The Ninja's Blade by Tori Eldridge

Author:Tori Eldridge [Pinter, Jason]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Polis Books

Chapter

Thirty-Three

After another fitful sleep, I hit the road early and sped through the quiet streets to Sensei’s house. I had a variety of favorite biking routes, but this morning, I took Highland to Hollywood so I could check on Josie. I didn’t expect to find her loitering on a sidewalk at eight o’clock on a Sunday morning, but I couldn’t shake her from my mind.

I hadn’t seen Josie since Thursday night when I rescued her from the beating. A lot of horrible things could happen in fifty-eight hours. I pedaled faster and scanned the sidewalks for a red beret on thick black hair—or, worse, discarded in a dirty corner of a building’s entrance.

Three weary girls trudged toward a car and piled into the back seat—a daylight end to an exhaustive night. Would they hole up in some darken room, nursing their wounds until the next evening’s horror? I prayed Josie was as lucky and not lying behind a garbage bin, bleeding or dead.

My imagination darkened with every passing block. I shook my head. Josie had survived sexual abuse from family and strangers for years. What made me think she couldn’t survive a couple nights without my intervention?

I turned away from the ugly streets and my tumultuous thoughts and headed into Sensei’s serene hilly enclave. Twenty minutes later—on Sensei’s dojo mat, wearing jika-tabi boots and a black canvas gi—I flowed through the motions of Sanshin no Kata. As promised, Sensei had taken me back to the basics.

The Sanshin no Kata, also known as Three Hearts or Three Mindsets, was composed of five movements designed to be practiced in three different methods. At this moment, I performed them with the Shoshin Gokei beginner’s mind.

As Sensei counted—using the old Japanese elemental system of earth, water, fire, wind, and void—I executed the corresponding maneuvers. I sank into my knees, launched my weight, and flung my fingers. I angled and rotated and aligned. I swept, surprised, and kicked. With every repetition, I focused on new details until what was old became fresh and exciting.

“Enough,” Sensei said.

Sweat dripped from my face and onto my gi. How many repetitions had I done? From the way my undershirt stuck to my skin, I’d say more than a few.

“How do you feel?” he asked.

“Invigorated.”

“Good. Then we move onto the Gogyo no Kata.”

More than a year had passed since I had applied these techniques to an attacker. Then, Sensei had devoted seven straight days to exploration and variations, both armed and unarmed. This morning, we stuck with basics and focused only on distance, timing, and alignment.

After countless attacks and responses, Sensei stopped. “Last night, you said your movement was not smooth. How does it feel this morning?”

I considered his question. By restricting me to five basic techniques, Sensei had eliminated the three pressures that continually plagued me—choice, urgency, and consequence. Without these, I had been able to truly focus on my taijutsu.

“Much better. Thank you.”

Sensei kneeled on the mat. “And how is your mind, right now?”

“Calmer than last night.”

“But not as calm as when we were just training?”

“Exactly.

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