Shamrock Samurai

12 | LIFE HAPPENS

The bell on the door rang hailing my extremely late entrance. Perfect. I needed to draw more attention to myself.

Sensei was going to kill me. Mirrors lined the side walls and as I glanced up at the clock to see how late I was I caught a glimpse of my reflection. My hair was disheveled and my gi was all out of sorts. I kicked off my sneakers, straightened my hair, and fixed my gi.

Cool air from the fans hit my face, but it was juxtaposed by the slightly pungent odor of sweaty feet and humidity from all of the kids practicing. After years of attending here the smell usually didn't get to me. Today however it reminded me that I really didn't want to be here.

The middle schoolers were in rows currently practicing kicks. With each kick a loud "Hiya" resounded through the dojo.

This sucked. I needed to be prepping to kill the monster tonight, not throwing punches and kicks at invisible enemies.

It was not a big dojo by any means. There was barely room for the mats and punching bags, and the standing practice torsos. A shelf against the back wall held all of the various medals our dojo had won from competitions throughout the years. The dojo's personal emblem, a jade frog, was placed high on the back wall for all to see. It stood as a reminder that through discipline and hard comes transformation.

Before I stepped onto the mat, Sensei called everyone to attention. All of the students turned to face me and I bowed to them and to Sensei before stepping onto the mat. As I approached the front of the class I realized that more parents were here today than usual. Oh crap, was it parent day? Once a month we had parent day where the parents were invited to come and watch their kids practice to see their progress.

I made my way to Sensei and bowed again. "Sensei, sorry I'm late," I said in a low voice.

I waited for him to scold me, to pull me aside into his office. Instead he resumed practice like nothing happened. "Sempai Sean," he said, "thank you for joining us today. Now we can all learn the newest kata form."

Sensei must have been stalling, waiting for me to get there.

Despite the humidity, a cold shockwave hit my body. Not only was it a day when parents attended, it was a session partially devoted to a demonstration of the next kata. It was easier for the parents and students if they knew what goal they were aiming for. And guess who usually gave the demonstrations. That's right. Ole' Seanny boy.

Normally I didn't hate getting in front of everyone and demonstrating my skills, but I usually wasn't thirty-five minutes late to a sixty minute practice session either.

Martial arts was about disciplining the body, the mind, and the soul. How was I supposed to convey an inner balance when I needed to be prepping to slay a monster? And what was more important? Practicing martial arts, or putting martial arts to practice? I was there though. I just needed to perform the kata, let Sensei scold me, and make the best of the remainder of the day.

As I moved to the front of the class and took center stage I didn't feel any better. What form had the students last learned? Form five or form six? My brain wracked my memory, but I couldn't focus. I'd had fitful nightmares and managed to oversleep without getting actual rest all night. My thoughts went back to the Sluagh. I was unprepared like raw pork.

The kids could not have learned Form Five yet. Form Five was the newest form. I nodded my head and closed my eyes. I breathed deeply as we taught the students, trying to center myself. I moved through the kata in my mind recalling all of the steps. But instead of clearing my mind I imagined myself chopping and kicking the Sluagh with Luck Magic infused blasts of energy. Wouldn't that be something? As I went through the kata I made sure to yell loudly with each kick, throwing my Chi into each strike.