similar note lay in his palm.
‘Of course you can come,’ said Liz.
The morning breeze caressed Liz’s face, soft and smooth as silk, as they jogged along the river foreshore and up to Kings Park, where they followed the footpaths among the native trees, turning off between thick bushes to reach their secret hideout. Li Ping was there, smiling at them, alongside Sue.
‘How do you feel today?’ asked Liz.
‘Much better. I know you have many questions,’ Li Ping pointed at a large dead log on the ground, ‘so why don’t we sit down and talk through them?’
‘Can you teach me how to fight?’ Henry said even before they sat down.
‘I’d like to know where these monsters came from,’ said Sue.
‘What I’d like to know is what this calligraphy pen really is,’ said Liz.
Li raised a hand. ‘One thing at a time. Shall we start with the calligraphy pen?’ Henry shrugged and Sue nodded. ‘Nobody knows where it is from, or who made it; as long as people can remember, it was always there.’
‘My dad said that it could be the dragon whisker pen that the Four Sea Dragon King gave to the Yellow Emperor on his coronation,’ Henry interrupted.
‘Your father knows that story?’ said Li, ‘I have heard it too. Unfortunately, there is no evidence to verify the legend. However, I would like to show you something. Can I borrow your pen for a moment, please?’
Liz and her friends followed Li to a tree so large that it would take five people holding hands to embrace it. Liz anticipated something special was going to happen.
Using the calligraphy pen, Li painted a picture of a giant panda on the tree trunk.
‘It looks so real, almost alive—hang on!’ Liz saw something was wrong with the panda’s eyes. She took a close look. ‘Have you forgotten to paint pupils in the panda’s eyes?’
‘No, I haven’t forgotten—or rather, I left them out intentionally. Have you heard the Chinese expression about painting the dragon’s pupils?’
She never paid much attention to the stories her father told her, however she did remember this one. But everyone knew it was just a fairy tale. Suddenly, her eyes became bright.
‘Yes, the story was true.’ Li flicked her wrist gracefully, and two black ink drops flew into the panda’s eyes.
8
Fast and Slow
Immediately, the panda blinked, moved its paws, and slowly climbed down the tree trunk. Li Ping used the calligraphy pen again, making a few strokes in the air. As the pen moved, a patch of bamboo appeared; the panda started munching the green fresh bamboo leaves.
It was the first time the three had seen a real giant panda, and everyone watched it with great excitement. Looking at the tree trunk where the painted panda had been, Liz saw a panda-shaped piece of bark missing. Had her pen really transformed the bark into a panda?
‘Is this the same calligraphy pen that the painter used to paint the dragon’s pupils in the tale?’ Henry asked.
Li Ping nodded and passed the calligraphy pen back to Liz. Liz stared at her pen. ‘But how could it be possible that my father bought it at a swap meet in Australia?’
‘I don’t know.’
‘Could you please tell us where those evil monsters came from?’ asked Sue.
‘They escaped from their magic prison after Wave Rock was destroyed by the explosion.’
‘Are you telling us that those monsters were living inside Wave Rock?’ Sue said.
‘Unfortunately I don’t know about the history of the prison and the monsters, but Professor Smith may know something. We could ask him later.’
‘OK, all the questions have been answered, now it’s time to teach me—er, us, combat skills,’ said Henry.
‘Well, in fact, you all have been learning the skills for years.’
‘Do you mean the slow Tai Chi movements can be used in real combat? Is that what you used yesterday?’ asked Henry.
‘I know it’s hard to imagine. Can I borrow your pen please, Liz?’
Li made some invisible strokes in the air. Gradually a creek appeared along the forest floor, flowing into an oval pond. Liz watched admiringly as Li painted a smooth-skinned rubber ball floating in the water, and then a long thick bamboo pole. Liz hoped that Li would teach her to use the pen like that.
Li passed the pole to Henry. ‘Try to push the ball under water.’
The ball was wet and slippery. Henry’s pole skipped away each time it touched. The more he poked, the faster the ball spun; in the end he had to give up.
‘Rather than head-on confrontation, Tai Chi does not use force against force. Instead, like a spinning ball, it deflects the opponent’s attack.’ Li painted a bamboo basket on the tip of the pole. ‘Now, try it again.’
This time Henry could easily push the ball under. Li told him to push it deeper under water.
‘It’s getting harder and harder,’ he gasped; soon he couldn’t hold his position any longer, and he lost his balance and almost fell into the water. Li caught him in time. The ball popped out of the water and shot high into the air.
‘If water is stopped by a dam, it will wait patiently, accumulating energy. When it finds the smallest flaw, it will break the dam and burst out unstoppably. Similarly, Tai Chi retreats when its opponent advances, and as the opponent’s force reaches its limit, Tai Chi makes the enemy unbalanced, and then advances in full strength. The stronger the opponent’s attacking force, the stronger the Tai Chi fighting back.’
‘Sounds good, but how do you apply the theory in real combat?’ Henry challenged her.
‘Henry, would you like to step forward? Now punch me as fast and hard as you can.’
Hesitating initially, then without warning, Henry’s right fist punched at Li’s left shoulder, fast; however, as his fist almost touched her, Li twisted her shoulder slightly, just enough for Henry’s fist to miss its target. Her movement was casual, like doing a bit of a stretch.
‘All Tai Chi gestures are circular movements, so the attacking forces can be spun off. Henry, please keep punching.’
Henry used both of his fists to punch at Li continuously.
Li gracefully twisted, rotated, and moved backwards and forwards. Just before each blow touched Li’s clothes, it landed in a void. Moving around Henry’s punches, Li spoke as if she was strolling in her backyard.
‘Keep going, Henry. You can kick as well if you are tired of punching.’
Panting heavily, Henry seemed very happy to do some kicking and give his arms a rest. Like a soccer player, his kicks were powerful and fast; again, each kick was unable to touch even the surface of Li’s clothes.
‘Fast and slow are relative. You have to agree that Henry’s punches and kicks are quite fast.’ Li put her hand up. ‘Henry, punch my palm.’
Henry’s shirt was saturated, as if he had just walked out of a shower. Now Li offered him a fixed target, he was more than happy to do as requested.
Liz watched him gazing at Li’s palm, about an arm’s length from him, and felt his desperation to win this round—a boyish thing, always wanting to win. Then he put all of his might into his right fist.
As his fist almost touched her palm, instead of moving sideways Li withdrew her hand. Her palm moved backwards at the same speed as Henry’s fist; then she gripped his fist and gave a gentle twist. Henry lost his balance. Li’s right foot caught Henry just before his nose hit the ground. She lifted her foot, throwing him on his feet again.
Henry used the back of his hand to wipe the sweat off his forehead. ‘Man, that’s cool.’
The girls both laughed.
Liz thought about something: ‘Li, Henry is exhausted after just a couple of minutes of air punching.’ She looked at Henry, and he looked embarrassed when she mentioned ‘air punching’. ‘But you show no sign of tiredness at all, you’re not even panting. Is this to do with the Tai Chi meditation breathing techniques?’
‘Yes, but it’s also because I didn’t directly fight with him, but follo
wed the flow—like strolling in the back garden—so why should I feel tired? Can you tell me what I just demonstrated?’
‘Henry’s punch was fast but so was the speed of your palm withdrawing, so Tai Chi is not always slow; it can become faster than the attack force,’ said Sue. Li nodded. ‘Because the speed of withdrawing your palm was the same speed as Henry’s punching, Henry’s fist was still, related to your palm; so you could easily grip his fist. This is what you meant by fast can become slow.’
Li applauded. ‘The reason we are doing the slow Tai Chi movements is to enable us to move faster than the fastest attacking force, making it relatively slow. Of course, in order to do that, one has to be extremely sensitive towards the attacking force. Can I please borrow your pen again?’
This time Li painted a Twenty-eight, the green parrot, on a lower tree branch. It looked beautiful and real. ‘OK, let’s paint its pupils.’
After Li’s pen touched the bird’s eyes, it turned and flew into the air. Liz only spotted a blur in the air, and the next thing she saw was that the bird stood on Li’s open palm. Then a strange thing happened; the bird made a few attempts to become airborne, but gave up every time. Liz wondered if Li had trapped the bird with magic.
‘Watch the bird carefully—it uses its legs to push off from where it stands, jump in the air, and fly away. I sense the pressure from the bird’s legs, and move my hand backward so it loses its ground; that’s why it is unable to fly.’
Li stopped moving her hand and let the bird flew away. ‘You must wonder what the connection between Tai Chi and a bird trapped on my hand is.’
‘I know,’ said Henry. ‘We need to be sensitive towards the attacking force. Whenever we are attacked, we sense the pressure and move backwards, forwards or sidewards to avoid the direct force.’ His face was full of satisfaction.
‘I agree in theory, but it’s not possible for humans to react fast enough to avoid attacks. You should know that, Henry; that’s why the goalkeeper doesn’t have time to react in a penalty shot,’ said Liz.
‘You’re right about human reaction time, but there are two exceptions.’ Li Ping handed the calligraphy pen back to Liz. Liz immediately dropped it on ground as if she had touched a hot iron bar.
9
Yellow Crane
‘Liz, sorry for the shock, but your hand will be fine.’ Li picked up the pen. ‘When we touch a hot object, our body reacts instantly, without waiting for our brain to process the signals.’
‘What’s the second exception?’ Sue asked.
‘It’s Qi.’ Li pronounced it like the beginning of the word ‘cheese’. When Qi is built up within your body, it forms a protective layer, reacting to foreign force at lightning speed.’
‘What is this Qi?’ asked Sue.
‘Qi can be simply translated as one’s inner energy, but it is far more than that. Sue, can you step forward please? Put your palms against mine.’
From the expression on her friend’s face, Liz imagined that something was happening inside Sue; her face was very calm, very relaxed, almost glowing. A couple of minutes later, Li moved away from Sue.
‘Sue, look at the tree branch over there. I want you to chop it off with your hand, like this; in Chinese Gong Fu, it’s called the Palm Knife.’ Li Ping chopped the air with her palm vertically.
‘What? Are you serious?’ Sue stared at her hand, and then at the thick tree branch.
‘Go on, Sue, you can do it,’ said Henry.
‘Why don’t you try it gently first to see if it hurts your hand?’ said Liz.
Sue looked at Li Ping, and walked towards the branch slowly.
It was thick and covered with dark rough bark. It would be very hard to chop it off even with an axe. Liz watched wood chopping competitions at the Perth Royal Show; this was not much thinner than the logs used in the Show.
Sue put her right hand in a vertical position, looked at Li Ping once more, and struck gently at the tree branch.
Nothing happened, but Liz noticed