Thaqib followed Judah down a long corridor and down flights of ancient steps. Atop the steps, stone dragons were carved, now in various states of decay. “Impressive huh?” Judah said catching Thaqib admiring the ancient remnants of a world long disappeared. “Imagine how it must have been.”

“Yeah, it’s crazy. I’ve never seen stuff that looks so old.” Stone pillars towered above, intricately carved, rising to the roof and holding up the remains of old mosaics. Crumbled stone lay everywhere, now illuminated by a tangle of electrical cables wreathed in L.E.D.s.

When Judah took him to through a large entry way at the end of the corridor framed by intricate shapes of weaved patterns, he saw something even more amazing. They entered a massive chamber, white stone adorning the ground, upon which he saw students practicing martial arts, sparring with incredible skill, some utilizing strange weapons. It was like something from a dream.

Racks of weaponry lined the walls. He watched as the students, each dressed in beige robes performed blinding fast strikes, parries and incredible feats of agility.

“Is this for real!?” Thaqib asked.

“This is where we train, where we study the ancient arts of our ancestors, to prepare ourselves for the coming battle,” Judah said. Thaqib looked on in wonder. “I thought you would be familiar with this, Rast has been teaching you right?”

Thaqib felt sudden shame. “He tried to, but I didn’t listen to him, I haven’t been taking it seriously,” he replied. “Now I get what he was trying to teach me. All those things he was trying to get through my thick head, they’re for real.”

“Don’t be hard on yourself Thaqib. Each of us only truly knows that which we’ve experienced for ourselves. These students have had the fortune of growing up in the temple, to be surrounded by it and its mysteries. Because of that, they’ve been able to grow at a quick pace. I understand your life out on the streets can’t have been easy. There is an open hostility toward what we teach here, and that we hold on to the old beliefs and traditions.”

“But I don’t get it,” Thaqib said. “Why are they so against it?”

“I believe it’s too painful a reminder of everything that has been lost. They prefer to lose themselves in the material distractions Babylon provides. And also, there’s a pride in ignorance.”

Thaqib watched two students fighting, a girl with dark brown hair dreadlocked in the same way as all the others. She fought a bigger student a male about his own age who was twice her size. He used strong lunging attacks but she was too fast for him, effortlessly dodging his punches, delivering impossibly quick strikes to his exposed areas. She flipped up, delivering a quick strike to his neck. When she landed, the boy stood frozen and then crumpled to the ground. The girl helped the boy up and they both smiled and laughed, the boy congratulating her on her victory.

Thaqib felt a welling of longing, as though he was staring into a world that he had always dreamed of. He wanted to feel the belonging that those two seemed to share. The purpose that they worked towards. Judah noticed.

“Would you like to learn a few things?” Judah asked.

Thaqib turned and nodded so quickly he almost gave himself whiplash.

Judah laughed at his eagerness. “Good, then come, let me show you.”

They made their way into the training chamber, Thaqib was awed by its grandeur. There were stone statues of warriors demonstrating various forms of fighting styles. There were lamps burning, orange light illuminating the place in a sacred glow that only added to the otherworldly atmosphere. Judah took him onto the white tiles.

“I can’t believe we’re still in the city,” Thaqib commented, “that it’s right above us. Feels like we’ve gone back in time.”

“Indeed,” Judah replied. “Now, I assume Rast has mostly been trying to teach you the inner cultivation techniques? The meditation?”

Thaqib looked up, nodding. “Yeah, he taught me some combat moves too, but when I started using them on the street he wasn’t happy and stopped teaching me them.” It was strange to have someone to discuss this with other than Rast. Nobody back on his street had any idea about the practices, and Rast had warned him that it wouldn’t be a good idea to mention it to them lest the authorities were to hear him talking about it. Thaqib had tried once, talking to his friends, but aside from Jazib, he’d only been ridiculed.

“Well that’s wise of him, the external arts without the inner cultivation can only lead to corruption. That is unfortunately how Babylon came to be in the first place. So, he’s taught you some inner cultivation then?”

“Yeah, he’s been trying to teach me, I haven’t been the best student though, I just couldn’t get the hang of it.”

“I can understand,” Judah said.

“You can?” Thaqib asked.

“The internal arts don’t make a lot of sense up there in the city. Cultivating requires the right state of mind. If you are in an environment that is not beneficial to this state of mind, you may find it difficult to concentrate you chi.” Thaqib knew exactly what he meant. “But those external forces will always be there, the right circumstances will never exist, yet we must practice regardless,” Judah said. “The reason for your failure is that you did not believe you could do it, you doubted that it was even possible.”

“Yeah, but now I can see. All these kids and people like me, doing this crazy stuff,” he said scanning the students executing incredible moves.

“This is just an external manifestation of that internal cultivation. The only way these students are able to perform such feats is because they have cultivated their internal fire and harnessed it. You haven’t been able to do that because you have doubted it and we can only see that which we choose to. If we choose to, do you understand?” he repeated.

Thaqib nodded. “Yeah, I get it now. I think…”

“Here, let me show you something to get my point across,” Judah said, closing his eyes and breathing deeply through his nose. “Rast would have been reluctant to show you this because it is an advanced technique. But I have a different teaching style, maybe it can help you.”

Judah stood completely straight, crossing his arms over his chest. “Watch closely,” he said, closing his eyes. “Cultivation is started with the breath. It is through the breath that we harness and move the energies in our body. But to be able to do that, we must first feel them. When you breath through your nose, you pump these energies up and down your spine. The spine is the lightning rod which receives the energy, day after day from the creative forces that propel this world. You must move these forces, this chi, and then condense it with your will.”

Judah began to breath deep and rhythmically, standing completely still. After a few moments, Thaqib began to notice something strange, the center of Judah’s chest seemed to be glowing slightly. He rubbed his eyes, it felt like something was wrong, like when one stares into a bright light and is left with the after-image, but when he looked again, the light was even brighter. Judah continued to breath, there was a sudden ripple of electricity and Judah’s heavy locks began dance as though a wind blew through them. The light faded and Judah opened his eyes.

“What was that!?” Thaqib asked, his mouth hanging wide.

“That was the fire, the chi. I stoked it with my breath, gathering it into my core, igniting it. This is just a visual cue for you Thaqib. I wanted to show you that this energy exists, it is not merely theoretical. However, you must realize that within yourself. You must look earnestly, because if you do so with doubt, it will elude you. Now, sit here on the floor with me and I will guide you in finding it.”

Thaqib sat on the cold floor, it was uncomfortable, but he decided now wasn’t the time to complain.

“Now, breath. Close your eyes and through your nose I want you to breathe deeply as you saw me doing. This chamber will help you to clear your mind. It is infused with a calming atmosphere that will allow you to find that spark you found so hard to see in the world above.”

Thaqib closed his eyes as he was told and breathed. Judah was right, his head which was usually filled with a chaotic scramble of thoughts and emotions seemed calmer. The fresh air of the cavern eased him and the subtle sent of incense put his body into a relaxing state. As Judah talked, he found himself sinking in relaxation.

“Now, expand your stomach, breathing in, hold that breath, slowly breath it out, tightening the muscles in your abdomen, squeeze the air completely out of your lungs.”

He did so and was surprised by the amount of air he was able to take in using this technique.

“Good. Now continue.”

As he pulled his breath in and out, he slowly fell into a rhythm. His mind went blank until the breathing became his whole existence, he forgot about his body and the chamber and Judah’s voice until all he was experiencing was the breath coming in and out. Suddenly, like a spark, he sensed an energy. He felt it rising up his spine and into the top of his head as he breathed, finally culminating in the space between his eyes. As he breathed out, he felt the energy traveling down in the center of his chest where it seemed to accumulate. Was this the core that Judah was talking about? As he continued, he felt a kind of pressure building within it. Judah’s voice returned to him.

“Now, slowly open your eyes and look to your chest, slowly now.” Thaqib did as Judah said. The outside seemed darker than it was when he’d started the practice, but then, there in the middle of his chest he saw something, the light, the same one Judah had cultivated. Suddenly, it disappeared, his concentration broken by the profundity of the experience.

Thaqib snapped back to his senses. Judah sat before him smiling. The training students were still around him, still practicing as before.

“You see? The energy is there, you just needed to look for it with the right intention.”

“I can’t believe it, all this time. It was so simple,” Thaqib said. “I can’t believe I never got it before. Rast has been trying to show me this stuff for years and it never got through to me, it was so simple and yet...” Thaqib hung his head in shame. “What have I been doing with myself all this time?”

“It’s not so easy to change our perception of reality. It’s been ingrained inside of us by the experiences we’ve had. The way we think and believe defines the reality we perceive,” Judah said.

Thaqib felt a surge of energy like some new found perspective on life, he felt invigorated. To think that only a short time ago, when he was up above, the world seemed so dark and without hope.

“I understand what you mean now,” Thaqib said. “I was ready to give up not long ago, all I could see was the darkness of the world out there, I believed that was all there was and because of that, it’s all I could see.”

Thaqib looked up, a smile across his lips. He looked around at the students practicing and decided right there that more than anything in this world, he wished to join them.

“So, you ready to try the fun stuff?” Judah asked.

Thaqib nodded eagerly. “Yeah!”

The chamber echoed with the ambiance of sparring students, quick strikes, the ruffling of thick fabric as Judah led Thaqib to one of the weapon racks against the wall. He grabbed a long staff and threw it. Thaqib snatched it from the air. Judah grabbed one for himself, pointed to a clear spot on the sparring floor and they moved to it.

“Cultivating chi in your body is pointless if you’re unable to direct it so you can make use of it. To do this, we must utilize our will.” Judah positioned himself into a wide fighting stance. He held the staff behind him in his right hand, his left pointed at Thaqib, forefingers stretched upward. “Come at me,” he said, gesturing Thaqib toward him.

Thaqib looked at the staff, then flipped it over holding it the way Rast had taught him years ago. He felt confident, he knew how to use a staff. He launched himself off the ground, swinging the staff down at a perceived opening.

CLACK

To Thaqib’s surprise, Judah’s staff met his own faster than he’d been able to register. “Good,” Judah said. “Continue—do not hold back.”

Thaqib stepped back then launched himself forward again this time not stopping, he delivered a flurry of strikes, each one was met by Judah’s staff. He didn’t give in, every time he saw an opening he swung to hit it, but again, Judah blocked him each time.

Thaqib felt frustration growing and then he saw something which angered him, Judah had his eyes closed!

“Come at me again, do not stop until you’ve hit me!” Judah said.

Thaqib lunged in frustration at Judah’s arrogance. He struck again, and again he was blocked. He struck again, each time aiming for an opening in Judah’s defense, but as though Judah could read his mind, every one of his strikes failed to reach him. The anger and frustration grew until he’d lost all composure and struck wildly, harder and harder until he fell to his knees in exhaustion.

“Had enough?” Judah asked.

“I can’t do it,” Thaqib said. “It’s like you can read my mind.”

Judah smiled, helping him up. “That’s right, you’ve learned the first lesson. You’re using your mind to attack me. The mind can only respond to the circumstances it perceives. But what if I control those circumstances purposely? Without you even realizing it, you’ve become my puppet. I show you an opening, and you strike at it. I show you another and you strike that. In this way it is not you controlling your actions but I. Do you understand?”

“You were forcing me to strike where you wanted me to?”

“Not forcing, manipulating,” Judah replied. “This is the problem with using the mind, it is easily manipulated by the external environment.”

“But how else am I supposed to act? You gotta read the situation don’t you?” Thaqib asked, confused.

“Yes, but it’s the way you read it that matters most. If your reading of it is clouded by false information, how can you decide on the right course of action? Now, come at me again, this time know that I am purposefully trying to manipulate the way you attack me,” Judah said retaking his defensive stance.

This time Thaqib took a moment to consider what Judah had said, he studied Judah’s stance and saw an opening like he had before. Thaqib lunged and struck for the opening, like before, Judah brought his staff to meet it. Suddenly Thaqib’s staff struck soft fabric and not the hard plastic of Judah’s staff. Thaqib’s face lit up. The feint had worked, when Judah had brought his staff to protect the opening, Thaqib swung back and struck instead the newly exposed area.

Judah smiled, “Well done! That’s what I’m talking about. You used my own intention to manipulate your actions against me, to strike where I didn’t expect. Remember, if you don’t shape the way you engage with the external world, it will instead shape you.” Judah put his staff back on the rack. “Babylon relies on external power, the Vril and their technology, that is what makes them weak. We are the ones who remember the Zionese ways, we rely only upon internal power. Once you are able to access and cultivate the chi within, and condense it into your core to be directed by your will, nothing will be able to manipulate you, and the external world by extension—Babylon, will lose its power upon you.”

Thaqib stood, his mind racing. It all seemed so new to him but at the same time it made sense. He couldn’t wait to learn more.

“I think you’re ready for the next lesson,” Judah said.