Executioner.379.Deep Recon.2010 by Pendleton Don

Author:Pendleton, Don [Pendleton, Don]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Published: 0100-12-31T22:00:00+00:00

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The next morning, Bolan woke up at dawn, as usual, and did his morning workout. First he did some stretches to limber himself up. Then he ran through some basic martial arts exercises, including some combinations, a few self-defense moves and more stretches.

To his surprise, there was a weight room in the safehouse, so he performed some reps with both hand weights and the barbell. Running wasn't an option, so he followed that with prearranged karate forms, which were called kata. They helped not only to condition the mind and body, but also to perfect assorted karate techniques. He did a series of advanced forms that all began and ended in a standing meditation pose.

The first one he did was the oldest known form, Sanchin kata. This sixteen-move form was done entirely in the same three-point stance that Bolan had used when he shot at Ward Dayton in Micky's bar, and with deep breathing on each movement.

Once he was done with sanchin, he worked his way through the others. Gekisai Dai and Gekisai Sho, which were created to train Japanese soldiers for battle in the days before World War II. The Executioner had always considered it ironic that he used a technique originally developed to train the enemies of America. Tsuki no, a quick and dirty kata consisting almost entirely of punches. Sai ha, which was complex and elegant where tsuki no was simple and brutal. Tensho, similar to sanchin in both stance and heavy use of deep breathing. Seinchin, a twenty-seven-move form that combined brutality with elegance.

Finally, he did one of his favorites, yansu, the moves of which were very elegant. The kata began fast and furious with an explosion of arm movements, then slowed. In particular was one movement that required a downward block with the palm heel, followed by a very slow bringing up of the arm with a wrist block, then the fingers fanning out into a collarbone strike downward. The wrist block and collarbone strike were both slow and deliberate, a challenge to one's discipline to maintain perfect form. That move was performed four times over the course of the kata's twenty moves.

When he finished the form, a voice said, "That was very pretty."

Turning, Bolan saw a bleary-eyed Erica.

"What was that?" she asked.

"It's a martial arts form called yansu. That's Japanese for 'stay pure.'"

"How's that working for you?" she asked with a ragged smile.

"As well as can be expected," Bolan said with a shrug. His purity had been taken away from him when his family was killed. Pure stopped being an option when he chose to devote his life to the pursuit of justice.

There was no need to share that with Erica Mayes, however, who had had enough problems these past twenty-four hours.

Before he could discuss a game plan with her, however, the disposable cell rang. Flipping it open, he said "Yes" in a manner that swallowed the word, so the person on the other end wouldn't be sure of the voice of the person on the other end.

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