Page 35 of Allure

"That's what I did. He didn't ask for my car keys. My wallet. I tossed it away from me, but he…" I rub my throat at that still-tender spot. "I can't. I need to learn more self-defense, and if this dojo isn't the place for me to learn it—"

“Given time, you will learn it,” he says gently. “I am very sorry to hear about you being attacked, but to place blame on me, that does not seem quite fair. Do you think none of your training helped you?”

“No!”

"No? Are you always a calm, rational person even under stressful conditions? I've watched you grapple with the higher belts. You don't care that you don't know the submissions they are going for. You don't want them to force you to submit, so you'll keep your arm bent so they can't do an arm bar. You'll squirm and wiggle and do what is called shrimping, something I haven’t even taught you yet. You have a drive to win or at least to succeed, Brooke Adams, and I think that will greatly serve you if you continue your karate training, but if you wish to leave, I will not keep you.”

I hesitate. Is he right?

“I will also say this,” he adds. “I do allow you to grapple with more of the upper belts than I typically will a white belt.”

“Why is that?”

"Because you are driven. You haven't missed a single class since you began your training, and you put force full effort. I appreciate that. Let me be honest with you. Not all white belts become black belts. Many will stick it out for a week, a month, even a year. The curriculum I teach builds on itself. It gets progressively harder. You have been learning the front leg front kick. There are the back leg front kick, front leg side kick, back leg side kick, hook kicks, round kicks, axe kicks, and so many more. There are times to use each one against an opponent. You will learn how to use nunchuck and escrima sticks as well. Gun defense is something I will briefly touch on, but typically, that is material I reserve for black belts because the first defense against a gun is to get out of the way of your opponent. Karate is meant for self-defense, but that doesn't mean you start a fight. There are even times when I would caution and say that leaving the fight, running away, would be the best choice. Fighting isn't always the answer. Karate isn't the way of the first, no matter what tv shows and movies might suggest."

“You… You’ve given me a lot to think about,” I murmur.

“Actually,” Sensei says with a twinkle in his eye, “you’ve given me a lot to think about as well.”

CHAPTER13

Iblink in surprise. “I have?”

He’s not going to change his curriculum for me, is he? The world is a dangerous place, not just for black belts.

“Years ago, when I was first starting this school, I used to offer free seminars on a variety of topics to try to help the public at large but to also try to convince and recruit new members. If I gain about twenty new members now, kids or adults, I will have to either look at moving to a larger place or else trying to expand this one, but that’s not the point. My point is that maybe it’s time for another such free class.”

“One on self-defense?” I ask, excited. “I would love to attend!”

“Actually,” he says, tapping his chin, “I have been so very busy with teaching and going to schools for demonstrations and fairs as well. That is why the seminars and classes have fallen by the wayside. I should probably promote another joshu or maybe replace Joshu Declan if he wishes to become a densei.”

“A densei?”

“Essentially a sensei in training, but that is a conversation for myself and Joshu Declan. My question for you is if you would be willing to spearhead this?”

“Me?” My voice actually cracks. That’s how surprised I am. “But…”

“It will be specifically a women’s self-defense class. What do you say?”

I blink a few times. Are you kidding me? How am I supposed to teach women who have no background at all in karate self-defense when I came into his office to complain that I haven’t been taught any myself? How can he dump this on me, especially after what happened?

Or maybe that’s why. He figures this might be the easiest way for me to learn self-defense. A trial by fire kind of thing. And honestly, it sounds like it might be something that’s necessary for the community, given that the mugger is still out there and might have attacked others before me and might go on to attack others after.

I really am starting to wonder if I made a mistake by not telling the police about it.

But honestly, I have no clue what to do for this, how to organize it, what to teach the women.

“I’m not sure I’m the right person for the job,” I mumble. “What about Sempai Evelina?”

“She is lucky if she can make it on the mat once a week. Her schedule is very demanding. She’s in med school.”

“Oh, wow,” I murmur. If I were in med school, the last thing I would be doing is hitting that mat any day of the week.

"I can tell you're a bit skeptical about this. Why don't you work with Joshu Declan on this? After all, the women will need to be shown moves demonstrated on a man for authenticity sake."

I grin as a picture of my kneeing Declan in the balls in front of a group of cheering women comes to mind.

“All right,” I say slowly. “If you really think I can handle this.”

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