One night, Sensei Sansin explained an important detail. “You are probably wondering, ‘why me?’ The simple answer is, you would never be able to make use of the stone I gave you if you weren’t neurodivergent.” 

“The marble was a stone?” I asked as I peered up at him. “Where did it go?” 

He smiled kindly down at me. “It is often called a keystone. It has many uses, but we need to build from the basics before we get fancy. Now, let’s do some forms. Some martial arts call them katas. The idea is special groups of movements that you practice. Those movements are made up of things you would use to defend yourself. They have a start, a middle part, and a finish. Learning them is good for growing your mind and helping you think in and organized way. They will also help you get stronger and build your coordination.” 

I couldn’t help noticing that he ignored my question about where the stone went. “So where is it?” 

He looked at me with his eyes a little narrowed. “Fine. It was absorbed into your mind. I gave them to some other kids, but you absorbed it faster and better than the others. It was almost like it was made for you. Your challenge will be to learn to use it before it’s too late. 

“Now, stand in front of me and face me. I will show you some movements. We will practice them until you can remember them. When you wake up, you will practice them. I want you to do them every day, until they are automatic. Once you reach that stage, I will teach you another form, or kata. You will practice the katas I teach you every day.” 

“What am I learning?” 

“This is martial arts. I’m going to teach you as many as you can learn.” Temple stepped out of the old man’s shadow just then and looked up at him. I was sure the cat had not been there before. 

I greeted him, “Hello Temple. It’s so nice you came to visit.” He just stared at me and blinked both eyes at me slowly before looking between me and Sensei Sansin repeatedly. I took his hint without wondering why I was being directed by a cat. 

---===+++===--- 

Mom started noticing that I was doing my kata in the yard and brought it up after a few weeks. 

“Kai, do you want to study martial arts?” she asked me one day. “We could sign you up for some Saturday classes, but it would mean missing your favorite cartoons. You have to get better reports form your teachers if you want this though...” 

After thinking about it for a bit, I answered, “That sounds worth it. I’ve been working on my reading and writing Mom.” 

My teacher had been saying good things about me in school. Sensei’s lessons were helping. I wasn’t the fastest or best reader in class, but I was not the slowest anymore.  I was even getting better at writing letters and making sentences that went the right direction. 

Mom called the school the next day. I heard some of the conversation from the school side. “I see. He has been showing big improvements.” She paused for a few minutes for Mom to speak. “Yes, I have heard that martial arts can help kids learn to focus better.” There was another pause as Mom spoke again, “Oh no, if anything, the students I have seen that go to a dojo tend to be calmer and get into less trouble. The confidence seems to help them not feel the need to act out like that.”  There was another pause as Mom talked again, “Feel free to call me any time. You can even let the dojo know that I am happy to work with them if the need arises. Thanks for calling! I look forward to our next parent – teacher meeting.” 

Mom made a call that afternoon. She turned to me with a smile. “So! Young man, you do seem to be doing well in school. As long as you can keep that up, I think we can try out some classes at one of the local dojos. I talked to one of them today. We are going in for a trial class this Saturday.” 

---===+++===--- 

Sensei Sansin liked the idea of me being in a class to learn martial arts. “This way, everyone will just assume you learned everything at the dojo.” He considered for a moment, “Have you heard the term ‘Kung Fu’?” 

“Isn’t it some kind of martial art?” I asked. 

“The literal meaning is more like being a master of something that takes time, learning, and effort. What we are going to be doing is closer to that than any strict definition of martial arts. Some of it will not be taught to you until you are ready for it.” 

I looked up into his purple eyes. I suddenly realized that his eyes were slit vertically like a cat’s eyes. He smiled broadly at me. “Let’s get to the next lesson. Do remember the last series of movements?” 

---===+++===--- 

My first class on Saturday was fun. The teacher told us to call him Sifu. We started with exercises. The movements were almost natural to me. Sensei Sansin had taught me many of the movements we were doing together in a medium sized group. Some of the kids were not new to the movements. Others were less comfortable as I was. Sifu complimented me on my form and asked if I had studied. I explained that I saw some things and copied the movements. He accepted my story. I enjoyed my class and could see myself sticking with it. 

Sensei Sansin asked me to show him what I had learned in my class. The new things he showed me were tailored to fit with what I had learned with both of my masters. 

My confidence grew with each new lesson from each of them. 

Sensei Sansin made sure to continue the training to control my neurodivergence. He taught me how to make use of the quirks and advantages I was discovering. It was a long and hard thing to learn how to manage them.