The Holy Grail
A casual glance was all it took, reading the local daily rag,Tai Chi classes, I wonder what Tai Chi is like, got a vague idea, I’ll go along and give it a shot. The hall was large with wooden floors and the instructor was a genial fellow and taught us the moves. After about three weeks the enthusiasm wore off and then we were informed that our instructor had to leave due to work commitments and would be replaced with another teacher. I had nearly quit but decided to continue and see what the new fellow was like and attended the next lesson with a measured degree of anticipation. I glanced over my shoulder to the right and watched as a Chinese fellow glided across the room and took up position in front of the class, I had thought to myself as I watched his entry, “That’s the man” and glued my eyes to his every move. I eventually learnt the moves and the six levels of the routine, Tai Chi 108 and practiced ardently until I had to leave due to accommodation issues. I practiced whenever I could and developed my skills over a thirty year period. Many tried to disrupt my practice, they thought many things that were untrue and feared facing me and undertook the ways of a cowardly thief in the night. Eventually they ousted me from my home and I sought refuge in a nearby town where I thought that perhaps I would be able to escape their depredations.
Then came the day, it had been a comfortable session the day before and was eagerly looking towards another relaxing session of Tai Chi. He started with Zhan Zhuang, then the limbering up exercises, then exercises for the inner organs and bone structure, so by the time he was up to Tai Chi he was relaxed and all parts of his body were limbered up and ready to go. He heard subtle whispers that had a certain allure and enticed the practitioner towards greater efforts and greater rewards. He began by testing the waters, would he hurt himself, at the ripe old age of 63 he sometimes had a certain amount of hesitation, not wanting to injure himself. He had practiced Warrior Luohan and found that he had not pulled any muscles and paused to refresh himself. He waited for the right moment and commenced his routine, he delighted in the movements and suddenly found he had the speed of a Bruce Lee or a Jet Li, whether or not he was as fast as or quicker is of no concern. He punched with the speed of lightning and his shirt cuffs made whooshing sounds as their blows found their mark.
He finished his routine and went about his business, over the next few days there were strange whispering stories, accolades that surprised him and he hesitated to take the honourable title that was bestowed upon him by the many voices of the wind. He was overjoyed by his success, a voice muttered outside his room, “We measured how fast you moved, you are faster than Bruce Lee, not as fast as Jet Li, keep up the good work and good luck in the future”.
As he sat at The Silver Table, he listened to the voices that sprang up from around the town, it was bandied around that four people had betrayed their profession and had been given a choice, a vital profession that should never have been betrayed. They had a choice, they could study with me for a period of six years and become real men and at the end they would receive a million dollars tax free payment, they would have been housed and fed as well. He waited until they had watched both the recommended videos and they debated their position with each other and the likelihood of success. They sought counsel and the organisers asked for my patience, he waited and thought that it could not be that difficult a decision, young and fit, a million dollar tax free pay check at the end of the training, turned into a well trained lethal weapon or face a hefty prison term. He waited till into the night, no one came.
