The right tools.....

 "If you only have a hammer, you tend to see every problem as a nail." -Abraham Maslow.

Today, a friend needed some tools and I was asked if I had a socket set with a spark plug socket. Usually, I carry a toolkit with me in my car at all times, but I left the toolkit at home months ago and never put it back in my trunk. I felt badly that I didn't have the toolkit with me, and it reminded me of a situation that happened years ago......

One day, during my Mighty-Mites class, we were practicing inward strike (or inward block, in other systems), and little Timmy asked "Sifu, why do we do inward strike like that?"

I paused for a second to realize that he wasn't asking "Why is it called inward strike?" but "why its done like that". If he had asked "why is it called?", that would be easy to answer! "Because it goes *inward* toward our centerline!"....but he asked *why* it was executed like that, and honestly, I didn't have an answer because he took me by surprise. Most kids always ask "why is it called this or that?". All the other kids chimed in, "Yeah, Sifu, why do we do it like that?"

Wow, simple question, and I had no answer. I could have explained all the academic points of proper weapon placement, mapping, and choice of techniques for a given self defense situation, but the kids were 5 years old.....would they even care about all that academic mumbo jumbo that probably wouldn't make sense till they were at least 8 years old?

At that time, it was getting around time for a short water break, so I said, "I'll answer that question after break...." and I let the kids take their break. As I was walking to my office to get my water bottle, I noticed that the locker that carried all our tools was ajar. As I shut the locker door, I thought "That's it! Tools!" I gathered up a hammer, a few small nails, a screw, a bolt, a nut, a flathead screwdriver, a Phillips head screwdriver, and a wrench, along with some pieces of board from a previous board breaking class.

After break, I called the class together and said "Remember a few minutes ago, when Timmy asked 'why do we do inward strike like that? Who remembers?" All hands raise, all voices ring "I remember! I do!"

"Well, who has ever watched their Mom or Dad use a screwdriver? Who knows what a screwdriver is?" All hands raise. I pulled out the screwdriver and said "This is a tool that is used to put screws (held up a screw) into things like wood or a wall." I showed them the flathead and the Phillips, and started the screw into one of the board pieces with the flathead (single slot screw). I let each of them try to turn the screw a few turns. Then Anne exclaimed "Hey, the other screwdriver won't fit! Its got a different shape!"

"That's right! Good eye, Anne! This flathead is the right tool for this job, since the screw only has one slot. The other screwdriver, is that the right tool?"  "NOOOOO!" said the class. "Same type of tools, they both are, but one doesn't work for this job."

Then, I started a nail into the board with the hammer. After I got it a little way into the wood, I pulled out the Phillips screwdriver and tried to "hammer" it with the tip and the handle. The kids laughed. "Is THIS screwdriver the right tool?"  "NOOOOO!"

Then, I took out a bolt and nut, pushed the bolt through several layers of paper and turned the nut on. "Now I gotta tighten this bolt!" I used the hammer, and the kids laughed. "Well that's not gonna work. How about this?" I used the screwdrivers. More laughter. "Well, dang, that's not gonna work either. Let's see, let's try this!" I grabbed the adustable wrench and fitted it onto the nut. "Wait! This thing can fit on the bolt!! Michael, can you turn this and see if it makes the nut go tighter?" Michael turned the wrench a few times. "Its working! its moving!"

"See? We have to have the right tools for the job!". I stood up and said "Michael, I want you to pretend that I'm an attacker, and I want you to show the your best side kick to my knee!.....don't hit me for real though!" Michael got up, assumed his tiger stance, and did his best side kick with a kiai. "Very nice! Now, I'm gonna change my position, and I want you to side kick me in the knee again!"  I fell to both knees, and bent over a little bit to hide my stomach. Michael got into his tiger stance, then said "But I can't side kick your knee, you're hiding 'em!" The class erupted in giggles.

"That's true! So your side kick to the knee is probably not the best tool to use, huh? But the job is, put down the bad guy, so what other tool can I use?"  The class shouted out "front kick!", "Palm strike!", and other weapons. "Those are all correct! But, we can't use all those tools for all the places you can hit. Tell me, what target is open right now?"

"Face!"

"True! Can you kick that high?"

"No! Too high!"

"What could we use, then?"

"Palm strike!" 

"Timmy, show me how you'd use palm strike to face". Timmy ran up, and did a great palm strike toward my nose. (very close! Whew!)  "Right, Tim! You got it!"

"See? We always need the right tools for the job. "How about punch? Can you punch me in nose NOW?" I turned my body to face away from Timmy. "No! Too slow to run around to your face!" Timmy said. So I said "How about inward strike? Where can you strike?" And without warning, he landed his inward strike to my ear. Whew, luckily, not enough power to bust an eardrum, but it woke me up for sure!

"I get it!" Timmy said. "Sometimes ya gotta use other strikes when ya can't do punch!"

"That's right, Tim. Did you feel that inward strike was the best tool that time?"

"Yeeeaaah. It was easy! Is that why inward strike is done like that?"

"For this can't-get-to-my-face-job, Timmy, yeah!"

Little Paul was looking at the pile of tools nearby, and piped up....."Sifu, but this thing....(held up a phillips screw)....you didn't use the other screwdriver! (he picks up the phillips head). Hey, this thing fits in BOTH this one AND the other one (single slot screw)! Hey look!!!"

"We'll......go over that another day, Paul...."

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As adults, we know that certain professions have certain tools that are needed for their jobs. Plumbers tend to have a slightly different toolset than carpenters, and carpenters have a different toolset than, let's say, car mechanics. But as Paul pointed out, sometimes a single tool can span different jobs. In martial arts, we learn how to use all our "tools" for multiple "jobs", in an myriad of ways. In life, the more "tools" you have, the greater the chances you can "fix" what needs to be fixed, or the greater the chances you have for figuring out how to construct something.

Do you have multiple "tools" in life? Or do you carry only one or two tools only because they're the only ones you know how to use? Why not learn how to use other tools? 

Our past experiences, our opinions, our outlooks, even our predictions, are types of these tools. In simple example, If all you know and expect from life is negativity, then guess what....you'll see everything, no matter great it is, as a letdown or a perceived insult.....your perceptions will have operated on only the tools that you know how to use.  On the other hand, if you're overly confident and positive and don't allow reality to come into your mode of thought, then problems that need working on, won't get worked on if you think that the problem will solve itself just with positive intent. There has to be a balance....a point where *all* our tools in our toolboxes will be useful for our specific jobs. We must purchase our tools wisely, and if need be, seek instruction from someone else familiar with a particular tool, on how to use them. 

Now, if I could only figure out what I bought my big impact wrench for.   :)

To Do List......

Hmmm...
1) Start back up teaching Martial arts at the Middle School...... check.
2) Tell a bunch of kids in the hall at Madison to tone down their language....check
3) Have a big kid threaten to whoop my ass......check.
4) Meet 20 new Wushu students.....check
5) Find out that one of the Wushu students is "different".....check
6) Find out at the end of class, the "different" student has no idea what afterschool bus to take or what to do.....check.
7) Stick around after the other kids have gone, try to find his name on the afterschool bus list, don't find it, then take him to the afterschool activities office for assistance. Check. Walk his him to his bus, request that the bus driver to make sure that his guardian is there. Check.
8) Fill out background check papers. Get fingerprinted. check.

Great day today....except for the nasty headache I had all day (finally got rid of it)......it was a migraine i think.....I was nauseous, wished that my sunglasses were 5 times darker, everything I smelled made me gag. I should've seen it coming, because I felt the "aura" thing that comes before a migraine. A few Ibuprofens, and I was functional, at least. Started back up at the middle school again today. I took the 2007 year off, to focus on Wushu classes at my studio. But during this summer, I realized I really missed working with middle school kids. I assumed that the school would just get another martial arts instructor, but they did not. I was surpised that they had not. Good for me though....because I'm back! I've been at Madison for close to 10 years....and I figure "why stop now?".

It felt good to be back in the familiar halls.One thing I forgot about, was the audacity of some kids these days. (oh, my gosh, I'm sound like how my own parents did, back in the 1980's!) I walk in, after one year away, and the the whole "take charge" persona kicked in. Over the years, I've been known to break up fights, drag kids to the main office, and stand up to the so-called "toughs" that have meandered the halls. No different today. As I walked in, there were 5 or 6 kids running around in the hall, "play-fighting".....they're not supposed to be out yet...there was still 15 minutes till the final bell rang. They were cussing and shouting....and as I neared them, I bellowed "Hey! watch your language in the halls! And there's no running in the halls! Tone it down before a security guard catches you!"

"Who the fuck are you?" said a big kid. This kid was way taller than me and outweighed me by at least 50 pounds. *holy crap* I thought ....*what do kids eat these days that makes 'em like that?*. I was amused. Big toughie standing up to....well, he had no idea if I was a teacher or sub or what. At any rate, he threw up his hands in that "want some of this" gesture.

I said "Ya better put those hands down....'cuz if you're gonna step to me, you might not like it".

"Man.....bitch! I'll whup yer ass! Bring it bitch!" His friends laughed. *wow, welcome back to Madison, Rusty* I thought to myself. "what, are you some martial arts Mass-taaaah?" he sneeredas he took a corny martial arts stance.

"That depends.....would be big surprise, if for some reason, that I WAS a martial arts "Masss-taaaah", I joked back. I walked right through them, wondering which one of them was going to do something stupid like try to backhand me. No one did.

Later, as I was teaching my class in the commons (lunchroom/stage), those kids found out exactly who i was. Unfortunately, they walked right into the class making fun of the other kids working out....making "Hiyaa" noises and doing the "Karate kid crane stance". I walked right up to the big kid, gave him the evilest eye I could muster.....and hissed in a low voice: "Get....out...of...here.....or you....will....be....removed....from this location."

Grrr. I want to meet these kid's parents.

Anyhow....20 new kids today....and there were 6 missing. Looking forward to seeing who shows up next week. The class had a blast. One of the new students, I observed, is a (high functioning) autistic or Asberger's sydrome boy. I saw a few signs that let on that he may have Asberger's syndrome or might be autistic. He followed right along in class just fine...did everything correctly....but his lack of non-understanding of social cues was the giveaway. He made random "chirping" sounds, and did not make frequent eye contact. A few of the other kids made some unkind comments about him right there in his presence, and I was appalled.....

During the break, I spoke to several groups of the kids, explaining that "Johnny" was a little different, but that we need to understand why he's different. "He's not 'retarded' ", I told them. "He just doesn't understand social cues....that means he won't quite get a lot of things that you or I understand easily, like certain types of joking around, or certain looks or expressions....he doesn't understand that sticking his tongue out at you might hurt your feelings, or that calling you a name would make you mad. I'd like for you to help me make him feel safe in our class, because I'm pretty sure he gets teased alot".

Ooooh. That got some of them to feel a little guilty about teasing him earlier. Bingo. Exactly what I was hoping for. And you know what? Small groups of the kids ate their snack with him, talking and laughing.

Unfortunately, as everyone left after class, I realized that "Johnny" had no idea how he was getting home. "Johnny....hey buddy", i said, as I persuaded him to look me in the eye. "You are taking the activities bus, right?" ....

"I don't know. Excuse me, can I have your attention, please? I don't know. I think my Mom is getting me. Attention! I think a bus."

*uh oh* I thought. First day of afterschool activities....of course he doesn't know which bus to take. "Let's look at the bus list!...C'mon, Johnny!" I started to jog across the commons, to the bus list. He laughed in his chirpy laugh and ran behind me. I tried to look up his name on all the busses....found nothing. "Looks like we gotta....RUN to the activities office!" and we ran across the commons again.

I waited 30 minutes for the coordinators to get busses for a dozen other kids, and while doing so, I had to make sure that Johnny didn't pull out the peripherals from the coordinator's computers. "I like computers! Attention! Hello! I like computers!". He was kneeling at the front of their desks, picking at the network cables. After a wait...they finally got Johnny his bus. I finally got to fill out my background check and get fingerprinted. Well, actually, I fingerprinted myself. ha ha! They saw how I carefully "rolled" my thumb onto the print field....and someone asked "Um, so how is it you know how to fingerprint so well?" Ha ha! I laughed. "No...I was never in jail. I sign martial arts certificates this way, along with my signature....official document, you know....".

What struck me, was Johnny's frequent use of the words "Attention" or "Can I have your attention? Hello!!!" Makes me wonder how many times these phrases are used toward him....apparently enough times to where he mimics the phrase. Hmm. It will be interesting to find other ways to gain his attention....even if its just eye contact. When he did make eye contact with me a few times, I knew he "saw" me......he's there. I just have to make sure I can show the other classmates how to "look" for him.

I was happy at the outcome in Johnny's case. I think this year is going to be a great one at the middle school.