Short Story: The would-be Karate Student

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John had wanted to learn karate when he was still a boy, but his father, being somewhat restrictive of the things that he would allow young John to do, objected, and prevented him from doing this. When John started working then, and had a little money put aside, this was the first thing that he did. He enrolled in a Karate school, under the Karate teacher, Susan Caroway. John’s thinking here was, that because he was a bit of a weak, wimpish specimen of a male, it would go easier for him, if his Karate teacher was a lady. The style of Karate this lady taught, was called, 'Hemkado", the art of the empty mind. This is good, John had thought to himself. Martial arts should be more about mind than muscle. The first class, though, was not much about the mind. It was all mostly physical exercise routines, except for the last five minutes or so, where the teacher had run them through a short relaxation cooler down exercise, using purely the mind to achieve this. She had told them to perform some push-ups in their minds, then to roll over, still in their minds, and do some sit-ups. Then they were to close their eyes, but look upwards, tilting their heads towards the ceiling, and then say the word “oomph” loudly 3 or more times, as they were comfortable with doing this. John said this word, and he felt sort of relaxed the very first time that he said it. The word carries an inner hum to it, and the inner vibrations calmed him instantly. Chanting this word is rather meditative, a bit like some Eastern meditators chant the word "Om, or aum". The word "oomph" though starts off calmly, and has a kick at the end. John had asked his teacher about this, at the end of that first class, and this was her reply: "Why do we use the word “oomph”, and what is the kick-in, abrupt sound at the end all about then?" Susan had replied: "Life is mostly to be lived peacefully, with the occasional need to add a bit of kick to it." "Such an explosion of explosive energy livens you up with itself, and so both qualities make for life, aliveness and docility are both required, at various times in life." "We chant the first part of the word in a long drawn out way, and then end it abruptly, at the end." John enjoyed his first class then, and he went on to eventually teach at this karate school himself, down the track, in several years time. We all need to live our own lives, and once free of his father’s influence, John blossomed at last then, by living his life in his own way. Photo Credit: The photo used here was freely sourced from the free media site: pixabay.com Most good sports involve us in the use of both our minds, and our bodies.