The Memoirs of Cordelia Chan

For the first few weeks at College I was too busy settling in to have time to worry about finding a new Bujinkan (Ninjitsu) Sensei. After the Thanksgiving holiday I set about searching the San Francisco Bay area for one. With no success following the Christmas break, I determined that either there was no Bujinkan Sensei in the region or that they did not wish to be found. Well, if the pupil could not find the Sensei, perhaps pupil could entice the Sensei to come to her. All the pupil needed was a suitable Dojo.
In my search I had visited most of the Dojo's in the area, even if I didn't actually go in many of them. One of them only held classes on Saturdays and 3 nights a week. I wondered if it would be possible to hire the place on the other two nights, and hold classes there. There was only one way to find out.
I made a few enquiries to determine when the most advanced classes were held, and who ran the school. It was run by an ex-marine who'd served in Vietnam, and who'd learnt Kara Te whilst in service. I arranged things so that I would arrive about 15 minutes after the class had started. I circled the practice floor, memories of the last time I'd done this surfacing unbidden, until I was about six feet from him, and waited. After about 10 minutes he signaled one of the elder students to take over and turned to face me.
"And what brings you here missy "
"My name is Cordelia Chan, and I'd like to rent this Dojo when you're not using it"
He laughed, and I restrained my self, I was not here to pick a fight
"Is that so? What would a little chinky cook want with a Dojo?"
"I would like to open a Bujinkan Dojo"
"What so so you teach all your cook friends"
"I will teach who ever wishes to learn"
"Well. You can take your cute little cook arse out of here, or if you hang on a bit I've got 10 dollars for a good time."
He took a step towards me. "So your answer is no then"
"Yep. And I think I'll have me a cook anyway"
He took another step.
"I would seriously advise you against coming any closer"
"What you gonna do? Whip my butt?" He laughed, stepped forward, and tried to grab me.
He was quicker than I expected, but I parried and blocked his blows all the same. He then attempted a couple of kicks but these were even easier to avoid. He then tried to bullrush me, football style, forcing me to leap over him, and roll.
Unfortunately one of his students was in the way, and came down on top of me, as I rolled through him. As I got back to my feet, the Sensei was waiting for me. I managed to block the blow aimed at my head, but couldn't turn enough to avoid the one aimed at my bust. As I reeled backwards he came forward again, throwing a set of fast punches. My carefully thought out plan was going out of the window, as I now needed to finish this quickly before I got seriously hurt. All I could do was take the punches on the arms, since I wished to land the kick I was about to deliver. He hit the ground with a thud and then vomited. "I sorry" I said "But you left me little choice."
Waving at one of his pupils I said " get some ice, some cloths, some water, and a bucket and mop to clear that up."
They stood there for a fraction of a second, before two of them rushed me. This was going to get nasty. I sidestepped, turning the first one's rush into the path of the second, and kicked the second's knee from under him, ensuring they both went down. I heard the crack as the kick landed, and the scream as he hit the floor. I blocked the next ones punch, flat handed, grabing the arm, and spinning him into the group which had backed off. The problem was, I was now running out of space, and there were three of them advancing on me. I heard, someone spit, and then a gravelly voice said "Enough"
The three of them came on. I dropped into a squat, punched the middle one in the stomach, grabbed his arm, as he double over, stood up, span, dropped him, and did a back flip. The gravelly voice came again "I said enough, and you missy, I think you should leave. "
Slowly I backed to, and through the door, and then ran until I reached the end of the block. It had been a disaster, and I was back to square one again.

Towards the end of the following week I had a visitor. It was quite late at night and I was vary of opening the door. An elderly gentleman of Korean extraction and a young girl of perhaps 13 stood there. "Miss Chan" the girl began
"Yes "
"May we come in? My grandfather has a matter he wishes to discuss with you."
I moved aside and gestured for them to come in. "Would you like tea?"
"That is most kind"
I made tea whilst they seated themselves. Both chose to sit on the floor, the girl to the left of the old man.
I got out a table and placed it in front of them. I put the tea things on the table and sat down opposite the old man. The girl moved to pour the tea and spoke as she did so, " My Grandfather is Young-Jae Lee and I am Choi Lee " She finished pouring, and sat back. Her Grandfather started to speak, and she translated into English.
"I have heard a story about an Oriental girl who went into a Dojo and picked a fight with the Sensei and his class. It is said that she broke the leg of one student, the arm of a second, ruptured the spleen of a third, and put two others in hospital for several days."
"Interesting story, but a coin has two sides.
The version I heard went slightly differently. The girl had gone to the Dojo because she wanted to rent it when the Sensei was not using it. The Sensei had attacked the girl, due to bad experiences in his past, and she had defended herself. When she was forced to incapacitate the Sensei, several of his students had taken offense and also attacked the girl, and she had been forced to defend herself again."
"That too is an interesting story, but why would the girl want to rent the Dojo?"
"She needed a way to earn some money to help pay for her schooling and hoped to attract a new Sensei to continue her education."
"And if I told you I owned the Dojo?"
"Then I would have to apologise if I caused you any offense, and if permitted ask if I could rent the Dojo when it was not being used."
He offered me his hand, "Well it appears that I have a new tenant as the Dojo is no longer being used. There is one condition however, you must teach Choi Lee, my granddaughter."
"It would be an honour"
"Come to dinner on Sunday and we can sort out the necessary details then. Good evening Miss Chan"
" Call me Li Feng, Lee-San". I stood and escorted them to the door, "Kamsahamnida" I said as they left. Choi looked at me in surprise.

It was going to take a little while to sort everything out, so I made up some posters, stating that "Classes in Bujikan - The Art of Ninjitsu - would be starting at the beginning of the following month at the newly renamed Phoenix Dojo. Anyone interested in joining a class should register their interest in advance. I would be at the Dojo Tuesday and Thursday evenings from 7 pm until 10pm."
By the time the date of the first class came around, I had 11 names for the Tueday class and 8 names for the Thursday class. Of the 11, 9 actually showed up and 5 were in Gi's, including Choi Lee. Mr Lee had also turned up to watch the class. I had just finished going through the Dojo rules, when the doors opened, and 7 men in their late teens/ early twenties entered. I recognised 3 of them from the Kara Te class I had disrupted. They all carried baseball bats.
I moved the students to against the left hand wall, and snapped the handle off the broom I had used to clean the floor. Mr Lee wanted to help but I insisted he stay out of the way. I could handle this lot. I moved back to the center of the room and tucked the broom handle under my arm. " I would suggest that you gentlemen leave now before any of you get hurt." One of them said " Get her" and they fanned out and rushed me. I took three quick steps to my left, flicked the broom handle out, hitting the leftmost assailant on the knee, and then smashed it into his face as he went down. Twirling the handle I flicked the bat of the next one out of the way with one end and rammed the other into his groin. As he went down, I grabbed the falling bat, and threw it at the third one, catching him in the chest with it. As he staggered, I used the broom handle to break his knee, snapping it in the process. By know two of them had got close enough to swing their bats at me, forcing me to roll several times, before I could get back to my feet in clear air. There were still four of them, all armed and I was temporarily without a weapon. They were also being slightly more careful now.
"You could always collect your friends and leave now."
"Not until you've paid bitch"
"Have it your way " As I'd been talking I slowly allowed them to back me around the room, until I was close to where the first one of the group had gone down. In the process they had spread out. I rolled, grabbed the bat off the floor, rolled, struck, and rolled again. There was another scream and three on their feet.
"That's another one to me then " I said.
The middle one of the remaining three, threw his bat at me and charged. I knocked it aside and caught him with a spin kick to the sternum. Two remained.
"So who wants to be next? Come on don't be shy. You've disrupted my class and I want to finish this little demonstration so I can get the place cleaned up. " I heard a noise behind me and rolled. As I came to my feet, I chopped down, open handed, catching him on the side of the neck. We were back to two standing again.
I could now hear police sirens. The other two, moved as if to grab their mates, so I blocked their paths. "leaving so soon I said "
There was the sound of a car halting, and the tell tale flash of police lights. They bolted for the door dropping their baseball bats in the process. As they got outside I heard the words "Police. Freeze." and the sound of a second car arriving. The door opened again and two police officers entered, guns drawn. " Good evening Officers, can I be of assistance"
" Stay Where you are. Don't move. Slowly, toss that bat over here"
I let the bat go and kicked it so it landed at his feet. "Right down on the floor, legs spread, hands above you head" I heard Mr Lee say "Officer, She's not to blame in this" "We'll decide that. You all stay exactly where you are." The door opened and more officers came in. The two that had been in the doorway, moved over to me. One put his gun against the side of my head, whilst the other handcuffed my arms behind my back. They hoisted me to my feet, and took me outside. " Any trouble from you, and there'll be one less chink to worry about." They pushed me against the control car, and searched me. It was not a pleasant experience. Reporting it would be a waste of time as it would be my word against theirs.
The took me down town and put me in a cell. I suppose I should have been grateful that it was empty, but I didn't see it that way at the time. Three hours went by before I was removed from the cell and taken to an interview room. A few minutes went by and a detective of oriental descent came in. "I'm Detective Huo-Jin Sun. It would seem Miss Chan, that you are the innocent party here. Mr Lee has been quite steadfast in his statement that you were attacked and merely defended yourself and your students. Perhaps you should tell me what happened."
"Not without a lawyer present." I said.
"You haven't been cautioned yet " he replied
"And that makes a difference?"
"Yes. Nothing you say can be used in evidence against you"
So I told him the story. "That seems to tally with what Mr Lee, and your other students said. The other seven gentlemen have several somewhat different stories. You are free to go now, but I shall be keeping an eye on you.

He was more than somewhat true to his word. For the next 5 weeks he turned up for the first half an hour of every class. I also doubled the number of students in class the following week. On the fourth week I had another strange visitor.
He turned up about half way through the class, entered, and moved to the side where he could watch me rather than the rest of the class. He was white, about 6'2", athletic, and I guessed in his late 30's or early 40's. As I had no students who could run the class I kept going until I came to a natural break, gave the class 15 minutes down time, and walked over to speak to him. "Can I help you?"
"How would I go about joining your class?"
"That would depend upon why you want to join the class and what your current experience was"
"Well, If I said I had no experience and wanted to join because I was having problems with my neighbour and wanted to learn to fight so I could beat him up?"
"Then I'm afraid you'd have to find another Dojo and teacher"
"How about, if my doctor said I needed to get more exercise and I thought a martial art would be fun"
"Then I'd suggest something less strenuous like Tai-Chi Chuan, but your doctor did not send you here."
"True. How about, if I wanted to learn because I'd heard you were a good teacher, and I wanted to learn a martial art because it was good exercise, and may come in handy if I ever need to defend my self"
"Then I would accept on the basis that you obeyed my rules and if you ever broke them you'd have to leave."
"How about if I'd done a martial art of a different form previously and wanted to learn a new style "
"Then if I were a Sensei I'd test you to find out what you already knew, and adapt a training program from the results of the test. I'd also expect you to help teach class. So have you done a martial art before?"
"Then if you're not a Sensei, why are you teaching?"
"That's my business"
"Perhaps. Indulge me for a few minutes"
"Because I need the money to help pay my way through college"
"Is that the only reason. You don't have anything to prove then."
"What do you mean?"
"Wasn't there an incident here a few weeks ago where several local youths were badly beaten up."
"Yes."
"You're not going to say anything else"
"Not unless you give me a good reason why I should. As far as I'm concerned the matter is closed."
"Yes. I have had some training before. I would like to join your class. Perhaps, we should forget that you are not a Sensei, assume that you are, and you should test me"
"You're sure."
"Isn't that what I just said"
I almost said "Yes Sensei" but held my tongue, for I was beginning to suspect more was going on here than had been apparent at the outset. In Japanese I ordered the class to assemble around the edge of the practice square and sit as I had been teaching them. A couple needed gentle reminders, but they had all taken their places, by the time he was ready. He'd taken off his shoes and jacket, and was now dressed in loose trousers and a t-shirt. I bowed and he reciprocated. I suggested that he attack first so that I could see what he knew. If I failed to avoid the blow then it would not be his fault.
He complied, attacking really slowly, almost stiffly. I asked him if he always telegraphed his blows and fought as if wearing a straight jacket. He relaxed and started attacking more freely. After a few minutes I started to attack back, slowly at first, and then speeding up until I was using everything I knew and still not getting close. I stepped out and bowed, keeping my guard up and eyes on him. He did like wise.
"You fight well Li Feng. I am Clinton Mcallister. Sensei Toguwara said you had talent but I see you have much to learn still. Dismiss your students and we will talk further."
I did as he asked, and then continued in Japanese. " We have no facilities for refreshment here, but my apartment is not too far, unless there is somewhere else you wish to go?"
"I it were earlier I may have suggested a bath house if you knew of one. Your apartment is therefore preferable to my motel room. "
"Why'd you think a bathhouse would not be open at this time?"
"Well I doubt I'd have been able to find one open in Nagoya at this time of night"
"You've been to Japan then?"
"Yes. I've spent the last 15 years there. Now are we going to your apartment or are we going to have this conversation here?"
"There is a bath house we can go to if you'd prefer"
"No. Your apartment will be fine. I'm going to be in enough trouble with my wife when she finds out your my student as it is, without having shared a bath with you."
I blushed. I was relieved he'd not opted for the bath house. A train of thought had started, and I if we'd gone to the bath house I'm not sure quite what would have happened. Until now I hadn't realized I'd missed Katsumi quite so much.
We left the Dojo and went back to my apartment, he declined the offer of a shower, and I resisted need to have one until he'd gone. I made tea and we sat down to talk.
He worked for Fukawara Semiconductors who were just setting up a new factory in the Valley. He'd come back to manage the plant, bringing his Japanese wife and two sons with him. When he'd informed, the Bujinkan Council they'd asked him if he'd come and determine my status, because they had no official records as to my Kyu, and needed to ensure that I was adhering to their guidelines, before they could ratify the standing of the Dojo.
I said, I didn't understand. Sensei Toguwara, had assessed me many times for the Kyu exams. They'd been the hardest sessions to get through, and that just before I left for college I'd passed my 2^nd Kyu, assessment.
He laughed and said "Sensei Toguwara has a habit of doing this with his special students. If he assessed you as 2^nd Kyu, and based on the limited assessment I managed of your abilities earlier, you should be capable of passing a 1^st Kyu assessment, or possibly a Dan grading. There is a grading convention in 2 weeks in Washington. You will be attending it with me, and we'll get you properly graded. You only have use of the Dojo 2 nights a week?"
I was somewhat speechless. After draining my cup of tea I said "I'd love to go to the grading but I can't afford to. The Dojo is only just breaking even at present even at the discounted rent Mr Lee is charging me. I need what little money I have to pay my rent, eat, and purchase the books I need. As to holding classes two nights a week, that is all the time I can spare and get my course work done."
"I see. I think we can take care of most of your problems. You're willing to accept me as your new Sensei?"
"Not just yet. I want to see what else you know first."
"Ok. Assuming I pass your tests, you're willing to accept me?"
"As long as you pass them. Yes"
"In which case I will take over running the Dojo and pay you for the classes you teach. Sensei Toguwara said you also know Tai-Chi and Kung Fu."
"You've spoken to him?"
"Yes. I'd have been very remiss in my preparation if I hadn't, wouldn't I"
"Yes, and yes I do."
"Good. Fukawara Semiconductors believes that all its workers should be fit and healthy in both mind and body. Provision of the right form of exercise will ensure that they do. Whilst, few would have the necessary discipline for Bujinkan, most should be able to cope with Tai-Chi exercises. "
"And what about my Bujinkan Classes?"
"You will continue with those as well, and your college grades will not slip. You have lapsed in your discipline, which is why you believe you have not the time to accomplish what you need to do. You will also spend two hours a night with me in the Dojo, for the next two weeks whist we prepare for your grading."
"But, I still can't to afford to go to Washington"
"That'll be my problem then."
"And in return?"
"You can show my wife around Chinatown. Now I've taken up more than sufficient of your time this evening. I will see you tomorrow at 8:00 at the Dojo"
He'd stood as he said this, and I did likewise. As we moved towards the door I continued the conversation.
"Am I going to need to bring anything?"
"No. We'll start on weapons at the weekend if the rest of your skills are up to scratch."
"I'll see you at the Dojo then." I opened the door for him." Mcallister-san ,Agrigatoo gozaimasu Ja mata"
" Ja Mata"