Simple Stories in English: Little Victoria

Season 1, episode 21

Victoria is feeling nervous and scared about leaving her small town and going to university in a big city. Her friend Piper doesn’t seem scared at all. Victoria learns that some of Piper’s confidence comes from her success in a martial arts class. Victoria decides to give it a try and she learns that small girls like her can be fierce opponents.

LITTLE VICTORIA

There is a young woman named Victoria. Victoria is not a big girl. She is very short and very thin. Victoria is 18 years old. She is preparing to go to college. Victoria is excited to go to college, but she is also nervous.

Victoria is nervous in part because the university is in a big city. Victoria is from a small town. She is not used to a lot of people. Also, Victoria is not ignorant. She knows that there are bad people. There are people that want to hurt small young women like her.

Victoria has a friend named Piper. Piper is also going to college, but she is not nervous. Piper has a lot of confidence. Victoria does not have confidence, she is scared. She is scared to walk alone around the university. She is scared to go to a big city. She is scared because she thinks she is small and weak. Victoria doesn’t want to be scared, she wants Piper’s confidence. One day Victoria decides to talk with Piper. 

“Piper, you have a lot of confidence in yourself. How do you have so much confidence?” Victoria asks Piper.

“I didn’t always have confidence in myself,” Piper responds. “In the past, I didn’t have confidence. I was scared of everything. My mom has a friend named Kayla. She is a martial arts instructor. My mom decided to enroll in Kayla’s classes. Now I train in martial arts and I have a lot of confidence in my abilities.

“Is there space in your class?” Victoria wants to learn more about martial arts.

“Yes. I have a class tomorrow after school. Do you want to go with me?” Piper asks Victoria. 

“Of course!” Victoria responds. She is excited, but also a little nervous. She is very small and is worried that she is not going to do well in the class. 

The next day after school, Piper and Victoria go to the martial arts class. Victoria meets Kayla and is impressed. Kayla is not weak, she is strong.

Victoria sees a demonstration by Piper and another student. The student grabs Piper’s wrist. Piper responds by kicking and hitting the student. The student grabs Piper’s back. Piper uses her body’s leverage to throw the student to the ground. Later Piper sits on the student and wraps her legs around the student’s legs. Piper’s opponent can’t move. 

Victoria is very impressed. Piper is not as small as Victoria, but she is not a big girl. Victoria wants to learn to defend herself like Piper. Victoria thinks that knowing how to defend herself is going to help her confidence.

Victoria enrolls in a basic class with the instructor Kayla. Kayla is very patient and kind. But the classes are also intense and strict. Victoria focuses and learns a lot. She listens to Kayla’s instructions. First, Victoria learns movements.

“Punch!” Kayla instructs and Victoria punches the air.

“Kick!” Kayla instructs and Victoria kicks the air.

“Roll to the right!” Kayla instructs and Victoria falls to the ground, rolls to the right, and stands up quickly.

“Roll to the left!” Kayla instructs and Victoria falls to the ground, rolls to the left, and stands up quickly.

After training for some days, Victoria is ready for contact. She is nervous because she is very small and other students in the class are big. Victoria still doesn’t have confidence in herself.

The class divides in pairs. Victoria is smaller than her opponent and she is nervous. She listens to Kayla’s instructions and trusts her instructor.

“Victoria, you don’t need to be nervous. You are strong. It is not necessary to be big to be strong,” Kayla says. “Now, grab your opponent.”

Victoria grabs her companion’s torso. If she grabs her partner, he can’t hit her. Her opponent uses his body’s leverage to throw Victoria to the ground. Victoria is scared. What can she do now?

“Victoria, grab your opponent with your legs and arms,” Kayla instructs. Victoria follows the instructions and grabs her opponent with her legs and arms.

“Good job, Victoria. Now, roll to the left.” Kayla continues with her instructions. Victoria tries to roll to the left, but it is difficult. She breathes and uses her body’s leverage and rolls to the left. Now Victoria is sitting on top of her opponent. Victoria is surprised and excited.

“Excellent!”Kayla says to Victoria. Then Victoria and her opponent stand up and repeat the practice.

When Victoria trains she feels very happy. She feels strong and confident. Victoria is small, but fierce. She learns when and where to kick an opponent. She learns to roll to escape problems and she learns to roll as an attack. She learns to use her body’s leverage more than her muscles. She learns to grab with her hands, arms, and legs. 

In her martial arts class with Kayla, she trains with big people. One day when the class divides into pairs, Victoria is with the biggest student in the class. For a moment, Victoria is scared.

Victoria punches, kicks, grabs, and rolls. She uses her body leverage and in a short amount of time, Victoria has immobilized her opponent.

Victoria is very happy. She is not weak now, she is very strong. Now she is not scared to go to the city. She is not scared to go to college. She is still not an ignorant person. She knows that there are bad people in the world. But now, Victoria has more confidence in herself because she believes that she can defend herself. She is grateful for Kayla and her martial arts class for this small victory in her life.

The end.

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Author: Camilla Given

I'm Camilla! I teach at the high school and college level in a small town in western Colorado. My goal is to teach the world Spanish through stories. I truly believe that stories make learning Spanish easier - and even fun! Feel free to contact me at smalltownspanishteacher@gmail.com

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