Arshu started learning Kung fu, a Chinese Martial art as a training for self-defence at the age of eight. Arshu was a cherub child with dark straight hair that touched her waist. Her eyes matched her dark black hair that complemented her bronzed skin. She was lean and tall, and her strides were long depicting the haste to accomplish a great deal. Her agile movements illustrated a quickness in her movements to support the Martial Arts. She was simple in her tastes and preferred to remain silent even when her friends yelled and shrieked joyously to display their happiness. Her teachers had to intervene in her solitude by asking her to be expressive like others. Arshu never felt the need to squall or yell, she would just look on smilingly through the numerous story books that she held on to read. Her interest in sports was overwhelming. One could see a PT Usha come alive when she ran the 100-metre race or observe a young Sindhu while she blasted the badminton cork in the court. She was an energetic swimmer and an enthusiastic singer too. As Arshu grew people often wondered at her perfect life which fitted her like a hand in glove, but her desire to do well at sports was visible through the numerous the trophies she had won. At twelve, she was a black belt in Kung fu. She loved Judo and many other Chinese martial arts, the only fear she nurtured was a big fight. She was perfect in her moves and valiant but the big fight sometimes did hurt her emotionally.
Like everyone else, Arshu did have her share of weaknesses and the greatest one was that of compassion towards other living beings. Most of her pocket money went in making her poor friends happy and in turn her friends made fun of her vulnerability calling her a weakling. She was kind in her actions and could never bear to see another living being in grief. When people asked her for her help she went out of the way to lend a helping hand leaving her personal work undone. She could never fit into the clamorous crowd of friends, but would definitely be a part of them in her deeds. When Mohit lost his Mathematics textbook just before the examinations, Arshu lent him hers without thinking about how she would manage her exams. Arshu’s mother had to run to the nearby bookstore that night to get a second copy of the textbook for Arshu.
When Arshu was twelve, her trainer approached her and spoke to her of the national big fight. He said, ‘Arshu I want you to participate and use the moves for winning this fight, your opponent is another young girl from Himachal Pradesh’. He told her that the fight would involve the basic steps of fists and throws. A fight often perturbed Arshu, but this time she wanted to overcome her weakness.
Arshu’s trainer had been her coach for four years and had always inspired her to move ahead in Martial Arts through his undeterred coaching. Kung fu has undergone a great change in each era. It was only in the song dynasty (960- 1270) that the common men and soldiers were allowed to practice the Martial Arts. The Ming Dynasty focussed on five fist and short hands and the defence normally imitates the predatory movement of animals like snakes, white cranes, leopard, tiger and other animals. The idea of holding a contest was to encourage people to inherit skills and keep them fit. Martial arts were taught in the olden days to help fight back against the government but it was never an art to kill people.
On the day of the big fight, Arshu was all ready to fight Rajyut from Himachal. Arshu was dressed in her regular karate dress, she sported the black belt around the waist. Rajyut sported her black belt on the white dress. She was fair, and tall for her age. The mountain air reflected good health and the girls were a spectacle fit for the crowd. The fight was held at the local hall near the stadium at the end of the road where Arshu’s school was situated. There were many other students of Kungfu from both the teams. The bystanders and many more had gathered to look on. After the initial round of fists, Arshu felt a strong elbow down her back. She yelled in pain and looked on when Rajyut jumped and punched her throat. A wholly of tears flew down with a fit of a cough, but Arshu held on. Her brother and other students kept up the chorus of encouraging her. At the end of the first round, Rajyut was a point ahead of Arshu.
During the break, Arshu was filled with remorse. More than the pain of losing, it was the humiliation of being beaten up that made her sorrowful. Arshu stood strong in the next round and used fists and moves to dodge again. Rajyut had grown familiar to her moves and rewarded her back with painful elbow moves. Arshu could not hit her back, but she turned around and raised her leg in self-defence as far possible and struck with great power, Rajyut lost a grip and staggered a bit to find Arshu’s strong arm strangling her neck. She choked, screamed and tears flew down to Arshu’s arm. Arshu was getting ready for the axe kick, but the wetness on her hand stopped her.
Rajyut used this as an opportunity to hurdle Arshu on to the floor. Arshu kept lying as she was overwhelmed with the pain and agony of having hurt Rajyut. She stood up and walked to Rajyut, looked into her eyes and held Rajyut’s hand high declaring her a winner in the midst of roaring applause.
“If you trust yourself, any choice you make will be correct. If you do not trust yourself, anything you do will be wrong.- Kung Fu, The Legend Continues -” ― David Carradine
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