Kung Fu retreat

This weekend a Si Hing from Chicago was visiting the Kung Fu school. This meant that Grace gave me permission to do a whole day of Kung Fu. This turned out to be half a day, but still I haven't done that much Kung Fu, uninterrupted. I practiced to the point where, even though I felt like I could keep going, from past experience I knew that I should probably take a break to prevent injuries or just overdoing it. At this point I meditated. Meditating after practicing to this point is really great. Immediately I felt my body revitalizing itself. Much more than if I were to say, just sit on the couch. I mentally even decided to run through some of the forms I hadn't gotten a chance to do physically. It was actually pretty difficult in a way. Visualizing yourself doing a stick form is in some ways harder than just getting up and doing it. It's easier to get lost. Or if you lose focus, since the form is only being done in your mind, you totally lose the whole thing. Whereas if you lose focus during a physical form you might just end up doing the whole thing on autopilot. Of course it is easier to injure yourself when you are fatigued and doing complicated motions on autopilot. After a little mediation I felt refreshed again and did a few more forms. I started to realize that I used to practice a lot. Maybe even too much.
I also realized that if you practice or do anything with that kind of focus... i.e. doing it, and then when taking your breaks, meditating and running through it mentally, you will probably improve at a very fast rate. Whereas if you just practice by going to a class and getting it over with, almost having the Kung Fu or yoga or piano practice being done to you, how good can you get?
I remember watching a few documentaries on circuses on PBS. They did one in China, one in New England, and then one in Mexico. Now the kids in China were good. They did amazingly difficult things in there practices and classes. Of course there was a lot of crying and scolding, and lecturing by now overweight instructors, about diet, and practice. The kid were getting injured and generally looked unhappy, and during their breaks they were playing cheap video games on watches, and cellphones. They were talented and everyone was forced to be a certain level. But when they performed the show seemed cheesy, and lacking. Not in the maneuvers, but the general spirit of the thing. It made you wonder whether all the torture was worth it.
The New England Smirkus, had mostly older kids. But they were all good too. They were pushed but not forced. If they couldn't hack it they were out. They only chose out of the top. They worked really hard but it was different. Seemed fun even though it was extremely rigorous and difficult. What's more is the older kids, in their free time, would talk and joke about their acts and talk about improving upon and creating new acts to perform. They were into what they did. A lot of those kids went on to Cirque du Soleil, but a lot also ended up going to places like MIT.  The circus kids in China seemed to have education as part of the camp too. The family circus in Mexico had kids that could barely read, and those kids seemed to really envy normal kids who went to school, and then got to be free for the rest of the day. They were always working. Setting up, breaking down, practicing. And they didn't really want it.
Now I didn't see all the acts exactly next to each other. But the Smirkus kids didn't seem inferior at all.

Kung Fu is similarly a physical skill. It can be taught to you, but ultimately the skills and improvement have to come from you. You can be taught how to train, but you have to be into it. If you are in Shaolin Temple practicing 12 hours a day but your heart isn't in it, you will be good. Alright. Adequate. You will be able to do some pretty cool moves. But ultimately when you throw a basic punch, people who know will see that you are lacking, despite the splits and back flips.

Charles Ramsay, Gong Gu jai, Storytellers

I saw a lot of stuff on my facebook from old teachers regarding the Charles Ramsay phenomenon, which was really a side story the Amanda Berry story. I saw various clips, read articles, listened to conversations and arguments about race, and also there was the story from the Hispanic man who says he got there first.
Here's my take. First of all, I do kind of care a little whether Ramsay or the other man got there first. But in the end nobody else seems to.
 Charles Ramsay was on the news because he helped, but he became a worldwide sensation because of the flamboyant way in which he is able to tell a story, and also for his mannerisms which make Anderson Cooper look awkward and out of place, and which we are just not used to seeing at a news station. The pauses, the looks, the details which normally wouldn't seem important, but are only important if you are trying to pay attention to the feeling of being in the story, rather than trying to simply find out facts.
Ramsay is a storyteller. The oral kind. Every culture has had them throughout history them, in pubs, tea houses, whorehouses, street corners,  Kung Fu schools, gambling halls, royal courts and villages. They are called storytellers, rappers, teachers, court jesters, stand up comedians, poets, skalds, bards, street performers, purim spielers, bullshitters, and politicians. Usually this oral kind is seen as low class (unless they somehow manage to make a lot of money)

One of my friends is a story teller like this. He happens to be black and has a lot of the same pauses and mannerisms as Ramsay. But usually in conversation, not in his storytelling. As far as being a story teller goes he is one of the best oral ones I know. To the point where I have seen kids begging him and begging him to tell them a story. And when he obliges, he makes the thing up on the spot, and it is fantastic, flamboyant, and full of physical movements. Not everyone can do this. That is why, whether Ramsay's story is 100% true or 90% true or 60% true, the main fact is true. The Amanda Berry was in the house and now she is out. The reason why he has become so famous is not because he was the hero, but because of how told the story. You can be jealous of him, admire him, laugh at him, but in the end, he is famous because of a skill. You can wag your finger at those laughing at him, and thinking racist thoughts, but the story teller, is not necessarily on a pedestal. Shakespeare is on a pedestal now, but was he when he was alive? No. Entertainers were in the same class as prostitutes. Shakespeare uses high language, but he was street, (or river rather) ghetto, low class, famous yes, celebrated yes, but his theater was next to the bear fights. Court Jesters play the fool/ They are laughed at. But they can get away with saying crazy stuff in front of the kind when nobody else can.
Ramsay can get away with saying all sorts of un PC stuff on all these morning shows too that anyone else would get jumped on for. My friend too. Though I tend to call him out on many things because usually are conversations are at my house.

Usually when you meet a story teller in person, whether or Irish, or Black, Latino, or Taishanese, there is some give and take, some shouting at him to get to the F-ing point, to summarize, to stop blowing water to such an extent. Unless the story teller is  himself, an alpha male good at Kung Fu or prone to punching interupters in the face.
Or...
 Unless the whole point of the conversation is not to find out some facts or information, but is about the STORY. Then the story teller is like a skald, or prophet and total attention is given to him (or her), no matter what their status. And if they are good at their story telling then they will be asked to tell it again and again and again.

That's what happened with Ramsay. The truth is everyone wanted to talk to Amanda Berry and the victims, or to find out more about the case. But since non of that was coming out, and because Ramsay told his story so well, with so many layers of it, what he felt at the time, how he felt about living next to such a person, how he can not sleep now just thinking about it, he became his own story.
Maybe the other man not only got there first but also was the one to break down the door. But his story was... boring.  And didn't have the levels of imagining being friends and neighbors with a guy who ends up being worse then some of the witches and demons in medieval fairy tales.
It doesn't mention  the feeling of being duped by such a person, wanting to kill such a person and at the same time knowing that women were trapped in the house next door in a dungeon for that long, everyday while you lived a regular life. The genuine surprise of learning this, the details of dress, food, and the comic relief at the end, a joke playing on race and the absurdity of the situation.
This type of story telling, is not as strong in suit and tie America. It is not absent completely. It usually can only tale place after a couple of beers because to suit and tie America it is a bit improper. It was left behind in Ireland, or lost when Taishanese fluency gave way to English, or your Puritan ancestors looked at all that askance in the first place as the work of the devil and proper people wrote their stories down.
But this type of story telling is a part of mainstream America, at least from my experience. Ramsay isn't a them. He's an us. The other suits of the morning shows are the them.

To stroller or not to stroller

Jonah's breakfast activity today was dumping his blueberries onto the table and then counting them one by one as he put them back into his bowl. He doesn't often get to do this, undisturbed. The difference today was Noah went to school early, with Mommy. Sometimes the two boys wit together for breakfast quite nicely. But then this can quickly turn to some sort of hitting, or pilfering of the younger child's food supply to protests of "Share! Share!" Noah is all about sharing when he has finished his half and there is only Jonah's left. Then he insists that they should share. Of course Jonah will then start crying as slumping himself on the floor. Well... it's not always like that. And it certainly wasn't like that today. Later on, Jonah snuck into one of our visitor's room. She is a Taiwanese friend of Grace's. I heard Jonah learning how to say nose, eyes, ears, etc. in Mandarin. I was wondering how he picked those up so fast. I thought it was do to my reading him this book, a gift from another one of Grace's Taiwanese friends, "My first Hundred Words in Chinese" I guess. Jonah is always touching my nose and saying, Bi zi, and then Bei gau and then laughing. The Cantonese he must have learned from me. It's good to have these things reinforced by several people. Maybe he will actually end up speaking Chinese.
Well then I decided we should have a leisurely walk in the woods. No stroller. In fact, yesterday Jonah refused to sit in the stroller and I ended up picking up Noah without one. I'm not going to pretend that was easy though.
Then Grace calls and told me about a Mayor's coffee hour at the tot lot. I didn't really want to go. But then I did. Carrying Jonah without the stroller. There were free fruit cups and we got a plant. Something for Jonah and Grace respectively. But other than that, it was a normal day at the tot lot. Then rain started and I carried Jonah home while jogging. The because of the weight of Jonah (not that heavy but it makes a difference) I sank down and did more of a horse stance thing walking thing. We had to stop often because Jonah wanted to run. I guess if my kids ran at the same speed as each other, or stayed together, or could be completely trusted not to go into the street, or to stop at driveways, the stroller would be unnecessary now. But, because they are not any of those things, the stroller makes things simpler emotionally.

Playing with sticks.

Class was almost as big as a real class today. In fact it was bigger than my mission park class. Three Mothers who I knew were coming and their children, plus another mother who happened to be just passing by with her daughter. The main problem today was it the heat. And it was difficult to stay in the shade, or even to stay together because everyone wanted to run up and down the hill. Which is why we mostly did Kung Fu moves up and down the hill sprints. Once with hands, the second time with dragons. At the end the four year old boy (I have known everyone in the class, who planned to show up for a while) hit me playfully with a stick. I thought, "Oh know now it's over. No more Kung Fu will be allowed." I don't think his mother is of that mindset though but I'm just paranoid after  the Stars class experience. But of course it is my responsibility even as 15 minute Sifu to explain he can't hit people, even me, with sticks, because he could hurt someone. The truth is he wasn't trying to hurt me, it's just that the stick was not cardboard but wood. And the way he swung it, was gentle on purpose, and hit my backpack or the side of the leg softly, on purpose. It's just how it looks. I'm sure in his mind he is trying to play, and since I know Kung Fu I am perfect to play with. Also I forgot to do the whole cardboard stick fighting thing I had planned to do, and I often do stick stuff with Noah and Jonah, with wooden sticks. But those are my kids so that's okay.
I guess I have to do the explanation of when it's okay to do stick fighting and when it's not. I.e. with cardboard sticks after we bow to each other and still going slow and being careful. They will all be on one team and I will be the bad guy. No stick fighting each other. I know children have grown up for millenia stick fighting each other. But just not in my class. Card board, slow motion, and only hitting me, is how it will be. Then bow again to indicate it is over and now no longer socially appropriate to hit me. They still might get hurt. Like Jonah could get hit in the eye, or someone could get overzealous and hit his own team mate with a back swing. Which is why I haven't been doing it. I did it when there was just Jonah and the first boy. But now that there's more kids that would be more difficult. And would require more explanation. The best is just using those foam sticks which you can't possibly hurt anyone with.

Wake Up the earth

Yesterday we went to the wake up the earth fest. I considered bringing at least the small lion head down there but the truth is it was better that we didn't We have been in a lot of parades, and I have decided that watching one can be more fun, when you have small children. For some reason the festival follows the Chinese Calendar for themes. I.e. this year was the year of the snake. (hardly anyone in the parade is asian so I guess it's just because) One thing that Noah loved so much but was so simple was this station with a bunch of drums made out of various forms of pots tubs pans, spring water bottles (the big kind) and people just came over and played whatever they wanted.
When I taught at the Mission Park RTH summer camp the Chinese Drum was one of the more popular parts of my class. I realize that most people know how to drum, in one form or another. And even those that have no sense of rhythm or time enjoy banging on a drum nonetheless. The Lion/Dragon dance team that I have been envisioning will definitely work better in JP if I just let go a lot of the rules and practices for the way I was trained. For instance, I've been thinking about raising money for a drum. But if people just made there own drums, out of recycling, and a ton of them, that would create quite a loud noise. And most likely, if they were allowed to play whatever you would get some sort of rhythm some sort of song, even if it was not the original lion dance beat.
Last year Spontaneous Celebrations even made a sort of Dragon. Well I already have a sort of lion head and I have those home made little dragon heads. It takes a lot of practice to get people to be able to perform a traditional lion dance or a traditional dragon dance. But to just do something, takes practically know practice at all. Kids can figure out on their own how to do something.

Well we ate some food, the kids played in the playground while various bands played their music, and it wa awesomeness. I can't think of another time when you would be allowed to play in a playground while listening to a band. We stayed for longer then I felt like we stayed and were worn out.

T.H. White's "The Once and Future King"-Chivalry

My mom handed this book to me in my adolescence, while I was going through my "find my chinese half" phase which lasted for about ten years. Because of the thickness of the book, I put it to the side. I found it again in a pile of used books and still did not buy it. Only recently have I started reading a copy borrowed from the library. One of the first things I wondered once I got to the part where Arthur was about to invent chivalry was whether Reggie Wong had ever read this book and whether it was this book that made him name his volleyball team the Knights. I had always thought it strange that Hung Mun people would use the Western version of a Knight in shining armor for their namesake and symbol. I thought it was just a translation of the Chinese Hero, but then the icon is of a western knight. If I am right about this book influencing the name of the volleyball team then it is easier to understand what Reggie was trying to do by using that name, trying to use Might for Right etc.

I'm almost finished with the book now and I'm almost certain  to the point where I want to ask someone that grew up with him if he read this book. If he were still alive, even though I didn't know him that well, I would definitely ask him. The main thing is the whole laying out of what Chivalry is supposed to be, the theory of the round table etc. Of taking the innate human nature to want to go around and hacking at each other and using it for something positive.
I suppose that's what sports and even Kung Fu is about in general, sort of. But the fact that the name Knights is used for a Chinese volleyball team is striking and I feel like the something behind it that is more than just a cool sounding name is this book. Why not the Dragons, or Tigers for instance?

There are similarities to Chivalry and Yi Hei, but there are also a lot of differences. I used to think Chivalry is holding doors open for women. But hearing T.H. White's version of it was kind of eye opening.
Now this is not my favorite book. In fact if you are any parts Irish, White's meta-narrative will probably rub you the wrong way but still, it is interesting to read about it. (I definitely prefer Bernard Cornwall's version of the Arthurian legend.) But I did enjoy White's book too, even if it is racist. (the n word is even used which is weird because almost everyone is white. I didn't think racism of that sort had been invented yet seeing as how White people were Saxons and Normans etc.) The book was written in the 1940's and references modern events constantly. From that time period's perspective, it isn't racist at all I guess. Still it's weird that the n word should even come up even if it is just in passing. That word has nothing to do with the story. Maybe it was to show that even the heroes were not all that enlightened? I don't know.
White seems to argue that Arthur created law and that's why the British are civilized and why they have gone around civilizing other people by force. Sort of like a Imperial apologist. But he simultaneously makes an argument for how our civilization is very much like the middle ages. Well more similar than different. As far as I can see, we are now much more like the time before Arthur in White's book, the Might is Right as opposed to Chivalry, except that the Kings and Baron's are Big Businesses and corporations. Instead of the idea of Chivalry, there is the idea of Philanthropy and people like Bill Gates and Warren Buffet seem to be the champions of that. But there's no Round Table. Well instead of Oaths there are Pledges by this rich people to  donate most of their wealth etc.  In any case I've basically realized that the Arthur legend is the Three Kingdoms of the the British. So it's pretty important to understanding how they think of themselves. And since our law is derived from theirs, it's pretty much how Americans think of themselves too. Perhaps subconsciously because even if we haven't all read versions of the legend the ideas are all up in our culture whether it is stories about knights, cowboys, or sports.

Evil, Serpents, devils, and Mara

For some reason I've been thinking about evil a lot this week. Because of the bombings, and who did them. and How the more I find out about these guys, the more similarities I see between my life and theirs, well their life in America anyway. That religious image of the serpent in the garden of Eden, or Mara whispering into your ear, or the devil on your shoulder, seem to be such a great representation of what goes inside your mind. Whether you believe in the devil or you just believe that these are representations of thoughts in your own mind is really just nuance.
I have been thinking about how in most cartoons, the villain used to be good and then slowly they change and then after a lifetime, years of doing evil deeds they slowly change into the villain. I also grew up in various school's and programs whose goals were to get kids past adolescence safely with the assumption being that once you get to adult age, and you have already been through college and made it that far, that you have made it, that you are formed, and that you won't be as susceptible to temptations or misguided decisions that can ruin a life. But from my experience with people I know, and with working at the DA's office or watching arraignments on my internship, or just watching the news, that seems not to be the case. Some pretty successful people end up falling pretty low or doing some pretty messed up things.
Not only this, but it seems like people can change for the bad, acquire the ability to do pretty evil deeds pretty quickly. And not only that, but in the case of these bombers, still appear completely normal on the outside, well almost. They can still be a stay at home dad. They may say things that seem weird or telling in hind site but still. Evil seems to me much more complicated than "a bad guy." That image of Mara going around whispering in people's ears and getting them to go down the wrong path seems so real right now. When you decide to do something like scam people the way Bernie Madoff did, people say they don't get it, but ultimately we do. That's greed. You gain something. Wealth and status. But then he already had wealth and status.
When you cheat or sleep around, that's lust.
 Rape and murder usually seem more twisted and harder to understand. But its still lust. Animals do it. We understand it better. But then a lot of rapists seem to be sexually attractive themselves, in their physique, status as a sports player or a famous lawyer. So why rape?
Then there's war, power. And once you get to war killing massive amounts of innocent people no longer seems that unthinkable. And countries like North Korea always seem on the brink of war. Why risk your entire kingdom and so many lives just to say something? What can North Korea gain from war? More territory? Not really. What do we ever really gain?
But bombings during peace. Bombings sort of makes sense during war. So these two were somehow at war in  their mind. Or something. There's nothing to gain it seems. Why not start robbing banks? Bomb stores and snatch and grab. Start a gang. Why not do these things, at least you gain something, and your harming people, but your not killing people.
Actually there is plenty of evil in government in systems of behavior, in Big business polluting that creates a lot of damage. We all participate in it on some level, even though we are not trying to do evil, but in the end, the result is. Deaths of species, greenhouse gases bringing us closer to the possibility of some global apacolyspse. It's not like most of us deliberately want to kill our planet, or a whole species, or systems where the developing world does not have a fair shake. But we still participate either out of laziness or complacency, or some of the guys at the top of say, BP do that stuff on purpose, and these bombers did what they did on purpose. But for all of these actions, there is really no logical benefit. Maybe Mara or the devil is just in our head, something made up, but it is definitely in a part of our brain, or mind that we don't understand. That demon, guiding down a false path of evil seems to be as good an explanation as any for why evil exists. No human is sitting back, laughing maniacally at the damage they have caused. Everyone seems to think in one way or another they are doing what is best, for a company, for a country, for God, for their family, for the economy, for the greater good, for themselves. Evil seems to be more about being misguided than anything. Misguided, tricked, deceived by something, ourselves, the devil, whatever it may be.