Karate Kick Read Online Free Page A

were warm, they were ready to begin.
    “So, how about we work on the kata contest stuff first?” Cole suggested.
    “Can’t we start with something else?” Monique asked reluctantly. “I’m not even sure the contest is such a great idea.”
    “Huh? Why not?” Marty asked.
    Monique raised a shoulder. “Say someone who entered made up a really dumb kata. Don’t you think it’d be a waste of time to
     have to sit and watch it? Or learn it?”
    Cole rolled his eyes. “Well, if you don’t want to work on the contest stuff, then what
do
you want to do?”
    “Marty said you needed help with your test material,” Monique ventured. “I’d be happy to critique a few of your katas for
     you.”
    “I bet you would,” Cole muttered under his breath.
    “What did you say?” Monique asked sharply.
    Cole glanced at Marty, who gave him the warning look again. “Uh, I said, ‘That’d be good!’”
    Monique narrowed her eyes as if she didn’t believe him. But she didn’t say anything. Instead, she perched on the arm of a
     chair. Marty took a seat next to her. Feeling like he was on display, Cole walked to the middle of the room and faced them.
    “Heian One,” Monique said primly. “Two moves at a time. I’ll call it out. And if I see a mistake,” she added, “I’ll be sure
     to stop you.”
    Cole locked his brown eyes with her blue ones. Then he tightened his lips and forced his eyes front. It was all he could do
     to keep himself from telling her that he’d rather fail the test than put up with this!

9
    G o for it, man!”
    Marty’s loud, encouraging cheer broke some of the tension in the room. “Give Heian One everything you’ve got!”
    Heian One was the name of the first kata they had learned as karate students. Cole had once read that
heian
was a Japanese term often translated as “peaceful mind.” Cole hadn’t understood why a sequence of fighting moves would have
     that name, and had asked Sensei Joe about it one class.
    “It’s a good question,” Sensei Joe had responded. He had gathered the rest of the class around then so they could all hear
     his answer.
    “Katas like Heian One were created long ago. One of their purposes was to train students to fend off multiple opponents. In
     fact, when you perform a kata next time, imagine that you’re surrounded by many attackers. If you do, it may help you give
     your moves more power. Observe.”
    He stepped away from them to the middle of the dojo. Then he widened his eyes as if seeing a horde of angry people coming
     toward him. “Look out! The first guy is coming at you with a punch! What do you do?”
    He whipped his palm across his body, a palm-heel block. “You block his blow to protect yourself, that’s what you do. And then
you
strike at
him
!”
    He shot his fist out straight. “Boom! Now he’s down —” he spun around and pointed at an imaginary foe, “— but look out, here
     comes his buddy up on your left! Quick, block again, then strike!”
    Sensei Joe continued to shift around, throwing blocks, landing strikes, and lashing out with kicks against pretend assailants.
     “Block, strike, turn!” he called. “Block, kick, strike, pivot! Use your legs to put
oomph
into your moves! Make every one count as you take care of each attacker, one after another!”
    At last, he stopped. With a smile and swipe at the sweat beading his brow, he said, “Think like that, and you’ll be amazed
     at how much more urgency goes into every single move. Trust me; it works!”
    Then he gestured to Cole. “Now can you see why
heian
is often translated as
peaceful mind
?”
    Cole scratched his head, thinking. “Because the person who knows how to do those katas knows how to defend himself — and so
     has peace of mind?” he guessed.
    “Exactly!”
    Cole thought of that conversation now as he stood waiting to do Heian One in Marty’s basement. He made a mental note to think
     of being attacked when he began.
    Monique smoothed a stray red