Lion Read Online Free PDF Page A

thighs were at a forty-five-degree angle to the ground. My leg muscles began to burn a little.
    “Not bad,” Phoenix said. “Now try to go a little lower. Look at Hú Dié.”
    I glanced over to see Hú Dié with the same bored expression on her face. Her thighs were parallel to the ground.
    “Seriously?” I said.
    Phoenix nodded.
    I groaned and sank down until I was in the same position as Hú Dié. My legs started to quiver.
    “Straighten your back,” Phoenix said. “Don’t lean forward.”
    I straightened up, and nearly toppled backward. I couldn’t believe how hard this was. My thighs began to scream, as well as my glutes and lower back. I felt sweat beading on my forehead.
    “Good job, Ryan,” Phoenix said. “Now stay in that position until lunch.”
    “Say what?” I said.
    “Grandfather makes me stand like that for more than an hour at a time.”
    Hú Dié laughed. “I stand like this longer than that while I am building bikes.”
    “You do kung fu while you work?” I asked.
    “Sure,” she said. “I once stood like this for two hours while I welded bicycle frames.”
    I looked down at her solid legs, and I believed her.
    We stood like this for a few minutes without moving. I glanced from Phoenix to Hú Dié and then back to Phoenix.
    “What?” Phoenix asked.
    “This is a great workout for my legs,” I said, “but it really is kind of boring. Can you teach me something else while we stand here? Maybe a breathing exercise or something?”
    “Fine,” Phoenix said. “How about I teach you how to connect with your
chi
through breathing?”
    “Cool,” I said. “I could use that.”
    “How are your legs holding up?”
    My legs were shaking noticeably from the strain of the Horse Stance, but I said, “I’m good.”
    Phoenix nodded. “Excellent answer. What you’re going to do is breathe deeply. Instead of expanding and contracting your chest like you normally do when exercising, though, try to expand and contract just your stomach.”
    I tried it. It was strange but not difficult. My stomach began to warm a little on the inside.
    “Do you feel anything?” Phoenix asked.
    “Yeah,” I said. “This may sound cheesy, but it’s kind of like there’s a candle burning behind my belly button.”
    “That’s your
dan tien
. It means you’re doing the technique right. Very good.”
    I concentrated harder, and the warming intensified. Then, like a ray of sunlight coming into sharp focus through a magnifying glass, my insides ignited. My abdominal muscles cramped tight, and my energy level dropped as if somebody had pulled a drain plug. It was the dragon bone.
    I buckled forward, unable to straighten, and fell to the ground. The pain was so great, I couldn’t move. I just laythere as the cramping spread from my abdomen to my chest. It continued to my neck and jaw, then down through my hips, thighs, and calves, all the way to my toes. My arms locked up at my sides, my hands contorting into arthritic claws. I’d frozen completely, as if I’d been dipped in liquid nitrogen.
    “Ryan!” Phoenix said. “What’s wrong?”
    I couldn’t answer. My vocal cords had seized up. I couldn’t even open my eyes.
    “Grandfather!” Phoenix shouted. “Uncle Tí! We need you! Something is happening to Ryan!”

Through the pain , I felt footsteps pounding across the wrestling mats. Uncle Tí.
    “What is it?” he asked. “Did Ryan break a limb?”
    “No,” Phoenix said. “One minute he was doing a Horse Stance, and the next his body cramped up. He can’t even talk.”
    “Just a Horse Stance?”
    “No. I was also teaching him a basic
chi
breathing exercise with his stomach. He said that he felt a candle burning behind his belly button. Then he closed his eyes and seemed to concentrate more, and this happened.”
    I felt the slow, shuffling footsteps of Phoenix’s grandfather approaching. “This is all my fault,” he said. “The dragon bone doesn’t want Ryan to control his own
chi
. How