Hinn Ch. 10-11

"I will draw it when we get there, Ray. What else do we need?"

"A properly broken in gi and hakama, guards, mouthpiece, water bottle. Carrying bag."

"Shall we treat the loaded carrying bag as an accessory?"

"Makes sense, m'dear." And two small duffles appeared, one in either's hands. Flipping the shoulder strap up, Ray lead the way to his crossover SUV.

Both clambered in, latched seat belts, and Ray drove them off-campus. Tauriz acted like a tourist, watching everything going on.

"There are so many people!" she exclaimed.

"A hundred and fifty thousand live here, more or less."

"A true major city."

"There are many more humans living today than in your time, m'dear. Last I knew we had more than seven trillion souls, that's seven thousands of thousands of thousands of thousands. There are about ten cities in this nation with more than a million inhabitants and more than a hundred thirty cities worldwide that big or bigger. So a city of a hundred fifty thousand isn't all that big."

"I knew the numbers, but thank you for helping me grasp what they mean - thousands of thousands of thousands of thousands? That is a trillion?"

"Yep. Lots of people."

"How many starve?"

"As a percentage, few. It's still too many -- none need to starve. We can produce more food on the planet than we need, but between poor logistics and sociopolitical factors, we can't get all that food where it's needed."

"At least I can recognize some problems, if not all the details that drive them."

A short time passed as they drove and Ray turned off into an older strip mall. Driving to the rear of the lot, he parked, and they both got out. Locking up, they walked up to a storefront with a modest grey-on-white "Aikido of America" sign over the door. Ray unlocked the door and turned the alarm to standby before ushering Tauriz in.

"Women's locker room in the back left, pick any open locker to store your things. Meet you back out here once you're changed. Gi top and hakama, barefoot, please. Walk to the sides, barefoot only on the mats."

She nodded, and a few minutes later, both returned to the mats. Ray bowed to the mats before bowing to the school shrine before stepping onto the mats, and Tauriz followed his example.

"Can you keep yourself to human capabilities? I'd forgotten to ask - if you can't, we just wasted time."

"I can do so, even if it means losing a practice match. I am unable to do so in anything truly realistic, though."

"Bindings?"

"Yes, the bindings."

"Then let's spar at half normal human speed to start. Would you like to initiate or receive the first attack?"

"Your call, Ray."

"Too late, I asked you first," he grinned. "It matters - each position has its advantages and weaknesses, as you know. But it's also good etiquette on the mats, which is important to keeping a consistent supply of sparring partners available."

"Then I shall initiate."

"Begin."

Tauriz took up a stance Ray hadn't quite seen before. It looked a bit like Thai boxing, in that both hands were held vertically in from of the upper body and head, but unlike Muy Thai, she didn't make fists, and her arms were closer together than he'd come to expect from that school.

Her footwork wasn't visible, which was the whole purpose of the hakama, a long and sturdy skirt or kilt that reached from high on the waist to just off the ground if standing straight. No one stood straight when fighting -- there were too many advantages granted to your foe or foes if you did.

Ray took on the basic ready posture used in Aikido, the hanmi. Left foot forward, right 'teed' shoulder width behind it, weight evenly balanced between them. His hands were open and loose, his arms slightly forwards and spread out from where they'd rest had he just let them dangle.

She moved well, sliding around to Ray's right and moving in towards striking range. He couldn't be sure when she was taking a step or when she had both feet on the ground. He turned, rotating on the ball of his left foot to keep the tee of his feet pointed at her center of gravity.

"Slower, Tauriz. Half the speed of a normal human."

She nodded and took a step back, taking one deep breath, then came back in. She moved slower as he'd requested, but just as smoothly as before.

She leaned a little left, but her center of mass didn't shift, so Ray stayed put. A faint smile flickered across her face, and she stepped across his body. He noted that she subtly closed the distance between them a fraction of an inch as well.

Her body leaned right, but her center of mass didn't move this time either, so Ray stayed put and waited. Tauriz leaned further and then a little further, but Ray kept watch on her hips and her center of mass.

She turned away from Ray. He moved forward as quickly as the rules allowed. Tauriz' left foot swung towards him, rising as she powered it with her body's twisting motion.

Ray was inside her kicking distance by the time her inner thigh caught his hip, avoiding the force multiplier of her long, muscular leg. His right hand hooked under the middle of her left thigh just above where it had impacted his body. He lifted as his left hand reached for her right shoulder and seemingly gently tapped her upper shoulder blade.

The combination of forces and the timing of their delivery would have caused her to stumble away from him, but his grip on her left thigh kept her from regaining her balance, and she fell to the mats awkwardly.

Ray followed her down and landed astride her right leg, each knee thudding into the well-padded mats. Had this been a real fight, both knew he'd have fallen knees-first on her, at least bruising her badly, assuming his strike didn't do worse.

She said, "Point," conceding his win. He helped her back to her feet as they both smiled at each other. "Your turn to attack first, Ray."

"Very well," he said as he regained his initial stance. She returned to hers as well, but this time turned slightly, presenting a little more of her left side than the right.

"Begin," she said. As she spoke, Ray lifted his leading foot off the mats and lunged directly at her, leading with a slow-motion kick.

She stepped behind him, to his left. Her right leg slipped up behind his kick and gently twisted it just far enough to be out of its way, almost incidentally causing him to step further than he'd intended, putting him slightly off balance.

He saw her long braid appear off his right shoulder, fully extended and swinging slowly horizontally. Spotting the threat, Ray bent his left arm bent at the elbow letting his forearm shoot up to guard his throat from the setup for a strangulation attack.

He felt three taps on his back, a pair over his kidneys, and a third at the base of his skull. "Point," he said, granting her the win. She was vicious!

"One more set at half speed, then maybe see about human speeds?"

"Yes, Master," she said.

Taking a long step back, he said, "Begin."

They danced one more set of slower steps, and then they started to move faster. A half-hour later, fully warmed up, she suggested going yet more quickly. "OK, Tauriz, I'll trust you."

Had anyone seen their actions, they would have thought they were watching an action flick. They performed the impossible, flickering light attacks faster than human eyes could have followed, stronger attacks knocking each other around like rag dolls that still somehow regained control of their motions before hitting anything.

"This point, Ray, I would like you to use samum defensively. Move, deflect, perceive, whatever you choose."

"Very well, m'dear," he replied. He had never felt better, just barely perspiring, the few strikes that had gotten through leaving deep bruising that quickly faded as weeks of healing occurred in seconds. No matter the strength behind the attack, nothing worse than bruising had happened - no tears, no joint damage, no cracked bones, or cartilage rupture.

She lined up against him, still using the same ready stance. He flicked out jawhar, surrounding both of them in separate bubbles. She grinned, and then she struck, not at him but at the jawhar. For only the second time, he felt pain from rwh. It was nowhere near as intense as when she'd altered him, but it still was deeply unfamiliar and caused him some slight distraction.

She mercilessly used that distraction to close the distance and take him down. He'd known that that'd occur as soon as he realized he'd been distracted by the pain, but it had been too late to recover.

"Jawhar are connections, Master. They are incredibly useful, but you need to defend them as much as your rwh does."

"And how does one go about defending one's rwh and jawhar?"

As soon as he asked the question, he felt the information settle into his awareness. It was like learning a new black belt level skillset in between heartbeats. He was aware of the balances, the tradeoffs to offense and defense, strength and flexibility, through the many options available.

"Nicely done, Ray. But - I think we finished sparring like that for now - people are arriving to join us, I believe."

"You are correct, m'dear. I hope this won't be too boring for you, working at this level."

"There are always analogies to other levels, Master. They just wait for discovery."

He smiled and walked over to hug her.

"Hello, Sensei Helms!" came the call from the doorway. "And who is this?"

"My girlfriend, Tauriz Aoud. Tauriz, I'd like you to meet an obnoxiously skilled, bad-humored individual who also just happens to own this school, Sensei Darryl Cleveland."

"Ma'am, it's an honor to find someone who dares try to keep Ray on the straight and narrow!"

"Whoever said that Sensei?" she flirted back, to his laughter and Ray's faint blush.

"I see you've some experience with Aikido?" he asked.

She nodded as Ray added, "I met her at the training in Toronto the weekend before last."

"That's quick, Ray!"

"I'm lucky to have any chance, Darryl."

"I don't doubt it! You two here for the long haul?"

"Up to the individual classes at least, Darryl."

"Wonderful - thank you!"

"Bah, told you I'd help out."

"So you did, Ray. And, um, Tammiz, was it?"

"Tauriz, Sensei."

"That's a blackbelt you're wearing. Sensei is for those who haven't gotten there yet. Where'd you train?"

Drawing from Ray's knowledge of the attendees at the Toronto event, Tauriz filled in her backstory. Ray wished within Hinn that the teachers she mentioned would recall training her, as well as some of her peers in the dojos.

"Personal question time, and tell me to take a long walk off a short pier if you want, but - are you two an item?"

"Yes, Darryl, we are," she confirmed, and Ray smiled, just hugging her.

"She any good, Ray?"

"Flipped me all over the place, Darryl."

"Then a couple of things, Tauriz. I won't ask you to take off your, er, jewelry there, nor will I otherwise comment - to each their own. Second, I'll make the same offer to you that I made to Ray - if you can help out teaching once a week or more, you can train here for free, and we'll get you a key and the alarm combo."

"Sounds like a nice deal to me, I will be glad to accept, Darryl."

"Go get changed, Darryl, and you can show her your specialty."

"Ooh, you're THAT far in your relationship are you? Hah! OK, this'll be fun!"

Darryl shuffled quickly off to the men's lockers.

"His specialty?"

"Yep! And - I've blocked that memory for the moment. It'll be better that you don't know exactly how best to counter. I suspect you'll still surprise him, though - you'll want your mouthguard for this."

"OK!" She skipped over to where she'd left her extra gear, just off the back of the mats. As she tucked her mouthguard in place, Darryl came back.

"Ray, were you sparring without the right equipment?"

"Yep!"

Darryl laughed and bowed onto the mats. He pumped out a hundred perfect pushups and situps, then snapped up to his feet. "OK then - full speed OK, Tauriz?"

"All right, but I won't accept any griping about bruises in that case."

Ray laughed as Darryl froze and just looked at her. He set himself square to her and bowed formally. She returned the honor just as profoundly, then fell back into the classic hanmi ready stance and waited.

Darryl's eyebrows rose a fraction when he noticed her perfect form. She was too calm, he realized, she didn't seem to feel any concern about this bout. Most people coming into a new school would be at least a little nervous, trying to leave a good first impression, but she wasn't at all concerned.

And she was too experienced not to care. Darryl felt a little flutter deep in his belly, a little concerned.

Ray shouted, "Begin!" and they did.

Darryl wasn't using a classic stance at all and seemed just to be walking in Tauriz' general direction. She honored the threat, maintaining perfect alignment as he approached. A fraction of an inch before he entered his preferred striking distance, he froze. She kept her textbook-perfect form, patiently waiting, not anticipating, just ready.

Perhaps a minute passed before Darryl took a long step backward and sketched a bow in her direction. She smiled and returned the brief courtesy before snapping back into stance.

Darryl slid smoothly into hanmi and began to circle. She didn't shift, however, letting him move as he would around her, keeping her perfect hanmi.

Stopping about a third of the way around Tauriz, off her front right, he stopped for a second before stepping in and throwing a combination of fists and a foot. She tucked and rolled away from him as he committed to the strike, coming back up to her feet and back into that hanmi. She was smooth and precise, with no wasted motion.

Darryl laughed and approached again in hanmi before starting to circle the other way. She let him gain an advantage a second time. As he passed just outside her ideal cone in front of her, he struck again, stepping in to go for a grapple.

This time she met him, deflecting one of his hands high and hip checking him gently, knocking them off the line he needed for that attack. Her other hand crossed their chests and grabbed the armpit of his gi top before tugging gently.

He leaned back against the pressure only to have her reverse the pressure and push in harmony to his lean. Her legs shifted, trapping one of his through both their hakama showing she knew precisely where his leg had been hiding. His offhand swung in, going for an elbow to try to make space for him to recover in, and she accepted the strike on her upper arm. She'd braced her torso for the strike, adding its momentum to her pressure on his gi. Darryl spun a little quicker as she followed him down to the mats.

Her elbow from her deflecting arm came down sharply on his collar bone, and the only reason he didn't break a bone was because she pulled the strike. He tumbled to the mats, entirely out of control, and she shifted her legs a little more as he did. One of her feet landed on top of his, just as her other thigh slipped behind his knee. Just as she had the right position, she jumped, preventing him from popping his knee out of joint from the leverage of his fall.

She stepped back and bowed to him. Laughing, he rolled back up to his feet and returned her courtesy more profoundly, showing his respect for her skill.

"She did that to me all the time in Toronto, Darryl. She's VICIOUS!" Ray enthused.

It was hard to tell under her bronzed skin, but she might have blushed as the two men laughed.

Several hours went by as the classes came in and left, starting with the newest practitioners in the form and working their way up until the group blackbelt class at nine. Most of the black belts had been there since four, helping teach as they warmed up and practiced the basics.

Each hour was structured similarly - fifteen minutes of aerobic exercise to warm up, a half-hour drilling skills, and fifteen minutes of sparring in various combinations. By nine, one of the black belts was showing a little fatigue, but the rest were still going strong. Darryl asked the tired blackbelt if she was OK, and she explained she was still getting over the birth of her latest child. "I need the exercise -- it helps keep me calm while all the other rug rats run wild," she grinned.

Tauriz touched Ray via Hinn, querying him about her. He shared warm feelings about the woman with Tauriz -- she was a sweetheart and a hard worker. Her husband had left her during this last pregnancy, and she was struggling a little.

Tauriz replayed some of her kinder Masters' actions, showing them helping various people via individual wishes. Ray clued in as to what she was really asking, and they debated briefly, sharing thoughts and concerns. Settling their doubts, Ray wished for Julia's improved health, then wished again for an ideal reward for her perseverance and loving care of her children for her. They didn't know what the wish would do, but Tauriz was delighted with the reward she'd been given by Ray earlier, so he repeated the event.

Idly, he wondered what she'd gotten out of the wish, and she didn't reply other than to reiterate her surprised pleasure at the results. He didn't press her for details.

Bowing off the mats, they put street clothes back on and bid their farewells to those staying behind for more individual training as they left.