DOJO LESSONS

by Donna and Toni

Katherine was just finishing up the supper dishes when the door bell rang. She heard John yell that he would get it so she quickly put up the last dish and did a quick swipe of the cabinet with a damp cloth. "Kat! Toni is here!" she heard him cry out.

Toni entered the house and was shown into the living room by John. She greeted Kat with a hug and a kiss as she came in from the kitchen. Toni was dressed in a set of sweats, and carried a bag with other clothes in her hand. "I'm ready for my first lesson, teach. Nick and Methos both wished me luck-I think they're both relieved that by the time I'm finished, I should be able to protect myself better when they're not with me."

Katherine grinned at her friend. "Let's get going then!" she said. She was wearing a short flaired skirt and a loose fitting top over some tights. Grabbing her bag that contained her sweats and dancing shoes, she and Toni waved both blew kisses at John Clayton who chuckled at them as they walked out the door.

The trip to the dojo wasn't far, and as they entered, Toni asked, "Aren't we supposed to be meeting another student here - Kolya, I think?"

Katherine nodded. "He came for the first time last week. Connor say he has a natural talent for the kata movements and is thinking about making it into a dance routine or something."

"That would be a good idea - it might get more people interested in them. I've heard that katas are great as a sort of 'moving meditation'." Connor looked up when they came into the room. Seeing the two women, he bowed formally to them, and they giggled and bowed back. He was dressed in a karate gi, which allowed great freedom of movement

Inside the dojo Duncan was chatting with someone who looked like a younger version of himself. They both stood up and greeted the ladies politely and Connor said that Kat was going to show Koyla the way she works the kata into a dance. Katherine looked at the dancer and smiled at him. "Just remember I'm not a trained dancer like you are," she said. She then looked around the room to get an idea of how much space she had to work with. She then took out a well wore pair of dancing shoes out of her bag and put them on before starting to stretch. Connor nudged Toni and told her to make sure she stretched out good too before working out.

Toni watched Katherine carefully, and tried to copy the stretching movements she made as the men warmed up on the side themselves. Most of them were similar to how she got ready to go jogging, just more of them. The neck, shoulders, arms, hands and even fingers were also gently stretched and limbered up.

One thing she didn't even try to copy was when Kat did a front walkover and then bent backwards and did the same to the rear. "Show off! You won't be able to do that much longer," Connor teased her. Kat just stuck her tongue out at him and said that she hadn't even begun to showoff yet. That earned her a playful swat on the rear.

Toni, Duncan and Connor moved off to the side and watched as Kat joined Kolya in the center of the room. Toni knew this routine was going to be a beautiful one, and had brought a small video camera to tape it. She had it in her hand and ready to tape.

Katherine tossed Koyla a hardwood staff which he caught gracefully. Then the two of them began to run through the basic kata for the staff or *bo* as it is called, both of them moving gracefully and in near unison. When they were finished, Katherine smiled at him and told him that he was absolutely wonderful with it already, a compliment that made the Russian dancer blush slightly.

"Now let me show you how I play with it," she said with a grin. He retreated to where the others were standing and when Katherine nodded, Connor started the cassette tape she had brought with her.

This was no sedate ballet or gentle ballad that Kat had chosen, but a toe tapping Irish reel that started out lively enough but quickly built up in tempo. Katherine danced to the music, spinning and leaping, the staff whirling about her. It seemed to Toni that it was a wonderful mixture of Irish step dancing, gymnastics and the martial art kata she had just seen them do.

Katherine was obvious enjoying herself as she danced around the room and twirled the staff which had become a constant blur about her. She even threw in an aerial somersault at the end of the music. She landed gracefully, the bo held out high above her in exaltation. "Now that was showing off," she told Connor when she had caught her breath. When she finished taping, Toni couldn't help herself; she put down the camera and applauded her friend. When Kat blushed as a result, everyone laughed. Even the object of the applause herself couldn't help a smile, as she thanked her. Koyla complimented her as well and said that he hoped to dance for her in return soon.

Connor then suggested that Kat show Toni some of the basics while he and the other men started their own workout. She nodded and let Toni over to a corner where some mats lay waiting for them. She went and changed real quick and then returned. "First thing you got to learn, Toni, is how to fall correctly," she said with a smile.

Toni seemed a little worried as they got into position, and asked, "Kat, this won't...you won't endanger the baby by teaching me this, will you? I'd hate to be responsible for something like that."

"No, don't worry. What I'm going to show you is not that hard on the body." She then had Toni squat down and showed her how to tuck and roll. Once Toni had mastered that, she showed her next how to do a back and side fall and to slap the mat to break her impact. Everything that Kat showed her was low to the ground and easy to do. She felt a little better at this, and soon had the hang of these basic moves. Soon she was able to perform them smoothly, and wondered if eventually, they would come as naturally to her as Methos' sword movements came to him. She didn't let her mind wander too far, as they prepared to go on to the next moves in her "education".

While Koyla and Duncan continued to work out together, Connor came over and showed Toni how to do the falls from a standing position next. He didn't want Kat to do them though. He even had Katherine toss him a couple of times to show her how to take a *hard* fall. Toni felt relieved when he didn't ask her to do one as well. At least not yet.

She was impressed that a little person like Kat could throw Connor so easily. The secret was getting the opponent off balance first. Under his patient teaching, she soon had learned that part of it as well. She couldn't help feeling pleased at the proud way Connor looked at her picking it up so well so quickly.

One of the moves they showed her looked vaguely familiar. Then she remembered it was the same move that Kat had used on Kronos back when he had first accosted her at the coffee shop. Kat had her reach up and grab hold of Connor's gi and actually pull him towards her as she swept his leg out from underneath him, sending him backwards to the ground. After a few tries she couldn't help but think she might even be getting the hang of it.

Of course, it took awhile before she felt confident enough in her ability to consider the lesson learned; one did not want to get careless with one's own safety by being too complacent! But soon enough, she was doing it smoothly enough for Connor to consider that part under her belt. He did joke about losing track of how many times he had landed on his bum.

Then the lesson changed to things that would disable an attacker long enough for her to escape. Once again, Connor was the practice dummy. "Guys expect you to go for the obvious target," Katherine explained. "So chose another area more assessable." She then kicked the inside of Connor's knee instead of aiming higher and he went down. She was using just enough strength to make it sting but not enough to actually break a bone.

With all the battering that poor Connor had been taking tonight, Toni couldn't help saying, "It's a good thing you're Immortal, Connor; between Kat's examples and all my attempts to get things right, if you weren't, you'd be in the hospital by now!" They all laughed. Then she proceeded to batter her "victim" some more, and soon had that latest move down pat as well. She also learned to use the palm of her hand to break a nose, and how to twist out of a grip and hyper extend her attackers elbow. Other tricks included stomping on the instep of the foot, applying a choke hold using the guys shirt to press against the veins of his throat, and how a hard elbow could bust a rib. Connor kept egging her own, telling her to put a little more *umphh* behind it. By the time the workout was done, she was starting to feel that she would not be an easy victim at all if she kept practicing these things.

Finally, it was over. She watched breathing heavily as Connor, shirtless, washing the blood off his face and chest from a potentially lethal nose break, a broad grin on his face. She had to go over to him and say, "Connor, I wanted to apologize for doing everything I did to you tonight. While it would bring me great pleasure doing these things to Thornton, it's a little hard to feel victorious doing them to a friend." She truly did look sorry, as she stood there.

He just grinned at her. "You needed to learn how to do it right so you would know just what it really takes to really disable someone. The secret is, when push comes to shove, don't hesitate. Strike as hard and as fast as you can and then get the hell out of there. Now why don't you two go home and get cleaned up, while I finish what I started with Duncan over there. He's been loafing long enough." Then with a wolfish grin on his face, he picked up a practice sword and went over to Duncan to do just that.