martial arts

Learning the martial arts.

When my daughter was in 3^rd grade I suddenly realized that the world was no longer the secluded secure place I had grown up in. There  were all kinds of jerks and villains around, rapists, kidnappers, molesters---. Even though in India we tried to sweep all this under the carpet.

“It really doesn’t happen in India. It is a part of western culture. “ Remember this was twenty years ago!

Not really true.

Bad things were happening all around us. The few TV channels and the newspapers were slowly beginning to expose the goings on of Indian society. Now we get horrific news every day!

I decided that she needed to learn to defend herself. I looked for a karate class.

“Don’t” said my mother in law ,” she will become an aggressive violent girl. It is not lady like.”

My husband had no opinion on the subject at all. He was busy trying to figure out if antibiotic excretion into sewage was responsible for the emergence of resistant killer bacteria.

I took both my children to the karate class. It was full of young adult men. There was not a lady in sight. The master had a  squint and plenty of acne. He looked like a villain from a Tamil movie.

There was no way I could leave my children there. I decided to join too.

We progressed slowly up the belts. Yellow, orange, many stages of brown. It took several years. We missed classes during rain, examinations and holidays. (My children went to their grandparent’s house.)

I discovered that the martial arts are about control, mental and physical. You don’t attack until you are cornered and after you have warned the assailant. It is a last controlled resort. Once you attack, there should be no question of retaliation from the assailant. Your blows must be controlled and preferably lethal.

One day when my daughter was returning from school by public transport,  the bus conductor, who was walking up and down the bus ,stroked her arm. She thought it was an accident, but when he did it again and yet again, she rapidly lost her cool.

Master had taught us a “twist “ a single move that fractured the forearm, both radius and ulna. She caught his arm in a vice like grip and gave it a twist. There was a satisfactory cracking sound and the conductor started to scream. The driver slammed on the brakes. This was over a bridge not too far from home. Sundry people (including my daughter) exited the bus in the confusion. No one quite figured out what had happened. (The conductor seemed dazed too)!

She was in the habit of going to the video library down he road on Saturday afternoons to borrow Hindi movies. One day a man followed her back home. At the deserted foyer of the flat he grabbed her from behind. She released herself from his grip ( our villainous master was good!) She hit him with the DVD. She kicked him in the groin. Howling and screaming he attempted to escape. She chased him down the road yelling “catch him, catch him!” Some workers digging a ditch captured him.

My husband was summoned to the police station nearby. “Your daughter is here, she insists on filing  a case of molestation against a man. She is technically a minor. We need her guardian present.”

“Drop the case” advised the police woman,” Since he only touched you he will get only four years. He may come after you after that.”

“Huh” said my daughter, “register it. I will be in college elsewhere after your years. He won’t find me!”

He was taken away and we never saw or heard from him case after that.

My son went to the USA many years later. He was walking down the road with another Indian friend when four  drunk  students accosted them with sticks. They tried to hit my son. Wrong move. He caught the assailant in a vice like grip and shouted, “one step closer, I break his neck.” They ran. He released his captive and helped him on his way with a solid kick to the butt.

My husband is often  asked, “do you practice martial arts?”

“Oh no” he always replies, “I am a very non violent person. I just shout.”

“Shout what?”

“Son, daughter, wife, HELP.”

“Does it work?”

“Well I haven’t had to do it yet, but as a back up we also have this vicious dog---“

Dr Gita Mathai is a paediatrician with a family practice at Vellore.

gitamathai@gmail.com