Lion

by Jeff Stone

  “Did you not learn the basics in school?”

  “Heck, no. Did you?”

  “Sure. We practice kung fu in gym class.”

  “No way.”

  “Yes way. There is more to kung fu than fighting, remember? Martial arts teach you how your entire body works. You learn about balance and strength, as well as flexibility and breathing. You even learn how to fall without hurting yourself, which is important for small children.”

  “It’s important for adults, too,” I said.

  “True.”

  “So, how do we start?”

  “Hmmm,” she said, sizing me up. “Do you know how to fall?”

  “Sure,” I said. “I—”

  Hú Dié suddenly slammed her palms into my shoulders. I stumbled backward, catching myself, but she lashed out with her bare foot and hooked my ankles. She lifted her leg into the air, and my legs went with it. I hovered momentarily above the ground like a cartoon character, then crashed onto my back. My head bounced off the mat, and I began to see stars. I lay there, staring up at the ceiling, afraid to move.

  Hú Dié giggled.

  I heard a door slam.

  “What do you think you’re doing?” Phoenix shouted. He ran over to me. “Are you okay?”

  I groaned and sat up. “My ears are ringing a little, but I’ll live.”

  “He is fine,” Hú Dié said. “The floor is padded.”

  Phoenix turned to her and straightened. “Why did you do that?”

  “He said that he knew how to fall.”

  “You hit him with a Double Dragon Palm Strike!”

  “So? He did not fall down from it.”

  “True,” Phoenix said. “Pretty impressive. But then you kicked his feet out with a Dragon Tail Swipe. Those are advanced moves.”

  “If he is ever attacked, his attacker will not select only basic moves.”

  “This isn’t a self-defense class, you moron. Ryan just wants some exercise.” Phoenix reached his hand out to me, and I grabbed it. He pulled me up effortlessly. I had no idea he was so strong.

  “What would you teach him?” Hú Dié asked.

  “Probably Tiger style,” Phoenix said. “It’s straightforward and he already likes to roar.”

  Hú Dié shook her head. “I’m not sure. It might be too basic.”

  “No, it’s perfect.”

  “I have an idea,” I said. “Why don’t you let me decide? What does Tiger style look like?”

  Phoenix glared at Hú Dié. “Do you know Double Flying Tiger?”

  “Of course,” she said.

  “Let’s show him.”

  “Fine.”

  Phoenix and Hú Dié walked to the center of the room. They stopped about eight feet apart and faced one another. They calmly bowed in unison; then they suddenly sprang into the air, going for each other’s throats.

  I jerked backward with surprise. They’d gone from bow to blows in the blink of an eye.

  Phoenix struck first. He formed a claw with his right hand and raked it toward the side of Hú Dié’s neck. She tilted her head sideways, out of his reach, then thrust her own clawed hand toward Phoenix’s Adam’s apple.

  Phoenix looked confused. He tucked his chin and turned his head, and the heel of Hú Dié’s palm struck him square on the cheek. The blow sent Phoenix spinning sideways in a half twist, and he crashed to the ground. Phoenix sat up, rubbing the side of his face.

  Hú Dié landed on her feet and glared down at him. “What are you doing?” she shouted. “I could have broken my hand!”

  “What are you doing?” Phoenix countered. “You were supposed to block my blow with your forearms!”

  “This is how I learned to do this form.”

  “I guess you learned wrong.”

  “Take it easy, guys,” I said. “It’s okay. I’ve seen enough.”

  Phoenix shook his head. “We aren’t even close to being finished yet. What is the next sequence you learned, Hú Dié?”

  “Tiger Catches the Kick.”

  “Me too. Let’s see what you’re made of.”

  Phoenix stood, and he and Hú Dié squared off again. This time they began without bowing. Hú Dié leaped high into the air and began to spin, while Phoenix only pretended to jump.

  Hú Dié lashed out with one of her legs, while Phoenix remained standing. He caught Hú Dié’s spinning leg in his armpit, and he wrenched his entire body backward in a powerful arc. Hú Dié’s momentum changed, and her upper body snapped like a whip. The look on her face made it clear that she hadn’t been expecting this.

  Phoenix dropped flat onto his back and released Hú Dié’s leg, hurling her to the ground behind him. She landed on the wrestling mats with a SLAP! that echoed around the room.

  Hú Dié staggered to her feet, and Phoenix jumped to his.

  “You were supposed to jump!” Hú Dié said. “We were supposed to grab each other’s kicks in the air!”

  “Oh, I’m sorry,” Phoenix replied. “That’s not how I learned it.”

  “That hurt!” she said, rubbing her back. “You did that on purpose!”

  “What was it you said when you tripped Ryan? Oh, yeah, ‘The floor is padded.’ You’re fine.”

  “Leave me out of this,” I said. “You two are insane. Forget about teaching me kung fu.”

  “No,” Phoenix said. “I’m going to teach you if it’s the last thing I do.”

  I looked him in the eye, and I could tell that he was serious.

  “Can you at least teach me something that’s, I don’t know, less … violent?” I asked. “What about tai chi?”

  Hú Dié snickered. “Go ahead, Phoenix. Teach him what you teach grandmothers.”

  “Tai chi isn’t a joke,” Phoenix said. “It’s powerful stuff.”

  Hú Dié scoffed. “Sure, if you are eighty years old.”

  “Would you like to try it with us?” he asked.

  “Okay,” Hú Dié said. “I am curious to see your mastery of this most ancient art, O great Sifu.”

  Phoenix ignored her. He turned to me. “We’re going to start with some basics. One of the primary foundations of tai chi is the Horse Stance. Have you ever heard of it?”

  “I’ve seen it in movies,” I said.

  “Do you know why it’s called that?”

  “Because it looks like you’re riding a horse?”

  “Right.”

  “I don’t know exactly how to do it, though.”

  “I’m going to show you,” Phoenix said. “Begin by making fists with your hands and placing them at your sides, one on each hip. Turn your fists so that the backs are facing down and the palm sides are facing the sky. Point your elbows straight back behind you.”

  I did as instructed.

  “Good,” Phoenix said. “Now, put your feet shoulder width apart with your toes pointed forward. Keep your feet parallel with one another.”

  I did that, too, and Hú Dié followed along. She pretended to yawn. “Booooring,” she said. “He is supposed to sweat, not fall asleep.”

  “Quiet,” Phoenix said. “Very good, Ryan. Most people turn their feet out when they do that, like a duck. That’s wrong. Next, bend your knees. Keep them over your feet. Don’t let them bend inward or outward. At the same time, keep your head, neck, and back perfectly straight. Imagine there is a pole running from the top of your head, down through your spine, and pretend you’re sitting on something low, like a stool.”

  It was a lot to remember, but I gave it a shot. I bent my knees until my thighs were at a forty-five-degree angle to the ground. My leg muscles began to burn a little.

  “Not bad,” Phoenix said. “Now try to go a little lower. Look at Hú Dié.”

  I glanced over to see Hú Dié with the same bored expression on her face. Her thighs were parallel to the ground.

  “Seriously?” I said.

  Phoenix nodded.

  I groaned and sank down until I was in the same position as Hú Dié. My legs started to quiver.

&n
bsp; “Straighten your back,” Phoenix said. “Don’t lean forward.”

  I straightened up, and nearly toppled backward. I couldn’t believe how hard this was. My thighs began to scream, as well as my glutes and lower back. I felt sweat beading on my forehead.

  “Good job, Ryan,” Phoenix said. “Now stay in that position until lunch.”

  “Say what?” I said.

  “Grandfather makes me stand like that for more than an hour at a time.”

  Hú Dié laughed. “I stand like this longer than that while I am building bikes.”

  “You do kung fu while you work?” I asked.

  “Sure,” she said. “I once stood like this for two hours while I welded bicycle frames.”

  I looked down at her solid legs, and I believed her.

  We stood like this for a few minutes without moving. I glanced from Phoenix to Hú Dié and then back to Phoenix.

  “What?” Phoenix asked.

  “This is a great workout for my legs,” I said, “but it really is kind of boring. Can you teach me something else while we stand here? Maybe a breathing exercise or something?”

  “Fine,” Phoenix said. “How about I teach you how to connect with your chi through breathing?”

  “Cool,” I said. “I could use that.”

  “How are your legs holding up?”

  My legs were shaking noticeably from the strain of the Horse Stance, but I said, “I’m good.”

  Phoenix nodded. “Excellent answer. What you’re going to do is breathe deeply. Instead of expanding and contracting your chest like you normally do when exercising, though, try to expand and contract just your stomach.”

  I tried it. It was strange but not difficult. My stomach began to warm a little on the inside.

  “Do you feel anything?” Phoenix asked.

  “Yeah,” I said. “This may sound cheesy, but it’s kind of like there’s a candle burning behind my belly button.”

  “That’s your dan tien. It means you’re doing the technique right. Very good.”

  I concentrated harder, and the warming intensified. Then, like a ray of sunlight coming into sharp focus through a magnifying glass, my insides ignited. My abdominal muscles cramped tight, and my energy level dropped as if somebody had pulled a drain plug. It was the dragon bone.

  I buckled forward, unable to straighten, and fell to the ground. The pain was so great, I couldn’t move. I just lay there as the cramping spread from my abdomen to my chest. It continued to my neck and jaw, then down through my hips, thighs, and calves, all the way to my toes. My arms locked up at my sides, my hands contorting into arthritic claws. I’d frozen completely, as if I’d been dipped in liquid nitrogen.

  “Ryan!” Phoenix said. “What’s wrong?”

  I couldn’t answer. My vocal cords had seized up. I couldn’t even open my eyes.

  “Grandfather!” Phoenix shouted. “Uncle Tí! We need you! Something is happening to Ryan!”

  Through the pain, I felt footsteps pounding across the wrestling mats. Uncle Tí.

  “What is it?” he asked. “Did Ryan break a limb?”

  “No,” Phoenix said. “One minute he was doing a Horse Stance, and the next his body cramped up. He can’t even talk.”

  “Just a Horse Stance?”

  “No. I was also teaching him a basic chi breathing exercise with his stomach. He said that he felt a candle burning behind his belly button. Then he closed his eyes and seemed to concentrate more, and this happened.”

  I felt the slow, shuffling footsteps of Phoenix’s grandfather approaching. “This is all my fault,” he said. “The dragon bone doesn’t want Ryan to control his own chi. How foolish of me. I should have considered this before suggesting you teach him such things.”

  Phoenix’s grandfather was soon kneeling beside me. I knew it was him because of his smell. His sweat smelled of dragon bone, just like mine.

  “Ryan,” he said, “I know you can hear me. Please forgive me. I am going to help you.”

  “I’ve never seen anything like this,” Uncle Tí said. “I’ll go get my medical bag. I always carry sedatives, as well as muscle relaxants.”

  “No,” Phoenix’s grandfather said. “Go to my bedroom and retrieve my acupuncture needles. Phoenix, call Ryan’s mother. Tell her to come immediately.”

  Uncle Tí and Phoenix hurried off.

  “Will he be okay?” Hú Dié asked.

  “I believe so,” Phoenix’s grandfather replied.

  “Is there anything I can do?” she asked.

  “Just stay here with him as I am doing. He can hear us.”

  I felt Hú Dié shuffle around, like she couldn’t get comfortable. “This is difficult for me,” she said. “My mother has ALS—Lou Gehrig’s disease. This happens to her sometimes. Like her body is rebelling against her. I hate it.”

  “That is unfortunate,” Phoenix’s grandfather said.

  “It is not unfortunate; it is unfair. I used to want to give her dragon bone. After seeing this, I am not so sure.”

  Footsteps pounded against the mats again. It was both Phoenix and Uncle Tí.

  “Ryan’s mom is on the way,” Phoenix said. “I unlocked the front door for her.”

  “And here is your acupuncture set,” Uncle Tí said.

  There was the sound of a zipper being opened, and Phoenix’s grandfather said, “Give me some space.”

  I don’t know how long I lay there before I opened my eyes. The pain was so great, I lost all track of time, but my mom hadn’t shown up yet.

  I was lying flat on my back, and the first thing I saw was Hú Dié’s face. She had tears in her eyes, but she smiled at me.

  I smiled back.

  “Look!” Hú Dié said. “His mouth works!”

  I surprised myself by laughing.

  “Sounds like his vocal cords are working, too,” Uncle Tí said. “Ryan, can you speak?”

  “Yeah.” I coughed. “My throat is really sore, though.”

  “Your whole body will be sore for several days,” Phoenix’s grandfather said. “Do not let it stop you from exercising, though. You must continue to fight the dragon bone.”

  “I will,” I said. “After this experience, I wish I could just flush it from my system.”

  “Can you move yet?” Phoenix asked.

  “I don’t know,” I said.

  I tried to move my arms and legs, but couldn’t. I did manage to lift my head, though.

  My voice began to quiver. “Am I … paralyzed?”

  “Only temporarily,” Phoenix’s grandfather said. “I am not finished with the procedure. You should regain the use of your limbs shortly.”

  I glanced down at my bare chest. More than a hundred thin needles protruded from my torso. They waved like miniature flagpoles with the rising and falling of my chest as I breathed.

  I blinked. “What the—”

  “Acupuncture needles,” Uncle Tí said. “Grandfather is gifted in their use. Chinese have been using them for thousands of years to stimulate the flow of chi through various parts of a person’s body. So far, it looks like what he’s doing is working.”

  I felt my right shoulder begin to warm, and I rotated it slightly. I smiled.

  Phoenix’s grandfather returned the smile, but said nothing.

  The door leading to the house suddenly burst open, and I saw my mother.

  “Ayeeee! Stop right there! What are you doing to my boy?”

  I raised my head and watched my mom struggle across the soft wrestling mats in her high heels. The fact that she was overweight didn’t help. Even so, she raised her purse over her head like a warrior and rushed forward.

  “No!” I said. “He’s helping me. I could end up paralyzed if he messes up.”

  “That’s right,” Uncle Tí said. “Ryan is in good hands.”

  She ground to a halt. “Paralyzed?”

  “He won’t become paralyzed,” Phoenix’s grandfather said calmly. “I promise. What Ryan is experiencing is severe muscle cramps. The
paralysis is only temporary.”

  My mom appeared to calm down a little. She lowered her purse. “Is that acupuncture? You endorse this medieval practice?”

  “Yes, I do,” Uncle Tí said. “Only we don’t consider it medieval. We call it traditional Chinese medicine, or TCM. Chinese have been doing this for thousands of years. Medieval times were six hundred years ago.”

  “Whatever. Couldn’t you just give him some pills instead? Or maybe a shot? One needle instead of, what is that, hundreds of needles? My God. Doesn’t that hurt, Ryan?”

  “No,” I said. “I actually feel better than I have in weeks.”

  “You look like a life-sized voodoo doll.”

  “Appearances can be deceiving,” Phoenix’s grandfather said. “One more needle, and I am finished.” He looked at me. “You should rest your head back on the ground. This last one will act as a switch, connecting the remaining needles that have yet to take effect. You should feel a rush of energy, and the balance of your cramping will subside.”

  “Oh, dear,” my mom said, “I can’t watch this.”

  Phoenix’s grandfather removed a plastic-wrapped needle from his acupuncture bag. He unwrapped the needle and tossed the plastic into a large pile of other wrappers. With steady hands, he slowly pushed the needle into the skin of my abdomen.

  “I think I’m going to be sick,” my mom said.

  Phoenix’s grandfather rotated the needle clockwise, then counterclockwise. I felt a whoosh of heat wash from the needle’s tip outward. It was like sinking into a warm bath.

  “Ahhhhh,” I said. “That feels so good.”

  “How is the cramping?” Uncle Tí asked.

  “Gone, one hundred percent.”

  “Can you sit up?” Phoenix’s grandfather asked.

  “I think so.”

  “Show us.”

  I hesitated. “What about the needles?”

  “They are not going anywhere,” Phoenix’s grandfather said. “They need to remain in place a bit longer. You will be fine.”

  I pushed myself up onto my elbows; then I sat upright. Row upon row of needles shimmered up and down my torso.

  My mom shuddered. “I can’t believe you don’t feel them. You remind me of a porcupine.”

  “I don’t think porcupines have quills on their stomachs,” I said, smiling.