We were guided down the central corridor by a sign standing next to the reception. It read ‘Strength training suite’ on the arrow pointing straight from the direction of the main entrance, the ‘dojo’ was on the left and the ‘endurance training suite’ was on the right. The door Miyaji sensei had entered was not listed but there was a ‘No Entry’ sign on the door.
I dragged my father down towards the strength training area first. I wanted to check out whether the equipment was in good condition because the faded wallpaper and the condition of the reception are didn’t leave me with high hopes.
We arrived at an old worn out door missing its varnished shine and it opened much too easily in my opinion .As we crossed into the room I could immediately tell that the owner of this place wasn’t a complete slob. The room was quite a lot larger than I expected and pretty well maintained. Roughly ten meters by twenty meters. I could see tens of sets of old school weight training machines which all looked like they had a fresh coat of white paint and each of them could bear a rather high weight load. I was once again reminded that this place once trained champions. In one corner of the room I could see various sets of dumbbells and kettle-bells starting from very light and ending at extremely heavy. I wasn’t all that proficient in weight lifting but each unit was labeled in kilograms so even a novice like me could understand. It wasn’t the best of the best but I was happy with it.
After taking a look in the strength training suite we visited the next location on our list, the endurance training suite. We exited the weight room and walked back to the sign before taking a left. 'This room at least has a proper door,’ I thought to myself upon entry. It was quite a lot smaller than the previous room, about ten meters squared. Although it was smaller it was just as well furnished. It was equipped with a couple of treadmills, elliptical trainers, rowing machines and many others I couldn’t really give a name to as well as a section dedicated to body weight exercises. Again, we both left the room with tacit satisfaction. Neither of us were currently wearing workout gear and we just planned to look around today so we wouldn't stay in each room for very long.
The pair of us returned to the central hub once again and went straight across towards the dojo. Neither of us came to this gym in search of a dojo but none the less I was a little curious so I wanted to check it out. Immediately I realized that this room was the most well kept room in the building. The doors were shiny and polished and it slid smoothly out of the way as we attempted to enter.
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“Take off your shoes before you enter the dojo!” sounded Miyaji sensei from inside. He must have entered while we were looking around the other rooms.
We bent down and removed our shoes in compliance. Then we set foot upon the tatami mats. I felt a rough but soft sensation on my foot as soon as I made contact with the floor. It felt good but I also had a decent grip I wouldn't be sliding around. The dojo appeared to be the largest room in the building. It was about twenty meters squared and each square meter had a tatami mat making it quite easy to measure.
Miyaji sensei was sat in seiza position in middle of the room as he announced, “This room doesn't see much use these days, I used to train martial artists into athletes in here. But, that was before everyone tossed martial arts aside. Now they just rely on the benefits the tower gives them. I guess no matter how well trained you are you can’t shatter the world with even the sharpest sword. Martial arts is meaningless against pure unlimited strength.” He sighed in dejection before grumbling, “Those big oafs in the leagues are like toddlers with sledgehammers.”
I felt a little awkward at his monologue and decided to break the solemn silence.”If this room doesn’t get used much, why is it the cleanest room in the entire building?”
“Discipline,” he responded. “I don’t have much of that left but those are the dojo rules. You must clean the dojo before and after you practice. I practice every day. Thus, the dojo is cleaned twice a day.”
His answer surprised me. Cleaning up twice sounded redundant but I guess that’s the discipline he was referring to. It was pretty difficult to find a job that didn’t require combat after the tower descended and I was absolutely not smart enough to get into the schools so I thought to pass the time I could learn martial arts. Thus, I asked, “Can you teach me?”
“Can and will are two very different things, Nathan. I can but are you willing to sweat? Martial arts isn’t something you learn overnight. It takes years to master it’s intricacies and even then there is a further path to follow. Its not a pastime, it’s a way of life. If you want me to teach you, there's no way out and you cannot give up halfway. Even if you don’t come here I’ll drag you back myself!”
A small flame appeared in Miyaji sensei’s eyes as my question seemed to have brought back his lost passion of prior years. I was surprised and a little scared by his response but then I thought, ‘what could he do? He couldn’t really drag me back, besides he doesn't know where we live.’ I had all the time in the world at that moment so I weighed up the pros and cons before agreeing readily.
“I want to learn,” I said, trying to convey determination.
“Be here by 8am tomorrow morning” he replied shortly. “Now go and leave me to my meditation.” He ordered.
We said goodbye and made ourselves scarce.