried to shame me into several fights. The last of which started with him asking me as I approached a group of guys in the hall (many were on the football team or were other varsity athletes), "Could you be any more gay?"

The group was silent for a brief moment. I looked at him dressed in a blue silk shirt, with some name brand blue jeans, with a then stylish puka shell necklace, and white name brand leather sneakers. Everyone around was his buddy and we all recognized the fact that he was more popular, well known, and I knew he had grown up with most of these kids. I also realized that he had more privileges than me as he picked out his clothes, hair style, and had the best camera for photography class. I knew this because I saw the evidence and knew his background and had heard his stories. Sure he dressed better, wore the popular brands, he had a better car, more freedom, got to go to school functions, he had less working hours, and he got to go on vacations in the middle of winter and came back with a tan.

I on the other hand was in better shape, and when test time came, all the football guys tried to sit around my desk to peer at my answers just to insure that they could play in the next game. Also for whatever reason the prettiest girl in school preferred me (at least at that time), and he was always looking to take me down because of it. So without a seconds delay I replied, "I don't know could you lend me your shirt?"

Using what little wit I had been given often worked as it did in this case, but part of the reason the humorous comeback worked was that his buddies laughed first and everyone had already given me a reputation. A reputation that I guess had been greatly enhanced by the fight on the school bus mentioned in the previous blog dealing with this theme.  

So this is why I didn't discourage my new classmates in this new school from telling people that I was some kind of a karate nut. I noticed in this region that there was more of an emphasis on the term karate and in my old school kung fu was the term everyone seemed to prefer to label the ultimate fighting art. I also let others proclaim my skill and never corrected their exaggeration and this seemed to also have a good effect on squelching a number of petty fights.

So when a football player came over, sizing me up on this day it severed me well when one of the kids warned him I was the karate guy that they had been talking about. I'm not sure what they had been saying but by the fellows reaction I was almost afraid of myself. I just stared at him noncommittally and he backed off. Instead of trying to alleviate his fears as I would have normally done (to make me come across as a nice guy), I let his imagination follow its own lead. I found that by letting my ego interfere for the sake of being liked often made me appear to be vulnerable to those that prey upon whatever they perceive as weakness.

“The ultimate aim of martial arts is not having to use them” Miyamoto Musashi

Instead this guy left me alone with the cutest girl in my new schools senior class, with me trying to drum up a date for the prom. I was too late for getting one with her as I found out that she was dating one of the guys on the football team. Instead she offered to set me up with her cute younger sister who was a junior and actually looked more athletic. Something I like in a woman, I was never one that was attracted to girls that were into the makeup and perfect hairdo types. Still I felt dejected as missing the chance to date the girl that most likely was going to be the prom queen here at this school reminded me of the girl I had left behind. The girl that probably had been behind the cause of the fight on the bus at the beginning of this tale.

My last fight in high school wasn't over, it turned out to be a fight I was having with myself. I decided not to go to the prom after all or graduation for that matter. In fact the depression and anger that set in stayed with me for years. It lead me to work with an oligarchy that had been and would continue to be the bane of my existence for many years. On the other hand it also lead me to find a reprieve from my angst with the woman that would become my wife. For a deeper look into this story keep your eyes open for a book that I just completing entitled, "When Worlds Collide" (A Guide to Self-Discovery). It is a book about how to find the kintsugi process in our lives. A way to fill the cracks with gold.

My stories are about martial arts adventures that are intertwined with paranormal or supernatural events. The following links are to the Kindle version books from the "Dream Walker” series. Our adventurers find themselves on a quest where they are confronted with both conspiracy and mystery. Their challenge is to unite their mind and body skills together utilizing what they have learned in the martial arts with the transcendental power of dream mediation. They attempt to do this while they are trying to make a life for themselves and elude those that seek to use and control them.

Conversations with a Sage (Book 1 of the Dream-Walker)

Conversations with a Sage: This explores Xander Davidson's early encounters with the mysterious fog like Dream Walking martial art sages. He ponders if they are real or if they are only remnants of his dreams. He mainly keeps this secret world to himself as he tries to copes with abuse, growing up without support or guidance and the mystery of his family's past. 

Xander and the Assassins Gift (Book 2 of the Dream-Walker)

The Assassins Gift: Xander Davidson struggles with the conspiracy of his family and the group that is actively trying to manipulate him to join them or die. The young Dream Walkers learns an early lesson to be careful about whom they let into their circle.


Warriors of Perception (Book 3 of the Dream-Walker)

Warriors of Perception: Xander Davidson and his band of friends embark on a mission to free themselves from their oppressors. They bravely face the challenge all the while vying for the right moment to turn the tables.


Jace Lee The Shift (Book 4 of the Dream-Walker)

Jace Lee The Shift: We find a new apprentice, Adam, that is fighting for his life. He is struggling to understand the amazing skills of his mentor, Jace Lee; a younger man that has trained under Xander Davidson. All the while his mentor attempts to reconcile the fact that his skills do not match up with the other Dream Walkers.


Jace Lee No Agenda (Dream Walker Book 5)

Jace Lee No Agenda: Jace Lee attempts to find himself on a self-imposed vision quest of sorts. Instead he finds himself being stalked by the same group that had previously sought after his teacher, (Xander Davidson). Instead of mastering his odd Dream Walking skills he finds love and the potential loss of his powers.

Jace Lee and the Tutelage of Ming Wu: Dream Walker 6 

Jace Lee The Tutelage of Ming Wu: Jace Lee rejoins his teacher Xander Davidson as they cope with a possible combined threat (the mysterious), Ming Wu and the Council that has continuously monitored the Dream Walkers.


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