Chapter 16: Po’s Turn to Teach

The next morning Po gathered all of the pandas in a wide field by the waterfall.

He had spent all night thinking about his own kung fu training. The field was the perfect location for the exercises he had in mind.

Po put his hands behind his back as he addressed the students. "You guys, your real strength comes from being the best you you can be. So who are you? What are you good at? What do you love? What makes you you?"

He broke the pandas out into smaller groups. He watched Bao play jianzi, and he studied Mei Mei as she twirled her ribbons. He even watched Big Fun use the hammocks to catapult Dim and Sum up the hills.

Tigress followed him from group to group, but she had no idea what he was doing.

Once Po had figured out what each panda was best at, he had them do it over and over.

He asked Bao and all his friends to play a marathon game of jianzi.

"Yes, good, good! Again!" he called to them.

He asked another group of pandas to roll downhill, and he had Big Fun practice hugging a log. "Hug that log, you!" he shouted encouragingly. "Hug that log like it's the last time you're ever going to hug it good-bye forever!"

As Mei Mei danced with her ribbons, he called, "Faster, faster! Twirl those ribbons!"

Dim and Sum were off to the side, catapulting themselves with the hammocks.

"Higher!" Po said. "And a little more to the left this time—you can do it!"

Then Po took a basket full of dumplings to Bao and the kid pandas. "I don't want to see any of these hit the ground," he coached, before tossing the dumplings into the air.

The kids kicked the dumplings just like they'd kicked the jianzi.

Outside the kitchen hut, Li and Mr. Ping were transforming kitchen supplies into weapons and armor.

Tigress walked around, still trying to figure out what Po had in mind. Lei Lei followed her everywhere.

"Wait, wait, Stripy Baby!" she cried.

As Po studied the pandas, he gave them each a different weapon. He handed Mei Mei some nunchucks—two sticks attached by a chain, a weapon used in kung fu fighting. Then he took away her ribbons.

"Good, now try it with these!" he said.

Mei Mei twirled them expertly, though she accidentally hit Tigress in the process.

Then he inserted firecrackers into the dumplings the kids were kicking.

The final test: Po held up a board for each of the pandas to break.

Bao kicked a dumpling clean through the board!

Big Fun hugged the board until it splintered to pieces!

Even Grandma Panda was willing to take a swing at it . . . but she missed and kicked Po in his tenders.

By the end of the day, every panda in the village was turning their own panda skills into awesome battle skills—even though it still looked like they were playing and having fun.

Po stood on a hill to watch them all in action. Tigress hobbled over,

Lei Lei clinging to her leg.

"They are ready," Po said confidently.

Her golden eyes widened. "What?"