Writers Unblocked Magazine Volume 1/ Number 1

FINDING YOUR CHI
And the superpower of true events
BY SOWMYA KISHORE, Faculty | Centre for Faculty Development and Teaching Innovation
“RAPHAEL’S JUST UBER COOL,”
my son mumbled as he gawked
in amazement.
I had to follow his eyes to the
television screen to join the
conversation lest someone
mistook us for being in an
art gallery paying homage to
Renaissance artists.
“And tell me why again?” I probed,
making small talk as I finally found
the missing sock of the pair that
was driving me crazy since last
week’s laundry run.
“Well, look at the way he works
his sai and you’ll know. I want one
of those.” He said, emphatically.
My first reaction was to look up
what a ‘sai’ was, which turned
out to be a traditional martial
arts weapon with prongs used for
jabbing, trapping and blocking.
Almost instantly, I was already
thinking of ways to tone down
this inexplicable fetish for
weapon wielding animated
entertainment that had
clearly infiltrated our living
room and my son’s mind.
I had learned early on
that reverse psychology
often helps alleviate
milder forms of parental angst
and so, in my well-meaning way,
I innocently inquired.
“…and how are you going to get
one of those, you think?”
“Advanced weapons, karate!”
He replied swiftly. Not a bat of the
eyelid, no hesitation, the words
were one clean stab, just like the
sai. I took a deep breath. Little did
I know this was the beginning of
a journey that would find its way
from the streets of Okinawa to
Kanata.
To say the Teenage Mutant Ninja
Turtles were inspiration for him
to step foot in the local dojo,
was an understatement, for
in his impressionable mind,
he was a manga character
himself, a Naruto spin off,
if you ask me.
28 WRITERS UNBLOCKED • VOL. 1 / NO. 1