Dan Lee

Tangshan Tigers: The Stolen Jade

Soon it was Matt’s turn. He was matched against a boy called Bruno, another tae kwon-do practitioner. Bruno was big and looked strong. He started aggressively with a series of forward punches. Matt blocked them all. He began to feel confident – Bruno was strong, but he made it so obvious what he was going to do next, Matt had no problem in countering. Bruno twisted his body away from Matt and delivered a back kick. Clearly this was supposed to take Matt by surprise, but he blocked it easily. Then, as Bruno turned back towards him, Matt delivered a high crescent kick which broke Bruno’s guard, then followed it with two forward punches to Bruno’s chest. Bruno backed off and Matt followed in with a beautiful, high axe kick, again smashing through Bruno’s guard. Bruno gave ground, then tried to retaliate with a reverse turning kick. Matt blocked this one-handed, and hit Bruno in the ribs with a well-timed side-kick. Bruno staggered and sat down hard on the mat.
  Chang clapped. ‘Enough. Well fought.’ He signalled a win for Matt by gesturing towards him with an open hand.
  Matt and Bruno bowed to each other and returned to their places.
  ‘You fight good!’ Catarina said to him. Matt felt pleased. He knew he’d fought well; but he also felt the harder test was still to come. Against a tae kwon-do opponent he was in his element. Fighting against unfamiliar techniques would be a different ball-game.
  More bouts followed in quick succession. Matt was glad to see that Shawn won his second bout, and Olivier won both of his. Catarina won too. Before Matt knew it, his turn had come around again.
  This time he was matched against a red-haired German boy, Wolfgang. Wolfgang was shorter than Matt, but very strongly built. With his barrel chest and small round head he looked like a miniature bull. He was a ju-jitsu specialist. Matt had watched him win his previous fight and knew he was an opponent to be reckoned with.
  Matt had barely taken his stance after bowing before Wolfgang dropped his head low and charged at him. Matt got in a glancing punch on Wolfgang’s shoulder – but now Wolfgang was in close. He grabbed Matt’s jacket and pushed him backwards, trying to hook his leg round Matt’s. Matt fought as best he could, but it was all he could do to keep his balance. He wasn’t used to this kind of combat.
  Suddenly he noticed that his hip was in contact with Wolfgang’s stomach. The throw Shawn had used earlier flashed into his mind. He bent his knees, twisted his hip and straightened up. Wolfgang was pulled off his feet and rolled over Matt’s back. He crashed to the floor.
  Master Chang signalled the win.
  ‘You did well,’ he said quietly to Matt. ‘You show flexibility. Adaptability. That is good.’
  Glowing from the fight and Chang’s praise, Matt went and stood next to Shawn. ‘That was thanks to you,’ he said.
  ‘I said we could learn from each other, didn’t I?’
  ‘You did,’ said Matt. ‘Thanks! Maybe I’ll teach you some kicks!’

That evening, the list of squad members was posted up on the notice-board outside the refectory. A huge crowd of students gathered around it. Matt, Catarina, Olivier and Shawn fought their way to the front.
  ‘Yes!’ said Matt. There was his name. MATT JAMES. In bold black type.
  Catarina’s name was there too. So was Olivier’s. And so was Shawn’s.
  They all exchanged high fives.
  ‘Hey, what’s this – the list’s up?’ said a loud Australian voice. ‘My name better be on it!’
  It was Carl Warrick. He jostled his way to the front. ‘Glad to see Chang’s got some sense,’ he said, peering at the notice-board. ‘But why am I at the bottom of the list? I should be at the top!’
  ‘It’s alphabetical,’ said Matt. Everyone laughed.
  Carl clenched his jaw. ‘I knew that!’ he said. ‘I was just kidding.’
  Shawn turned to Matt. ‘How about we go to the kwoon now and put in a bit of practice? You could teach me those kicks you were talking about.’
  ‘Sure thing,’ said Matt.
  ‘Let’s all go!’ said Olivier.
  ‘How about you, Carl?’ said Matt. Carl wasn’t his favourite person, but they were all on the same team together, and it didn’t hurt to be friendly. ‘Want to come? We could teach each other a few moves.’
  ‘No, thanks,’ said Carl. ‘There’s nothing you lot can teach me.’
  ‘Except manners, maybe?’ said Catarina, smiling sweetly.

Tangshan Tigers: The Stolen Jade © 2008. Published by Puffin Books.