The Path, the Tiger and the Dragon

Four years after Max has been with Khan and absorbed his lessons in kata, he had a new conception of time and understood that what is to be has always been. Therefore, waiting is not a period of inaction but merely a suspension of the future. Life is too precious. Now and then meditating eyes closed he attends to his heart. Time passes or does not pass. He realizes that through all of his time in that place he has been learning. He was reading for a while and felt someone has been standing behind looking at him. Khan, his teacher was standing there his face impassive and his head in acknowledgement. “How long have you been there”, Khan asked. Max pauses, “not very long” he said quietly. The old master reached light with his hand and smiled, “soon you will learn”. Khan’s teaching was beyond the ultimate journey. The old master left through the corridor.1

Again, Max found he could hear his heart as he kept reading. After a while he went to the courtyard where masters and students arranged into five groups of each. The courtyard is a perfect white intermingled with flashes of the sun set off by the high walls. Each group had a master and moving when a strike or cut is performed, the front foot contacts the floor in a motion similar to stamping. The development of the mind can be achieved only when the body has been disciplined. “Yes”, Max thinks “it can’t exist independently and it is only an extension”. He watched them one by one in blinding speed and facility, something like a dance but more or less but an evolving ethic. Grace, self-control, speed and patience, tenacity. Within this panorama, Max’s attention shifted becoming one with the whole. He found himself with the master moving in a slow glide, his hand inside and out that are made by the defending hands held above his dõ (chest) and almost struck by the katana (wood stave). He squat back on his left leg. He then circled Khan, stoke quickly in an aborted impact. “Extreme alertness”, Khan said and smiling fully at his prodigy. The system of the tiger teaches suppleness and rythmic endurance”, Khan said. It intercepts everything and is a soft epitome of defense. “This is the way of the Tiger.” “Of all the systems it is the most easy assumed and the most extreme . “Is not that the purpose… of pure attack”, Max asking with a concerned glance. “It is not the purpose at all nor to destroy nor bring injury in the most extreme provocation. It is mainly for demonstration and competition. We have learned this art passed down by the ancients only because it is through them that we can achieve the full control and harmony with the pathway of the body.” His face softens, “you will learn all of this through the Kata teachings”. Max was learning to assume the feline grace of a tiger. “A most remarkable system”, Khan said to his fav kobudo, which is really closest to natural and instinctive for the art.2

“ Watch the dragon now”, he said. “From the dragon we learn to ride the wind”. In one corner another master was executing a whipped sidekick, the smoothness in such that for a timeless moment he appears to be floating. He landed fluidly continuing the dragon movements. Max said, “I have never seen anything like this”. Kahn replied, “your apprenticeship won’t seem long. But it may take half a lifetime to master of one of these techniques. They outcome the spirit you see. The spirit must be assembled for their expression.” The lesson was completed and masters and students were about to leave the courtyard. The light was blinding. With a slight bow, they went inside.3

Max knew well the discipline. He was on his way to be a traditional master. He understood the ways and realized the strength before the instruction begins. All the ways of this understanding begin learning what you can, do what you can and know that all of life except for its mystery must be lived in a state of incompletion. Wong, Master of the Dragon was sitting on a bench eyes closed. He was a kata master of enormous force and great skill. He seems to complete the blend of the two with flowing motions almost imperceptible. Slowly he arises from meditation and said in summation, “Everyone possesses the inner strength.. from the best to the least this quality is within reach, difficult to develop and elusive but a power of searching inward.” “The art of kata is timeless but it must partake of the world which surrounds it in a way.. comings and goings are concealed..The ancients have given us this rice paper as a mean and test to know that life is but a great wheel and that all that has happened will someday happen once again”, added Wong softly. Max says, “Yes, but I do not quite understand. Tell me what the rice paper means.” Wong smiled pleased of Max’s appetite for knowledge. “It means this when u can walk on that rice paper up and down, all the way the length of the corridor and return, without disturbing the rice paper then your steps themselves will not be heard..” “Impossible, Max says, the very imprint of the feet..”. Wong stepped out onto the paper. He walked away toward the end of the corridor and stepped out, not a mark or a wrinkle on the rice paper. “Someday, you too will do this”, Wong affirmed. “You do not have to step a force. The paper is a reflection of the amount of kiai (chi) within the walker at the time. If elevated the walker loses contact with the transparency of rice paper. This is simple once the chi is located and protected. The body is at peace and rest.4

With Khan, Max pratices the katana intricate and stylized. He was holding the 3 feet stave in his right hand probing defense. He was looking for that quick move with the kote (wrist). The old master knew too well his art and exhausted his opponent. They began to laugh. With a hand on Max’s shoulder, the old master walked through the elaborate garden in which the roses of all colors bloomed. They walked a short path and stood in front of a bed of yellow roses. “Don’t be concerned your powers as a master are developing rapidly”, Khan stressed. “You are too kind”, Max replied. “Thank you but truly I am aware of your development. You are a true master Max.” The garden of roses was very fragrant and they stopped in contemplation. “You are almost done. You have acquired many new abilities. Kata must remain free.” He tossed the flowers gently. He folded his hands behind him. He allowed it to rest there. They walked through more and there was a sense of passage of time. The only difference was the shape of light above the high walls. Max was filled with deep contentment. The ageless master and the young student had a lot of respect for each other. Is a man’s life written before his birth and such questions having no answers perhaps.. Kahn gave a stone to Max, a tiger’s eye which fits into his palm as if it had always been there. Max knew what the old man was about to say. He had become what he has learned, knowledge.. “It’s time for u to move forward. The future is meaningful”, the old master said. At the entrance of the building, lined on either side his teachers and masters. Embossed in bronze on the wall were on the right side with a tiger, the left with a dragon. The door swang open letting in a beam of light. As Max walked toward the door, the dragon and tiger seemed to glow more brightly. He walked through it then fell forward into the light pressing into life and way, easing it away. 5