What we did then was wait. With all that had happened, It was hard to believe that it had only been eight days since Jane's high school graduation. I wanted to see if there were any more feints at Jane's organization, or signs that they were hunting for me too, not that I had any idea of how to go about it. The first time might have been a coincidence.
I told Jane that after all she'd crammed in over the past 4 years, she deserved a rest, a long one. She agreed but only if I would do likewise. What else could I do but go along with her?
It's not that we did nothing after that. Yes we had the PSU graduation, but I'm not going to say anything about that except that it wasn't quite as bad as the one at OSU. No, I'm not going to say any more about it, and that's all I'm going to say.
We both got stir crazy within 2 days, so she gravitated back into her workshop where she did her best to make her miniaturized equipment even more miniature, and I did some heavy thinking and practiced my Hapkido.
I hadn't forgotten what I'd said to Jane at the lake. It did seem as if it might be time for my 7th dan.
Before I go any further I should explain a little about that. Some schools of Hapkido require you to spend a number of years at each rank before moving to the next. Usually as many years as your rank. So if you were 3rd dan, you had to be at that level for 3 years before you could try for 4th dan, then 4 years at 4th before 5th, and so on.
Since most reputable schools won't let you get your black belt till at least age 15, few people, even if they have the skill, reach 7th dan before age 40, and I was only 30.
Some feel that 30 is too much too young for the rank to which I was now aspiring, but Master Oh didn't believe that age had anything to do with it. "Maturity is what counts," he says, "Maturity and skill and self-knowledge."
Right then, I felt that I was ready. That's the self-knowledge part. Whether or not I was deluding myself I was about to find out.
The next morning I made a call and was told to show up at Master Oh's that coming Friday, June 21st and to plan to be there until Sunday. Then I went to the door of Jane's workshop. I banged on the chime she had just inside. When she's concentrating, she doesn't hear anything else.
Once I had her attention I said; "Honey, I'm going up to Seattle the day after tomorrow. I have a couple of days scheduled with Master Oh. I'm going to let him beat on me, like we discussed when we were camping."
"Oh, OK Mama, have fun..." And with that heartfelt response, she turned back to whatever she was soldering on her workbench and forgot about me.
I knew that she wouldn't work too overly long when I was gone though. How did I know? Simple. She was going to have to feed the cats. We had a rule that you don't use the auto-feeder when you're home. Cats are people too and need attention now and then, and feeding time is a good time to let them show how much they love you...or at least how much they wish you'd hurry up and open the damned can!
Much as I love the cats, they can be rather exasperating at times. Sort of like kids now that I think of it.
Good thing that Jane isn't reading this over my shoulder any more.
Maybe not, but I am reading it Mama. You'll get yours later.
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Two days later I threw my bag into the trunk of the car and headed north. It's a bit over four hours from our place to Seattle. There's some fairly spectacular scenery between Portland and Olympia, and I had the whole day ahead of me, so I intended to enjoy the trip.
Master Oh's studio is just south of Seattle, in Federal Way. It's not all that attractive a place, mostly it's just the south end of the Seattle sprawl, but it does host the headquarters of the Weyerhauser company, and the Rhododendron Species Foundation garden is there. Too bad there aren't many plants in bloom by the end of June. Oh well.
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.
I checked into a motel, neither high end nor low. As always, inconspicuous is the rule when I'm on the road. Sorted out my equipment and checked it over, again.
<
Since there was nothing urgent to do, I went over to the rhododendron garden and enjoyed the scenery. Even with only a few plants in bloom, it's still a lovely place. Strange that I'd never taken Jane there with me. She'd probably enjoy it too.
Back to the motel and caught up on some of my reading.
<
Up at 6:45 AM the next day -- late for me -- no coffee scent to drag me out of bed. Dang, I missed having Jane around, but that's nothing new.
Went downstairs to load up with breakfast. Ate more than usual, ie. enough to make the waitstaff at the buffet wonder how I'd managed to get a black hole into my stomach. If what I was expecting happened, I'd need every calories I could shove in.
< Yes, yes, I know. I essentially quoted from the brochure. Why try to improve on something already that well written, right? With Hapkido you can gain a new dan by formal testing or by recognition of one's skills. The grandmaster of the particular school chooses. Master Oh does a bit of both, using testing for the first few children's belts and then what seems like winging it for the belts after that. I'm sure that there's some deep philosophical reasoning behind it though. It's probably something mere mortals like me wouldn't understand. It couldn't be because he's too lazy to write up a protocol.>> --------------------- Right after breakfast, my phone chirped at me. Master Oh had sent me a text. It said that there wasn't enough room at the studio, so I was to come to thus-and-such a place at exactly 10:03 a.m. Map was appended. Uh-oh. That didn't sound good. Either he was planning to run me all over the place and just wanted extra space, or there was going to be an audience. I scrolled down and found that I was instructed to wear my favorite outfit. Got a bit teary-eyed at that. That meant that I had permission to wear my white belt. Why white you ask, when I could wear black with the 6 stripes for my rank? Good question, this time, since I haven't told you yet. It started when I was 8 years old. I'd been hanging around a strip mall close to my house, putting off going home as long as possible. As I was walking past one storefront, I heard shouting. Ducked into the nearest cover -- a quite normal reaction for me at the time. Didn't hear the noises coming closer, so I peeked out. Saw a sign that said Ahn's Hapkido. Looked inside the window and was fascinated. People were being kicked at and swung at and sometimes they were dodging. I'd never thought of that when my father was raging. Before I knew it, it was full dark and I knew I'd be in trouble when I got home (not that I wasn't usually anyway). After that, I hung around outside every day that I could, and eventually started practicing what I'd seen. Fortunately there was a sort of built-up decorative plant display outside that blocked anyone from seeing me unless they were walking between me and the school. One day I was practicing a spin kick, when a hand stopped my leg in mid-spin. I flipped around and took up a defensive stance and found myself face-to-face with the teacher from the school. I'd never heard the door open or him approaching me either. < "Well, little one, you're doing well so far. I've been watching you these past few weeks. Why don't you come inside for your studies from now on?" "I don't have any money, sir." At the time I had no idea what to call him. Later I learned that he was an 8th dan Master. He studied me carefully for several seconds. I don't doubt for a minute that he saw every one of the bruises on my face and arms. Master Ahn never missed anything. If you told me, even today, that he'd somehow seen the bruises on the rest of my body, I'd believe you. "I don't think that that will be a problem little one. What's your name?" "Karla, sir." "And how old are you?" "I'm eight, sir." That was the only time I ever saw him startled by anything. I looked about 6 and was scrawny to boot. "Well then Karla. Come inside and let's get you organized." Right then, with all the students watching, he took me into the back and gave me a gi my size and my white belt. He acted like he had all the time in the world, even with all those students waiting -- and they were waiting silently I might add. Master Ahn had that effect on people. No matter where or when I saw him after that, there was a circle of calm that seemed to travel with him. There were a few, veiled snickers from the older children present when I joined the class. Within a month they weren't laughing at me any more. So, anyway, I still have that white belt. It had seemed much too big for me at the time, and it was still a bit long <