Camping Trip -! Or- That Time the Eagle Fang Sensei's really tested their luck.

[fightagain]

With everything going on, a couple days away from karate gang wars might just be what the doctor ordered. Or, it could be a grand exercise in unsupervised chaos. Either way, the next three nights and four days are going to be interesting.


Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, to the first annual (and probably last ever) Eagle Fang/Miyagi-Do camping trip!

It seems as though Sensei Lawrence and Sensei LaRusso decided this camping trip would be a great way to create team bonding. Which...maybe?

Or, they brought a bunch of keyed up, feral teenagers into the woods and everything that can go wrong will.

For example, sleeping arrangements. While it was wise in theory to put girls with girls and boys with boys, some of these teenagers are dating and the rest of them just aren't the best at listening.

Also, they're smart. If there's a loophole in the rules, they will find and manipulate it.

At the same time, these kids are actually good kids. It's probably best to assign tasks to various groups. One is responsible for picking up firewood from the camp's small shop. Another is responsible for keeping the camping sites clean.

You get the picture.

So, after the last week of school, this is where most of the Miyagi-Do kids will find themselves. At a lovely campground two hours away from Reseda. There's swimming in both the pool and the giant lake. The camp shop has some of the best ice cream and junk food around. There are hiking trails, a frisbee golf area, and two of the nights at camp will have outdoor movies (the first nights movie being Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom the original the less family friendly Deadpool). Entry is a dollar, there's freshly made popcorn included in the price of admission.

Just please be mindful of the free-range feral karate kids. They travel in packs, are ridiculously loyal and really aren't in the mood for anything ruining their camping trip.

Not even the rain on the third night.

Throw up a top level, tag around. Have fun. Get into trouble.

Y'know. The usual Cobra Kai bullshit.

Comments

[innerbalance]

[ General Catch-all - open ]

Remind Daniel why he ever thought this was a good idea? It looked like a good idea on paper. Team building camping trip in the wood. Away from the city. Away from Cobra Kai and all the madness going on. It seemed perfect. But in reality? Taking a rabble of teenagers into the wood, away from their parents and guardians... it was a disaster waiting to happen.

Honestly, within five minutes of arriving one kid had twisted their ankle, another had forgotten bug repellent and was already being eaten alive and another had pissed off a skunk, got sprayed and needed collecting by their parent. So far things were going great. Daniel was just glad he had gotten all the kids' parents to sign permission slips wavering all liability on Daniel and Johnny's part because a lawsuit for a child being eaten by a bear or falling in a ravine was the last thing Miyagi-Do needed right now. Their reputation still hadn't fully recovered after the whole school fight situation.

All he has to do is make sure that the remaining teenagers make it through the next four days without major injury and it'll be fine.

[ Kata in the woods - open ]

It wasn't so much that Daniel had fled and abandoned the other adults to watch over the kids. Daniel LaRusso didn't flee. He fought with everything he had. That was probably why he had gotten himself into so much trouble over the years and made enemies everywhere he went.

No. It wasn't that he was abandoning his fellow sensei or their students. It was just that he needed to take a few moments to collect himself - to find his balance. He hadn't gone too far that he was hard to reach in case of emergency, and he had his phone with him. But he had found a clearing.

It's not quite silence - he can still hear the kids in the distance. But it's quieter. He starts working through his breathing exercises. In through the nose, hold. Out through the mouth, hold. Hands together, arms out from the chest on the exhale, back in on the inhale. Up on the exhale, down in the inhale. Rinse and repeat. It doesn't matter how many times he does it, he can still hear Mr Miyagi's voice in his head - 'when you feel life out of focus, always return to basic of life. Breathing. No breathe. No life'. How many times has Daniel found himself taking a moment to just focus on his breathing? Too many to count. But it works.

Feeling calmer, Daniel takes a stance and starts to run through the Miyagi family kata.

[ Camping - open ]

Daniel holds his marshmallow over the fire. Come on, what is a camping trip without s'mores? So far no one has burnt down their tent or scalded themselves with molten marshmallow fluff so Daniel's counting that as a win.

And okay... maybe camping - crazy as it's been - maybe camping was a good idea. The kids seem happy and relaxed and they deserve that.

2:

[fightagain]

Gwen honestly needed a break from the chaos, too. From the kid who twisted their ankle doing something stupid, to the kid that went home because he pissed off a very protective mother skunk, Gwen needed just a few minutes to herself. Her way of refocusing herself, and Mr LaRussos were very different. While his involved precise movements and focus on breathing, Gwen's was drumming.

But there was nothing to drum on in the woods that wouldn't make her look ridiculous. So she opted for a walk.

Catching Mr LaRusso mid-kata, it's easy for her to focus on the natural beat of it and that helps.

She turns off the music that had been playing from her earbuds and tilts her head a bit, studying the way he moves and trying to memorize just a bit of it.

When he's gone through all of the steps, Gwen speaks up.

"Is that gonna be one of the lessons some day?" She would love to learn as much of it as she could.

[innerbalance]

See? This right here. This is why Gwen is his favourite Miyagi-Fang... Eagle-Do... Miyagi-Eagle... whatever ... student. Well, aside from Sam - but that goes without saying. But Gwen shows an interest and indulges him when he goes on some spiel about Miyagi-Do teachings whereas most the other students switch off. Even Sam tends to switch off but that's because she's heard it all before - many times, so he can't really blame her.

Daniel lets out a soft laugh. "I hope so. If Sensei Lawrence lets me spend time teaching 'pansy-ass karate yoga' when we should be focusing on 'badass kicks'. I think some of the kids will really benefit from doing kata." Like Hawk. "It's not just the moves, it's something more. It's about finding balance." If anyone would understand then it was probably Gwen. After all, kata was like a dance. Poetry in motion.

"Mr Miyagi once told me that all karate can be found in this kata." God, he wished Mr Miyagi was here now. Maybe if he was then Daniel and Johnny wouldn't have dragged the Valley into an all out karate gang war with Kreese.

"What do you think? Teach everyone the moves then pair them up on the balance board to see who really can find their inner balance?"

okay so i used the wrong damn journal.

[fightagain]

"I think it sounds a lot like one of your team building exercises," Gwen says, the smirk on her face a little bit teasing. She's been in dance troupes, she's been in bands. She even played soccer for the high school for a bit. She's good with team building exercises, and even understands how important they just may be with everything coming their way and everything going on.

"What if you taught it to a couple people and then had them teach people? I could definitely see that being some kind of bonding experience. And then you use the balance wheel in the pond to teach that part of it?"

It could be fun. It could go badly. But people would learn about themselves and each other, and she thinks that's what the dojo really needs. It's still a bit fractured. There are still tensions and problems between former Cobras, Miyagi-Do students and the new Eagle-Fang group. But this might help.

Emphasis on might.

[innerbalance]

Isn't everything Daniel does some kind of team-building exercise or life lesson? Certainly feels that way sometimes. He doesn't mean to make everything a lesson, it just sort of happens. It's not his fault. It's a little of Mr Miyagi's influence rubbing off on him. He just wishes he had Mr Miyagi's wisdom to go long with it.

"Let's face it... we need all the team building we can get. The tournament will be here before we know it and we're nowhere near ready." Daniel doesn't mean it in a cruel way. There are some really talented kids, and plenty with the potential to go far. But Gwen's right, the group is still fractured. And Cobra Kai are ruthless. Sometimes Daniel feels like he and Johnny are practically sending lambs to the slaughter by entering their kids in the tournament.

He ponders Gwen's suggestion. "Well Sam already knows it. You volunteering to learn? The pair of you could teach others, and then they could teach others." A pyramid scheme of kata.

[fightagain]

“Okay, so,” Gwen states after a pause, smiling just a bit like she has some big secret she wasn’t allowed to say anything about just yet. But now she can, and she’s fairly well excited about it.

In her own laidback way.

“Sam’s been teaching me. The last few times I hung out at your house while Simon and Anthony played video games. I know half of it? Roughly? But we got into this conversation about balance and dancing and that came up so I asked.”

That’s what Gwen does. If it’s something she wants to learn about, she asks questions. She studies hard. Researches. Does her best to understand as much as she can.

“Basically I think Sam teaching would be a great idea. Me, maybe when I’ve had some practice.”

[innerbalance]

"You know the secret Miyagi family kata? The deeply secret and sacred Miyagi family kata?" Daniel asks. "Wow. See, now I'm just going to have to throw you in the lake or feed you to a bear," he says with a deadly serious tone to his voice.

This is why he shouldn't be allowed to teach children. In fact, how are he and Johnny actually allowed to teach impressionable teens?

A smile breaks on his lips. "I'm kidding. It's great that Sam's teaching you. You wanna run through it now?"

[fightagain]

"I do and I plan on making millions demonstrating it on TikTok and YouTube," Gwen says, just as deadly serious as him. She can bullshit, too, Mr L.

She can even grin about it, laughing just a bit. She's not showing anyone, honestly. Just keeping it to herself. She hasn't even shown Phil, and that's her favorite brother.

"I kinda do, yeah," Gwen states without much hesitation. She would love to run through it, is what she's saying. "I'll follow you, Mr LaRusso."

[innerbalance]

"I still don't really know what a TikTok even is." Daniel wasn't as much of a technological dinosaur as Johnny. Hell, even actually dinosaurs probably knew more about technology than Johnny. But even Daniel struggled to keep up with all the latest trends and apps. Anthony had shoved a screen in his face many times and told him to watch this funny TikTok or that funny TikTok but that didn't mean he really got it.

"But if you do make millions then the dojo could use a new mini-fridge and one of the screen walls needs repairing... just sayin'." He knows she's joking, but part of him wonders how Mr Miyagi would feel about people profiting off of his family kata. He often wonders about how Mr Miyagi would feel about a great many things - opening up the dojo, combining with Johnny's dojo, going up against Kreese. He really wishes the old man was here to give him some guidance.

Mr Miyagi had once told him that he would one day find his own way of doing karate. Daniel hadn't understood at the time. He did things Mr Miyagi's way. But maybe joining forces with Johnny had been what Mr Miyagi had meant. Taking everything Miyagi-Do and everything Eagle Fang and combining it into something new.

Daniel steps into position. "I'll go slow. Just tell me if you need me to go over anything," he says, as he goes through the first few moves.

oh hi

[oldestofthree]

Phil's going to leave all the sugary crap to the others. He's not really all that fond. Nor is he really big on sticky. He has too many younger brothers that have gunked up enough stuff. Not that he hasn't when he was younger? It's just really irritating to go put school books on the island in the kitchen only to have it adhere to it because someone didn't wipe up spilled Lucky Charms milk from earlier in the day.

So he's sticking to popcorn. He's already made three batches for himself and others. Some of them are combining popcorn with S'mores.

Whatever. Phil's having a good time. He might be one of the newest members of Miyagi-Fang or whatever it's called, but he's managed to fit in well enough.

Shaking the popcorn maker on the fire, he tilts his head a bit to listen for popping. Nothing yet, but that's fine.

Looking around for a moment, he frowns a bit before looking over towards Mr LaRusso, pointing at something near his feet.

"I dunno how it happened, but the shaker of spicy cheese topping for the popcorn is at your feet. Do you mind, uh..." Throwing it his way please and thanks.

[innerbalance]

Daniel understands the irritation and disgust at having to deal with sticky. He helped raise two kids - one of which is still incredibly gross and good at touching things with sticky fingers. But on the other hand, Daniel also has an insatiable sweet tooth. Whoever invented s'mores was a genius.

Phil is one of the newbies, but he's settling in well. He's pretty shy - the complete opposite of Gwen. But he's a good kid.

He looks down at his feet, noticing the shaker. "Oh, course. No problem." He picks it up but doesn't throw it. Knowing his luck it would end up in the flames if he did. So instead, Daniel stands, walks around to Phil and hands it to him. Spicy cheese, huh? Sounds good."

[oldestofthree]

Phil has met Anthony LaRusso. He's friends with his two younger brothers. The amount of sticky they all produce could put a Gorilla Glue factory to shame.

And, yeah. Phil isn't much of a talker, unlike Gwen. But, like Gwen, just because he's talking to someone doesn't mean they're friends. He and his siblings were raised to be polite and respectful, which doesn't really stop him from ragging on his sister for being shorter than him even though she's the eldest, but other than that he's a good kid.

He grins and nods once. "It's my favorite. Gwens, too. It's the only popcorn topping we can have to ourselves without having to share with Howard or Simon."

That doesn't really sound right, Phil. "Not that we don't like sharing. We don't really care. But their idea of sharing popcorn involves stealing the entire bowl and dumping it everywhere while they fight over it."

It's chaos.

[innerbalance]

Preteen boys are disgusting. It's the laws of nature. Although Daniel can't recall being quite as sticky and gross as Anthony is. Maybe because Lucille would've murdered him. His cousin Louie on the other hand... he had been gross. Isn't that much better now, truth be told.

Daniel waves Phil off. "You don't need to explain." If there is one thing he knows for a fact about Gwen and Phil it's that they're polite and generous kids. Daniel has contemplated on more than one occasion (usually after a lot of wine) asking their dad if he can swap them for Anthony. Don't get him wrong, he loves his son... he's just gross and preteeny.

"Even the most generous people in the world don't want to share everything and that's okay. Plus I know exactly what it's like sharing popcorn with a kid - if it isn't spilt everywhere then they have their gross hands all in it."

It's those kinds of things that make Daniel glad to be an only child.

"So, how are you settling in at Miyagi-Do? Getting along with everyone? No one giving you any trouble?"

[oldestofthree]

"My dad tries really hard to make sure we understand that. That we don't have to share everything," Phil states, smiling just a bit. He's starting to relax a bit more. Not that he's a tense kid. Just, as stated, he's a newbie. And there's a bit of tension between some of the other kids in the class, from what Gwen told him. He's pretty non-confrontational, not too keen on starting fights. But he's pretty good about stopping them. Or at least, trying his hardest to.

"I'm good. If anyone's trying to give me trouble, I'm pretty sure they know I'm related to Gwen and reconsider." That is mostly a joke, though he's aware of how hard Gwen fought during that home invasion to keep her friends safe. And she tends to tolerate exactly zero bullshit when it comes to people messing with her brothers.

"I'm kidding. It's going well. Made a couple new friends, so that helps."

[innerbalance]

Daniel liked to believe he had been a non-confrontational kid too. But honestly, he had been a little fire-cracker. He blamed on his Jersey-Italian roots. After all, Louie is the same. He's a lot better at controlling his anger these days... well, a little better. He tries to follow the Miyagi-Do teachings to the letter.

Sometimes he fails.

Still, he's determined to do better for these kids. To teach them the skills to end a fight without the need to start fights. Like Johnny says ... you can be badass without being an asshole. That's a good life lesson.

"Trust me, no one would dare get on Gwen's bad side," he chuckles soft. "But it's good you're making friends. If you do have any problems though, any at all, you can always talk to me or Sensei Lawrence."