When I gave up the basketball club at school, I put all my energy into martial arts. My host mother had found a small doujou near home where the sensei taught a style invented by their father, combining aikidou and other styles with a few of his own moves. The senior sensei demonstrated the power of the style to me on the first night by placing a hand on my chest and nudging. I was lifted off my feet and crashed into the floorboards a good two metres back from where I’d stood.