Don't Get Mad...Get Even
by M.C.
A tough, chauvanistic martial arts instructor is taught a lesson in humility by a rival woman sensei.


Kevin Williams couldn't believe what he was witnessing. For the past decade,
the students of his karate dojo have virtually dominiated the annual city-wide
martial arts tournament; winning the overall title for an unprecedented five
years in a row. But now, as he watched in disbelief, several of his finest
fighters were being demolished by students from a school of self-defence which
a year ago didn't even exist. As the stunned Kevin watched some of his
toughest boys go down to defeat, he began to think the unthinkable - that his
dojo's reign, as well as his reputation as the city's finest martial arts
instructor, was coming to an end. How could this be happening? How could his
students - the toughest and best trained in the city - be losing? And, worst
of all, how could they be getting their collective asses kicked by a bunch of
giggling girls?

"WHAM!" Kevin winced as he watched 16 year-old Tina Rose flatten Bill Johnson
with a powerful roundhouse kick to the side of his face. While the defending
middleweight champion lay on the mats, the pretty girl calmly stood off to the
side and chatted with some of the other females from her dojo. Realizing that
Bill was in no condition to continue, the referee declared Tina the winner by
a technical knockout. Staggering to his feet, the proud boy hung his head in
shame as the referee raised Tina's hand in the air. Coming on the heels of the
equally decisive defeats of both his featherweight and lightweight champions,
Bill thus became the third of Kevin's fighters to fall before these
surprisingly tough females. And as he watched the girls congratulate yet
another one of their champions, Kevin couldn't help but feel the anger
building up inside of him.

His dojo still had a chance to salvage some of their wounded pride though.
There were three weight classes remaining - the light heavyweight, heavyweight
and the open divisions. If his fighters could win them all, they could at
least claim a tie for the coveted 'All-City Champion Dojo' title. None of the
remaining girls really belonged in the upper weight divisions anyway as they
were much lighter. But in order to have one representative from their dojo in
each weight catagory, their sensei entered them there. The three females would
thus be competing against his larger, stronger and - hopefully - better
trained fighters. Although Kevin was amazed that the three girls managed to
reach the finals, he couldn't see any of them prevailing against his three
contestants who were the pride of his dojo. As he watched Richard Morgan, his
light- heavyweight champion and second degree black belt, prepare to square
off against the much smaller Cindy Sanders, Kevin's mind wandered back to the
previous year and to that fateful conversation which set these surprising
events in motion...

One Year Ago.

Kevin had just dismissed his afternoon class when the very attractive woman
who had been watching from the sidelines approached him."Mr. Williams, my name
is Diane Sanders, Cindy's mother, and I'd like to have a word with you if you
don't mind."

"Yes Ms. Sanders, what can I do for you?"

"It's about the city martial arts tournament next week and I'll get straight
to the point. Cindy tells me that she kicks Bill Johnson's ass everytime they
spar together. In fact, she even beats Richard Morgan regularly. So why did
you choose Bill to represent your dojo in the middleweight division instead of
Cindy? I sent her to study at your dojo because everyone said you were the
best martial arts instructor in the city. It wouldn't be because she's a
female, would it?"

"First of all Ms. Sanders, as sensei of this dojo I think I'm qualified to
decide which one of my students is best suited to represent us," Kevin replied
in his most condescending tone of voice. Then he continued,"but if you really
must know, the truth is this: Cindy, even though she does have some talent
would never succeed in this tournament. I don't think that she - or any other
female for that matter - is tough enough to compete against the best boys in
the city. Winning the dojo championship happens to be very important to me as
you can clearly see (he proudly pointed to the many trophies which were
prominently on display throughout the large room).

"And furthermore Ms.Sanders, teenage girls have neither the strength or skill,
nor the dedication and determination it takes to become a martial arts
champion; they're much too interested in shopping, or their hair, or...boys.
And as far as Cindys kicking Bill and Richard's asses in practice goes,
they're probably just pulling their punches when they spar against her. In a
real tournament situation I'm sure they'd whip her ass without too much
difficulty. So that's why I made my decision Ms. Sanders; and it's final. Now,
if you'll excuse me, I have a special class to teach - the boys who will be
competing in the upcoming tournament. Good afternoon; and do have yourself a
nice day."

Diane was furious as she left Kevin's martial arts dojo. "Why that bastard!"
she screamed,"that rotten chauvenistic bastard!" As the successful attorney
drove home however, she calmed down and thought it over some more. It was then
that Diane recalled the wise words her own sensei had told her many years
before: 'don't get mad...get even'...and an evil smile spread across her face.
"Yes! That's exactly what I'll do. I'll show that pompous, son-of-a-bitch just
what females can do when they're properly trained and motivated. It's assholes
like him that have kept women down throughout history. Well Mr. Williams,
you'll be eating your words next year. your days as champion martial arts
instructor of this city are numbered!"

Over the course of the next several weeks, Cindy and a few of the other
females that had been training at Kevin's martial arts dojo dropped out. He
didn't shed a single tear though as he always considered teaching martial arts
to girls and women to be nothing more than a way to augment his income. Many
of the other dojos in the city also lost some of their female students. They
all went to study at a new dojo which had just opened up: the 'Diane Sanders
School for Women's Self- Defence and Empowerment'.

Diane had taken a leave of absence from her well-paying job and started up her
own martial arts school. As she held a third degree black belt in Tae Kwon Do,
the 40 year-old divorcee was more than qualified to do so. In her lessons,
Diane not only taught her females students self-defence, but also how to build
up the self-confidence they'll need in order to achieve their goals in life.
"Achievement through Strength and Confidence" was her motto; and Diane strived
to instill it in all of her students.

As the weeks turned into months, the hard working woman could see dramatic
changes taking place in the females she was teaching. They were becoming
stronger - both physically as well as mentally - and more confident about who
they were and what they were capable of. Teenage girls found themselves
getting better grades in school, older women found themselves able to stick to
their diets. One wife, who had been abused by her husband for years, finally
got up the courage to stand up to him - and beat him up so badly he had to go
to the hospital."This is what learning martial arts is really all about,"
Diane would tell her students over and over again,"feeling good about who you
are and what you can do." But the ultimite test of her philosophy (as well as
her hidden agenda) still lay ahead - the upcoming city martial arts
championships.

In order to prepare for it, Diane held a mini-tournament in her dojo to see
who among her students was best qualified to compete. Since all of her
students were female, weight wasn't an important factor; and afterwards she
could decide which girl or woman would compete in which division, depending on
their level of skill. As the date of the champioships approached, the girls'
excitement, as well as their training, grew more intensive. "We're going to
kick you're asses Mr. Macho Man," Diane smiled to herself as she watched her
best students practice just a few days before the tournament; "and I'm going
to make you eat your words..."

Back to the Present.

Diane and Kevin watched from opposit sides of the large arena as Cindy and
Richard prepared to face off against each other. Their eyes did meet briefly
though, and when they did Diane winked at him. Kevin's responce was to ignore
her and scream out encouragement to Richard. Cindy and Richard bowed
respectfully to one another and then their battle - as well as the proxy
battle between the rival senseis - began.

Despite giving up nearly thirty pounds in weight, Cindy attacked her opponent
immediately. Although she hadn't sparred against Richard in nearly a year, the
quick and agile blond knew exactly what his weaknesses were and concentrated
her punches and kicks to his left side of his body. Richard was thus forced
from the outset to fight on the defensive, something he was not used to doing.
After about thirty seconds of lightning fast thrusts, the 18 year-old girl
broke through the larger boy's defenses and landed a solid punch to Richard's
solar plexus. She quickly followed that with a hard kick to his jaw, sending
him flat on his back."First blood to the girl," Cindy giggled as she walked
over to a neutral corner. As she waited for Richard to get to his feet, Cindy
flashed her mother a pretty smile.

The next round was very intense as Richard and Cindy traded thrusts and kicks.
Each one blocked or avoided the other's while the large crowd cheered for
their favorites - the majority clearly on the side of the girl. Though not
nearly as strong as her male opponent, Cindy relied upon her quickness and
agility as well as her technique and superior conditioning to counter
Richard's advantage in strength. Past experience had taught her that if she
managed to avoid his blows and kept up the pressure on him, Richard would
eventually make a mistake; and when he did, she would nail him.

"SLAM!" A powerful, board-breaking roundhouse kick to the side of his face and
the pretty girl sent the two-time city light-heavyweight martial arts champion
flat on his back again...only this time he was not getting up; at least not on
his own. Cindy immediately went over to him and, together with the referee,
helped her beaten opponent to his feet. "I'm so sorry Richard," she said
apologetically (and sincerely),"I didn't mean to kick you so hard. I guess I
just got carried away." As the stunned - but unhurt - boy rose, the capacity
crowd began to cheer again. Everyone seemed to be delighted to see these
surprising girls beating their larger and stronger male opponents - everyone
that is except Kevin, he was beside himself with rage.

"That makes four out of the six weight divisions her girls have won," he
growled to himself. "If we can't win one of the remaining contests I'll be the
laughingstock of the entire martial arts community. We've got to win at least
one of them...we've just got to." Kevin's hopes of winning that one title were
further diminished when Sally Thompson, a muscular, 32 year-old bodybuilder,
battered his heavyweight champion around the ring for several minutes before
the referee mercifully stopped the fight and declared her the winner. That
left only the open division as Kevin's last chance to salvage the reputation
of his dojo - as well as his own.

Not wanting to take any chances now, the tough, macho, ex-marine - and fourth
degree black belt - decided to replace his origional contestant and fight
himself (as this was the open division, the rules of the tournament allowed
him to do that). "If I can't beat some girl then I have no business teaching
martial arts," Kevin barked out as he entered the ring.

When Diane saw this she smiled to herself and walked over to the woman who was
also scheduled to fight in the open division. "I'm sorry Cathy, but Kevin's
and I have a little score to settle, he's mine. I'll give you your chance next
year; and that's a promise." (Truth be known, Cathy was relieved that she
didn't have to face Kevin Williams in the ring. He had a reputation for being
a vicious fighter and both she and Diane knew she wasn't ready to take him
on...not at this stage anyway).

Diane quickly changed into her gi (although she hadn't intended to fight that
night, she brought it along anyway - a girl has to be prepared for any
eventuality) and climbed into the ring. After they took their traditional
bows, the 40 year-old woman smiled at her opponent and said,"I've waited a
whole year for this Kevin; so let's settle this - mano al womano."

"Good luck mom!" Cindy yelled out from the sidelines as her mother and Kevin
prepared to go at each other. Diane looked over at her daughter and winked.
"How many times do I have to tell you honey? In this world we make our own
luck." Then the five foot-six inch, 140 pound woman turned and stared directly
into the eyes of her six foot, 210 pound nemesis."O.K. tough guy, let's get it
on!"

End of part 1