The Wake

My martial arts teacher studied under his own master for more than thirty years. His master died on Christmas day, and I attended the wake three days later.

Apparently, when someone dies the Chinese purchase paper models for the deceased to use in the afterlife. I saw a paper house, big and palatial, too big to fit through the door. There were even paper vehicles. Inside, there were people busily stamping paper with a gold rectangle in the middle. I was told that this represented gold; here, it was paper but on the other side it was the real thing. It all struck me as not about saying goodbye; it was like the deceased decided to go to a faraway place to live a new life and everyone in the family was helping to make that new life as comfortable as possible.

We weren't supposed to say goodbye when it came time for us to leave; I was told by my teacher that if you needed to go, you didn't need to announce your intention. You just left. What a wonderful tradition, I thought. At any point, life consists of comings and goings - and even at the wake of family they do not forget this. Those who are here now, look twice and see that they are gone: those ghosts from a person's past, come together this one time to reminisce and to grieve.

It did not feel like how the wake of a great warrior should be. There were no dire portents. I passed so many people going on their own business and I remember thinking - Don't you know? A real martial artist just died. A wonder just left this earth, and you didn't even know. He was lucky to have had the opportunity to study the things he mastered. He was crazy enough to surpass his own teachers. Will we ever see anyone of his like again?

I saw a lot of authentic martial artists in the time I was there. They had strong handshakes and sturdy frames; even there they were still talking about martial arts. It's an honor to have been invited to join them.