Project Superhero
Page 11
When the brain cells do wake up, it’s not all at once. It can take lots of neurons many days to recover! That’s why it takes so long to wake up sometimes after a concussion and why there can be memory problems and confusion. It can often take weeks for things to get back to normal.
Also the chemicals that send messages between neurons — neurotransmitters — get messed up too. Returning to normal levels of neurotransmitters sometimes takes several weeks too.
I tried to think of a positive spin on this. Cade was off doing physio for his leg today so I texted to let him know he should look at his injury this way: it’s actually a good thing he broke his leg. That way he couldn’t go boarding right away, which would have been bad for his brain! Turns out that’s why they sit out players in hockey and football after they’ve had a big collision.
Anyway, the most important thing is that Cade is awake again. But he won’t be going boarding for a while. His next thing to try is walking.
Which reminded me of the “Batgirl Rising: Field Test” story by Bryan Q. Miller. I was just re-reading that comic (or re-re-re-reading actually — it’s so good!). In “Field Test,” Barbara Gordon is doing some rehab exercise with Wendy Harris. Wendy has had a spinal cord injury too (like Barbara), but she isn’t coping so well. She won’t take any advice or help and is basically just super angry and upset. But Barbara helps her anyway. She helps her just like a friend would.
I’m starting to see that a big part of Batgirl is how she can work together with lots of different people. Superheroes or regular people. I bet she’d even be friends with me — Superhero of Awkward — if we met in real life.
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 15
Before we started round 1 of the Superhero Slam today, Ms. King had us review the rules of engagement. Each debate is focused on one of the Superhero Slam Great 8 qualities, drawn randomly! We each had two minutes to make our case for our superhero and then one minute to argue back against our opponent.
I was up against Green Lantern (Jack). We were both pretty nervous and then when we found out we were going to go first of all the groups, we got even more tense.
Ms. King drew out perseverance and determination, and suddenly I felt really frozen in my head and was panicking a bit. I tried to just relax. I thought about everything I’ve learned about facing down my fears and pushing through. About being determined. And who’s more determined than me and Batgirl?
I rattled off all the descriptions of Batgirl’s training with Batman, Robin, and Nightwing, how they all make her push hard and harder, how she’s one of the only true heavy-hitting female superheroes, how she was inspired by her dad . . . I totally NAILED IT.
Jack looked relieved to be out of the tournament. I felt bad for him and for — well, let’s be real here — totally crushing his superhero. But I also felt awesome for me. I was very scared, but I did it anyway.
After today’s showdown, half the teams were eliminated. Next round, on my side of the draw it’s Aquaman (Cade) versus Thor (Tim), and Batgirl (me) versus Captain America (Lillian). Yikes. On the other side, Iron Man (Audrey) takes on Invisible Girl (Amanda) and Batman (Dylan) goes up against Spider-Woman (Samantha).
If I thought beating Green Lantern would be tough (but it wasn’t considering his powers don’t work against YELLOW), Captain America — a war hero and icon — is going to be even more of a challenge.
But I feel different now. I rose to the challenge today. And I liked it! I’m ready for round 2.
Bring it.
FRIDAY, APRIL 24
Leading off with some of my need-to-knows about Batgirl’s martial arts training!
* Batgirl bends like bamboo, but how can she hit a bad guy to hurt him but without doing harm?
* What would Batgirl need to do to prepare herself for defending others?
* As a smaller fighter, what kind of skills would she need so she can avoid opponents while defeating them by evasion and counter-attacking?
In the comics, one of the best Batgirl fighters is Cassandra Cain. The Cassandra Cain Batgirl is actually the 17-year-old daughter of David Cain, one of the martial arts teachers of Bruce Wayne (a.k.a. Batman!). So, let’s just say she has a solid background.
I’ve been doing karate with Auntie G, but if I was really, really for real and true trying to be Batgirl, what other types of martial arts would I need to study?
To be honest, until I started doing it myself, I used to think of martial arts as a guy thing. Which is a weird idea for me to have, when I think about it, especially with Auntie G being so martial artsy. But there it is.
Funny, it turns out martial arts training is about making weaker into strong, not just strong into stronger. Auntie G says judo is like that as well, and some other martial arts too. Also, there are some martial arts really well suited to small and quick people (like me and Batgirl).
Auntie G told me to look up a kind of Shaolin kung fu known as Wing Chun. Wing Chun was supposedly created by a young woman named Yim (yes, the next bit is kind of predictable) Wing Chun.
Turns out the Chinese symbols for Wing Chun literally mean “forever springtime.” Which is kind of poetic when you think about it. Gramma would’ve loved it. She loved all kinds of neat stuff. Comic books, the old serial movies they used to show before movies. She sure loved movies. She also thought Tarzan was a superhero. Which at first made me laugh! I didn’t really think of Tarzan as a superhero. But Gramma explained that she liked how athletic he was and could swim and climb and was very powerful. She liked reading about him in the comics and seeing Tarzan movies when she was young. And now I kind of get it. Lots of physical ability, just like Batgirl.
Wing Chun techniques are about training for the best body shape and form. You are supposed to be like a piece of bamboo and “bend but not break” (Auntie G’s words for me too!). Wing Chun is the martial art that Bruce Lee studied originally.
Be firm but flexible, be strong and rooted, but also yielding. Auntie G praised judo for this too. I think I should learn more about judo, actually!
This is very important for Batgirl — and girls in general — who may have to fight against much larger opponents. It’s all about deflecting and redirecting.
Seems to me that an important idea here is to use tools — like the karate stick — to help make things more equal. I’ve been doing karate stick (Auntie G calls it a staff; the real word in Japanese is “bo”), and it’s harder than punching and kicking.
Auntie G said to check out some other women who were great martial artists. Like Keiko Fukuda, 10th degree black belt and the highest ranked woman in judo.
Keiko Fukuda has an amazing story! She lived to be 99 years old and was super active her whole life. It turns out there’s a documentary about her life called Mrs. Judo playing at a theater in town! I am going to ask if Ms. King would consider a class trip to see an educational movie like that!
The director of the movie is a woman named Yuriko Romer. She actually lives on the West Coast just like me.
Guess who’s getting a letter!
MONDAY, APRIL 27
How’s this for weird? I just tried getting a hold of Audrey but she wasn’t answering her email or her phone (or texts). So I called her house and her mom said she’d gone over to the rehab center with Cade to help with his physiotherapy for his leg.
Which is totally fine. Except it’s not like Audrey’s a physiotherapist! Why didn’t he ask me to help out too? Just because Audrey’s on the swim team and I’m not?
Curiouser and curiouser . . . or insulting even? I know Dylan thinks I’m nothing but a sidekick, but do my friends think that too?
I wanted to talk to Audrey about the Superhero Slam. I’m freaking out a bit about it. I guess I’m on my own with it for now . . .
THURSDAY, APRIL 30
Today in Socials, I brought up the idea of the whole class seeing MRS. JUDO. I told her how much I
loved it and Ms. King was totally excited by it too. It looks like we may do it as a class trip! Hooray! Which made getting a letter back from Yuriko Romer — judo moviemaker — even more exciting!
Dear Yuriko,
I have to admit I don’t know much about judo, actually. I started doing karate this year with my aunt. It’s super fun but hard too. Auntie G is my martial arts teacher (she does karate and Okinawan weapons). She read about you and the movie you directed, Mrs. Judo: Be Strong, Be Gentle, Be Beautiful.
She thinks said Keiko Fukuda Sensei was a great role model for girls who want to do just about anything. Auntie G also said you were a great role model for making your movie!
For a school project, I am trying to sort out what it would take to get the abilities of a human superhero. I am not trying to actually be a superhero and fight crime or anything! But I am trying to find out how much training would really be needed to do stuff like that.
I really hoped I could ask you some questions — I want to be a journalist — about you and Keiko Fukuda. Then when I watched your movie, I was just like blown away. That was crazy that Fukuda Sensei’s grandfather was one of Jigoro Kano’s teachers! And that when Kano Sensei made judo he invited Fukuda to come and train in the women’s section.
By the way, I have to tell you that a lot of girls that were at the movie (including me) started giggling when we got to the part when Fukuda Sensei says her mom wanted Kano Sensei to find her a husband. Her mom wanted her in judo to get her married! Yikes.
Do you know why there was originally a separate women’s judo section?
Long ago when they started teaching judo to women, it was radical and new. I think they wanted to have a special separate space just for women to feel comfortable and safe, and maybe for the men to preserve their own space. Fukuda Sensei began judo in 1934, at a time when women never showed their legs and walked very daintily. So to have them dressed in judo uniforms and making aggressive physical movements was very unusual. If you look closely at some of the very old photos and film in the movie, you’ll see that they used to bind up the bottoms of the pant legs. I think this was for modesty. I also think that in those days women and men were often separated for a lot of things. It all seems crazy now, but we live in a very different time.
Do you know why women had only five black-belt levels but men had 10? Isn’t that kind of weird?
It seems very unfair to us now. Originally women did not compete in the Olympic-style fighting competition of judo. Women have only been competing since the 1960s; it was only 1988 when they admitted women’s judo to the Olympics. I suppose that the men who were making the rules thought that without the competition aspect, five degrees of black belt would be plenty. Of course now it seems crazy to think that men and women had different standards. But then some would point out that there are still places in today’s society where men and women are not paid equal salaries for professional positions or given equal opportunities. Yes, it is weird, and hopefully things keep changing so that one day equality regarding ranks, opportunities, salaries etc. will be a non-issue.
I really like in the movie when Fukuda Sensei said, “It’s more important to be a good human being . . . to help other people.” (Or something like that — I’m close I think!) Did she say stuff like that a lot?
Yes, Fukuda Sensei said stuff like that all the time, and she meant it. She wanted people to understand that judo was about a lot more than throws, armbars, and chokeholds. She saw judo as life. I spent a lot of time with Fukuda Sensei, but not being a judo person, I always heard her wisdom and philosophy pertaining to life. She was the most hard-working, forgiving, and understanding person I know. There were many times when I thought, “How can I finish this movie? It is just too hard!” But then I would look to Fukuda Sensei and think of her words, and I found the strength to keep going. I still think of her and it makes me think about being a good human being, even when I don’t want to be.
How did you meet Fukuda Sensei? What made you want to make a movie about her? Did you ever study judo with her?
I read an article about Fukuda Sensei in Oprah Winfrey’s O magazine. When I realized that her dojo was in my neighborhood in San Francisco, I went to meet her. She was happy to be able to talk to me in Japanese, so she invited me to her house for tea. After hearing about her life, I realized I should make the documentary film about her. Like you, I was doing karate at the time. I thought about learning judo, but I think it was the right thing to concentrate on the filmmaking.
Do you have a favorite superhero?
I think you are too young to know of The Avengers, but when I was your age I wanted to be Emma Peel, the woman agent of a British spy TV show. She was a secret agent; she was the best. I also liked Wonder Woman, because she was one of the only woman superheroes around. Today I look around and I see many real female superheroes! I hope we keep adding more and more women to our list of superheroes.
Wow. When Auntie G said that Fukuda Sensei was a great role model, she really nailed it. That must’ve been so hard to do what she did when she did it. No other women were doing what she wanted to do. But she did it because she wanted to and thought it was right.
And her saying of “Be strong, be gentle, be beautiful”? How awesome. I want to use that too. I am so glad that Yuriko Romer wrote back to me.
Inspiration for perspiration? I can hardly wait to see Auntie G again and train with her!
FRIDAY, MAY 8
Wicked! Auntie G showed me how to break boards tonight. OK. Not “boards” plural but “a board.” But still, I got my Karate Kid on all right. Totally crazy . . . she broke a stack of five boards with one giant sword hand chop! It was awesome. I used a hammerfist to break the board. For someone my size and level of training, a hammerfist or a palm heel is safest. When I am a fifth-degree black belt, I can try whatever technique I want!
Later I asked Dad why I could break a board without it breaking my bones. Makes sense, right? Dad said bones are way stronger than stuff like wood and even bricks and concrete. It’s because bones are squishy! My bones have all kinds of little tiny tubes filled with water. So hitting stuff with my hand means my hand can take a lot of the energy by squishing. Bending but not breaking, I guess.
He showed me a YouTube video about this idea that squishy stuff stays in one piece and inflexible stuff breaks. This guy is shown in super slo-mo hitting a rubber ball. It’s squishy like crazy and zooms off the racket. Next they take the same ball and dunk it in liquid nitrogen. Which mega freezes the ball. When the racket hits it this time, the ball breaks into a billion pieces!
That idea of bend but don’t break is for real!
I guess this is another one of the things I’ve learned this year that I could never have imagined possible before. Who is Jessie? I am not sure anymore. But I’m definitely more bendy, which hopefully means I can’t be broken!
MONDAY, MAY 11
In case she’s lurking around here somewhere, I’ll say that today I went to watch Shay’s horse lesson. Or, her “riding lesson” I guess is what she calls it.
In case Shay’s not lurking around here somewhere, I should say I was forced to go watch her lesson. You know how it is.
Apparently Mom and Dad only have so much time to drive both of us to stuff. (Who knew?) And that means Shay and I have to go to each other’s activities sometimes. Lame. But what are you going to do?
Anyway, I watched her get the horse from the stable, put the gear on (which Shay corrects to “tack up”), and then work on her skills. She has a competition coming up and she’s running through a bunch of stuff.
I’d like to keep being dismissive here, but she’s actually pretty good! Wow. I remember when she started riding and could hardly do anything. I guess I haven’t been paying attention because she is, like, trotting and cantering (riding faster?) and all kinds of jazz now.
I’m not the only one getti
ng better at something!
But that wasn’t the most surprising thing. The most surprising thing was Shay asked me how I was doing with the Superhero Slam. She even offered to do a pretend debate with me later if it would help!
Apparently if you give them a chance, there are lots of people trying to help out!
TUESDAY, MAY 12
Something that doesn’t make a lot of sense to me is this — how does Batgirl keep from getting injured all the time? What is the difference between good (keep working through it) pain and bad (stop right now) pain during exercise?
Auntie G was trying to get me to remember this little poem. It went something like this:
Hurt rather than harm,
Harm rather than injure,
Injure rather than kill,
Kill rather than be killed.
Which made me think of two things. “Hurt rather than harm” means there’s a difference between hurt and harm. Avoiding both hurt and harm would be best! But harm is lasting whereas hurt can just be quick — like a warning — and then gone without lasting damage.
Sometimes when we are training, I bonk my arm or whatever and it hurts. So I used to stop. Then Auntie G told me, “Suck it up, princess. You’re going to be OK, and you gotta keep fighting! The bad guys aren’t going to give up if you get an owie!” At first I thought she was kinda harsh.
But we sat down and talked about it later. It makes sense. It’s kind of like when I used to ditch it in the middle of an axel during skating. It hurt my bum landing on the ice but I really didn’t have any harm come to me. Like I didn’t break anything.