Chikara Dojo

"What do you mean? I thought you were happy at DC." Aunt May said to which Hannah nodded and said "I am happy but things are kind of hectic in DC since Tony Start has announced himself as Iron Man. There are many other things that we are kept in the dark about and it confuses us even more. Ahh…I need a lot of wine to take out all the frustration I have in me." Hannah said.

"Maybe we should have a night out for us girls. Maybe Maya will join us this time." Aunt May said looking at Maya who was now standing beside Jared leaning against the car.

Hannah looked back at her daughter and then at May and said "No…I don't think she is ready for the big girls' talk yet. She may be mature but she is far from ready to hear about the things going on in the world."

Maya and Jared who were standing near the car couldn't hear a single thing these two women were talking about. Seeing that her mother was now chatting away with May, Maya decided to remind her mother about her classes.

"MOM…COME FAST OR WE WILL BE LATE." Maya shouted to which Hannah just nodded and a few seconds later came back to the car.

"Come on Maya…Don't rush me like this. I had so much I wanted to talk to with May." Hannah said as she got inside the car.

"Mom even if you talk now for hours, you will still have the girls' night out with Jared's aunt and Ryan's mother." Maya said as she narrowed her eyes looking at her mother.

"What can I say? I need to rewind every time I come back to New York. There is no other place like home." Maya said in a bright tone as she started the car and they left the area.

While driving to the dojo, Hannah inquired with Jared about school and other things. The suspicious feeling that Jared got from Hannah didn't appear again throughout the entire conversation. After driving for nearly 25 minutes, they reached CHIKARA DOJO.

As they reached the area, Maya stepped out excitedly but Jared and Hannah looked around in confusion. Jared looked at Maya and asked "Maya are you sure we are at the right place?"

Maya nodded and asked "Yes…why are you asking that? Did you perhaps come to this place before?"

Jared shook his head and said "No…I meant that this is such a rundown place and it is in the middle of Chinatown. This is a high crime neighborhood…coming here is not safe especially when you are traveling alone."

Before Maya could say anything Hannah interjected "Jared is right Maya. This is not a neighborhood you can travel alone in. How did you even come to know about this dojo? Did the school promote it?" She looked at Jared as she asked the last part to which Jared such shook his head saying no since he hadn't seen any such poster on the school noticeboard.

Maya also shook her head and said "No...actually, I saw this poster at a bus stop and it said we could attend 5 free training sessions and the offer was valid only till the end of the week. So I decided to attend a few and got admitted to the dojo when I liked it. Mom, I promise you, just come with me inside and you will see that the dojo is a genuine place and our sensei Colleen is really a great teacher."

"I am already here so I might as well come." Hannah said and signaled Maya to lead her and Jared to the dojo. Jared and Hannah followed Maya to the first floor of the building. As they entered the 2nd floor, they saw a complete change in the surrounding. The concrete and dull area that was on the ground floor was nowhere to be seen. Instead the 1st floor was completely wooden. From the flooring to the furniture, everything was made of wood and it was perfectly maintained as if someone was cleaning and polishing the entire dojo everyday.

"Wow…I didn't expect to see such a place here. I must say I am surprised." Hannah said as she looked around. They took their footwear outside and went in. Inside they saw a typical Japanese dojo. Wooden swords, bamboo mats, real swords and even samurai armor.

In the middle of the dojo there was an Asian woman wearing a white and black track suit with a wooden sword in hand. There were nearly 5-6 kids sitting around the main platform looking at her and a 16-17 year old boy that was standing in the middle. The Asian woman tapped the boy's thigh and then his ankle and said "Your posture must always be perfect like this or else you won't be able to exert all your strength and won't be able to reposition yourself." All the kids nodded as they heard this. The woman looked at Maya and the others and pointed to the clock on the wall.

Maya held her ear whispered sorry. The woman smiled and walked towards Maya who got even more excited and said "Sensei…my mother came with me today." Maya said as she pointed at Hannah.

"Hi, I am Hannah…Its good to finally meet you. I have heard a lot about you from Maya." Hannah said as they shook hands.

"Hi Hannah…I am Colleen. Colleen Wing. Please come in…I will get you some tea." Colleen said. She then looked at Jared and asked "And you must be Jared."

Jared and Hannah both were confused as to how she find this out but before Jared could ask, Colleen smiled and said "Maya told me this morning that she will be bringing you as well." Colleen then shook hands with Jared and said "I am currently just finishing up a batch of students…you can watch them practice after that I can show you what we teach here. I am sure Maya will be excited to spar with you as well."

"Spar with me? And Maya?" Jared asked surprisingly as he looked at Maya who now had an angry expression on her face. "Just you wait Jared…I will show you what I have learnt here."

Just as she said that Colleen tapped her head and said "What is the first thing I have taught you Maya?" Maya made a guilty expression and said in a low voice "Violence should only be used for self defense or to save someone from harms way. It should never be used to initiate or provoke a fight."

"Good…so if I hear you provoke your friend again then I will have your training tripled for the next week." Jared didn't know what the training was but Maya seemed genuinely terrified as she heard that. Hannah couldn't help but laugh after seeing her daughter like that.

Jared and Hannah then sat down on one of the benches around the dojo floor and watched the kids practice their moves. Meanwhile, Colleen brought them a cup of tea and Maya changed into her training clothes. After about 10-15 minutes Maya started warming up for her training and the kids started to leave. A few other kids were also warming up with Maya.

While they were still warming up and chatting with Maya, Colleen came to the bench to talk to Hannah and Jared.

Hannah like a possessive mother started to inquire about the classes and about Colleen. "So is this dojo a family thing or are you the first one to start it here?"

"Actually the place for this dojo is given to me by my sensei. He trains kids for martial arts tournaments all over the world. Infact it was him that convinced me to open up a dojo here. I didn't think I would like it at first but now I have grown fond of these kids. My sensei also provides scholarships to promising students. Children from here have also gotten scholarships which is why I have managed to keep this dojo afloat." Her expression then changed a little as she said "I am trying to provide a safe place for people. Half the kids out there get beaten on a regular basis by family or bullies. This is the one place where they don't have to worry about that"

Hannah's mother smiled as she tapped Colleen's shoulder and said "That is a very noble thing to do. I am sure many of these kids' lives will come back on track because of this. You should be proud of yourself. By the way, how is Maya doing?"

Colleen felt relieved hearing Hannah's words and said "She certainly has the fighting spirit in her. She is actually above average among her peers but she has a long way to go. It hasn't been long before she joined so I don't think there is anything to worry about."

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