Ju yoko go oseisu, gentleness controls hardness, remembered Emma.
Emma put her hand on Nema’s shoulder, and as Nema pushed on her, Emma stepped back, stretching Nema’s arm out. She then put her arm on the back of Nema’s arm and pushed it down. Nema had no choice but to move to the ground. The stronger Nema pushed, the lower she sank to the ground. Emma knew she had Nema and that she could win the competition.
Emma looked out into the audience, first to her beaming parents and grandparents and then to Nema’s parents. They looked almost angry now. Emma looked back at Nema. She saw that her eyes were blinking back tears, but she knew they weren’t from Emma’s grip. Maybe Nema was mean because she was sad. Did it have something to do with her parents? Emma took a deep breath, and then, slowly, she released her grip on Nema’s arm.
Nema looked up, confused, but then lifted her arm, putting it across Emma’s front and pinning her to the ground. Emma stayed down on the mat. She could have got up, but she didn’t. And Nema knew it.
‘Points to Nema,’ cried Ms Sipes. ‘Match to Nema! Nema is our competition winner!’
There was applause. Nema looked a little confused for a moment, and then gave a nervous and small smile as she bowed deeply to Emma.
‘Thank you,’ she whispered.
Emma bowed back—a long, deep bow—and came up smiling and calm.
‘No problem,’ whispered Emma.
‘A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step,’ Akari had told her. Emma knew her journey had started, and perhaps so had Nema’s.
Her grandma winked at Emma. ‘Nice move,’ she mouthed.
Em smiled, twisting her wooden bracelet. She knew she had won something too—with a little help from EJ12.
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