Ｐｒａｃｔｉｓ　ｏｆ　Ｋａｒａｔｅ

“Hey Doc, the practice is closed until the end of August and will begin in early September. It’s too late!”
　I went back to his laboratory and claimed. He was cleaning up the lenses of an astronomical telescope. Then he said,
“Well, I’ve been doing Karate since I was young. So I can teach you for a while.”
“Really? If so, why did I have to enter the Karate dojo even though it was too late?”
“Don’t worry. Well first of all, you should learn blocks. The skills of Karate are similar to that of boxing, but it is somewhat different. And if you master it, you can repel most of the punches of that bully.”
“Oh, really?”
　Then, all of a sudden, Doc threw a punch to my face but it stopped leaving a gap of no more than the width of a hair and I only felt the wind on my face.
“Wow! That was cool!”
“Certainly.”
“Show me how to do it!”
“Well, it’s ‘Sun-dome’. It is to stop the fist just before hitting others. And Karate is designed mainly to protect the person himself and not to defeat the opponents. And this is our policy of Karate.”
“Well I see. But I was so surprised to know you can do Karate!”
“I’ve just told you clearly that I’ve been doing Karate since I was young!”
“Well, I remember that. But my memory blew away when your fist rushed to my face.”
“Well, I used to go camping again and again in the mountains with Dr. Gestalt to practice Karate.”
“Wow! Cool!”
“Well, aside that, I have to show you how to block punches. Oh, before that, I should show you the posture. Well, I think ‘Migi-Sansen-Dachi’ is good.”
“What on earth is that?”
“It’s to stand keeping the distance between the toes of both feet to be shoulder width. Then, half step the right feet and…”
“Well, like this?”
“OK. And keep your knees inside. Then, bend the elbows to 90 degrees. And your fists are at the height of your jaw.”
“Like this?”
“No. No. Like this!”
“Well, like this?”
“OK. Beautiful! Well, let’s begin with ‘Uchi-Uke’ and ‘Gedan-Barai’.”
“What are they?”
“These are the variation of blocks and we can do them at the same time. And you can block most of the attacks from any bully.”
“Oh, really?”
“Of course. Well, one hand is for ‘Uchi-Uke’ and the other for ‘Gedan-Barai’.”
“OK.”
“Then, ‘Uchi-Uke’ is to block the punch to the face. When the opponent punches to your face, you can block it with your arm moving rapidly from inside to outside to beat the forearm of the opponent and shake it off. And this skill is not only blocking but to give some damage to the forearm of the opponent while beating.”
“Wow!”
“And the next is ‘Gedan-Barai’. It is to block the punch or kick to your belly. You can block it with the other arm moving from up to down and to outside to beat the arm or the leg of the opponent and shake it off. Of course it also gives some damage to the opponent while beating.”
“That sounds cool! But it’s too complicated.”
“It might be. Anyhow, let’s begin. First of all, take the posture of ‘Migi-Sansen-dachi’.”
“OK. Well, like this?”
“That’s good. Now raise your hands to the height of the jaw, and face the back of your hands to the opponent.”
“OK.”
“Bend the elbows to 90 degrees.”
“All right.”
“Now let’s begin ‘Uchi-uke’ and ’Gedan-barai’ at the same time.”
“But how?”
“Well, start ‘Uchi-uke’ with your right arm and ‘Gedan-barai’ with the other. Then keep on doing it alternatively. Hey, 1.2.1.2.1.2.1.2.1.2…”
“Like this?”
”Well, the arm of ‘Uchi-Uke’ goes in front of the other arm. Hey, 1.2.1.2.1.2.1.2…”
“Can I really defeat Devil doing this?”
“Don’t worry.”
“Will it be OK?”
“Stop whining. Now, 1.2.1.2.1.2.1.2….”
　So I kept on training with Doc. Then I went home and did it. If I could defeat Devil, it would be awesome. Anyhow, I made an effort. But there were only three days. So I wondered if I could.