Dragon Ball Z: Paradise Found

Invaders Care About Your Dental Care

A pair of men stood in front of one another with their fellow martial artists lined up behind each fighter and scrutinizing their confrontation. On the farthest side of the dojo sat a muscular and bald, three-eyed man who also kept close attention to the confrontation. The two martial artists collided with one another, trading blows and kicks. Neither one of them backed down in the beginning, even though the one on the left had attempted to trip up and sweep his opponent into surrendering a favorable position.

The slightly slimmer fighter on the right persevered, wincing when the sweeping foot collided with his calf or heel but fighting on through the pain and defying the wobbly balance that came as a result. With a stout and balanced fighting stance and stiff, straight fists, the man moved on and grabbed hold of his opponent's shirt, flipping him over his shoulder and slamming him down on the mat. The fighter on the right locked and loaded his fist and slammed it into the chest of the fallen martial artist, robbing him of any willpower to keep fighting.

"The fight is over!" Tenshinhan declared, raising his hand. While the fallen fighter still bubbled with bloodthirst, upon hearing his master proclaim that the fight was done, he stood up to the best of his ability and bowed to his superior this day. Tenshinhan approached both warriors and thanked them for a good and fair fight with a bow of his own, to which both warriors responded with a synchronized turn and bow of their own.

"You are a mighty warrior, Reis. Even after losing out on your dinner yesterday, you still beat me." The warrior on the left congratulated his opponent. Reis nodded in acknowledgment of his opponent's compliment but said nothing back.

"Do you know why you lost, Sous?" Tenshinhan turned to his student. "It was not because Reis is necessarily more powerful or skilled than you. You've both been my students for about the same amount of time and Reis is, in fact, less bulky than you. The reason you lost is that you are lacking in heart."

"Heart, master?" Sous bowed, requesting his martial arts master to explain.

"That's right. I was a lot like you when I was younger. You'd think that the advantage of eating more than your opponent, entertaining yourself during the late evenings and having a good time, targeting your opponent's vitals, and tripping them up would grant you an advantage but... In the world of martial arts that is not so." Tenshinhan pointed out.

"I'm not sure I understand, master. I thought any tactics are allowed... How can I lose to Reis just because I have eaten dinner and had fun yesterday evening after the training was finished? If anything, it should have tempered my body..." Sous rubbed the back of his bald head. He shivered in respectful fear when his master approached him and pat his student on the shoulder with a caring look.

"I was a lot like you in my youth. I thought that if I gained a rational advantage over my opponent–given my talent for martial arts, surely, I would win any bout. I've come to learn that it is not so. Being pure of heart is much more important. Purging the need for victory, pleasure, and mercy, living only for the sake of martial arts, and taking no shortcuts will make your training many times more effective. Fighting truthfully and striking straight, with genuine and clear intent, will achieve much more than sweeping your opponent in the end, though both are valid methods of attack." Tenshinhan pointed out after walking out in front of all of his students that aligned themselves in a formation before their master.

Just as Tenshinhan was about to impart another nugget of wisdom to his students and speak from his own experience, the ground shook beneath their feet, imparting the students with a newly gained sense of weightlessness as they hovered above the collapsing floor. Only Tenshinhan had adopted a perfect, balanced fighting stance that was necessary to stand his ground in the face of such a potent earthquake.