Legacy of the Grand Master. William Speir

had knocked the fighting sticks from the owner’s hands again, and he returned to the match carrying a large staff, called a Bo, which is similar to the quarterstaffs used in medieval Europe. The Bo had a long reach, and Jamie felt that the time had come to change weapons again. She swung around suddenly, swept her mom’s legs, causing her to fall backwards, and raced to the wall to retrieve two large swords. Turning back to her opponents, she made a quick assessment and launched a fresh attack at her dad.

      Jamie’s swords were a blur as she attacked and countered his attempts to attack. She slipped past his defenses and caught him along the neck, which was a kill and forced him out of the match. Spinning around, she moved out of the way just as the owner’s Bo struck at her. She deflected the blow, came in low, and caught the owner with a thrust to the chest, which was also a kill. As the owner and her dad moved to the far end of the room, Jamie turned to face her mom.

      Emily had created the style of fighting they were using, but Jamie’s youth and aggressiveness more than made up for her lack of experience. The final two opponents were evenly matched, even though their fighting styles were completely different. Emily abandoned her short sword and was using two long swords like her daughter. The two were locked in a contest of incredible speed and motion. Tom and the owner couldn’t tell which sword went with which opponent. Emily swung with one sword while thrusting with the other. Jamie kicked her mom’s second sword out of the way and swept her mom’s leg to keep her off balance. Emily leaped forward, aiming her blows to Jamie’s head. Jamie dropped down and aimed for her mom’s stomach and inner thighs.

      This went on for quite a while. In the end, though, Jamie’s youth and speed were the deciding factors. With a sudden double attack, she knocked one of her mom’s swords out of her hand. She dropped one of her own swords, grabbed her mom’s sword hand, and held it fully extended, pressing her own sword against her mom’s throat. Emily dropped her sword and relaxed, signaling that Jamie had won the match.

      Jamie sat down in the middle of the mat as the owner tossed her a towel and a bottle of water. The four opponents removed their protective clothing and returned to their original positions. The owner, Tom, and Emily were kneeling with their heads bowed in respect to the winner.

      “Congratulations, Jamie,” Emily said. “You’re the first to face three opponents, and the first to beat all of us. Either you’re the best student and the fastest learner ever, or we’re getting really old and slow!”

      “I think that both of those are true, sweetheart,” Tom said. Turning to his daughter, he said, “Congratulations, baby girl! That was a great match!”

      “I agree,” the owner said, clearly impressed. “I don’t know where you want your martial arts career to take you, but it’s clear to me that you’re now in a class all your own. I’m not sure that there’s anything more we can teach you, but I think that there’s a lot we can learn from you.”

      Jamie was surprised but pleased to hear that. “I’m hoping that we can all keep learning from each other for a long time,” she said finally. Her parents and the owner nodded, and Jamie rolled onto her back and covered her head with the towel to wipe off the sweat running freely down her face.

      In the semi darkness from the towel, she heard the owner say to her parents, “You know, if you ever want to get rid of her, I’ll be happy to take her off your hands.”

      “Sorry, but they’re not getting rid of me that easily,” Jamie said.

      They all laughed and started cleaning off the gear and putting it away.

      5

      Jamie’s senior year was a busy time. She knew that she was getting close to graduating, but she wasn’t sure what she was going to do after that. When she came home for Christmas break, she was still at a complete loss about what she really wanted to do with her life.