Today went really well. I woke up early and was not tired. I went to class and in the pool twice. When my stomach bothered me I ate a Tums. Mom had a good time with the baby boy even took him in the pool. Scott has been teaching Hunter to swim and she is getting good at kicking her feet. Scott is so happy and plays with Hunter most the day. He has her feeding herself and learning to say new words. Matthew is going to be so happy when he comes back to see everything is so great.
At the Monastery everything was going good. The morning was as usually. In the afternoon we had mediation after lunch and then the training monks had us do some warm ups before competitions. In the competitions they started with Jean against Dominic. Jean put his hand on Matthew’s shoulder as he got up and said, I got this. He was up there a good 10 minutes before Jean took him down. When he sat back down Matthew said, what took you so long? Jean said, Well he is good and I wanted the High Monk to see our abilities. Matthew looked at the high Monk and he seemed to be happy with that. Then Matthew went up against Katarina. He stayed away front her feet because they are really bad plus he didn’t want her to get a hold of him. Getting her off was really hard. She came at him with the one left hand, two right hand and then tired to kick him. She got him in the hip with her right leg, doubled her fist and hit him in the face. It was really hard but Matthew had been hit in the face so many times before. He just looked at her for a minute and thought no one had double their fist into a boxing move. The monks didn’t do anything so Matthew thought anything must be except able. Matthew thought this has gone on long enough. When she came at him again he block everything hands and feet. Then gave her the boxing punch in the jaw. Her eyes got really big and she stood there a second. He then punched her in the stomach. He didn’t punch her hard enough to hurt her he just wanted her to fall down. She couldn’t breath and fell down. He won. He went over and put his hand out for her to get up. She took his hand and he pulled her up. He said, Are you ok? She said, yes. The High Monk then put Jean and Matthew against each other. They were going at it for a few minutes. Matthew made sure he wasn’t doing predictable moves. Jean would go at Matthew and he would just block everything and smack Jean once in a while. Jean said, come on old man show me what you have got. Matthew knocked him down a couple of times but, then thought Jean is not going to quit no matter what I do and I am going to have to really hurt him to get him to quit. Matthew stepped back and bowed to Jean giving Jean the win. Jean was surprised. The High Monk waved for Matthew to come there. The High Monk said, why did you give him the win. Matthew said, My brother is young and would not give up. I would have to hurt him seriously to get him to stop. The High Monk said, That is what I want to see in a warrior Monk. The High Monk declared Matthew the winner of the competition.
They all went to a banquet area with a large spread of food. The High Monk called them up one by one. He gave out the four diplomas and necklaces. Matthew’s diploma and necklace was different from the others. Matthew bowed and thanked the High Monk for having him and his brother. Matthew said it has been one of the best things that ever happened to him. While the four were sitting at the table together Matthew invited Dominic and Katarina to join his group. They both declined so he gave them a number if they change their minds. The four were really happy they had completed the program and talked a lot before retiring for the day.
A training monk came to see Matthew and Jean asking if they were going to take the Highest Monk’s invitation. Jean and Matthew had decided to go for 2 weeks. They had talked about it and decided this opportunity would never happen again. Matthew asked for a box to send a note, his necklace, and diploma home. The training monk said it would be no problem. He would bring it in the morning.