Warrior Queen

"Mara Salvatrucha or 'MS 13 gang' are what police tell me they're called. They are the criminals that are moving into this neighborhood and claiming it for their own. Either I have come to a small understanding with them somehow, although I know not how. Or they regard this old man as irrelevant, but so far they have not bothered; me, my students, or the dojo.

However, I know not how long that will last. So honorably I can only warn anyone who will come to my dojo."

"The police tell me they are a very brutal and violent gang, along with being a particularly bloodthirsty one. They're very conscious of their reputation. It's important to them and they'll brutally avenge it. So I warn everyone to leave them alone and to get out of this neighborhood as rapidly as they can."

"Ah yes, but the parking here is terrible. I had to park in a pay lot about six blocks up and walked the rest of the way." Taji only shook his head at the casualness of my remark.

So began my tutelage in Kenjutsu, the ancient 'Way of the Sword' with Shihan Sensei Taji Toiguchi. Taji became one of the things that I value most in life, a good friend. I worked with him for over ten years and they were good times. Taji was a kind and gentle man yet also the heart and soul of a warrior.

Time only flows out truth.

(Betsy:)

Two months after we first started training, Taji laughed at me. But he also showed his knowledge of sword craft. I brought him the package that Father had sent me for my birthday. I was grinning from ear to ear like a happy young girl with a new present, not the 37-year-old mother of two that I am. That's why he laughed at me, but the package held wondrous things.

Father had not sent me a single sword like he said he was looking for, instead he sent me a Diasho, meaning big and small, a set of two swords plus mine had a third that's considered a long knife. Thus being the three-piece set of a Samurai noble; the Katana, the Wakizshi and the Tanto. In English they would call this; the long sword, side sword and long knife of a perfectly matched set.

Taji easily read the end cap for the name of each. The Katana was Shirasagi which meant White Heron or Egret; the bird that fishes with a long stabbing beak. I thought it an excellent name for a sword. The Wakizshi or shorter side sword was Tsubame which meant Swallow, the small extremely agile, fast bird that takes insects from the air in flight. The Tanto or long knife was Sashimasu which meant simply 'Sting'.

Taji told me of the symbolism of the White Heron, it could mean; purity, or fidelity, or even longevity. Those things were very much a part of me and my values, and thus emotionally keyed the sword into my life.

Sensei also told me that the White Heron dance of modern times celebrated moving the capital of Japan to Edo, which was re-named Tokyo.

He told me that my swords were of the style made in the Edo period of around 1600 to 1867. Taji also showed me the small maker's mark, that neither of us could read, it had taken some small damage. However the fact that all the swords had taken the same damage told him more. He said sometimes that when a sword smith has been shamed or declared an outlaw. Owners of the swords he'd made would strike out the small maker's mark, so they too were not shamed. There's a larger maker's mark and other information on the bare tang but neither of us wanted to strip the sword down just to read it.

Furthermore, he told me that my sword set was very unusual... very. Most samurai were not rich nobles. They were more of a soldier/warrior hired in service to the Shogun or Lord. Most would start out being able to buy a sword, a Katana. Then later when their wealth increased, they would buy the Wakizshi.

Seldom would those two swords match or be forged by the same smith. To have the same fittings, windings and wrap match too is even more remarkable, then adding the Tanto that matches increases that uniqueness of my set even more. Plus during the Edo period when my sword was made, the Tanto had fallen out of favor and was little used or even made. The only reason he'd heard of a set like this being created was as a gift set. To be used as a means to curry favor from someone much more powerful.

When I described father's sword to him he said it was probably made in the Muromachi period of 1392 to 1573. Which would make it older than we thought it was. We had assumed father's sword was 400 years old, but if dated to the Muromachi period that could put it close to 600 years old.

Time for toil is endless.

(Betsy:)

My international work load is increasing and I'm not sure of why that is. But I won't complain because so much of my business depends on reputation and word-of-mouth. This trip I'm in Düsseldorf Germany for the merger of an old generation Foundry works. To a Japanese steel manufacturing firm, just not one of the major ones though. The word-of-mouth for my company has not shouted that loud yet. Ga Ryū Hagane is more of a specialty steel producing company.

It's not a merger in the usual business sense. Eisen Haus or Iron House is an extremely old Foundry works company. Their company literature states it was founded in the 1300s and has been in continual operation ever since.

It's more than an assumption that's what the Japanese company desires, that reputation of antiquity and perseverance. So to the Japanese company it's more of a public relations acquisition than an actual merger. This merger's difference is in the size of the companies too. Ga Ryū Hagane (Reclining Dragon Steel) is multiple times larger than Eisen Haus.

Part of the reason they selected my company was my ability with languages, and that I spoke both German and Japanese fluently. So I'd be a negotiator that spoke to both parties and understood the nuances of both languages and cultures. I've mediated in three negotiations between German and Japanese companies before.

Both companies were bringing four delegates, plus all the supporting staff. So I decided to bring four employees too; one of my best accountants, a junior partner for writing contracts and an entry-level IT technician, who will also work in data entry.

I had my IT technician preset-up two desktop systems on rolling carts with large dual back-to-back monitors that split screen and also tied in with my laptop. The desktops had our accounting programs on them and our basic forms for writing contracts. I had him set up one desktop with one side in German the other side in English. The other desktop was set in Japanese and English. Each desktop updated by English data entry and then translated that entry into the other language automatically.

Each desktop also had its own wireless address, so each individual of either group can link in and see the figures and changes in both their own language and English. I also had my laptop which was set up with a projector. I wanted it to be switchable to show the same information in each language.

My junior contract attorney and my IT technician would man these terminals.

In doing my usual pre-negotiation research I found that there was a commonality between myself and the leaders of each delegation... Swords.

Helmut Reinhardt of the German delegation is involved with preservation work and study of medieval German weaponry.

His research into his own genealogy shows him to have ancestors in the Teutonic orders and the 'Knights of the hospital of the Blessed Virgin of Jerusalem.' He's also a contributing fellow to the Wurttembergisches Landesmuseum in Stuttgart where they maintain a large collection of medieval swords and weaponry.

Shijo Komori, the lead Japanese delegate has much the same interests and martial heritage as Herr Reinhardt.

He's also a member and a contributor to NBTHK, the Nihon Bojutsu Token Hozon Kai. That's a Tokyo-based organization and Museum for the preservation of Japanese swords, weaponry and their history.

Hopefully their common interests will make my job somewhat easier and more enjoyable.

Even though we're in Düsseldorf where the offices of Eisen Haus are located, I'm still doing my usual and acting as host, at least to the Japanese delegation. When I do these mediations between international companies, I'd choose a neutral location and host both companies. However both delegations wanted the negotiations held in Germany.

I'll still be hosting both the lunch and dinner at a private dining room within the hotel, also an informal open invitation breakfast at the hotel's restaurant each morning.

The hotel I've chosen is both formal and elegant with an old world ambience and historical buildings. I selected it partially because of the Japanese interest in the antiquity of Eisen Haus. It didn't hurt that I loved its beauty and elegance too. I love to provide that exceptional experience for my clients. Especially since I believe that's part of what makes my company so successful.

I know this hosting of both meals and lodging increases the cost to the client. But it frees up their staff by having us handle the minor details. Plus it allows my staff to do some shopping and negotiation of services allowing a slightly better profit margin. Plus like now, I can specify criteria such as the style of lodging or in this case its antiquity. But just a more satisfied client by having them feel pampered during what could be a trying time.

Time passed is only a memory.

(Betsy:)

In the formation of my company I was very fortunate. Or to put it bluntly, just plain damn lucky, luckier than anyone has a right too, or deserves to expect. Lucky in both the opportunity and timely manner that it happened. But I also had a high and sudden learning curve in both how to run the business, and my position within that business.

The cascade of opportunities that presented me with sole ownership of that company, plus in having it successful and profitable at such a young age. Just three years after my University graduation was what's so extremely lucky.

That time of my life turned out to be the most stressful and jumbled period of my adult life, yet one of the most satisfying periods. Even though this period was so successful parts of it still generated a great deal of guilt. My usual messed up emotions seem to not handle success easily.

I've heard it said that the universe seeks a balance. My early life was so emotionally destructive that suicide was a little devil that sat on my shoulder whispering into my ear constantly.

The pendulum of the universe started to swing the other way for my life right after I graduated from the University. That shift started by getting the opportunity of joining this firm, then finding Robert the love of my life. The birth of my daughter Jeanette and then my son Jonathan. Then the growth of my company, brought those years of my life from one high point to another... to another. Seemingly in scant few years, and that trend started with the creation of this firm.

Of course, life always has its trials. The low point in these years of my life was the death of my mother from cancer. Then the immediate emotional crisis that almost took my father from us. My father has such an indomitable physique and dynamic personality that even a broken heart couldn't break him.

Not physically, but mentally we came so very close to losing him. Not to death, suicide or insanity, but into the pathways and remembrances of my mother Annie within his own mind. My brother and his daughter found Father wandering those pathways totally catatonic in the real world. Only to be brought out of that state and dragged back into life by his ten-year-old granddaughter Katie. To help her, she formed a little group of friends. That group became known as their 'Coterie' and they formed it of six 11-year-old girls and one forty-nine-year-old man.

Of course my mixed up psyche created some guilt along with the good times of this part of my life. It created the worst sense of guilt when my father retired from his company. As part of that retirement Father gave most his company over to Donald and myself, he retained less than a quarter.

So suddenly becoming the joint owner of an international, multimillion dollar, technical manufacturing company... because my mother died. Becoming financially set for life... because my mother died, created that complexity of guilt within me.

I had a singularly good relationship with one of my law professors that was also a mentor for me. My accelerated graduation and passage of my bar exams coincided with a plan of his and one of his old schoolmates' to start their own firm in contract and corporate law. They offered me the opportunity to join that new company, and I jumped at the chance. I was 24 because of that early graduation from university and law school.

Because of financial help from my parents I was able to 'buy in' and become a founding partner in that firm. They even let me name the company, Einin International. My father's company was named Einin Microsystems. Einin was Mother's middle name.

With both partners being older and more experienced than I was. It was understood that I would be a learning partner as the company became established. But sadly that was not to be.

At less than two years into our company my old Professor started making noises about returning to academia.

Unfortunately his friend's marriage started to implode at the same time. His wife's main contention seems to be in the amount of his travel and time away from the marriage. Women won't have to guess why she distrusted me. I was a too young coed that traveled internationally with her husband. I'd guess her trust in her husband was insufficient too. Regardless of his reassurances, mine or the Professors' her suspicions of me never changed.

A thief always thinks that everyone else is trying to steal from them, were my suspicions of her. However, that was none of my concern and I left my suspicions un-said. Also because they were just that... suspicions

So barely into my learning curve both partners wanted out. With the Professors' reputation and Stephen's experience the firm was profitable and growing rapidly right from the start. Regardless, they both still expressed desire in wanting out of the firm.

I consider myself a shy and retiring introvert, and my conduct shows that. Surprisingly though I also have that proverbial, 'mile wide stubborn streak', and I wasn't ready to give up. When Stephen caved into his wife's demands he wanted to sell out to the Professor and me. But the Professor wanted out too and was reluctant to increase his investment.

Having taught law at the University level for so many years the Professor had a lot of contacts in our profession. He contacted numerous people looking for someone to buy into the firm. Even though the firm's growth was rapid and profitable. It was too new to be worth what we felt it should be, or even what we needed to break even on our investments.

Neither the Professor nor I were willing to 'bargain basement' out the sale just to return some portion of our investment. Stephen just wanted out, even at bargain basement prices, he'd already moved on.

It was barely a year later when he caught his wife with a lover and divorced her. But because of financial aspects of the divorce he didn't even try to buy back in.

In our firm the Professor was our contract attorney, that's what he'd taught for years. His friend was the 'salesman', the negotiator and the only one with some language skills... besides myself of course. My knowledge of languages was why I was traveling with Stephen to learn negotiation skills. But with Stephen bowing out because of his personal problems. We needed someone with Stephen's talents and experience.

I'd been training for that position, but I wasn't ready to assume it. Because of my demeanor and shyness my efficiency in that position would be hampered. But I had the language skills necessary to continue with our international clientele, even to expand into clients with other languages. Languages along with my 4.0 GPA and my early graduation were why they'd asked me to become part of the company.

On Father's 'Glory Road' that he learned so many years before from his drill sergeant. The imperative for the mind portion of that; body, mind and soul was to learn as much as possible each and every day of your life. I spent more time on my individual studies than I ever did in school work, even at the University.

Languages always fascinated me and also came so easily. So even as a young girl I'd studied languages and cultures, mostly just for fun.

Father likes to brag about me though; he'll tell people that I can speak eight languages. But that's not exactly right. I can cuss in Russian and that's somewhat handy and fun. I can understand quite a lot of the language but I can't speak it fluently, at least fluently enough to use it in business, yet. It's the same for Hebrew although its cussing can be more creative. That can be said for any Arabic language though.

I spoke English of course; Japanese, German, Latin, Chinese, Spanish and Modern Standard Arabic are the languages I can speak fluently. With some languages that are close to those main ones. Such as Portuguese, Castilian Spanish, Dutch or some minor Arabic dialects are ones that I can function in.

Smart money or just plain good sense, told me to take what investment I could recoup from selling the firm and count the lesson of starting this firm as a learning experience. Even Father told me that would be a sound business decision. But nobody ever said that stubborn streaks are logical or even made good business sense.

So came the only time in my life that I played my 'Daddy's Baby Girl Card' and got him to loan me the money I needed regardless of his concerns. I bought out the professors friend Stephen at a 'somewhat' bargain basement price.

I then made an agreement with the Professor to buy out his portion of the firm at a better price, only with a one year delay in the understanding that he would continue training me for that one year.

Then in his wisdom and source of contacts, the Professor arranged for me to consider Madeleine DeVoe as a consultant and trainer. In some ways this proved to be an invaluable step in the success of my company.

Madeleine DeVoe was a seventy-two-year-old woman who'd been a pioneer for women in the law profession. She had done it all; from a clerk, to legal aid, to senior partner, plus her time at three different levels of the judicial bench. The Professor said that she'd even been considered for a Supreme Court Justice position.

But she'd squashed that rather rapidly. Her comment was that she loved life too much, meaning her own quality of life.

Even retired at seventy-two she was an elegant, sophisticated lady who radiated power and beauty. The evening that the Professor first talked about her, first suggested hiring her. He described her as 'a ball busting bitch that kicked men's asses.'

Yet, she left them with their tongues hanging out as they watched her beautiful backside sway as she walked away with the prize. 'But' the inebriated professor said: 'she'd never have given them even that clichéd 'time of day.' There'd never been the hint of impropriety about her, no one dared.

"Bernard, I thought you said you were bringing me a very tough case to tutor." Were the first words I ever heard her say. "This girl will be amazing... purely amazing. With the assets she has she's going to be invincible. You men! I swear you really can't see can you! You can't even look beyond the obvious concerning style and power. Sure, she looks like a puppy that's about to be kicked. If I wasn't such a good judge of character, I'd think that was an act. But it's not is it Ms. Teague?"