Origin of Katana

The Origin of Katana
By Exlus Bennett

After the replacement of Tojo Hideki as prime minister in July 1944 by General Koiso Kuniaki, the Japanese continued to adhere to their basic strategy as WWII came to an end.  That was to inflict such heavy casualties on the Americans that they would be willing to settle for a peace in which Japan could retain some of its gains, would not be occupied or disarmed and would not have its military or civilian leaders tried as war criminals. 
By summer of 1945, Japans situation had become desperate.  Due to U.S. air power, raw materials could not be delivered by sea.    The raid on Tokyo on March 9, 1945 was the first large incendiary raid.  Some 16 square miles of the city were burned, more than 80,000 people were killed and a million Japanese civilians were left homeless.  Similar raids were mounted against other large cities in the following months.
While havoc reigned on the home islands, the Japanese forces in China and those forces still holding islands and parts in the South and Southwest Pacific found themselves without many of supplies they needed.  The Americans and Australians launched one invasion after the other in the East Indies and the British prepared to follow up on their re-conquest of Burma with a landing on the coast Malaya in order to retake Singapore.
The collapse of Chinese military resistance in the summer of 1944 made it all the more imperative that Soviet Union forces attack the Japanese on the mainland of Asia and thereby prevent them from reinforcing the home islands. President Truman was greatly relieved when Stalin reiterated his promise to invade Manchuria three months after the defeat of Nazi Germany. By the time Stalin made his promise at the July 16-August 2 meeting of the three powers at Potsdam, Germany, large numbers of Red Army units and commanders were already on their way to the Soviet East Asian provinces.
At the meeting, Truman told Stalin that a powerful new weapon was now ready. Having been briefed on Soviet Union espionage discoveries about the atomic bomb project, the president thought Stalin might know what he was talking about. Regardless, he urged Truman to use the powerful weapon promptly. Just before the meeting, Truman had been informed that the first A-bomb test conducted in New Mexico had been successful. The project, initiated by Roosevelt years earlier, was now beginning to produce the first bombs.

At the conclusion of the Potsdam meeting, the Allies issued a special "Declaration" calling on Japan to surrender, but the threat was ignored. Therefore, Truman ordered that an atomic bomb be dropped on Hiroshima on August 6. The results were devastating, with close to 80,000 deaths.    The shockwave of the explosion caused an unnoticed rift in the, as yet to be discovered, dimensional gateway.  A shock wave so powerful, that it allowed one entity to pass through.  In discussion with Secretary of War Henry Stimson and Army Chief of Staff George Marshall, Truman had decided that if the first bomb did not shock the Japanese into surrender, a second one would be dropped on another city. But if that did not persuade the Japanese to surrender, the bombs that later would become available would be saved for use in support of Operation Olympic. Since the bomb on Hiroshima did not prompt Japan to surrender, the second one was dropped on Nagasaki on August 9th. 

Anxious discussion took place inside the Japanese government, especially after Tokyo learned that the Soviet Union was joining Japan's enemies and invading Manchuria. Even after the second bomb was dropped, half of the Japanese leadership wanted to continue the war, hoping that the casualties that they expected to inflict on the Americans during landings at Kyushu would produce a change in American objectives. It was in the face of an evenly split group of leaders that Emperor Hirohito insisted that surrender was the only possible course. A coup attempt by those who wanted to continue fighting failed narrowly. The stage was set for a formal surrender, which was signed on the battleship Missouri on September 2.

Japan surrendered peacefully, and was not divided into zones of occupation the way Germany had been. Although western Honshu was under a British Commonwealth Occupation Force, the home islands as a whole retained a Japanese administrative system that was under the supervision of an American occupation force and supreme commander, General Douglas MacArthur.

The Soviet Union, in addition to seizing the Kurile Islands, also took control of small islands off the coast of the northern home island of Hokkaido and removed the Japanese inhabitants.  Among the inhabitants was  Anso Shibata , descendant from a distinguished line of "NIHON TO KAJI" ( JAPANESE SWORD MAKERS ). He was exposed to the art of sword making since childhood. He began studying  “Sword Making”  at the age of 12, under the tutelage of his grandfather.  Fearing that the Allied forces would forbid him to continue his family’s craft, Shibata fled inland towards Bhutan, where he was accepted into the Taktshang Monastery, also known as the “Tiger’s Nest”. 
Shibata would be able to practice his art in the lower part of the Monastery in peace and seclusion.  One stormy night as the rains fell upon the structure and lightning lit the sky, Shibata was having trouble sleeping due to the many visions he had during the storm.  In his vision he was told that “one of the Thunder and Sun would come to him and he must complete the child’s ascension”.  After he swore an oath to carry out the prophecy, Shibata was promised long life by the Thunder Dragon. 
In the 1980s, in order to strengthen Bhutan’s identity as a nation, the "one nation, one people" campaign was started to integrate the peripheral ethnic and cultural groups into mainstream Bhutanese society. The age-old code of conduct, known as Driglam namzha, and usage of the official national language, Dzongkha, was promoted. At around the same time, a nationwide census revealed a large population of illegal immigrants of Nepali origin in Southern Bhutan. When the government attempted to remove the illegal settlers, there was a violent backlash. Many government officials, buildings, offices, schools and hospital were attacked. In order to re-establish order in the south, the government was forced to recruit many young men and able-bodied civil servants into a militia force, to quell the violent activities and racial riots instigated by the illegal immigrants. A number of Southern Bhutanese, including political dissidents, and convicted criminals fled to Nepal along with the illegal settlers, where they were admitted into camps run by the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR). The UNHCR's primary failing in this matter was that officials at the time did not have any procedure of verifying whether the refugees were genuinely from Bhutan or whether they were at all Bhutanese. This made it difficult for third parties to establish whether the Bhutan's actions amounted to “ethnic cleansing” or a mere massive external deportation of Illegal immigration.   

During that time a woman cloaked in dark robes climbed the mountain to the Taktshang Monastery.    Holding a child wrapped in blankets, she struggled to ascend the difficult trail.  The night was dark and the air was cold, the ground hard beneath her footsteps.  Pausing only once to look at the child and hugging it tightly, she continued her trek.  As she approached the monastery gates, a single tear drop fell from her face.  There she left the child, at the door, and as quickly as she came, she was gone.    Shortly thereafter, the sound of the crying child was heard by the monks inside.  The monks, fearing for the child’s safety, took it in and sheltered it from the torment of the outside society.  Traditionally, families would wait a certain number of years before officially naming their offspring.  In the meantime, they used so-called "milk names" which were given to the infants shortly after their birth, and which were known only by the close family and it often happened that families dedicated their newly-born to a god or Buddha in order to offer them protection.  Having no history of the child available to them, the monks thought carefully.  Being the first female child taken into the monastery was unusual, the yellow hair compounded the rarity.  So the monks called the female child Skyye.  To keep Skyye from seeming too different from other children, her head was kept shaven and she was given no special privileges.
Grandmaster Shoujing had opened the monastery to accept those children whose families were either lost or had no means to care for their offspring.  An annual donation, from an anonymous outsider, made caring for the children possible.    Children were schooled by the monks in many different disciplines, among those was the country’s national sport of archery.  Skyye was raised with seven other children near her age, but, she was still the youngest.  Though the children were taught  ‘tolerance of all things’ by the monks, four of the children did not like Skyye.  It could even be said that, among the four, there was growing hatred of her.  Among the other children, Skyye was well liked and her best friend was Jijme, a boy two years older than her.  He was her guardian when the other kids bullied her and her cohort when she was mischievous.    Of the eight children at the monastery, Skyye and Jijme were the closest.   
One day while playing outside the monastery, the children fell upon a cave not known to them.  As they approached they heard thunderous sounds inside and upon trying to get even closer, there was an outburst of fire!  Terrified, the children quickly ran back to the monastery where they told the monks of a dragon living in the cave.  Only Monk Hui commented to them, saying, “The Tiger nest s among a village of Dragons”.  Monk Hui smiled at the children and walked away.  That night, the children slept with dreams of dragons patrolling the night sky, except for Skyye, who tossed and turned.  Seeing visions of dragons battling dragons and turning human and battling dragons;  Skies turning red and orange with flames and blood.  These visions so frightened young Skyye that she woke up and ran from the room where the children slept.
Trying to find solace, she walked the mountain side looking up to the stars.  Eventually she found herself at the mouth of the cave that frightened them earlier.  Fear gripped her, but, she could not run.  There was flames coming from the cave and she could feel the heat on her face.  Fear then became terror and the little girl shrieked!  As she stood not knowing what to do, a hand grabbed her shoulder and spun her around.  It was an old man who asked, “Are you alright? What are you scared of?”  Skyye, did not know this man, but, was glad to see him nonetheless.  She pointed to the cave and stuttered out, “Dragon in there”.  The old man looked toward the cave and then smiled softly saying, “I can see how you would think that there’s a dragon in there.  But it’s just a fire…my fire”.  He takes her hand in his own and says, “Come child, I will show you”.  Cautiously she walks with him, hiding a little bit behind him in case of danger.  As they get deeper into the cave the old man begins to speak ”My name is Anso…and like I said this is my fire”, pointing to the fire pit dug into the ground.  The little girl looks around and sees strange metals, tools, rocks and assorted other things.  Her confidence quickly comes back and she begins to look around the cave.  As she begins to satisfy her curiosity, the old man Anso asks, “..and what is your name?”  The little girl stops what she is doing and bows immediately to the old man and replies, “Please sir, forgive my manners.  I am called Tian…Skyye.”  Anso sits on a nearby rock and reaches for a drink.  “Well Skyye, now that you see there is no dragons living in this cave let’s take you back to the safety of the monks and the monastery.”  Skyye looks around the cave again then asks, “What are you doing in here?”  Anso takes a breath then replies “I make swords here.”  Skyye looks at him then asks, “For the monks?”  Anso chuckles a little and says, “No.  The monks have no use for my swords.”  The child then asks, “Then why do you do it?”  “I do it to keep a family tradition alive and it keeps my spirit alive as well” answers Anso “Now, let’s get you back.”  He stands up and guides the child towards the cave exit.  She looks up to him and asks, “Can I come back later?”  He smiles at her and says, “Perhaps.”    Their walk back to the monastery is uneventful.  Upon their arrival, Anso pats the child on the head and points to where she should go.  After her compliance, he turns and leaves,  returning to the cave to continue his craft.   
The next morning, Skyye tells the other children about her adventure the previous night at which point  her best friend Jijme said, “After we finished our lessons and duties, we should go to the cave”.  “Bah! Why should we even believe her?” starts Advah, who turns and sneers at Skyye.  Advah is the only other female among the children.  She is also the leader of the four kids that don’t like Skyye.  Jijme steps forward and says, “We can go to the cave to see for ourselves”.  Eagerly, all of the other children agree while Advah sulks in jealousy. 
The day goes routine for the children when towards the end of their day they set off to the cave Skyye spoke of.  As they approached, they hear the clanging of metal and see the light of the fire inside.  Skyye ran ahead yelling, “He’s here! He’s here! Come on!”.  The children ran to catch up with her.  When they get inside, they see Anso hammering at a piece of metal, sweat pouring from his forehead.  They feel the heat of the fire upon their faces and exposed skin.  They also see the dozens of polished blades leaning against the wall of the cave.  Advah walks over and picks one up when she hears, “Put that back!”  Startled the young girl drops the blade and jumps back.  Anso walks over to the blade and picks it up and wipes the soil from it and places it back to where it was.  He turns to Advah, who stands defiantly at him, and says, “Do not touch until you know what you are doing.  Each blade is waiting for its’ human companion to bond with”.  Then he turns to the rest of the children and says, “None of you touch, until you know what you are doing”.  The oldest boy, Leung asks, “When will that be?”  Anso grunts a little and shrugs his shoulders.  He takes a couple of steps then stops and tells the children, “If Grandmaster Shoujing  says  you are ready, I will teach you to be ready”.  “All of us?” asks Jijme excitedly .  Anso, looks the children over and says, “All, but, the little one…too young and too little.  Now go”, and with a wave of his hand his gestures the children to leave.  Skyye, not knowing what to do, walks away with her head low and eyes filling up.  She doesn’t cry, but, her chest is heavy and her throat is tight.  Jijme notices her and walks over to her.  He reaches to console her, when she blocks his hand, “No!” and then she runs off.    While walking around the grounds, angry and hurting Skyye hears noise coming from over the hill.  She drops herself closer to the ground and proceeds forward so she can look.  In a clearing ahead of her, Skyye sees five men, judging by the way they were dressed, five Tibetan men, practicing a martial art.  She laid on the ground so the men would not see her and she watched them for hours.  Every day over the next eight days, Skyye would leave her friends, when they went to train with Anso, and watch the men practice.  One the ninth day she was watching the men when she noticed one of them was missing.  She thought nothing of it until she notices a shadow on the ground next to her.  She quickly turns to see the man standing over her.  “Well, what do we have here?..a spy?” , he asks loud enough for the other men to hear.  The other men stop what they are doing and approach.  Skyye was not scared, just a little bit worried about what the men might do.  Among the five men was an older man, thin, but, muscularly built.  His clothes were baggy on him, but did not hide his physique.  His hair was white from age.  Though clean shaven, his face looked as if there was hair on it.  He stepped forward and asks, “Are you lost or curious?”  “Huh?” Skyye blurted out.  “The older man smiles and asks, “Which words are not known to you?”  Sheepishly Skyye replies, “I was just watching.  I didn’t mean any disrespect”.  The old man says, “What is your name, young one?”  “I am called Skyye”, she replies.  “That is an unusual name for a young man”, says the old man.  “That’s because I am a girl”, answers Skyye.  The old man squints and looks at her again closely, “So you are.  Well young Skyye, I am Nasuti Tagashi.  These are my students”.  Skyye repeats, “Students?”  “Yes, yes young one, I am teaching Kateda”, Tagashi said.  “What is Ka-tee-daa?”,Skyye repeats slowly.  “Well young Skyye”, starts Tagashi, “Since you have been here the last nine days, why don’t I teach you what it is”.  Skyye’s eyes lit up and it was all she could do to hide the smile coming over her face, “Yes, Yes”, she said, “When do I start?”  Tagashi looks up to the sky and see the sun setting over the mountains.  He turns to her and says, “We will start tomorrow, now I have to go home and see if my satellite t.v. will work or I’ll miss, I Love Lucy, the American television show”.  And with that, he gathered his things and leaves.  Skyye returns to the monastery and her friends, yet shares no information with the monks or the other children.
The following day Skyye waited in the clearing for Tagashi and his students.  Her wait was short lived as Tagashi approached with the other students in tow.  He walked to a rock and sat down.  The men with him began their regular practice and he called Skyye to sit with him.  His face became semi-serious and he looked to the sky and took a deep breath in.  His eyes closed and he even appeared to taste the air.  He slowly let out his breath and then looked to Skyye and began, “Kateda is based on seven elements; bravery, challenges, leadership, sacrifices, togetherness, peace and knowledge.  It is through the understanding and progression of these elements that we are able to overcome fear, negativity, stress and anger.  Your training will allow you to expand your creativity, confidence, self-control, awareness and more”, Tagashi paused a moment then asked Skyye, “Do you understand so far?”  Skyye shook her head ‘yes’ and Tagashi continued, “My father rediscovered Kateda and at first kept the ‘Seven Secrets’  book to himself.  The Seven Secrets book contained the atomic power of the human body and the instinct powers of the human being.  This internal power is separated into seven natural and pure parts.  In the old ages these powers were used only for the protection of life and the convenience of mankind”, Tagashi looked at the young girl listening intently at every word he spoke, “After a while, my father, thought that these secrets should be shared with others who were worthy.  During his lifetime he taught 200 people these secrets.  I was one of them.  Everyone who learns must be devoted to its’ practice and guard it’s secret.  Can you do this young Skyye?”  Skyye stood up and said very firmly, “Yes, I can do it”. Tagashi stood up and with a grim look upon his face said, “Then we shall begin”.
And so it was that during the early morning, Skyye would study with the monks, at the monastery, with her friends and when her friends left to study with Anso, Skyye went to study with Tagashi.  Over the next few months Skyye trained twice as hard as Tagashi’s male students.  Even though she was much, much younger, she learned with accuracy and speed of those four times her age.  As time went on Skyye let her hair grow out as her body got stronger and her skills got better.  Still, she said nothing to her friends and the monks at the monastery about Tagashi’s teachings.  As her friends was still involved in learning Iaido from Anso, most of them did not really notice where Skyye was going off to, all save Jijme and Advah.  One evening as the children were going off on their selected way, Jijme stopped Skyye and asked, “Where do you go during the time we are sword training?”  Skyye did not answer.  “What has gotten into you?  You used to tell me everything”, Jijme said.  Skyye replied sheepishly, “I just go into the mountains where I can think and practice my lessons”.  Jijme looked at her a long time and then finally said, “Is that all you do, Just practice what the monks have taught us?”  Skyye replied, “I just study”.  Anso , half believing her, said, “Alright then.  I’ll let you go study”.  He turned and walked away leaving Skyye half confused with herself.  She was about to call out to Jijme when Advah came by.  “You”, she started sharply, “Just because you have hair like the sun does not mean that you are as bright.  Just like the moon, I can eclipse you anytime I want.  I don’t know where you go when you go, but, I’m glad you are gone when you do”.  Skyye looked at Advah hard.  Then suddenly Advah spins around and catches Skyye with a high crescent kick to her head, knocking Skyye down to the ground.  “Hah!” Advah yelled out, “See, I am better than you”.  Just as Skyye was about to get up Advah kicked her again yelling “You golden haired freak!”  Advah looked around for a moment and finally saw what she was looking for.  She walked over and picked up a large rock and lifted it over her head, meaning to throw it at Skyye.  That’s when one of the other boys, who were walking by, stopped her.  He quickly knocked the stone from Advah’s hand and it landed, not on Skyye, but, off to the side.  “What are you doing?” he asked Advah violently.  Advah sneered at him, but, said nothing.  The boy helped Skyye to her feet, she was alright, but, very troubled by the events.  “Skyye, you should leave now”, the boy told her.  Skyye paused for a moment, she looked at Advah, then ran off.  The boy then turned to Advah, “Master Hui, will hear of this”.  Advah said nothing, but, stared at the boy coldly.  She moved slowly from the boy and turned to go to her lesson with Anso.  The boy looked to make sure Skyye was away safely, then, he too went to his lesson with Anso.  Elsewhere, Skyye went to the clearing where Tagashi trains her.  Her face was partially swollen from the kick Advah gave her, yet she said nothing to Tagashi when she saw him.  “Skyye, you are late today”, Tagashi said, “Did something happen?”  Skyye did not look at her teacher but answered him, “No, I merely lost my footing on one of the rocks and fell”.  “Oh”, Tagashi replied, “It must have been a shoe shaped rock you landed on”.  Skyye said nothing.  That night, while she was nurturing her facial wound, Skyye had her hair shaved off once more.
The next morning Master Hui called for Skyye to walk with him in the monastery’s garden.  He was silent for most of the walk.  Skyye was patiently waiting for him to speak, while she waited, she enjoyed the surrounding landscape; the mountains, the sky, the flowering plants.  In a lapse in time, she found herself truly loving the environment. She felt free and powerful.  Her heart soared as she watched the birds in the sky.  She felt the jubilance of the Pashmina goats running nearby.  She was at one with everything around her.  That’s when Master Hui spoke, “Young Tian, you have been working very hard at your studies and arts.  So hard that you have become very proficient in what we have to offer.  So I am sending you to study in our monastery in China.  After you have completed what they have taught you, you will return here with us.  Skyye looked at him and then cleared her throat, “Will I be the only one leaving the ‘Tiger’s Nest’?”  Master Hui quickly interjected, “No.  All of your fellow pupils will be sent to study with others as well.  It is time that you all learn more of the world that is developing”.    Master Hui looked at Skyye’s face.  It showed inner fear and sadness.  “Do not look upon this as a fearful thing”, he started, “It is another step in your development in which you learn to depend on yourself”.  She nodded her head, “When do we leave?”  Master Hui thought a moment and then said, “You will leave the day after tomorrow.  So please take the next day to say goodbye to your friends…even the ones in the mountains”.  Her eyes widened at the realization that for all this time, Master Hui knew that she was in the mountains training with Tagashi.
  The following day Skyye went to the village to gather some things for her trip and to stop by the mountain flats where she trains with Tagashi.  Though she didn’t go there frequently, she liked the village and the people who lived there, liked her too.  They came to think of her as a mascot of sort, because of her yellow hair.  They believed she was of the ‘sun’.  Skyye took care to see each and everyone in the village she had ever spoke to, to bid them farewell.  They in return bade her a safe and fond trip.  The following morning Skyye,Jijme, Advah and the others were gathered at the gates of the monastery.  Grandmaster Shoujing was there to wish them well.  One by one they left the monastery, each given a route to take to their destination.  Each was given a letter of introduction.  Each left to travel on their own armed with a sword, in the event of running into hostile rebel soldiers.
The sun was high over head and hot this day.  The boy who had stopped Advah from hurting Skyye was walking along the trail to the South, when he heard a noise ahead of him.  He cautiously proceeded when suddenly Advah appeared in front of him.  She seemed playful in her demeanor and some what glad to see him.  “Advah”, he started, “You surprised me.  I did not know you were heading south too”.  Advah smiled wickedly and said, “No, I wasn’t”, and with that she spun around kicking him in the face knocking him down to the ground.  While he was still dazed, she kicked him in his jaw knocking him backward.  She stalked him casually.  Kicking and hitting him at will, not giving him a chance to get organized or on his feet.  She sneered at him yelling, “This is what you get for picking her over me!  You should have let me crushed her yellow head in, that day.  So now you are going to reap what you have sowed”.  And with that Advah picked up a stone and promptly brought it down on the boy’s skull, rendering him unconscious, if not dead.  Advah smiled in delight and actually took a moment to gloat over the boy’s body.  She sat waiting for signs of life from the body, but grew impatient and gathered her things and left the area.  She ran off thinking that the rebels would take the blame for his death, while she would seek out Skyye and finally end her pathetic existence.  She ran off leaving the boy’s body on the trail.  Not seeing the dark hulking figure drag his body off the trail and carrying it away.
As night fell, Skyye was looking for a place to camp for the night.  She saw a gathering of stones which made an useable shelter.  She gathered some brush to lay on and bundled herself tightly in her clothing and laid down to rest for the night.  The sky was clear and the stars could be seen from the ground.  The wind was blowing lightly, but, you could hear the sound of footsteps, softly walking up.  Skyye was well alerted to the presence of someone approaching.  She slowly pulled her sword close to her and waited.  She heard the steps grow closer and closer until they were finally upon her, Skyye leaped up and attacked with her sword.  There was a deafening clang and as quickly as she attacked, she was disarmed.  She fell back into a fighting stance, preparing to attack again when a familiar voice spoke to her.  “You have trained long and hard Skyye, I hope you will train even harder now”.  It was Anso Shibata.  Skyye dropped her guard and asked, “Why are you here?”  Anso sheathed his samurai sword and responded, “I followed you from the monastery.  You are to train with me”.  A confused Skyye asked, “But why?”  Anso looked for a place to sit and then told her, “It was a plan that Master Hui and I launched, so that I can teach you Iaido”.  Skyye stood perplexed for a moment then spoke,”But a while ago, you said I was too young and too weak”.  Anso laughed, “That was a while ago.  Now, you have become strong and your training have made you wise beyond your years”.  Then another figure appeared out of the dark, it was Tagashi.  “Greetings young Skyye”.  She turned around, and had a look of total confusion on her face, that the older men had to explain to her exactly what their plan was.  Tagashi sat on the ground opposite Anso.  Skyye sat between them as they started their story.  “During your training with the monks, Master Hui noticed how driven you were, he also noticed how some of the other children would make things harder for you”,Anso started, “I was waiting to see how you responded to the challenge in front of you”.  “So, how did I do?” asked Skyye.  Both men laughed.  “You responded like an ancient warrior”, Tagashi replied.  Anso nodded in agreement, “It was a twist of fate that you ran into Tagashi and he agreed to train you.  I was going to train you away from the others when you started disappearing.  So one day I followed you to see where you went”.  Then Tagashi continued, “That’s when Anso told me about his dream and why he must train you in the way of the Samurai.  At first I was not sure that you were the one we had to train, but, you proved that Anso was right.  For you see Skyye, I had a similar dream”.  Skyye asked, “What dream are you talking about, what does this mean?”  Anso took a deep breath and rubbed his chin as he exhaled.  He looked at Tagashi, as if hoping he would explain things.  Tagashi conveniently ignored Anso’s look.  Anso started,” Though you are very wise beyond your years, you may not understand all that I have to tell you.” “Please tell me”, responded Skyye.  Anso studied her face hard then began, “Long ago when this country was still forming, there was war among the many tribes that lived here.  Raiders from the North would attack trying to capture as much land as they could for their own.  Mongol warlords laid waste to many villages until the villagers prayers were answered by the ‘Thunder Dragon’.  One would come to bring peace to the lands and oust the invaders.  The first one was Tibetan lama and military leader Shabdrung Ngawang Namgyal.  It was he who ordered the building of fortresses and promulgated a code of law that helped bring all of the warring lords together under centralized control”.  He stopped and looked around.  “What is it master?” asked Skyye?  “Hmm?”  responds Anso,  now aware of her question.  “What is the matter?” she asked again.  “Oh, I just was looking for a drink”, Anso answered.  Tagashi slung one of the packs from his back onto the ground and reached in and grabbed a water canteen.  He then handed it to Anso, who smiled at him and opened and drank.  Skyye sat patiently, but, the look on her face told different.  She wanted to know more of what Anso had to tell her.  Anso let out a loud belch and handed the canteen back to Tagashi.  Then he continued his story  ”After Namgyal died, the Mongols attacked again during a terrible civil war.  During that time, another heir of the Thunder Dragon came to thwart those attacks.  And so it went through the years, that there would always be one, of the Thunder Dragon, to protect the country and its’ villages.  We have reason to believe that you are the recent heir.  My dream said that I was train one of the Thunder and sun”, He looked at the young girl ”I am suppose to train you Skyye”.  The young girl sat still for a moment.  The two men looked at each other with apprehension.  Finally, Skyye moved, she stood up and looked both men in the eye and asked, “When do we begin?”  Both men breathed a sigh of relief.  Tagashi then spoke, “We will go deep into the mountain tomorrow and begin.  Now we must rest”.  With that said all three lay on the ground and rested for the morning.  Early the next morning Tagashi woke Skyye from her deep sleep.  The night air had grown cold over night freezing the ground.  Fortunately Skyye was bundled in her warmest coats, however this didn’t remain the case.  Tagashi told her to remove her coats and commence with push ups.  Skyye complied.  After push ups came rock throwing.  Tagashi had chosen over fifty large stones for Skyye to lift and throw at a target he had marked twenty feet away.  When she finally completed throwing the last stone, Tagashi commanded her to toss them in the opposite direction.  After several hours later an exhausted Skyye looked for some kind of reprieve from Tagashi who was sipping on some tea while he conversed with Anso.  She sighed a heavy and loud sigh hoping that he would hear her.  It went unnoticed.  Not being sure of what to do next she continued to throw rocks.  From the corner of his eye, Tagashi watched as Skyye pushed herself.  She had shown initiative at that moment and Tagashi knew she would be a great master of Kateda.

To be continued