The Snake, The Tiger and The Motmot

"Do you hear the sounds of the birds singing in the branches high above? Do you feel the vibrations of the leaves trembling from the gentle breeze passing through them? Do you hear the trembles of lightning roaring in the thick clouds far away? There is a living breathing world around you, Anita. You must listen to it and let it speak to you. These trees, these creatures were here before you and have survived on their own. Learn their movements, learn their ways of survival and you will know Kung Fu". Master Lee whispered with his eyes shut tight as he meditated on top of a dead fallen tree in the middle of the forest. He was in deep concentration while I stood only a few feet away struggling to meditate.

I was standing blindfolded and balancing on one foot with a crane-style position, my right arm extended out with the curve of my wrist, my fingers curled downwards and my left arm positioned closer to my chest with my wrists pointing downwards. I could feel the circulation of my inhaling and exhaling breaths as I tried best to keep my equilibrium and not tip over, but my muscles had been cramping really bad.

"Freeze your motions Anita, focus on your breathing...". Master Lee somehow knew I was losing control. I had been focused too much on not falling and not enough on the environment around me.

"Feel the cold wind glide through your ears and hair. Picture yourself moving as if you were the creatures in the sky almost weightless and floating". For a moment I drowned out the humming in my head and could almost find tranquility, but then I realized it had no interest in me. My blindfold had unraveled and shimmied down to my cheeks pass my chin. My eyebrows pulled down and I tightened my lips wanting to curse, but then something astounding happened... I opened my eyes to find a turquoise-browed motmot standing on my wrist and observing me. Its eyes were bright and red and his long double ended turquoise feathered tail brushed my arm when it moved. I couldn't contain myself, I was so giddy that I had finally gotten the sign I was looking for. I had gotten my answer! 

"Master Lee, Master Lee!" I whispered as loudly as I could. 

"Quiet". he said in a stern tone, I could tell he was too close to losing his Zen.

"Focus, Anita, close your eyes again and listen to the world around you". 

I closed my eyes but peaked out again and stared at the bird moving in such eloquent movements, its gesticulations were graceful and light. The motmot turned for a moment to Master Lee, I imagined it as if it was acknowledging his approval on me. Then it looked at me once more and flew away, I was dumbfounded.

I closed my eyes again and memories of when I first saw the old man had transpired in my head. The man I now respectfully refer to as Master Lee was doing what I thought was yoga on the side of the factory where mom had worked and dragged me along. She worked at a huge Chinese textile company in the forest. It was miles from the capital of San Salvador. She had dragged me along for the four long hours she worked on Sunday mornings and I had dreaded it. I would be so pissed when she'd force me to tag along, I would use the front passenger seat as my own personal punching bag while I waited in the car. Then I'd curse blaringly into the cushions.

Soon my anger subsided, I stopped throwing tantrums and stopped begging my mom to leave me home alone and made the best of the situation. I found ways to cope and drown out the boredom and frustration. At first I'd read countless books in the car, and take long naps, but eventually I began to explore the vicinity in the area. That's when I discovered Master Lee doing tai chi for the first time. I thought he looked ridiculous at first, I've never seen anything like the moves he would do. Before I knew anything of Tai Chi, I thought his movements were horrible renditions of yoga moves. As the expression goes, they were like a bad movie, not even worth the ticket... It was when watching old action movies with my dad when I started to find a correlation in those movements. The old action flicks we would watch such as the copy of Spiritual Kung Fu was when I discovered those Tai Chi moves were similar to the five fist style kung fu from the movie which were: Dragon, Tiger, Snake, Crane and Panther style. Martial arts just intrigued me all of a sudden, and seeing Master Lee's movements only fascinated me further. I watched that old man from a distance maneuvering his hands in precise movements. It looked as if he was guiding his arms and legs to the motions of the wind. 

The day I had officially met Master Lee was several weeks later. I was walking down a neighborhood nearby a few blocks away from the factory. I went into a convenience store and bought homemade horchata from inside. I was so proud of myself for discovering this spot so close by. When I walked out however, I saw three creepy guys loitering against the wall, they had quickly taken notice of me. The bastards started to call out to me and whistled as I passed.

"What's your name, little bug?!" one man yelled and started approaching me. I ignored him, kept walking faster and hoped they'd leave me alone, but they continued.

"I'm talking to you little bug, what, am I too ugly for you?"

I was so scared, I couldn't say anything back at first. I thought of myself as some kind of badass before. I would shadow box and imitate Jackie Chan in my bedroom and imagined beating the shit out of bad guys, but when it came down to face adversity, I couldn't do it. They continued harassing me, as I kept walking quickly then things got more physical. One of them grabbed my arm and tried to pull me to stop but I jerked my arm away.

I dropped my drink and I ran away as fast as I could, but I couldn't outrun them. The three of them chased me down until I was caught at a dead-end by the factory. I screamed once but then one of them put his repulsive hands against my mouth to muzzle my voice.

"Get your hands off of me, drooler!" I squirmed and bit his hand. He let go and punched me in the stomach as I tumbled back and fell to the floor crying. When they came close I kept fighting, kicking wildly out but the blows didn't strike. Instead one of them had grabbed my leg. The three of them were laughing and dragging me against the floor.

"Little bug, you're so beautiful when you're mad" they jeered.

"Why were you running, little bug?"

I've never felt so small before and so weak. I'm embarrassed and angry to think back at how fragile I was. Master Lee had been there and heard the ruckus. Then I watched him turn these three pieces of excrement into bumbling idiots. I had never seen anything like it before in real life. Master Lee had grabbed one of the men's arms and twisted it backwards, held onto two of his fingers until he yelled and begged him to let go. The first guy had cried out in such agony, it sounded like music to my ears. The sound of his fingers snapping afterwards made me flinch but I kept watching from a distance. That man with the dislocated finger had cursed out all sorts of profanities I hadn't heard before. The other pieces of excrement approached Master Lee more aggressively, they only knew how to attack directly with such sluggish and forceful moves.

I witnessed Master Lee counter their direct blows with a style reminiscent of a python. The four fingers of his hands were pointed out like fangs of a snake and his right knee had bent forward while the left tip-toed out. The men had laughed at first but then a lightning fast jab onto their throat and eyes quickly changed their demeanor. They screamed out and tried to side kick Master Lee but missed. Master Lee had moved with such eloquent speed and accuracy, they were unable to land any punches and kicks. He slithered like a cobra snake evading their attacks and countering them with more jabs at crucial vital points in their bodies. Master Lee targeted their neck, a specific area of their ankles and arms and even their groin areas too. The men had no concept of defense.

I threw rocks at them after one tried to grab Master Lee from the back but the fight didn't last much longer. The three men retreated taking their twisted limbs and aching bruised up body parts along with them. I was so grateful for the humble old man being there.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you!"

Don't worry about it, are you okay?

"Yes sir, mister..."

"My names Lee. I've seen you come with your mother on the weekends, you better follow me back to the parking lot".

"Yes Mr. Lee, I am Anita by the way. Um, were those martial art moves back there? Are you some kind of master?" I asked, my words still stumbling in awe from what I had seen, he walked me back to the vehicle where my mom had parked in front of the factory and made sure I was safe inside before going back into the factory.

"Something like that... and it's just Lee". He said before leaving.

The days that passed I continued to think about kung fu until it became an obsession I had practiced balancing my body, learning the disciplines of the five animal styles at home. I had even practiced the one-inch punch, and wing chun moves on the tree in my front yard like it was a Mook Yan Jong wooden dummy. The next day I couldn't hold my tongue any longer, I had begged him to teach me any style of kung-fu he knew. He refused at first, but I persisted practicing some of the movements I learned besides him so he could see them during his tai chi break. He eventually agreed and promised to show me some more moves the very next weekend.

That Sunday came and I was running to the side of the building but couldn't find the old man. I looked around to find an empty patch of grass where he would usually practice but he was nowhere in sight. Then I went back to where my mom had parked her car where I'd usually wait. I had finally seen him on the roof doing his routine. I ran up six stories up to the roof as fast as I could.

"Master Lee, I decided which style I want you to teach me!" 

"Very well, Anita. The first lesson you will learn is you don't choose the style, you let the style choose you". 

"Ok, that's not confusing at all, Master Lee, How am I supposed to know that?"

"The universe will guide you" he said with such assurance while moving around his arms continuing his Tai Chi.

"But, Master Lee!"

"How many times do I need to tell you to just call me Lee, I'm not some dojo black belt kung fu master, I'm just an old man who works at this factory and does yoga on his lunch break.".

"Don't play with me, old man..."

He looked at me with wide eyes then started to chuckle, "I think I prefer the first title after all", he said. "So which style were you aiming to learn, Anita?" 

"The best one, full frontal assaults with lots of aggression and attitude kind of like speaks to me, Master Lee. That or a Dragon Claw variation with Black Panther style kicks. You know when Late Grand Master Wong Moon Toy founded the Tiger Claw school in Guangzhou all those years ago, I think something like that...".

"Anita, you're not choosing an ice cream flavor here".

"Oh come on, how about your snake style then?"

"Not a chance, that ones mine" he stopped and paused for a moment. "As a matter of fact you will learn neither" said Master Lee.

"What?...B-But why not?", I pressed my hands together and pleaded on my knees.

"What about crane, I have practiced pivoting my kicks and my balancing!"

"Kung fu is fluid, Anita. It's not linear like Karate, but more circular and flexible, your momentum does not take you directly to the target, but you are reacting around your opponents and to your changing surroundings. Whatever you practiced from crane style will not determine the style you need to learn. We are in a dense jungle in Central America. Do you see any cranes in El Salvador?"

"No..." I sighed. He walked me to a small area in the jungle a few minutes away from the factory and asked me to put a blindfold on and join him in meditation. I closed my eyes and finally listened to his words. I found a new appreciation for the trees I've seen a hundred times over. I could smell the soil and hear the music that the winds and the animals produced which captivated me. The motmot had chosen to be my teacher along with Master Lee.

The next few weeks I had listened to my master and trained in my own unique version of the Shaolin White crane-style.

Throughout the months I was able to increase my mobility. Master Lee had helped me hone the techniques and make it my own. I was able to strike more effectively and disrupt the balance of my opponents. I had a new sense of discipline and confidence. 

Me and Master Lee had sparred on the roof one day after feeling confident enough to challenge his snake style kung fu. I think he was impressed with what I had learned because after light sparring he shifted to a more intermediate dueling. I evaded the quick strikes from his jabs, he didn't hold back.

"Master, do you know what's one of the largest preys motmots eat?" I said throwing a few kicks and evading his hands.

"I don't know but, I have a feeling you'll tell me soon" he said while he threw a far-reaching blow towards my head. I repositioned his strike with the side of my left arm and deflected it. Then I gently striked him on the neck and he didn't see it coming. His other arm tried to punch again towards my head but I had bent my right arm and blocked his hit with my elbow stunting him. Then I span away from him with my leg extended out like the long tail of a motmot. He didn't expect it when I swept his legs from under him and dropped him. He didn't hit the ground but caught himself by extending his hands out.

"They eat snakes!" I yelled excitedly and breathing heavily.

Master Lee had gotten up smiled and gave me an approving tilt of his head.

I knew I had made him proud.