24 Hitting the mat
Jack finished his 66th pancake and decided to call it quits. He disliked the attitude of the pimply-faced cashier that treated him like a subhuman since he looked starved. Even though he was polite on the outside, the mannerism of his speech and facial gestures showed he though himself to be someone much better than Jack.
Jack could not have cared less, but with his newfound confidence, he was not just going to get abused for no reason. He dished out as much as he got. An employee of the month in a fast food place was nothing really to get all high and mighty about. It's a means to pay the bills, and that's it.
The cashier turned into a corporate peon and behaved like he owned the place himself, and that was what really annoyed Jack. He would have eaten more, but he felt sorry for the people in the kitchen having to supply the pancakes, so he didn't overdo it.
Jack reached the Aikido training center at 9.25 am ant the door had a sign on it that said Open. The classes would start at 10 am, but he still needed to get their uniform and probably paperwork in order, so he had to be early.
Jack went inside. He saw a spacious hall and a middle-aged Japanese guy sitting in it alone reading a book. Jack saw the cover, and it was not really what he expected. He would expect a middle-aged housewife reading it not a martial arts master.
Jack noticed the floor was cover with rectangular pads to soften the impact of falling and a portrait and some calligraphy artwork hanging behind the master. He knew it was Morihei Ueshiba's portrait the founder of aikido. The introduction to martial arts mentioned the need to slightly bow to it after entering or exiting the dojo to show respect. Jack wanted to make a good impression on the master, so he did that.
Jack guessed the guy has already long noticed him and just pretended to be oblivious. He used Inspect.
Name: Ikeda Hironobu
Strength: 8
Constitution:8
Endurance:10
Speed:9
Dexterity:9
Perception:8
Intelligence:8
Wisdom:8
Willpower:9
Charisma:6
Luck: ???
The stats were very high especially for a guy who looked to be over 50 years old.
Jack clicked on details. All it said was:«Enjoys sultry novels.«
Jack just smiled. The master got up from the mats in one quick move and came towards him.
Jack slightly bowed again and nervously said:«Hi.«
Ikeda smiled and also bowed then said: »Hi. You must be new. Are you Jack Russel?«
Jack confirmed.
»My name is Ikeda Hironobu, and I will be your instructor for today.
As you can see the dojo is not busy this morning and you will have me all for yourself. Let's first get you your uniform.«
Ikeda gestured for Jack to follow him and they came to the wardrobe and passed into a small warehouse where Ikeda selected the uniform also known as gi for Jack.
»Have you ever practiced aikido before?« asked Ikeda.
Jack shook his head and said:«No, but I have read about it.«
»Oh,« said exclaimed Ikeda,«You remembered to bow to our founder. It was a perfect method to make a good first impression. Why do you want to practice aikido?«
They walked back to the dojo as he asked this and Jack was considering if this was some kind of trick question. He knew aikido was more of a self-defense oriented martial art, so he went with it.
»I want to learn how to defend myself and the people I care about,« Jack answered.
Ikeda just looked at him with a raised brow and didn't say anything. He apparently thought what a load of bullshit. You are obviously here so you can brag to girls later that you know martial arts.
Jack suddenly asked: »Sir Hironobu do you have any books I could borrow here.«
»You can call me sensei, instructor or teacher, but don't call me Sir.« Ikeda corrected him.
»You can check the books over there if you would like.« Ikeda pointed at a small bookshelf beside the entrance. There were about 20 books altogether, and Jack quickly moved over.
Ikeda frowned. »You have the owner of the dojo in front of you, and you go read books. Do you even realize how lucky you are to be personally instructed by me? You ungrateful gaijin. You are lucky the dojo is not doing well, or I would kick your ass out...« as he was cursing in his thoughts Jack was already at the bookshelf.
Jack looked through the books. He quickly picked up one by one and used scan and absorb on all of them. Some were just on Japanese and aikido philosophy, but they could not hurt him. Most of them were on techniques from basic to advanced and high-level ones. There was also one how to get promoted in ranks.
Jack returned after five minutes and asked: »Sensei would it be OK if I borrowed one later for a day?«
Ikeda looked at him and thought: »Well at least you did not let me wait for you for too long.«
»Yeah sure you can borrow some,« there was hardly anyone willing to read them anyway, so a day or two won't matter anyway Ikeda thought.
»Go change into your uniform now,« Ikeda instructed.
Jack bowed and ran into the wardrobe and came back two minutes after bowing again.
Ikeda also bowed and said: »Stop with so much bowing. I have to bow every time you do. Now try to punch me.«
Jack didn't use much force and punched towards Ikeda who grabbed his wrist with one hand and above his elbow with the other turned him around and smacked him into the mat.
Jack knew Ikeda used way more force than he needed to do it and he also hurt his face when he faceplanted in the matt.
»This is called Ikkyo,« Ikeda said when he let him go.
»Now you try to do it when I punch you,« said Ikeda.
»Yes, sensei.« Jack bowed again on purpose.
Ikeda bowed then he immediately released a punch but what awaited him were Jack's hands which grabbed him like an aikido master on the perfect spot, made the same circular movements like he did before and face planted him into the mat with even more power.
»Aaaagh, let me go,« yelled Ikeda.
Jack let go and said:«Sory Sensei, I guess I used a bit too much force, but I was just so excited that I learned a new move.«
Ikeda turned around and stood up from the mat with blood trickling from his nose all over his uniform.
»Morning class is suspended.«, Ikeda yelled grabbing his nose with one hand.
He sounded like a chipmunk when he had his nose blocked, and Jack could hardly keep himself from laughing out loud.
»Can I still borrow those books?« he somehow managed to say out loud with a straight face.
Ikeda just looked at him with fury in his eyes:«Just take as many as you want, no one reads them anyway!«
Jack bowed and said: »Thank you Sensei. I will come back tomorrow.«
With this Jack left for the wardrobe, nad Ikeda went into the bathroom to try and stop the bleeding from his nose. Ikeda was extremely embarrassed being surprised by a new student like that.
Jack came out first took three books on techniques although he didn't need them anymore and bowed towards the founder then smiled and exited.
By the time Ikeda came out Jack was gone.
He was embarrassed and furious. Ikeda had a suspicion Jack did it on purpose, but he had to admit he deserved it since he was hardly gentle himself when performing that technique on Jack.
He was curious about how Jack could perform that technique so fast and so accurately by only watching it once. »He must have lied about not receiving training in aikido before,« Ikeda concluded.
»I hope he comes back tomorrow I will get him then.« Ikeda sat down and started reading his sultry romance novel again.
Jack's only thought was that a nosebleed for a Japanese guy was perfect after reading such novels...
