Master Hopkick
There is a legendary character named Master Hopkick. He is one of the greatest martial artists ever to throw a kick. Long ago, Master Hopkick was a young boy, living on the island of Tulagi, in the Solomon Islands. There, he met a man named Mr. Tung, who gave him his very first lessons, and his love and passion for learning everything related to martial arts. That young boy grew up to have many adventures, and teach students of his own. His name was John Ramo, and this is one of his stories.
The Flower Pot Lesson
One hot summer afternoon, 11-year old John Ramo arrived at his martial arts instructor’s home. He was out of breath from running all the way. As he stopped in front of the gate, John rested a moment. The place he trained nearly every day of the week was a small courtyard, shaded by large palm trees. Sometimes, his teacher would take John to practice on the beach, but today, they were training in the shaded yard.
“Hello, Mr. Tung.” John bowed as he had been taught when his teacher came out to greet him. Mr. Tung returned the bow.
“Good afternoon.”
“What are we going to practice today?” John asked as he began to do the stretches he had been taught in preparation for his lesson.
“Today, we work on balance.” Mr. Tung pointed to an old wooden beam which was lying on the ground.
“Walk across, don’t fall off.” John smiled, took a deep breath, and carefully walked, one foot in front of the other, the entire length of the beam. He jumped off, happy he had so easily accomplished this task.
Mr. Tung nodded his approval.
“Now, hold hands out to sides, palms up.” John did as his teacher asked.
“Walk across, keep palms up.” It was more challenging, but John managed to cross the beam without falling once more.
“Good. Now for real test.” Picking up two small flower pots, Mr. Tung placed one in each of John’s hands, then motioned for the boy to step back onto the beam. “Don’t spill flowers.”
John looked at the delicate flowers in each of the pots and frowned. He had seen Mr. Tung work hard to grow many beautiful things, and the last thing he wanted to do was ruin even one of them! Cautiously, he stepped onto the beam, thinking more about the flowers in his hands than his feet. Clumsily, John took three steps, tipped to the left, and, with a yell, jumped off the beam, working as hard as he could to keep from spilling anything. Somehow he managed not to drop the pots, but his heart was pounding. He looked at Mr. Tung, who had a smile on his face.
“Try again. Don’t spill flowers.”
John took a deep breath and returned to the end of the beam. This time he made it five steps, but his hands were getting sweaty, and the pots were becoming much harder to hold on to. He stopped thinking about where to place his feet, and once again went tumbling off the beam. One of the pots slipped out of his hand, and dirt and flowers went everywhere! John felt terrible, but when he looked at Mr. Tung he saw that his teacher was still smiling.
“Clean up, put back in pot. Try again.” It was not what John was expecting to hear!
“Mr. Tung, it’s too hard with the flowers. Can’t I just try again without them?”
Mr. Tung shook his head. “Nothing too hard. Only practice too little.” His English was not perfect, but John understood what he meant.
After carefully scooping as much of the dirt as he could back into the pot with his hands, John picked up the flowers. Gently, he placed them back in the pot, patted the dirt around the roots, then wiped his hands off on his shorts.
Taking a deep breath, John stood, holding the somewhat sad looking flower pot. Mr. Tung had picked up the second pot, and once again, handed it to the boy. Gesturing at the beam, the teacher encouraged his student to try again.
This time, as John stepped up, he tried to focus equally on his feet and not spilling the flowers. Again, he made it five steps before losing his balance. With a loud crash, one of the flower pots again fell to the ground, and John realized he’d not made it any further than before.
“Clean up, put back in pot and try again.” His teacher’s response was patient, but John was not feeling very much patience himself.
“I can’t do it!” Frustrated, John sat down on the ground.
“No, you can’t. Not yet.” Mr. Tung picked up a small canvas bag.
“Keep trying. I go now to market. You stay, carry flowers across beam.”
“But, Mr. Tung, I can’t do it! It’s too hard!”
Mr. Tung squatted down next to John and looked him in the eyes.
“Right now, no, can’t carry flowers across beam. You never try again, you will never be able to carry flowers from one end to other.”
John shrugged. “Why is it important? How does that help me become better at martial arts? I just want to be better at sparring, not carrying flowers!”
Mr. Tung gave John a small smile. “Learn balance very important. This is how I learn; this is how I teach you.”
His answer wasn’t exactly what John was hoping for, but it seemed to be the only one he would receive, as Mr. Tung stood once again and left for the market.
Over the next half hour, John scooped dirt and flowers back into the pots many times as he continued to try to carry them all the way from one side to the other.
At last, Mr. Tung returned from the market.
“Enough practice for today, John. Tomorrow, you try again.” Holding out a small bowl of berries and a baked sweet bun, the teacher invited his student to sit with him.
“Mr. Tung, how long did it take you to be able to balance flower pots?” John asked as he ate.
Mr. Tung’s eyes twinkled. “Many days practice. Take even more practice, balance flower pot on head.”
John’s eyes widened. “On your head? That’s amazing! Will you teach me how to do that?”
Mr. Tung laughed. “First, must balance pots in hands. One step at a time, my boy.”
Discussion Questions:
- The word “perseverance” means to keep trying even when things are hard, and not give up. What is one thing you are working on right now that takes perseverance?
- Tung used flower pots to help John work on his balance. What is something crazy or unusual you could use to practice your balance?
- Even though it was difficult, John kept practicing. What kind of attitude do you have to have in order to keep trying when things get hard?
- Why do you think practicing your balance is important?
If you enjoyed this story, please share it with others! Consider reading this series and discussing the lessons using the questions, as a part of your classes with younger students, or even over zoom! Let us know if your students enjoyed it!
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