Requiem: Chapter 6 (Part 3)
Ji entered the dojo at four o'clock. He owned the Red Circle just like me. The second best ' Kami'. Het waren maar de meesters die na het dragen van de Red Circle gedurende vele jaren uiteindelijk de kans kregen om de Golden Circle earnable. The red sun that becomes a golden sphere at its strongest and at its highest point. Therefore, this was also the highest award in the Kami Akai, the best being among the best. Na een periode van het verdedigen van de Red Circle kon men volgens de regels van de Kami Akai nog een tiental proeven afleggen, een soort eindexamen. Those who succeeded flawlessly got the Golden Circle. This was for each of them a test of their years of experience and knowledge gained in this martial arts. So it was not surprising that it was only a few who were given this honour.
I came to Ji and bowed with my right hand pressed against my heart. Ji smiled and greeted back. “My deepest condolences Yukiko,” were his first words. I thanked him for his condolences. It became a mechanical reaction. So many people had already done this and although I did not doubt their words, my reaction came out without thinking about it, I did not want to go into it more deeply. I just hoped that with that would not be offended.
'It's been a long time since we met, 'Ji continued. “What brings you here today? What out of shape or something, “he teased me. We could always have liked each other, my father had always found him a docile and promising pupil. 'On the contrary, today I feel really in shape, maybe I'll win from you, 'I challenged him teasing.
Ji Lang could not dismiss that challenge and pointed with a grinning glance at the free mat on his left. We took our starting position, greeting according to the rules and started moving around like two tigers in a grazing phase. Both Ji and myself first tried a few feints. This to test the action and reaction of the opponent. I had previously experienced that Ji was sometimes a little too confident and usually went into the attack rather quickly. That's why he regularly got a little too close to my stroke range. I had to take into account, of course, that it could be a feint or lure maneuver.
