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using the lapels of my kimono to choke me.
I tried to resist, but his hands were in deep and the cloth was
cutting my neck. His arms were strong as a bull, deceptive for so
small a person. In a real fight I might have tried to hit him in a
vital spot, before falling unconscious, but this was sport judo.
I tapped with my leg, since I couldn't speak, surrendering.
Luis released me, smiling. "Want to try again?"
Yes, I wanted to try again. I didn't like being so readily defeated.
I knew I was not the best judoka in the world, and I was
out of shape; having spent most of my time training others. But
still, I was no patsy, and his rank was the same as mine, and he was
older and smaller.
I grabbed his knees and pushed them to one side. I was to the
rear of him now, holding him down kami shiho gatame, my body
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in a line with his, my head pressing down in his chest, my hips
over his head, and both arms pressing his arms tightly against his
side, with my hands holding his belt. Let's see him get out of this!
I thought. This was the toughest of all holddowns to break.
But again I was surprised by his speed and flexibility. He really
was a master of mat work. His body arched back, back, back in
a backbend, while I held his upper torso. His legs bent back and
hooked under my belt. Both his feet started pushing. It was impossible
to hold him down, because the legs are so much stronger
than the arms. Slowly he pushed himself back. But I was not going
to let him get off so easily. I kept turning on the mat with him,
till suddenly I was on his back, one forearm pressing against his
throat and the other pushing down the back of his head: a modified
hadaka jime, or bare strangle. My legs crossed over his abdomen
to impede his escape. I also started a little bit of illegal pressing
down with both legs to scissor his stomach, to help put force
on his powerful neck. I squeezed with both arms and legs for all I
was worth.
Suddenly his body arched back, one leg over mine; the other
caught his own leg, trapping mine in a leg lock. The pain was
unbearable and I had to shout "Maitta!" surrender.
Luis laughed as he released me. "I know this is illegal-but so
was your tightening on the leg scissor. I set you up for this hold."
No wonder I had gotten my hold so easily. He had let me have
it, so as to break it. I could not match him in mat work, his chosen
specialty. He had suckered me.
"Kolychkine taught us such tricks," Luis said. "I like to surprise
judokas with them."
I could not stay mad at him. He had taught me a valuable
lesson in tactics. "Good match," I said.
Luis turned to Dulce, who had been watching avidly. "This
Yankee you picked up," he remarked, "this beach derelict-he is a
true judoka. He loses to an illegal hold, but he makes no excuses,
though he has beaten the best in the world when the rules were
suspended. That is the mark of a champion."
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Rolando was soon called away to attend to his coaching duties,
but Luis remained with us. He introduced us to his beautiful,
willowy Cuban Chinese wife. Seeing her gave me a pang, for I had
once sought to marry a Chinese girl. But another Chinese, Kan-
Sen, head Kill-13 Demon, had slit her throat. Might he burn
forever in the hell to which I had dispatched him!
The four of us-Luis, his black-haired wife, Dulce, and I-at
in the stadium, refreshed by the breeze, and talked all afternoon
about judo the world over. The time passed like a shot. Then we
went over to the bar on the top, of the Havana Libre, tallest building
in Cuba. All Havana lay like a jewel beneath us in the evening.
The women departed briefly for the ladies' room. Luis leaned over
to me confidentially. "Señor, I do not suggest anything. But there
have been certain rumors-I do not credit them for a moment!-
that you might have trouble."
"Oh, we'll have trouble, all right!" I agreed. "I saw how sharp
your judokas were. And we have little hope of matching the teams
of the other nations."
He made a littte gesture of negation. "That too, perhaps. But
you-if you are ever in need-I cannot speak freely . . ."
I looked at him, realizing that this was not idle conversation.
"I am not familiar with this country."
"La Esperanza in Pinar del Rio," he said. "Find it on a map.
Go there, ask for Tomas the fisherman. Tomas Cepero."
Then the girls returned, and he was suddenly full of jovial
inconsequentials again. We finished a pleasant evening. In fact, I
enjoyed myself about as much as I ever had, for a competent judo
sensei and good-looking girls make excellent company.
But why did Luis suppose I might get into such trouble that I
would need an underground escape route? What could he know of
my affairs that I did not? After all, I had never met him before.
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*
Next day I went out with Dulce again. This time she took me [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]