Black Dragon, Black Cat by Brian Edwards

Author:Brian Edwards [Edwards, Brian]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: Fiction, Action & Adventure
ISBN: 9781461109808
Google: OGmSZwEACAAJ
Amazon: B003YRIJYU
Publisher: Carrot Patch Press
Published: 2010-08-06T16:00:00+00:00

The days of fall rapidly dwindled, and the long shadows appeared earlier each evening as winter approached from the north. The sun rose later each morning, and Mao had to awaken before sunrise to begin the daily chores. The frigid morning air reminded Mao of the days to come when she would have to pry her stiff bones out of bed at each daybreak.

Her training grew more demanding, and new, more complicated material was incorporated into her practice each afternoon. She found herself consistently challenged by the new techniques, but she enjoyed the process very much. Each evening she left the practice ground feeling a mixed sense of accomplishment and pleasure.

One particular afternoon during midwinter, Jai-tien introduced a new technique into Mao’s training. “Today I will begin to teach you a new technique that will require much patience and practice to become proficient at, but when you do, it will be one of the most impressive movements that you will ever learn. To begin, I want you to perform some cartwheel exercises for me. Watch this!”

Jai-tien put both hands in the air, then rapidly bent over sideways and placed one hand on the ground, beginning a spinning motion. As his head circled lower, his legs arched over his head and his second hand touched the ground. The spin continued, giving the appearance of a rotating wagon wheel with his arms and legs representing the spokes. He completed the rotation and landed on his feet. “There,” he said, “now you do it.”

Mao had no trouble copying this, as she had done it many times as a child when playing with the boys at the monastery. She performed four in a row, and then stopped to look at her master.

“Very good,” he said nodding his head. “Since you are so good at that, now do it placing only the first hand on the ground.”

This sounded more complicated to Mao, but she nervously tried it. The first time, she touched the ground with her left hand, and then almost fell on her head as that arm collapsed under her weight. However, after several more unsuccessful attempts, she managed to perform one, although Jai-tien pronounced it to be quite sloppy.

For an hour Mao practiced this maneuver under the watchful eye of her master. By the end of this period, she was performing the movement very well, and Jai-tien pronounced that her efforts were of acceptable quality.

“Now that you have become better at that, I want you to do the same thing, but this time, rotate your body during the cartwheel so that you land facing the opposite direction to which you began.”

Mao hesitated for a long minute, trying to imagine in her mind what such a movement would look like, and how and when she would need to move various parts of her body to manage it. She was doubtful that she could do it, but nevertheless propelled herself forward to begin the motion. She bent over and placed her first hand on the ground, then rotated her body up with the momentum of her legs.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.