Last night I took the kids to my work for a pool party. The Martial Arts group was putting on a pool-side demonstration for all of the patrons. My daughter was completely enthralled. She was so impressed by the breaking bricks, bats and boards. Her eyes went wide with the slicing of various fruits. I smiled softly, knowing she would love to see some of my secret weapons hidden in our house. She has seen me go all Xena with my Chinese Bo Staff. She loves watching me do my forms. None of my children have seen the pictures of a Chinese New Moon Festival demostration I did 18 years ago. Eighteen years? How is that possible?
I wore an open back bathing suit and laid on a bed of nail-tips. Four hundred hand pounded nails on a 18" by 2' board made my little bed. As I laid down, my Teacher placed a cinder block across my abdomen. He gave me a minute to breath and concentrate in front of a thousand people in the downtown area. Then I found my place of peace and purpose and let him swing a sludge hammer over his head and on top of my stomach as a couple of hundred screams were let loose. The brick broke and I was pulled up. One little nail slightly raised pierced my back and left a small trickle of blood running parallel to my spine, this made my mother cry out. I never felt it. It cleaned up and left a small scab. So many people came up to see my back that night and asked how I did it. There was no magic; just belief that I would be protected and sheer determination. Eighteen years I have carried that gift of faith, confidence and determination. I want to give it to my children, especially my daughter.
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