Hexagram 54 line 1 – FIGHTING AT A DISADVANTAGE

   

Hexagram 54 line 1 – FIGHTING AT A DISADVANTAGE

This story illustrates an instance where the traditional text worked perfectly.

I was doing a telesales job, selling dubious ad space on yearly ‘official’ Sasco charts (calendars) to big companies for large sums of money. It was well paid, but as it was commission only, it required a great deal of energy; the stuff did not sell itself. Pitching hard all day long built up a ton of adrenalin, and after that, I needed a good workout to sweat it all out. Come five o'clock, I would grab a greasy snack and then go off to the dojo. It was a Kung Fu school—nothing special, quite commercial, but good basic training. I progressed through the colored belts of achievement until I was ready to get my brown. Brown is the first belt you have to fight for—three one-minute rounds with another contender. It is supposed to be 50% contact only, but it gets a bit rougher than that most times, and sometimes a lot rougher.

The bout was set for one Saturday afternoon, but in the morning I was really sick. I had a cold and a really bad headache. I was thinking of canceling, but the oracle looked good, so I went to bed with some painkillers and woke with just enough time to get to the dojo. I still felt awful, but as luck would have it, there were some really cool stimulant pills back then called "Up Time". These contained a generous hit of caffeine blended with herbs, vitamins, and a noticeable amount of cayenne pepper. These things were great and made me feel warm and strong again. Infinitely better than the effect of crap like Red Bull.

The school had two masters, Mr. Chen and Mr. Wu. Mr. Chen was more technical, and his style was less aggressive; I trained with him. Mr. Wu was much more interested in training for fighting contests. The students of Mr. Wu were much meaner and rougher, often sporting tattoos and strange haircuts. It had been decided to pit the two master’s students at this grading. So each student from Mr. Chen had to fight one from Mr. Wu. I watched a few bouts and saw Mr. Chen’s students get knocked around and even fouled without the referee doing anything about it. I guess they had decided we needed toughening up a bit.

My turn came, and my opponent was a lot younger than me, though not as tall. He had tattoos of mean-looking devils and a shaven head. He gave me a fierce glare so tense that I thought his face would crack if he tried to smile. He went into the attack straight after the bell, but I kept him at bay until near the end of the round. Then he gave me a really vicious kick on the thigh that made me limp for a few minutes. Fortunately, the round ended, and I had time to recover. Next round, he was more ferocious than ever, trying to stamp on my feet and kick me in the head (both illegal). I realized that he was faster and stronger than me, and I was not going to be able to defend myself to the end.

Something had to be done. I kept cool and waited for a chance. He came in close, arms on the outside, attempting to punch my floating ribs. His front was unguarded, and by instinct, I gave him an uppercut. It was not that hard, but it shook him up alright, and the ref gave him a standing count of 6 to recover. It was illegal as well, and this time the ref gave me a warning. After that, though his confidence was shot, he was only a kid, really, easily cowed, and would not come in close again. I used my greater reach to control the rest of the fight from a distance, just picking off a few nice shots here and there. I ended up with a narrow points win. My pals were delighted, and other crowd members booed.

After that, home to my Lady Love for a slap-up celebratory dinner! To her disappointment, though, I never took another belt, as black belt requires too much training and I was only trying to keep fit.

Hex 54, traditional text

Wilhelm/Baynes: The Marrying Maiden. Undertakings bring misfortune. Nothing that would further

Sounds gloomy. The consultee is the "maiden," someone who is not in a strong position and must use wiles to prevail.

Wilhelm/Baynes:The Marrying Maiden as a concubine. A lame man who is able to tread. Undertakings bring good fortune.

This is a nice, accurate line. I was the lame man who could walk, and the undertaking did bring good fortune.