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Isaiah Jones versus the Sea (A 21st Century Odyssey)

‘Epilogue American Woman: Raw*

“When You Grow Up, If You Still Feel Raw About It, I’ll Be Waiting.”

-(Bleep Bleep)

Epilogue American Woman: Raw

The name on the mailbox read The Spears family of the City of Pasadena’ a google search listed a 56-year-old Pricilla and her 26-year-old daughter Michelle as the current residents, even though the daughter, against her mother’s wishes, has been in Japan seeking a master for the last 5 years. Sumiko had refused to train her initially but Michelle, like her mother, could be very persuasive. It’s 5506 Atlas Street at the southeast corner of Alpha Street in South Pasadena. Pricilla took residence after the former occupants of the home, the Late Jennifer Wells untimely demise at her hands.

The widowed husband and daughter moved out, unable to live there following her witnessing her mothers gruesome murder. Ironically, After returning to the states from Mexico with her own estranged daughter Michelle in tow, Pricilla now found herself in need of a home in a nice neighborhood with good schools and here she is, 2 decades later living in the former home of one of the people who swore a blood oath to avenge their mother’s death at her hands. It’s funny if you think about it, the irony is palatable.

Michelle and Nikkita been training for a showdown I hear. The elderly, dark-skinned Tlalpanecs Mexican woman in a turquoise with crimson accents sundress said, leaning on the white picket fence as she spoke to the fit middle-aged white woman kneeling in her floral garden dress as if she were June Cleaver’s neighbor. The aging slender white woman wore a large wide-brimmed straw hat and huge ash mademoiselle shades with a thin, cotton amber amber-tinted halter dress.

Even kneeling, you could tell that she was a tall, lean woman at least six feet tall. The blonde pony tail now grey with age, yet she still used her gloved hand to shield her eyes as she turned to face the sun, as the stranger talked to her while she continued weeding the garden. This is what most of gardening is, she drawled. killing the weeds so the plants can grow.” She smiled, squinting even with her shades, as she returned to her gardening.

You heard right. Pricilla said as she kneeled, ripping out the weeds at the roots.

She don’t go by Nikkita Bell no more, Jefe. The woman said between licks of her ice cream.

Oh, Pricilla said, her interest piqued. You gone tell me the kids’ new handle, or leave here in suspense all afternoon? she cooed with a wide grin.

They call her Raw, she said with a shrug.

Pricilla’s cool facade cracked as she visibly shuddered. Recalling her words to the child, the only time they met 2 decades ago.

I hear you came outta retirement to finish it for good this time. The stranger said in a Spanish accent.

I never retired, Priscila grinned. I just took a little 20-year sabbatical.

So, you back in the game now?

Yeah, she said as she rose to her bare feet. I’m in my prime. Now that the nest is empty, I’m gonna need my sword.

The slender elderly white woman stood in the garden for a moment as if meditating before she asked hesitantly. How is my daughter’s training going?

It goes well, señora. She has proven herself worthy to the negro monks who guard the sword maker and now allow her to stay with them at the temple. It is a hard life. The brothers are sympathetic to her cause and allow her to train with them even though they hate women, despise the west, and have nothing but contempt for white people, they agreed to let her stay.

The old woman said, standing on the sidewalk next to the garden. But I have some troubling news, the Blind Mountain Snake has found the pupil and trains the child from the safety of your former master’s old stronghold in the Gao Temple (Gao Miao) on the mountains in China as we speak. She mocks you. The snake is trying to lure you into a trap.

Let her train her student, Priscilla hissed. We will be ready when she rears her ugly, eyeless head. Last time I showed mercy and only took an eye. The next time we meet I will take her miserable life.

Meanwhile in China

The Gao Temple (Gao Miao) on the east side of Miao Gao Mountain in Zhongwei, China, Mountains an ancient building atop a long ancient flight of steps.

The middle-aged Japanese man wearing a black suit and tie waits patiently as he watches the once blonde now grey six-foot-tall elderly blind white woman wearing a white Gi speak as she continued sparing against the four young men, each armed with real Jian, she with only a wooden practice sword while Blind Mountain Snake easily struck each student with fierce blows at will, keeping them at bay and beating them as mercilessly as her old teacher had gleefully beaten her, on this very mountain, all those years ago.

Each blow of the ancient master’s bamboo cane nearly breaking bone with each strike, at her slightest mistake. He went too far when he took her right eye for daring to speak disrespectfully to him. That night, she poisoned the old goat’s fish heads soup before she left the mountain and flew back to California to Williams’ arms her honestly reporting her training with his old master was finished.

That had cost her her good eye but not once in the decades that passed, did she ever have a moments remorse or regret poisoning the old man and all she has done with her time over the passing decades is rebuild her murdered lovers crumbling criminal empire to its former glory and train for the day she could seek her revenge. 7 years ago the gods of war delivered little Nikkita Bell now code named Raw, daughter of the late “Copperhead”. On the path of blood and vengeance, looking for someone, anyone willing to train her. She didn’t need the exploding bs technique, she would teach her all that she had learned in her hate, in the darkness, the art of seeing without seeing. As she now fought without sight, without eyes, without heart, without mercy.

KIA!

She struck with her bamboo cane, breaking the arm of the final student still able to stand as he attempted to decapitate her with his Jian. She came to attention, bowed, and thanked the four incapacitated men, unconscious or writhing on the mat, crying and moaning in agony. The old blind woman smiled as she bowed.

“Return next week to continue your training.” The 23-year-old black girl Raw still wore her hair in the afro puffs her mother used to style her hair in rose and followed her master as she exited the training area. BMS (Blind Mountain Snake) was hearing rumors from overseas, something was stirring the pot around Tokyo. She would send her little Nikkita to investigate and have a word with the sword maker.

[Note] Kill Bill -the Bride[“It was not my intention to do this in front of you. For that, I’m sorry. But you can take my word for it, your mother had it comin’. When you grow up, if you still feel Raw about it… I’ll be waitin’”]

[Note] Kill Bill location of Brides’ training. [the Gao Temple (Gao Miao) on the east side of Miao Gao Mountain in Zhongwei, China.

The Temple complex is in the centre of Zhongwei, about a hundred miles southwest of Yinchuan, and reached from the northern end of Gulou Beijie.

Built in the early Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), the original temple was

destroyed by an earthquake in 1739, and rebuilt only to be consumed by

fire in 1942. The present complex is a jumble of buildings of different

styles, covering an area of about 4,000 square metres. You can reach Zhongwei by train from Beijing.]

[Note] [Master Shi Yanya teaches African students kung fu techniques. Shi Baoyin / China Daily Shaolin training builds body, mind

By Shi Baoyin and Qi Xin in Dengfeng county, Henan | China Daily Africa | Updated: 2016-08-26 09:49

Ancient temple’s kung fu camp for African students enters its fourth year

Ngalle Emmanuel stands on stage in the traditional gray robes and canvas shoes of a Shaolin monk. He takes a deep breath and then, with a scream, launches into a flurry of rapid-fire punches.

The 29-year-old from Cameroon has lived and studied at the Shaolin Temple, the ancient home of Chinese kung fu, for four years.

African students watch each other’s kung fu performance. Feng Dapeng / Xinhua

Master Shi Yanya teaches African students kung fu techniques. Shi Baoyin / China Daily

“The important thing I’ve learned is not to be afraid of hardship. The more you practice, the better you will be,” he tells his audience at the 1,500-year-old Buddhist temple in Central China’s Henan province.

Listening intently is a new class of 20 students from Africa.

The Ministry of Culture launched a Shaolin training program for Africans in 2013 as part of efforts to strengthen cultural exchanges. Eighty students from more than 15 countries have taken part, with classes running for three months.

Amadou Lamarana Bah, 28, was in the audience at the welcoming ceremony for the new class on July 6. A former bodyguard from Conakry, the capital of Guinea, he says it is his dream to study with Shaolin monks.

“Going to the birthplace of kung fu is meaningful,” says Bah, who has studied martial arts for eight years. “Some moves (in Shaolin kung fu) are a little different from what I learned before. Most importantly, we also learn about qigong,” he adds, referring to a system of traditional breathing exercises.

In addition to various techniques, the students are also taught about meditation and given Buddhist principles to guide their actions.

“Kung fu is part of the Chinese culture,” he adds. “I want to learn the most I can before I leave the temple, and to let all my friends see the changes. We should all follow the discipline of Shaolin.”

Shi Yanya, a master at the temple, says teaching the students about meditation helps with their training and their mental state.

“Africans are strong and have excellent physical fitness, but they need to build endurance, to keep still while doing the actions,” he explains. “Learning kung fu is not something you rush; it requires patience and persistence.”Peace Emezue was part of the first class in 2013 and is now a personal trainer in Nigeria. She says living with the Shaolin monks changed her life.

Although it was a tough transition at first, the 35-year-old recalls the monks’ simplicity, discipline and encouragement. “I learned humility, good conduct, and how to be appreciative,” she says. “My experience there worked on my personality. I’m a lot calmer, patient, and I’ve learned how to be serious with my work. It’s an experience no one can take from you.”

Sadow Sow, 28, a journalist from Conakry, says he plans to teach kung fu when he returns home after completing this year’s program.

Si Hongyu, an associate professor of physical education at Zhengzhou University, says Shaolin kung fu has an important role in Chinese martial arts, as the temple has integrated the wisdom of Zen Buddhism and traditional Chinese medicine to create a cultivation process that is good for mind and body.]

About the Author:

JD Cloudy’s poetry has appeared in literary journals such as Fatfizz, Mad Swirl, Texas Beat Anthology, Danse Macabre, Du Jour, and Death List Five. He has won no literary awards, entered no slam competitions, and never completed college. He lives to write in Dallas, TX.