boxcar
March 11th, 2010, 09:17
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True story: Once a friend of mine, a highly-skilled martial artist whom I've never met in person yet, was on a train in Japan. A large, drunk man suddenly burst into the car & began knocking people off of their seats, crying out that if anyone thought they could best him then they were welcome to try. All remained seated except for my friend. He stood up, knowing he could take the turkey apart.
As he & the man approached one another an old man jumped up in between them & asked the offensive man, "Wait! What is wrong? WHY are you behaving so?" Everyone stopped while holding their breath, the drunk pausing, stunned, & then began to slowly say with his head hanging down, "I've lost my job. I've lost my family, my home. I've lost everything... I'm so ashamed of myself." & began to weep.
My friend remained standing, speechless. Later, as he was departing the train, he looked back to see the drunk still sobbing with his head laying in the lap of the old man who was gently stroking his hair while singing softly to him. It was then that my friend realized that for the first time in all the many years of his training he had finally witnessed true martial arts in action.
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True story: Once a friend of mine, a highly-skilled martial artist whom I've never met in person yet, was on a train in Japan. A large, drunk man suddenly burst into the car & began knocking people off of their seats, crying out that if anyone thought they could best him then they were welcome to try. All remained seated except for my friend. He stood up, knowing he could take the turkey apart.
As he & the man approached one another an old man jumped up in between them & asked the offensive man, "Wait! What is wrong? WHY are you behaving so?" Everyone stopped while holding their breath, the drunk pausing, stunned, & then began to slowly say with his head hanging down, "I've lost my job. I've lost my family, my home. I've lost everything... I'm so ashamed of myself." & began to weep.
My friend remained standing, speechless. Later, as he was departing the train, he looked back to see the drunk still sobbing with his head laying in the lap of the old man who was gently stroking his hair while singing softly to him. It was then that my friend realized that for the first time in all the many years of his training he had finally witnessed true martial arts in action.
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