Alan Arnan's eyes fluttered open, and he did a quick scan of the room as he sat up. He had been living in this apartment since he returned to New York, and had purchased it almost entirely off of his fame as a superhero. Given the economy, it had been hard to find a steady job, but he had landed one at a local YMCA, teaching martial arts to anyone who wanted the lessons. Of course, the establishment now preferred to be called "The Y", but it would always be YMCA to him. Alan stood up and made his way over to his bathroom, stepping into the shower. After that and a few more morning rituals, he left his apartment and headed upstairs.

As Alan stepped out onto the roof, the sun was just coming up. Every morning, he came up here to view the sunrise. As the sun passed the tops of the New York skyscrapers, he felt the heat from it, and that kick-started his heart. As the blood began to race through his veins, he did a front-flip off of the building and caused flames to shoot from the bottom of his shoes, so that he could hover in the air. Alan then shot off through the air, racing for his place of business. He laughed joyously as he did so, for this was one of the only things that brought him true happiness anymore.

He arrived quickly at the YMCA and walked in through the doors. He proceeded straight to the male locker room and found his locker, which was labeled "A. Arnan". He opened it and found his gi, which was a black one with the patches of the YMCA's dojo. Since he was a black belt in every known martial art, he could switch his patches as often as he needed to. Slipping on the gi, and tieing on his red and black belt, which denoted his rank as a tenth degree black belt, he exited the locker room. Alan made his way to the dojo, where all twenty-seven of his students had all ready gathered.

His students were an eclectic bunch, with plenty of white, yellow, green, brown, and black belts. His evening class also consisted of blue and orange belts, but that was common for Jujutsu, and not this Karate class. Alan stood before them and instructed them to line up according to rank of belt and time served in the dojo. Once done, he instructed his senior black belt, Mike, to run them through the basic warm-ups. As they did, he walked around, adjusting the belts and body movements of the newer students, and giving light praise to his senior students. When everyone was finished, he took the class over again.

"All right, students. Today, we're going to practice fighting from the floor. I want you to branch off into different groups. Green belts and above may do as you've practiced. Yellow belts and below, stay with me."
As his students moved to do as he was told, he pointed to his highest yellow belt.

"Tommy, come here."
Tommy did as instructed.
"Now, push me down."
Without hesitation, Tommy did a two hand shove to his chest. Alan bent his knnes and went down on his own, bringing up his legs and putting his hands into a fighting stance.
"When you are forced to defend yourself, you may have to fight off an opponent that has knocked you down and is advancing on you."

Tommy tried to move around him, but Alan was too fast and held him at bay with light kicks to his shins.
"You only need to focus on not being advanced on, but I'll show you an advanced application of the practice."
In one smooth motion, Alan turned his body, catching Tommy's leg with his. He then rolled with him and locked Tommy's leg with his own.
"If I would have kept rolling, I would have snapped Tommy's leg like a twig. That's why I teach control before technique."

Alan released Tommy and stood up, shaking his student's hand.
"Now, I want all of you to practice basic ground defense. Don't worry about being good. It all comes with time."
Alan smiled and watched his students. He couldn't have been happier at that moment.