Young Again
Copyright© 2018 by Edward Douglass Patterson
Chapter 15: Black Belts
Mark had brought the girls early for their testing. While they warmed up, he sat with a laptop checking on the start of the search for the ancient base hidden in the mountains.
The Army pilot had been rescued. He had a broken leg, thus he had been trapped in the plane with all the electronics dead. It appeared a directed EMP attack had struck the plane. Luckily, the A-10 was an older model plane which didn’t make use of the electronic systems new planes used to control almost everything. He had been able to direct the plane to a stand of new trees. The A-10 had plowed through them, taking most of the momentum from the plane while shaking the pilot with every hit. When the pilot saw the two older trees coming up, he had just enough control to steer the fuselage between them. The one on the left had been struck by the wingtip slightly before the one on the right had been struck by the other wing tip. This had caused the plane to be violently twisted to the left and then almost immediately to the right. The force was more than the plane was designed to withstand. When the seat tore loose, the pilot’s leg was broken.
Mark had known how dense the forest was up there, so he was surprised the pilot had survived. He considered it a good omen. From the initial reports, the search for the base was fully underway, and there had been no reports of any reaction from the defenses of the base to all the activity, though they carried nothing electrical. No one was sure what to make of that, but Ranger Colson said the Forest Service has no record of unusual accidents in the area of the search. He had started inquiries into the history of the area since all of the activity was being noticed by the locals. The FBI had informed the local sheriff as to what they were looking for. They expected to have a reporter show up to investigate at any time. Kay and Fred were there to offer Captain McRae advice on handling the questions so as to dampen the interest in the search. They were acting the part of a couple who were on vacation. Kay had let it be known she was a Fox News reporter with the expectation that anyone who wanted to talk to the press about what was happening would seek her out. So far, no one had mentioned anything about the search to her.
Mark closed the laptop when Master Lee led the other two masters into the practice area.
Ken Overton was surprised to see Sandy Vickers. He returned her nod. She was in street clothes, so he wasn’t losing her and Jason as students. She must be working. Someone here could afford to have protection follow them around. He saw the young man with a computer. He looked like the uncle or older brother of a blond teenage girl. His attention focused on the young woman who he was here to judge. She was very beautiful. Her mixed heritage had combined into a very lovely package. She looked young, but Cheng had said her uncle had a school in Hawaii. He would let Jian be the one to spar with her. He would enjoy watching her move.
“Master Chang, Master Overton, this is Cynthia Wong, who is here for you to judge her for her fourth-degree belt. Cindy, Master Jian Change of the Lotus Academy, and Master Ken Overton of the Overton Academy.” Master Lee introduced them.
“May I show beauty and skill this day?” Cindy bowed to the two masters.
“Jian and Ken, I would like you to meet Ashley Sawyer and Sarah Pierce. They have been students of Cindy’s for the past year. Today, they will test for their black belts. I would also like you to judge them. I find they both accomplished more during their first year of study than any student than I have ever seen. They wish to compete in the Golden Gate Championship, but I feel it would be unfair to the other competitors if they weren’t put in a more advanced skill level than their training time would indicate.”
“Cheng, you have had many very good students in the years I have known you. If you feel they are that exceptional, I would be honored to judge what they have learned.” Jian smiled at his friend and former student.
The Sawyer name Ken recognized. This was whom Sandy was guarding. He looked over the young blonde girl, and then he looked at the brunette. Both were going to be beautiful, and they both looked in excellent shape. Young, but he liked watching young girls, even if he would never make a move on one as young as they were. Even the young woman was younger than he normally went after. He realized he had missed the two young girls’ comments as they bowed to the two masters. It had been in Mandarin, which he wasn’t fluent in but could follow if he concentrated. Both of them had spoken it so well that Jian had responded to them in the same language.
Sarah smiled. “Master Jian, we have only started to learn to speak Mandarin this week, though we do read it. We find the language goes well with our studies of martial arts.”
“You learned to read before learning to speak. That is an unusual way to learn a language.” Jian was intrigued by the two young girls.
“We found many papers in Mandarin on the internet that we wanted to read. There’s much research going on in China. We taught ourselves to read Mandarin so we could learn more.”
Jian nodded. “Cheng, let us start the testing. I will face off with Cindy after we see her forms.”
Jian warmed up as they watched Cindy go through her forms. When she finished, Master Chang was the one who spoke. “I see Master Lee’s and your former Master’s influence in your moves. Is your uncle Changpu Wong?”
“Yes, I began studying with him before I entered school. I learned much from him, but much more since I came here.”
“Yes, let us test that.” Jian moved into the ring with her. They spent almost a minute before Cindy was able to land a hit on the experienced Master. Jian immediately stepped out of the circle. “Where did you learn that variation? The move is almost never used because the counter allows an easy follow-up.”
“Sarah showed us the variation.” Cheng Lee smiled at his old Master. “She had seen it in a movie and felt they were doing it wrong so the hero could look good. After I saw it, I joined Cindy in teaching Sarah and Ashley. I have found I have been learning while I taught.”
“Yes, one finds the new is something one misses after many years of teaching. Cindy, let us continue. I find the combination of your two Masters works very well in your moves. I would see more.”
Ken watched the woman and Jian; her moves were smooth and flowed well. She got additional hits on the old Master. He realized he hadn’t seen anyone have so many in the few times he had seen Jian fight. She was definitely deserving of a fourth-degree belt. He realized he was watching her as a competitor and not a woman.
They stopped and bowed to each other.
“Cheng, I thank you for the opportunity to test Miss Wong. I find she is deserving of the belt she seeks.” Jian looked at Ken.
“Master Chang, I haven’t seen anyone make so many hits on you. I know you weren’t going easy on her. Your enjoyment of the competition was obvious. I agree she is deserving.” Ken bowed to the older Master and then to Cindy.
“Yes, I did enjoy it. Cindy, may I join you and Cheng sometime when you are having your private class with Ashley and Sarah? I’m not too old to learn something new.”
Cindy glanced at Master Lee, who just smiled. “I would be honored to have you join us. Though, I feel I will be doing most of the learning.”
“Good, let us see how well you teach.” Master Chang turned to the two young girls. “Which of you wants to go first?”
“Master Chang, Master Overton. We will both do the same forms. One will start in the usual order and the second will do the same forms in the reverse order. Please choose one of us to go first.” Ashley’s request surprised the three Masters. Only Cindy had known what they planned.
Jian was smiling. “That is a twist I have never heard of before. You are saying either of you can do the forms in either the usual order or the reverse order and you are both ready to do either order. Therefore, you are both saying either of you are just as good with either order as the other since you are making the offer. Ashley, you will go first. Sarah, you will start as soon as she finishes. Both of you take positions so you can do this.”
Both girls had big smiles. Master Chang’s directions had added a little more complexity to what they had planned. They took their positions. Ashley started at his signal. Her moves were smooth and unhurried. As she finished, Sarah started with the form Ashley had just completed. Her moves were as smooth and unhurried as Ashley’s were. When she finished, both girls bowed to the Masters.
Jian had watched both girls go through the forms. Their moves were both excellent. He couldn’t decide which one had been better, and then realized they complemented each other. He looked at Sarah. Yes, she was left-handed. They also both had completed the forms in exactly one minute, which was quick but well within the limits set for the traditional forms. He had an idea.
“Would you both be willing to go through the forms again?” When they nodded, Jian told them the variation he wanted them to do. “Sarah, you are left-handed, so your moves reflect those of Ashley. I would like you to face away from each other and go through the moves at the same time.”
Ashley and Sarah were delighted. Jian had noticed. They both bowed deeply to him, then took positions as he had indicated. When they were ready, Jian verbally gave the order to begin.
Everyone watched as the two went through the forms, mirroring the motions of the other, though they mostly couldn’t see each other. Again, they finished at exactly the same time.
Ken stared in fascination. He had never seen the forms executed as the girls were doing. Some would take exception to the way the motion of a form was done, but not to the execution.
“Excellent execution. Now, we need to test you in combat. Master Overton, would you be willing to face both together in combat?” Jian’s voice and face didn’t show the amusement he felt. He was well aware of how Ken treated women and of his effect on them.
Ken was surprised by the request. Him against two girls. “I’m willing if they are.”
Sarah and Ashley had also noticed how Master Overton had looked at them and Cindy. The opportunity Master Chang offered to show how they could work together was very insightful. They also realized Master Chang’s other reason for the request.
They both bowed, then took positions on one side of the circle across from Master Overton.
Master Lee realized he had never noticed what his old Master had. The girls matched each other and worked better together than he had ever seen two people do. He hadn’t missed the other reason Jian had set up the match. It was going to be interesting watching the girls go against Ken.
When Jian gave the signal to start, the girls didn’t wait to see what Ken’s first move would be. Ashley feinted an attack, but pulled back just as Ken moved to block. Sarah landed two hits with Ken only managing to block the third one. Immediately, Sarah switched to defense as Ashley struck. They continued the back and forth for a couple of times until Ken had gotten the rhythm and had been switching in time to block both. Then Ashley doubled her attacks while Sarah only feinted. They continued this with the switching of the attacks following no order but with the two perfectly coordinating the attacks. Ken hadn’t been able to get a hit on either of them. From the look on Ken’s face, he hadn’t expected what was happening. Then the girls switched their attack plan again. Both attacked simultaneously with no feints. Ken didn’t try anything but to defend himself. In that, he was only now and then successful. Then the girls sped up their attack and Ken retreated from their attack.
Ken stood there staring at the two girls. He had never seen such a well-coordinated attack. There was no way he could have gone on the offensive. When they had speeded up the attack, he had to step out. He had never done that before.
“Ken, I apologize. I knew they would have a coordinated attack, but not how well it would be.” Jian also had never seen two who worked so well together. “I feel awarding them black belts is the least they deserve. When you want to test for the next level, I would like to see you go against each other. As to the Golden Gate Championship, you should definitely not compete as novices, but I have something else to offer you than competing. Would you like to perform a demonstration? You would again do the forms in the mirrored fashion you did, but then I would like to face the two of you as you fought with Master Overton.”
Ken looked at Jian. He wanted to face the two of them in front of a large number of people. Jian was good, but he expected he wouldn’t have the better of the match.
Ashley and Sarah looked at each other. A silent communication occurred between them. They turned and bowed. “We would be honored.”
Mark had watched, fascinated by the performance of all three girls. He was especially interested in how well Ashley and Sarah worked together. They had said they had tested for ESP, and they didn’t have it. He thought they would need to redo the testing. He would have talked to them later about displaying whatever they did so openly, but that wasn’t going to happen now. They had accepted Master Chang’s invitation, and by their smiles, he wasn’t going to be able to talk them out of it. He would just try to tell them they might want to consider not being so open about whatever they shared. They were smart enough to see the advantage it gave them.
When Ashley had looked over at her grandfather, she had seen the concern on his face. Sarah had then looked over at Mark. The girls again looked at each other, and a decision was made.
“Master Chang, we were looking forward to seeing how well we did in competition. If you wish to spar with us, we could do it when you come to one of the classes.” Ashley looked a little embarrassed as she rejected the offer they had just accepted.
“Yes, we can do it then.” Jian glanced at Mark, then looked at Ken. “Ken, do you see any reason why they shouldn’t have black belts?”
Ken realized there was much he was missing in what just happened. He was still having a hard time with how the two girls had handled him. “No, I know they both are deserving of black belts. I also agree they should compete in the advanced division. I think even though it puts my two girls at a disadvantage, they should be seated so they couldn’t meet until the final. Of course, if my two girls could be seated such that they couldn’t meet until the final, I would have no objections.” Seating his two top female competitors such that they didn’t meet until the final had been one of the things he had come here to do.
Jian looked at Cheng, who nodded. Jian turned back to Ken. “That’s a good suggestion. They were the two strongest competitors, so we would have placed them so. We will place the four so they don’t meet against each other until the semi-finals.”
Sandy had been upset at Ken calling Linda and Karen his girls. They were both in their late twenties and weren’t appreciative of the attention Ken had been wont to show them. It was obvious Ken had come here to ensure they didn’t meet before the finals of the competition. His ability to teach and the effort he put into helping his students were the main reasons many of the better female fighters hadn’t quit. She and Jason would have to go to the competition. The advanced female division looked like it was going to be fairly interesting. She would have to warn Linda and Karen that Ashley and Sarah should be taken very seriously. She would assign Bruce and Kang for security at the competition. She and Jason would be there as backup but not officially. It would be crowded, but a martial arts competition wasn’t a place she expected someone to try an assassination. She needed to talk to Mark and find out more about what they knew about those who were after them. Maybe they needed to talk to all three of them. Ashley and Sarah had been taken the threat seriously. All three probably knew more than they had been saying.
Mark had realized Ashley had seen his reaction to their acceptance of Master Chang’s invitation, but she hadn’t understood the reason for it. The three of them were going to have to have a long talk. He could see there were secrets they still had. He wasn’t sure if Jim and Sally should be included in learning them. He walked over to Ken.
“Mark Sawyer,” he held out his hand, and he and Ken shook. “Master Overton, Ms. Vickers recommended you for teaching me martial arts. She says you have sessions teaching one on one for those needing that type of training. I need to start from the beginning, and being in a class with children wouldn’t be to my advantage. I think individual training would be the best way to catch up to my granddaughter.” Mark nodded to Ashley, who had joined them.
Ken looked back and forth between the two. Mark didn’t look old enough to be her father, let alone her grandfather.