Part 4 (1/2)

You hly cut down the enemy so that he does not recover his position

Miyamoto Musashi+ The Fire Book

THE NEWS OF ratulations from Mick Davies at the factory His reaction was in sharp contrast to those I had encountered back at the dojo My team-mates found it hard to be so effusive because they kne disappointed I ith second place The one exception was Trog; as usual, he had plenty to say He grinned broadly as he 'congratulated'beat when you were so close must've been hard to take, eh?” he chuckled But Mick could only see ed me to announce the result to the rest of the factory by displayingto uys seated at the long table in the maintenance department

”Go on,” Mick said, as we headed to the sta in your medal Before you say no, a bloke in thetrophies, and the darts teas on the notice board Go on, Ralph, lots of people would like to see it You must be the first person fro”

Maybe he was appealing to a vanity I denied possessing but for the first ti my medal to work; that was until we reached thearound drawing on scrawny roll-up cigarettes as they waited for us Mick dropped his toolbox, and to the oldest one he said, ”Bert, I was just saying Ralph must be the first bloke in the factory to ever represent Great Britain in any sport”

Bert, a fat man with a silver Teddy-boy quiff, blew smoke from the side of his mouth I had always been aware of a certain malevolence in his eyes but Mick remained completely oblivious ”Oh yes?” Bert said ”What sport, exactly?”

E infor the British karate team at the European championshi+ps at the weekend and won a silver htened up There was a scornful twist on Bert's lip as he said, ”Fighting for Britain Well, there's a thing” He turned to the others and said, ”Did you knoas fighting for Britain?”

”I thought he'd be fighting for Jahed

”You daft bastard,” I growled, ”it was the European championshi+ps In case you didn't know, Ja way froan to work on the ht soht say: ”Never lishht for England in the ainst Scotland, stuff like: ”I didn't realize you qualified for England, Ralph”, or ”Nice to hear you were defending our English heritage for us against those bloody Jocks” It was those sorts of comments which had made it so difficult for me to put on that tracksuit top before the medal ceremony

Mick had heard the comments too and told me to take no notice of the my life the concept that I was an outsider had crept into my consciousness and I did not know if the idea were mine, or if it was a reflection of hoas perceived by others The local National Front was doing its level best to fo out provocative literature around where I lived, and hadbehind some kind of mental barricade Similar stuff had been put up at work, but it was quickly taken down by the ement who made it clear that any employee as found in possession of such inflahtened up once the repair was finished and each of the four men looked at me in a manner that made me wonder which one of them had put up a National Front poster in the washroom

It should not have affected ot under my skin and the prospect of another forty-five years of as starting to get hs, every day I spent at the factory was beginning to feel like a low I sought comfort in the notion that I had only a few , and provided I passed ht school, I would then be fully qualified and free tocatastrophe in the grand sches, but it was another straw ofshoulders much harder to bear Questions about Clinton's state of health re its best to suck any vitality frohten my mood Before the European championshi+ps I had called on my childhood sweetheart in an attempt to break the monotony of ent and the object of desire for inally split up because her s very difficult for us But seeing Hilda again had only increased the feeling of loneliness and not diht about contacting her again, but there was a beauty contest at the Rising Star and I did not think Hilda would appreciate a night out with led a score of local woht I would see if I could rekindle our relationshi+p just a little ht out' Hilda could wait for another night

The club was packed out and I was doing e when a tap on my shoulder turned me around It art He had a look on his face that communicated that there was trouble afoot, and with a nod of his head he indicated forof rowdy youngto accept that the club was full, but except for Jeroular customers the foyer was empty Ewart told Jerome he would see him in a while and went outside Pete, a karateka who had re, aiting for us in his car Ewart got in next to Pete and with a pair of eyes that were blazing with anger, he signalled that I was to get into the back

I still had not closed the door as the car shot off down the road I had yet to find out what this was all about but I knew that violence was iave a brief outline of what had happened Vernon, as still at school and the baby of the Calass collector that would provide hi the weekends Unbeknown to Vernon, a notorious gang of thugs were in the club that night and looking for trouble The gang waspositive came out of this alliance, rather they becaans who became notorious after one of their number had stabbed a lass fros and belligerence, one of the gang had snatched the glass from Vernon's hand and then thrust it at his head

Pete's car screeched to a halt right outside the club's entrance and brought a doorman out to wave us to the far end of the car park As soon as he saas in the car he backed off Ewart also worked at this club and all the bouncers had seen him in action: they knew better than to try and stop hinored the outstretched hand of Earl, a large doorman, as he entered the foyer Earl knee were there and began giving his version of what had gone on With a finger jabbing at a very large chest, Ewart responded by chastising Earl and the rest of the door would not have been allowed entry in the first place Earl replied that they had ejected the gang and then got Vernon to the hospital ”Ejected?” snarled Ewart ”After what they did to my brother, he's the only one who ends up in hospital?” He did not have to say what retribution would have been ' was a terrible criurement but it was frequently treated with undue leniency by the legal system: the police rarely visited the criet to the courts the perpetrator often escaped with a few months in jail while the victim suffered the consequences for the rest of his, or her, life ”I want naroup ofin the car park ”That's some of them,” he said Ewart frowned bad-temperedly, as if to ask everyone present that if they were so Vernon, then as it that they were still conscious?

I went out with Ewart and Pete into the car park The tallest of the group was a black arette as he briefly looked over to us as we approached They were chatting ast themselves and seemed so unconcerned that I did wonder if they could have been the ones ere responsible for attacking Vernon Ewart beckoned to the tall man who sauntered over to us ”What?” he sneered It was obvious that no one around the place intiht of hiured that as ahe had the safety that was afforded by its reputation

Ewart said, ”I want the na”

The um into his mouth and let out a disdainful chuckle as he started to chew I thought then that he was iven a right to silence in this regard Ewart struck the man's throat with a technique called toho, which uses the holloeen the forefinger and thuers took hold of his throat He simultaneously perfors fro kick to the chest There was a terrible beauty about Ewart's technique that I could not help but admire: he had eh to bring down the man but not so hard as to knock him unconscious ”I want the na,” Ewart repeated

Gang members had a rule that they did not squeal on one another that was how they had got aith so many crimes Maybe it was down to a primal instinct but every one of theuided unity and that without it they had nothing The er when he refused to ansart's question He was about to take a vicious blohen a young woman screamed that she would tell Ehat he wanted to know She ed to stammer one name and address there was h, for noart hauled her boyfriend upright and then threw him over the roof of a parked taxi There was a terrible cracking noise as the man landed out of our line of vision, but Ewart did not seeot to the Campbell household shortly after Vernon had arrived there froes but thankfully the lacerations were away frourelass had struck him to the side and rear of his head He filled us in hat had happened and although he had escaped with relatively eance In response to his older brother's question, Vernon said that he was fit enough to travel and that he would accompany us to the address the woe as Ewart and Vernon went up to the front porch door A heavy-set youth with tattoos on his arms, and dressed in only his boxer shorts, opened the front door, but he was streetwise enough to keep the porch door only slightly ajar He was cocky too he knew that there was little chance of Vernon and Ewart pulling the door open before he locked it again I could hear Vernon verify that he was one of his attackers and the tattooed man respond that the two of them had better leave his preed wo that she did not want her son bringing trouble to her house again before sla the front door shut behind him Noas trapped inside the porch Even fro, the terror on his face was obvious Vernon took advantage of histhewhat fear was enabling this man to do: within an instant he had recovered fro over a hedge that was at least five feet high Pete and I moved to cut him off as he hurdled over three-foot picket fences He was race of an Olympic hurdler until he saw that ere about to cut off his escape route The tattooed o back over the fences he had just cleared only to run into Ewart The gyakuzuki was technically brilliant: it had both speed and weight transfer; his rear foot, hips and shoulders had all turned in unison The man was rendered unconscious the moment Ewart's knuckles connected with his chin, and as he flew backwards through the air and through a bay as blissfully unaware that he had just been taken out with aswitched on as we drove away, and it did cross my mind what the inhabitants of the house with the broken ould have to say as they found an al room carpet

I did not fully appreciate then just what I was being drawn into Blood, in this case iveweeks, despite several of thethe attack on Vernon or not, was found and dealt with and I felt every action taken against these men was entirely justified Years later, I read an intervieith one of the country's ans in a British national newspaper It turned out he was the leader of the gang who had glassed Vernon In proclaihness he omitted to tell the journalist of the time when he had finally been found by Ewart, how he had cried and begged for thy period in hospital I thought then that the reputations of men such as these were built up by people ere easily impressed, or intimidated

Chapter Twelve

To all ways there are sidetracks

Miyamoto Musashi+ The Ground Book

THE ATTACK ON Vernon and its aftermath had some unexpected results: my cousin Clinton was back to his old self It was as if he had never been away In taking part in the tracking down of his brother's attackers and then delivering the beatings that were deeet about his own troubles He also, thankfully, seeht, and now the evenings were drawing in, he was once again back to training in the dojo at every opportunity I was now content that his health scare had been only a temporary aberration

In a bizarre role reversal, I was the one as falling into conterooain about rong I had been struggling to tie ed to do correctly for five years without too much trouble, when I took a deep breath and said, ”Hilda She's having a baby Make that, she's having our baby”

Clinton's face lit up and he shook orously ”And there were ruhed

I did hter died in my throat Hilda had called to my parents' house after I had failed to respond to the calls she had uessed the nature of the news she had for ht she was a stabilizing influence on me, and my dad had made it plain that he hoped that once I beca and live up to ain, I was still unsure about how I should react to her news I was barely twenty years old and had justat the factory so I that could do so to japan and training at all the top dojos and then perhaps heading to Hong Kong and finding work in a few kung fu filh the day at the factory but Hilda's pregnancy had robbed , life-changing choices ahead of me and I needed st the students before the lesson began was of the final installment of retribution that had been handed out by Ewart to the leader of the football hooligan crew When Ewart had finally found hilare of his corated into a flood of tears as he was driven out to a secluded wood; Ewart did not want the screa the terrible lesson he was about to dispense being disturbed

As we lined up for the bow, Eddie cox scrutinized all those who ot the feeling that he wanted the extra-curricular activities to end He was initially sympathetic and was prepared to tolerate the odd incident but what had happened over the previous s often in sotwo hours he and Declan Byrne had us practising basic techniques and kata and hout the lesson that ere not up to scratch

With so many tournaments around the country and invitations forthere was a danger that the training in the dojo was beco too competition-orientated While both instructors had been successful as students, they had retired froes because they were not prepared to sacrifice what they considered the true essence of karate in return for success on the competition e of a vast range of techniques is used, and the erous and e is even smaller because it is a fusion of Okinawan karate and japanese jujitsu, the locks and throws of which are totally forbidden in karate contests

Before the final bow, cox sensei announced that there was to be a grading in a little more than three weeks' tiulations of Wado Ryu's governing body, exarades above fourth kyu had to be taken with a japanese instructor and so the brown belt gradings usually took place in the dojos of either Kuniaki Sakagami or Peter Suzuki and I knehich one of the japanese senseis everyone in the front roould have preferred Mick Bryan could not restrain his curiosity ”Where is the grading going to be, sensei?” he asked on everybody's behalf A smirk twisted the lips of Eddie cox ”At Peter Suzuki's,” he said, pro an audible hiss of displeasure to escape fro I drove to Peter Suzuki's dojo in Birible to take a grading examination had decided to opt out and wait for a later opportunity with Sakagaami was considered far more amiable and consistent than the mercurial Peter Suzuki While the personalities of the japanese instructors were factors for some, for others it was down to the lack of available tiie in our routines had done us good As with all constant repetition, there is the inherent danger that youof a range of kihon and renraku waza (basic and combination techniques) and kata hadas we executed techniques that we had neglected over the ed fro a traditional karateka and a coazines that Billy Higgins, a Shotokan instructor who had come second in the 1972 world chaood karateka and not be a good coood coood karateka But as coradually beca an opponent rather than hitting hi to understand Eddie cox's view that the sporting side of karate was growing ever less relevant as a hter you actually were

The woround floor of Peter Suzuki's dojo took our grading fees and our licences which werelethal hands with the police, as coht of stairs to the changing room The dojo was up yet more stairs and I entered it with a little apprehension

I could not think of any karate student who actually liked Peter Suzuki; mostly he was feared and loathed in equal y with it but it was his unpredictable character that had made him less than popular with a lot of the black belts in the area The exception being Eddie cox Peter Suzuki also liked Eddie, ever since that first tiareen belt at the tihter than any of the black belts Suzuki had travelled from his school in Ireland and had watched Eddie train before saying that they would spar together This was a great co of a dilemma: Peter Suzuki, as with most japanese instructors, hated displays of cowardice or lack of spirit as they called it and if Eddie held back during the sparring his restraint could be interpreted as an absence of courage However, if he went in hard this would almost certainly provoke a response that would result in the student being put firhtful place Eddie cox decided that he e with soainst the fifth dan black belt until Peter Suzuki called 'Yame!' and Eddie promptly halted, only to be knocked out cold by a technique that he never saw coave hi aware of an opponent, no haside Toru Takaton, another world chaht champion was a student there and undoubtedly the best cohtly built and nimble Takamizawa; but for Peter Suzuki, the burly brawler Eddie cox was the number one student As far as an attitude to combat went they were kindred spirits, and when Eddie arded his first dan Suzuki had a specially embroidered, extra wide black belt sent to him from japan

The floor of Peter Suzuki's dojo was not of the traditional sort Instead of the polished wood associated with japanese dojos it was covered with a green carpet, and while the soles of the feet could cope, it often burnt any softer skin that rubbed against it It looked er than it actually was because talls were covered fro your own reflection is so a kata, I found it disconcerting Bruce Lee entering the on ca exercises as more andjust how et in when Peter Suzuki arrived just behind a flustered younga white belt

The dojo fell silent asSuzuki's expression: he was in a foulat his arood deal shorter than the other The story went that the teenage Suzuki was continually getting involved in brawls in the rougher parts of his hometown in order to test out his techniques One day his instructor decided to teach him some humility, and once the rest of the class had held down the young braggart, the instructor promptly broke his arm I did wonder if it were true but one of his arms did look shorter We were called into lines: brown belts at the front, purple and green in the middle rows and white belts at the back It was an exaic as it seeinners at the front so they could see ether and hands by our side, we stood to attention and waited for the command to kneel, but Suzuki had so white belt who had bustled in ahead of him to come to the front of the class and ordered him to stand to attention Without another word, Suzuki slapped hi man stood there perplexed: was this some sort of test? The second slap was even harder and alain he looked at his sensei with confusion: was he supposed to block the strikes? The third slap had so much force behind it that it evendown his reddened cheeks

”You cry!” exclaioGo!”

As the crushed and blubbering lances as we silently wondered as going on It turned out that in the young et to the dojo, he had brushed past his sensei on the stairs but in his haste he was coy was viewed by Peter Suzuki as evidence of a lack of respect that needed correcting but I was of the opinion that Suzuki'sthe novice of his uard, rather than akarate to students who paid him rather well

Finally, Suzuki barked, ”Seiza!” We went down onto our knees and then heard the word most western students hated to hear when in that position: ”Moksu”