11082/Of Fables and Foibles

Of Fables and Foibles
Date of Scene:	16 February 2020
Location:	Richard Dragon's Dojo
Synopsis:	Tales are told, lessons learned, and a teacher once more becomes a student.
Cast of Characters:	Dragon, Wild Rose

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Dragon has posed:
"To explain this phylosophy to you, I'll tell you a little tale..." Richard is sitting, cross legged, in the center of his tatami, in his dojo, surrounded by a dozen students. Training, today, isn't solely of a physical nature, but of a more theoretical and perhaps spiritual nature.
"It was a cold winter, and two trees stood together, on opposite sides of a small clearing in the woods... The oak, in front of the willow, with its strong branches aiming upwards, kept growing. The willow, in front of the oak, quietly sat there, with its thin branches barely inspiring any awe if compared to the sturdy and majestic ones of the oak in front of it... Then, winter called snow, and it started snowing heavily... And snow, white and relentless, fell on the branches of the two trees, coating them in candid whiteness, loading them with its weight. The oak's branches stood firm, unmoving, supporting more and more weight, as larger and larger piles of snow formed between its branches, the willow instead, whose branches were thinner and weaker, started bending more and more towards the ground, almost sadly succumbing to the load that winter was throwing on it. Suddenly though, the quietness of the clearing was broken by a loud noise! The oak's branches cracked, and unable to resist to that much snow, they broke, falling to the ground, leaving just the trunk without its majestic limbs. And it was then that snow started also sliding down from the willow's branches, the same ones that moments before were bent downwards. And as soon as snow fell from them, the flexible branches straightened again, whipping away all the remaining snow on them, restoring the willow to its original form, to its original glory..."
Richard pauses, looking each one of his students, quietly "anyone knows what all that story meant?"

Wild Rose has posed:
     Amongst the student is one fiery-haired woman, who is in a simple pair of white gi pants, a white t-shirt, barefoot, and with her hair pulled back into a ponytail. Riana smiles as she listens to the tale. It echoed one she had heard herself when she was maybe eleven or twelve years old. She waits to see if another will answer, to give them a fair chance. If nobody else speaks up, she clears her throat lightly.

     "It reminds me of one I heard very similar years ago, if I may?"

Dragon has posed:
Richard Dragon waits for someone to answer the question, but since noone does, he's almost ready to speak himself when Riana asks to speak! And so he nods, turning his gaze towards her and smiling, nodding to signal that she may talk

Wild Rose has posed:
     To be in the teacher's position was nothing new to Riana. But to do so from the perspective of the student? Well, that was a different kettle of fish altogether! However, since the teacher proper in this dojo had indicated a willingness to let her speak, it certainly was not going to be stepping on anybody's toes!

     "When I first began my own studies years ago, the teacher I had at the time told a similar story. It was of an oak tree and a reed by a river. They grew peacefully side by side. People would come to admire the mighty oak, and have picnics and express love to each other beneath its branches. But they would never once look at the humble reed. One day there was a great storm. The winds howled, the rains fell, and the soil grew unstable. The oak held firm to the last, unyielding. The reed bent with the wind. In the end, the oak fell, but the reed remained."

     She pauses to let the other students absorb the tale and think on it for a moment, before continuing on. "The oak was inflexible, and very certain of itself. The reed was humble, and willing to bend with the wind, even while it did not let itself be ripped away. In the end, the oak's pride and unwillingness to bend is what destroyed it, while the reed's humility and willingness to learn let it survive."

Dragon has posed:
Richard Dragon smiles approvingly, nodding in satisfaction "that was a very good explanation! Very good indeed... But..." he pauses, again looking at everyone "are there any other applications to that concept? Flexibility, humbleness, those are a possible interpretation of that tale... But anyone can find some others? Think on the physical sphere, on the emotional one, have a full view of yourselves to find the answer.."

Wild Rose has posed:
     For several long moments, there is silence in the dojo. The students all look to each other, none really quite sure how to answer. One of them, a brown-haired, brown-eyed young girl of perhaps ten years old, so proud in her white gi and belt, just looks at Riana. Those glittering brown eyes take in the simplicity of the woman's pants and shirt, very much like everyone else's in the room, but also her black belt. The young girl seems to consider this for a few minutes, looking between Richard and Riana, and then back to the other students.

     Finally, that thin, high voice speaks up, lacking in a whole lot of volume and confidence, but so far the only other one of the students willing to take a chance on the answer. "Sir, miss over there, it looks like she might be a teacher just like you. But she's with the students. It kind of looks like she doesn't know everything and it's okay for her to say it. She can bend like the reed."

     For her own part, Riana is silent, listening, her gaze on the younger girl patient and kind. She hadn't seen this one speak up much in class, and she smiled a little at how brave she was to even try.

Dragon has posed:
Richard Dragon again nods, again approvingly, again smiling "that's true, and that's a great example of the fact that teachers never cease to be students, no matter what... The good ones at least!" he chuckles, but then shakes his head "but that's not something new, I'm referring to other applications..." he stands, slowly, and has another student standing. They position one in front of the other, then Richard extends his right hand, "grab my wrist..." they grab wrists, and then Richard smiles "now, pull! Pull with all your strength, first to loose his balance is eliminated..." and the two start pulling, in opposite directions, muscles straining! "now, we're two oaks... But..." Suddenly richard stops pulling, instead he relaxes his muscles, and pushes forward. His momentum adds to the one of the pulling student, and the student stumbles backwards, loosing his balance "but if I push, I win... Resisting, standing firmly in place against whatever people throw at you, may be impressive for the first twenty seconds. Eventually you'll fall... The path of nonresistance sees you bending back and forth, sees you flowing, adapting, like water... And like water, no matter what the world throws at you, you'll always be there, with calmness and patience you'll get where those who stand ever so firm will never manage to get... Because water seeps through the ground, with time water can bring down a mountain... But try throwing a mountain into the sea, and you'll just see it sinking!"

Wild Rose has posed:
     The student on the receiving end of that push, a golden-haired young man who looks to be in his early teens, lands on his rear end with a soft -whump-, and an outrush of breath. There is some giggling and muffled laughter from the other students, but also some nods of understanding. The brown-haired girl reaches out to help her compatriot to his feet, and the two rejoin their compatriots.

     Riana herself just remains where she is, smiling, looking at Richard in awe. He had an elegant way of making his point, one she herself could perhaps stand to learn from.

Dragon has posed:
Richard Dragon returns to sit, but this time, he sits with his students, to form a perfect circle, students all sitting around the empty tatami "well, that applies in physical conflicts, but in a lot of other circumstances... Say, me and you were to argue" he points at one of the students, a girl around 17 with a quite acute and earpiercing voice "you start to shout, I start to shout! The room becomes very noisy, all the other people present will become deaf, and at the end of it, we'll both have sore throats and noone will have proven his point... If I let you scream away, while I'll have to actually resist deafness for a bit, at the end of it, tired from your screaming, you'll listen to me... right?"

Wild Rose has posed:
     The 17 year old just looks at Richard for a moment as if he'd grown a second head atop his shoulders. Adults weren't supposed to be this smart! Bits of mousy, light brown hair cling to her face with sweat from working out in the dojo earlier. Her light grey eyes light with understanding and she nods. "Kind of like that story about the sun and the wind, right? The wind couldn't make the man take off his coat by yelling and blowing, but the sun just kind of stood there, didn't shout, and the man took off his coat."

     Riana grins at Richard, nodding her head in approval. He had some good students here, for sure!

Dragon has posed:
Richard Dragon nods "exactly like that!" he smiles "sometimes, it's not the amount of things you do, or the noise they make, that wins you the fight, but how smart you are about it... Go around town vandalizing all the statues of the evil emperor, and the future generations will think of you as a bad person yourself. Sit quietly in the square, and explain why the emperor is evil to those who want to listen to you, and you'll perhaps bring down the regime, if, you don't get caught, that is... Fight smart, fight when it's worth fighting, and, most of all" he pauses, holding the gaze of everyone before continuing "fight only when there's no other solution, cause no matter what, fighting must always be the last resource..."

Wild Rose has posed:
     It's here that Riana finally speaks up herself, keeping her voice soft, not looking to shout over Richard or the other students. "It's when you throw the first punch or kick that you become the biggest target in the room. Before you do that, think about whether it's worth the risk. He's right. Choose your battles." A bit of a sheepish, apologetic smile is offered to Richard, and she inclines her head in deference.

Dragon has posed:
Richard Dragon smiles at Riana, both to indicate that he approves the words, and that she's good for speaking them. "and with that, I think we've done enough for today! Go home thinking of what we talked about today, and if you feel like doing homeworks, think of the battles that you fought recently. Were they really worth it, in the long run? How much of it was doing what was right and how much was just trying to safeguard your pride? Was it really you that needed to fight? I mean, was the fight your fight? And then... In five years, will you be considered the hero, or the villain, by those who'll read of your battle?" he stands, smiles at everyone, and bows deeply "and even more importantly, next time there'll be donuts, cause it's Anya's birthday! So think of that as well, donuts are definitely worth fighting for!"