Rivalries From The Past

Counterbalance

Since that day the three of us recommitted ourselves to Cobra Kai. Me and Miguel have started each day by working out together. We would do a set of pushups, sit-ups, crunches, and finish it off with a run. Then we would practice the moves that Lawrence taught us and then after school would go to Cobra Kai for the karate lesson Lawrence had planned for that day. After multiple lessons, Miguel is finally able to beat Lawrence. "Nice one man" I say cheering him on before Lawrence shoots a baseball at Miguel that hits him in his right ear. "Ah" Miguel groans in pain falling to the ground holding his ear, "What? What the hell? That...that wasn't fair." "Oooh" I say cringing. "You want a fair fight, dream on" Lawrence says standing up, "Your enemies won't always play by the rules."

"Yeah but...my ear" Miguel says. "What if that baseball was one of your enemy's friends coming at you from behind? You have to be prepared for everything" Lawrence says, "Let me look." Miguel stands up and Lawrence takes a look at it. "No it's fine" Lawrence says, "Don't be a baby." Easy for you to say, you're not the one that just got hit in the head by a baseball. The door opens and a group of women walk in. I look at Lawrence and raise my eyebrow. "It's five o'clock" one of the woman says. "Oh right, right" Lawrence says. "What going on" Miguel asks. "Uh, I had to sublet the dojo for a few hours" Lawrence replies, "Just til we get more students." After that me and Miguel head home.

The next day, Lawrence is having us practice our punches. I have finished my second round and Miguel is currently in the middle of the second round. I am standing off to the side, checking my phone. Aisha had mentioned that she might swing by after I told her about Cobra Kai and I was trying to convince her to try it out. The door opens and Lawrence says, "No yoga til five, no matter how bad you need it." This makes me look over and I see Aisha standing there. I smile and wave at her. "I'm actually here for karate" Aisha says, "Eros mentioned Cobra Kai to me and said I should join, he said there was a session today."

"I appreciate you coming in and for Eros spreading the word" Lawrence says "But there are no girls in Cobra Kai." "Why not" Aisha asks. "Same reason there aren't women in the army" Lawrence says, "Doesn't make sense." "Uh Sensei" Miguel says, "I need to show you something in the office." "Give us a second" I say. We walk into Lawrence's office. Once we enter Lawrence says, "Don't give me this sexist bullshit. Women just aren't meant to fight. They have tiny, hollow bones." I roll my eyes at that. "Aren't you desperate for more students" Miguel asks.

"Come on Sensei" I say, "I talked Cobra Kai up to her, I pretty much had to beg her to give it a shot." "Yes, but this isn't a knitting class" Lawrence says, "This is a dojo." "She needs this, kids at school bully her" I say, "That's how I was able to convince her to give it a shot." "Kids at school call her names and make fun of her" Miguel says backing me up. "Well that's what you get when you eat a box of Twinkies everyday" Lawrence says. "Her dad is Isaiah Robinson" Miguel says, "Hall of fame lineman for the Chargers." "So you're saying it's genetic" Lawrence asks, "Her love for Twinkies comes from her dad?"

That's not the point Lawrence. "I'm saying her family is loaded" Miguel says, "And she would be your first paying customer." "Second" I say, "But you don't need the money right?" "All right" Lawrence says. We walk out of the office and see Aisha standing there. "Ok take off your shoes and hop on that mat" Lawrence says. Aisha does that and walks onto the mat. Lawrence stands in front of her while me and Miguel stand off to the side. "Ok after further review, I've decided to allow female students" Lawrence says, "But if you wanna be in Cobra Kai, you can't act like a girl." "What do you mean" Aisha asks, "How do girls act?" "Oh you know" Lawrence says, "All emotional, loud, complain-y, never letting you finish a sentence."

Aisha rolls her eyes, "Well I know a few guys who act just-" "Quiet" Lawrence yells, "My students tell me you've been harassed at school." "Yeah mostly online" Aisha says, "I get mean text and emails sent to me. Makes me not wanna go." "And who sends you these messages" Lawrence asks "Well they're mostly anonymous" Aisha answers, "These kids create fake accounts and they tell me things like I'm ugly and that I should kill myself." "Oh my God, what a bunch of pussies" Lawrence says, "Back in my day, if you wanted to tease someone, you did it to their face. There was honor, respect. These geeks hiding behind their computers, what a bunch of spineless losers. You're not afraid of these losers are you?"