The under card fights started, we watched from the wings. Archie's students began packing things in from their cars. Just before the main event, we were announced. We walked out to see the bleachers filled to capacity and camera crews following us. Archie's students carried those big anvil-like bases and enough building supplies to begin construction on our own Great Wall. I remember being keenly aware of every word that Sifu spoke that evening, although I'd be hard-pressed to repeat any of it now. It looked like we were going to start with a breaking demo. Sifu piled a number of bricks in an unusual array. Placing one flat, the next on edge, then flat, edge, flat into a double I-Beam, that was 18 inches thick with no spacers whatsoever. He then reached into a box and removed a plastic Pepsi bottle. He gripped it in one hand and pierced it with the index finger of his free hand. I'd never seen that done before. He turned to the stacked blocks. He raised his hand and slapped them nonchalantly. They crumbled from the bottom up.

He then began rebuilding the stack, another I-Beam break, this one using only 3 blocks, one flat, one sideways, one flat again. He nodded to me. I nodded back. He nodded again. I nodded back again. "Yeah, that'll be great. Not as impressive as the last one, but nonetheless." Suddenly it dawned on me. He expected ME to break that stack! As I stated earlier, I had done demos before, and yes, some of them did involve breaking. Of course the breaking consisted of inch pine boards and usually only one of those at a time. My previous instructor's philosophy being something along the lines of "When is the last time a tree or brick wall attacked you?"
I approached the bricks with what I hoped was minimal shaking. He had explained the theory behind these bigger breaks just last week. I reviewed his words rapidly in my mind. I figured that he was confident I could do this, or he wouldn't have asked me to do it. I also really, really wanted to study under this man, so did not want to disappoint him. I made the final approach, fully prepared to beat on those things 'til the lights went out and the crowd went home. Up close they looked even more substantial than they had from across the ring. I lined my hand up carefully. Archie took my hand and sotto voce whispered, "Remember, hit here, break bone. Hit here, cause internal bleeding. Hit here, break bricks." So now I'm really paranoid, trying to line that exact point he'd indicated on my hand, with the precise center of the bricks. I crossed myself, closed my eyes and this image suddenly bursts into existence in my mind's eye. Perhaps the single clearest image I have ever seen. I can sense the rough texture of the blocks, their brittle dryness, the way the individual grains bond together. I can see my hand in slow motion as it approaches the blocks, a strangely glowing aura preceding it. The aura seems to slip between the bonds, which hold the bricks together, forcing them to relinquish their grip on one another. The blocks simply seem to disintegrate. I open my eyes, unsure of what I have just seen. I raise my hand with infinitely more confidence than a moment before. My hand seems to hang in the air for several long moments, until gravity finally overcomes it and it comes crashing down in a single furiously focused blow. The bricks crumbled as if made of sugar beneath my hand. I stood up, trying to act as nonchalant as the Master had. Inside my head I was doing cartwheels and back-handsprings. Outwardly my pose said, "I do this all the time." After the demo, people I had known for some time came up to me and said, "I didn't know you could do things like that?" Truth to tell, before that evening, neither did I. Archie winked as his students cleared the debris away. They joined behind me, as Archie finished his brief speech on his thoughts on self-defense. He turned and said, "My students will now attack me, we no rehearse this, it's for real." A helpful student again whispered, "He means it, give all you've got, or he'll be insulted."

The rest of this demo, consisted of Sifu Archie manipulating us around the stage as if he were the puppet master and we his puppets. No matter what we did, he was in full command. We punched, we kicked, we slashed with knives (real sharp ones, no Tupperware here!) and we tried unsuccessfully to play home run derby on his head with clubs. It didn't matter, whatever we did, he was always 3 moves ahead of us, anticipating our every move and countermove. More often than not, it was all we could do, to keep from seriously hurting one another. Sifu danced, skipped, and posed for the crowd, seemingly unaware of our best efforts to cause him serious bodily harm. Of course, everyone there was certain this was a rehearsed and choreographed bit, it had to be. Those of us stuck in that ring that night knew differently. Having been in the midst of things, I really can't say what the demo looked like from the outside? Having experienced the Master in action, I learned that night, what being a Master was all about.

Sifu Archebeque had for some reason decided he liked this young, cocky black belt, even if I don't think he really knew my name for years. I was always, "Skinny". In time this skinny kid, would become his favorite dummy. I even stayed with him over the next summer.

Next…How I spent my Summer Vacation