Community Pianos

These are the best idea ever. I don't know exactly how it works when it rains. Is the paint on the piano water resistant or something? Anyway, we've played two of these so far, one at the Chinatown park, and one in JP near JP licks. Each time I only had one kid. In Chinatown I had Jonah. Not a lot of other people came over to play, Though some did. Some old guy gave me a piece of Styrofoam while we were playing. I have no idea why or what that was about. He seemed to be trying to let me know to use it in some way on the piano. I don't know what he was talking about and I speak Chinese. Maybe he was crazy.
I don't really play piano, but I could manage some single handed children's songs, just the melody. That experience makes me want to actually learn to play the piano. You know, chords and stuff. Two hands. That would be cool. A lot of times Jonah would stop me from playing and say "myself."

Then on Saturday while Jonah was taking a nap I took Noah to the JP licks piano. In JP there were several people playing and we actually had to wait our turn. Okay so some people came by and played in Chinatown but it was a different atmosphere. In JP they would hang out and we would actually take turns. Noah was actually shy to play at first because of this. Whereas Jonah wasn't, because when we arrived in Chinatown, nobody was playing. After a while Noah started to want to play again and again too. At first he wouldn't play unless I was playing. But then he also did what Jonah did and stopped me from playing because he wanted to play himself. Well I think in a year Noah will be ready for some sort of lessons. I wonder if they offer family lessons, the way I offer Kung Fu for the family. I mean all we really need to learn is a few scales and drills that I can work on with them, and then just fool around on it.

Into Darkness/Wrath of Khan

Star Trek into darkness was so cool that I read some articles online about it and last night I tried to watch Wrath of Khan. There were a lot of complaints about the new "into darkness" and after watching half of Wrath of Khan, I have to say that those are invalid and that the authors are delusional. Wrath of Khan sucked real bad. It was disturbing to see that not only did the special effects look ridiculous for our time but... the acting was bad too. You can even say "for it's time though...." because I've seen plenty of black and white movies where I was glued and engaged and where fight scenes were believable and awesome. Akira Kurosawa's movies were all fantastic, even the ones about bureaucracy, even the gangster film he did where the fight scenes were bad. The fight scenes were supposed to be bad, that was the point. It was depicting gangsters for what they were. In fact the only movie that I couldn't even watch 30 minutes of by Kurosawa was the one made with a big budget, in the 80's by an American studio.... just like Wrath of Khan.
The only thing good about Wrath of Khan was Khan. In fact I had dreams of Khan last night. I think I was supposed to be Kirk. Except I had a car or something instead of a Starship, and after Khan tried to kill me, I passed him on the street in the winter and he was carrying plastic bags of groceries like old Chinese women do. We talked. I asked why he had tried to kill me, and as he left he said, "Hey at least I'm interesting right? Okay see you."
Some of the complaints about the whole Khan character is that he is played by a Mexican actor. I didn't think this was an issue before I watched the movie. But watching it, I noticed he had aver slight Mexican accent, which is sort of weird if he is supposed to be from India. But isn't it more weird that he's supposed to be from 1996?

Anyway, since Star Trek is science fiction, is it that hard to believe that a guy could have an Indian and Muslim last name, and not be that Indian or Muslim in appearance. Saying that Cumberbatch (the very white, very British Sherlock Holmes actor who was extremely bad ass in this movie btw) can't play Khan because he is white, is like saying that I would not be able to play a character named Cheung because I'm white and don't have a Chinese accent. And since in the new movie Khan is not necessarily from 1996, and since in the real 2013 there is a lot of mixes, namely our President, the jump is not that hard.
Plus did anyone really think that a dark skinned Indian actor would be more politically correct considering the very 9/11-esque Kamikaze Starship scene near the end? It's much more politically correct to have someone like Cumberbatch be that guy, so that it doesn't feel like the movie is at all about racial stereotypes of OUR time.
Anyway, I could write a whole other post about how bad ass Cumberbatch was in the new movie. Another time. Wrath of Khan was terrible. But Khan really is so interesting that I might just have to skip to the end to see what all this is actually about.

10 am Saturday

I love that I switched my Kung Fu class to Saturdays at 10 am. Let's start with what I used to do on weekends. I used to teach at Mission Park, which is the projects. Yeah I got some money for it, but it just ruined my day. Not ruined it exactly, just messed it up. The class was in the middle of the day and lasted for two hours. But it usually took around an hour to get to and from there, so that's like three hours out of my day. Three hours of being on a bus, or inside a building of many buildings in the projects. The neighborhood isn't dangerous during that time of day. But still, bricks are bricks. And I look at bricks for a large part of the weekday going into Chinatown. Now I look at trees. In fact that Pinebank area is tucked behind trees. So it is like you are completely surrounded by trees.
Okay so the class on Tuesday I started for free was cool. But now that I think about it, it's nice on Tuesday to not have to rush back to JP from Chinatown to go home, get the stuff and then head to do the class, which had a low turnout. Now on Tuesday I go to whatever playground I feel like, and on Wednesday I have that little Panda thing anyway.
Finally on Saturday, we get up a little later (I mean the kids, if they sleep that is) and 10am is late enough to be a relaxed time to get somewhere (especially don the street) and early enough to feel like I'm getting out of the house and doing something with my life. Plus since I take both kids, Grace can do whatever she wants.
The turnout is also higher. and since it's free I can make the thing 15 minutes long (though we've been doing more like 24 minutes, and I think I start my kids a little earlier warming up with basics. I have to get there a little earlier, after all I am teaching the class.So they do a pretty substantial class. My hope is that people keep coming consistently to the class so that Noah and Jonah will have Kung Fu friends. Maybe eventually when they are older we can even have a lion dance team. But right now I shouldn't push that. Let's just see if the kids come consistently first before I start setting goals for the class. Though a goal is starting in my mind for Kung Fu anyway. I'm going to start introducing the basic form. The real one. Luk lik. At least so Noah can start learning it, and Jonah and the others can be introduced at least to the techniques. Then if everyone could do the whole thing together eventually, that would be cool. I'm not going to pressure that yet though.

Coaching my kids privately.

Every day this week I have been making my kids do Kung Fu at the Kung Fu school for a few minutes after school. I think it's like 15-20 minutes usually. But today nobody was there, and even though I actually did less basics, (chuen, pow, cup, been ngaow, and a kick) The class was actually an hour. Originally I thought my kids would learn better in a group. The truth is, it does seem like they pick it up faster and are happier when all the pressure is not on.. Noah (Jonah gets of the hook for now) But there are times when I feel like we are making more progress with actually learning the move properly when it is just me and Noah. The problem is, when it is just me and Noah, my standards become higher exponentially and he will start crying, not so much because I am asking him to do something hard, but mainly because he doesn't seem to understand what I am trying to tell him. For instance, I want him to hold his hand out for me to correct his technique, but he doesn't understand that I want him to do that. Or when I tell him to relax, he thinks that just means to drop out of form. So getting him to try to hold the position in and of itself is not physically difficult, but he overloads on instructions and starts crying, and I get frustrated.
My method for this was to turn him upside down and make him walk on his hands, which made him start cracking up. And then I eased up on even trying to get him to do proper technique, and gave more rewards of graham crackers and kisses. All in all, we got a lot done. But it made me understand how important the stance and Jam Jong or Yogic like part of the Kung Fu practice is. They need to do that sort of body strengthening and positioning as a base before they even throw a punch. Otherwise its really hard to get that body positioning right when you are throwing a punch. We might have to do a stance jam jong session (child's style) in the morning. Not something I want to do at the Kung Fu school. It's hard enough getting them to do Kung Fu in the first place. Tomorrow is my 10am kiddie class anyway, and Noah usually does well with that. But I might try to introduce that Jam Jong thing as soon as we wake up anyway. I'm guessing we will do 5 minutes or so total. Not holding Horse stance for 5 minutes. But going through all the stances, some stretchy ones, some balance ones and some upper body strength ones. We'll see.

Cross walk anger

Today was a normally frustrating morning. Mainly because Noah would just not follow directions. Actually he is very predictable though and probably he does the opposite of what I want because he wants me to chase him down and tackle him and put his clothes on and then drag him down the stairs and put him in the stroller. Problem is, where is Jonah while I'm doing all this?
Anyway, we got all the way to Tufts medical center and things were good. Right as we stepped up to the crosswalk, it just so happened that the light had just turned to walk. What luck right? Wrong.
Noah was really angry that he didn't get to push the button that said walk. He was really really mad, and even when I let him push the button on the other side after we had crossed, he was not appeased, and he usually is. In fact. Even after I dropped him off he started crying that he wanted to push the button on the side that he hadn't gotten a chance to. I was so  fed up with him that I just left. I couldn't deal it anymore. It's not that he's mad for no reason. In fact, I know the reason. I just don't see it as valid. I'm not going to take him out of school to go all the way back to the crosswalk and push the button and then come back to school, late for the field trip they were going on. WTH! Anyway, something tells me this particular behavior is not norma and is just who Noah is and there's got to be some way to do it. Some trick. Distraction or something. But the truth is, when he gets mad over something like that, it is difficult for me to think clearly.

Well this was an unhappy post. But I think I will safe the positive post about Cross walks for tomorrow.

And I probably will just miss the crossing time on purpose so he can push the stupid button from now on.

And probably in the morning I will just dress them both, through the tackle method, set up the stroller, and then carry them both down by force. Yes it is physically more taxing. But working out my muscles is not bad for my health. Where as even if I remain calm, the emotional stress on my organs from their not obeying is bad for my health. Screw. Just carry them down from now on and deal with the fact that their dirty shoes ran all over the house. Better that than stress hormones running through my veins.

The boss system

My wife pointed out an NPR piece to me that mentioned Uncle Frank, or Frank Chin, and how he had thrown his support behind Dan Conley (my old boss) for Mayoral Candidate. It gave a brief history of Uncle Frank (whom I also happen to know from working with Crime Watch, Kwong Kow, and just having a leadership role in a Kung Fu school in Chinatown.) The piece ended talking about the Chinese Progressive Association and Lydia Lowe, and pretty much how the boss "deliver the vote" system in Chinatown is now done with because of Social Media. The CPA threw it's support behind John Barros. We all know now that the run-off will be between John Connolly and Marty Walsh.
I personally voted for Dan Conley but not because of of Uncle Frank. In fact, when I saw that Dan Conley was working with Uncle Frank I immediately thought, "Is he trying to get votes or money?" As far as I know, most of the voters in Chinatown, today, don't really look at who Uncle Frank is endorsing. Uncle Frank's loyal followers tend to not live in Boston I think. Maybe a group of old people. And it is true that Old people vote more consistently than young people.
The young  people that vote, speak English, and can make a decision for themselves.Right?
Sort of. I voted for Dan Conley because he had helped me get a job at the DA's office. If I had not had that job, at that point in my life, based on later events, I realized that my life might have taken a really bad turn. Plus the Stonehill breakfast where I met Dan Conley more than 5 years ago, Dan Conley was talking about a need for early education back then. And that was one of the reasons I wanted to work for him. Because I was all into moral integrity and filial oaths back then. So in essence, my vote for Dan Conley started 5 years ago. And I even remember a conversation with Uncle Frank where he tried to ask me who the secretary to the DA was. I said I didn't know. Mainly because. I saw Dan Conley as someone with integrity. I saw Uncle Frank as a man to be respected, a man who made moves in Chinatown, a man who did a lot of good in leading Crime Watch and various other amazing deeds for Chinatown, some listed in the NPR piece, put whose integrity was questionable. I'm not saying he's bad or good. I'm saying like any human being, like any boss he is complicated. There is no question that James Michael Curley was corrupt. But we have a statue to him and in many ways he is seen almost as a god or saint, despite or in some ways because of his corruption.
I remember studying Boston's Bosses at Groton, and the teacher saying that this system has been gone for a long time. Maybe the fact that Uncle Frank is a boss and is still alive, is the reason why NPR even bothered having a piece about the Mayoral Candidacy be covered from the eyes of the Chinatown Community.

Lydia Lowe is sort of right that people are more likely nowadays to be able to find out the candidate that fits them through social media. But this doesn't mean the end of Bosses or fixers, or people whose endorsements are important. It just means that a young person can become such an endorser if they have a following on twitter, or facebook. It means more bosses with less control. In the NPR piece Lydia Lowe mentioned that the CPA is more about presenting the candidates to the people and getting the people to vote for themselves instead of telling them who to vote for.
That being said, as I was passing the voting polls, Henry Yee asked me in Chinese, "You know who to vote for right?" (I know Henry Yee from the Kung Fu Federation.) And Tony Yee asked me, "Are you going in to vote?" (I know Tony Yee from Main Street and the CCBA) My answer to both questions was, "I voted already." Because I vote in JP now, not Chinatown. I'm actually not sure who these two community leaders were endorsing because my "already voted" status stopped the conversation. I then signed a petition for some friends of mine for Higher minimum wage and sick days etc. A petition I believe in 70%. Okay maybe 80% It was the fact that I knew them that pushed my signature onto the paper with ease. My point is these endorsements still matter. Uncle Frank still matters. It's just that there are more players on the field now.

Now that the race is between Walsh and Connolly I have to say that the fact that an old school buddy of mine has been constantly posting Facebook stuff about Walsh, will influence my decision. (Influence but not decide.)

As for the Boss system. The new system sounds more democratic and better for the masses and the people and all that. But I do remember one summer, when working at Kwong Kow and the principal said she would ask Unlce Frank if, for a field trip, we could possibly get day passes for the students. Uncle Frank made sure a freakin city Bus showed up, just for our use. Say what you will that should or should not be. But there is no question that That is bad ass.

Me and Uncle Frank aren't friends. I've felt is power both negatively and positively. But he does have real power and he knows how to play the game, down to giving me a handshake and a thank you when I helped out some community event or organization by teaching or performing Kung Fu. In other words, even when I've been on the opposing side or simply not on his side, at least he knows how to play the game.

The main point is, the whole community is more powerful when it votes.

If that whole group of people can vote consistently and even stick together behind one leader, than the community has more leverage on the candidate who they are trying to influence. For instance in the NPR piece, Uncle Frank recalls sending someone to propose fixing the Chinatown gate or some such thing to Kevin White, who does not even look at the proposal and  simply asks, "How many votes do you have?"
Chin's response was 3600 and it was done.

If you are looking for the way democracy works according to the fairy tale you learned in school.. you know to choose the next leader and the best leader for the people. Then yes, voters should just vote for the candidate they like best based on the debates and the issues and the character of the candidate. The only issue is, the candidate running for office usually will end up being different than the person governing. Not that all politicians are corrupt. That's just how it is. Saying you can do something from the outside looking in and then actually doing it as leader are two different things.

You might say you will help ALL neighborhoods but somehow, some neighborhoods will get more attention than others. And what that comes down to is who votes. And what "getting things done" comes down to, is knowing or deciding very specific and realistic things to get done that will most benefit your community. This is where a Boss can be useful. As a representative to speak for the community. But then who elects the boss? And what if the boss is not acting in the interest of the community? And of course, why should one community benefit at the loss of another? Don't we want a Mayor that is good for all of Boston?

No system is perfect. And no Mayor is perfect. Even for everything people have to say good about Menino there are weird little things like those tiny $25,000.00 "parks" that are a waste of funds and yet none of the candidates wanted to just come out and say they are stupid. The one thing that we can take away from all of this, is no matter if you like the candidates or not. Or whether you like both candidates equally. Whether you believe in the patronage system, or in a more liberal power to the people system....

You should vote, because you can, and because it does indeed matter, just not necessarily in the way you think it is supposed to.

Childhood Training

Yesterday I brought Noah and Jonah in to do basics at the Kung Fu school. But nothing was working this time. He wouldn't do wheels on the bus, he wouldn't listen to my choices, and he just demanded that Jonah be forced to do it first. Well Jonah is younger and I don't require him to do it yet.
All they wanted to do was the pad drill. But I wanted them to do some basics because when they run and hit the pad, they learn some things, but I feel like if that's all they do their various types of punches will not develop. Plus an adult student was there and he was done stretching so I didn't want to take up the whole floor. Noah just started crying because I had had it today and decided we would just go home instead. But then I figured, heck, the pad drill is still a drill, and something is better than nothing right? And maybe I can just bring them into the hallway. And that's what I did. Both Noah and Jonah participated. Yeah he didn't exactly throw perfect punches. But maybe we just have to work and learn within this drill, which, if done correctly is actually a very rigorous and advanced way of training. Plus they were both laughing and having fun the whole time. If only I could get them to focus on technique too. I tried to get them to go slower sometimes, but they weren't having it. At the end we did put in a good days child's play kung fu. This type of training reminds me sort of like and MMA version of Kung Fu, and indeed, there was nothing about it that was like forms. All of the stuff we did could only pertain to fighting and fighting alone. And that's what probably made it fun form them. Of course to get to the next level they need to do basics and chi gung and forms and all that. But a lot of people just do pretty much what we just did for their entire martial arts career, and even fight in cages and coach and all that. Maybe that's why MMA and simpler fighting sports are becoming more popular. It goes straight to the fun part. And in fact, if you never develop your punch well, then when you put to undeveloped punchers in a cage together, with certain rules, it's actually safer. If everyone that did MMA could punch like Mike Tyson (used to), MMA would be a lot more dangerous.
I'm not saying I'm going to put my kids in a cage. But right now if I put gloves on both of them and be a helicopter referee, they won't hurt each other too bad. Plus Noah will probably pull his punches a little. The main reason I don't have them do that, is not physical. It's that mentally they would be fighting for real, and all the nasty angry feelings that go with that. I'd rather Kung Fu be about giggling and smiling right now.

Kitchen time

Today for lunch, or I should say after lunch I just cooked dinner too. Just so I know there will be an option of a meal waiting at home that the kids can eat right away if they are hungry. Jonah always wants to get into my arms whenever I cook. Today I tried a different approach. I got a step ladder and gave him the type of butter knife with a serrated edge. In other words, he can cut something but he won't cut himself. I cut off a piece of carrot and some Chinese broccoli for him to cut up. Okay so I had to be careful he didn't reach for my knife, but I just kept him at a distance and made sure the knife stayed pit of his reach. He was having trouble at first, but then I showed him how to hold the carrot and cut it (left handed because that's what he is.) and that way after I was all done and washing dishes I was able to keep him out from under me. Why hadn't I done this before? I guess because Noah was satisfied with cooking in his toy kitchen, where as Jonah wants to be right there with me. I actually got him to tuck his fingers in by saying he has to hold the carrot with a Fu Jow. With carrots he can actually just eat that raw if needed, or he can cut up the scrappy part of a vegetable which would be composted anyway. Plus the real veggie is better than a toy veggie, and it's like an arts and crafts project all rolled into one. Of course I'm sure past generations always did this, and in a way, they would see our plastic toys as redundant and unnecessary. I mean, as cheap as they are, the kid could just actually do a version of the work you are doing.
But they like the toy versions too and get real excited about it. At least Noah did anyway.

Noah performing in the Oak Street Festival

Explaining things

Noah has gotten really interested in explaining things to me. He will take a toy, that we have had forever, where you pull back a spring mechanism and then it locks in place and you push a button to shoot out a car.
"Baba, you see it. You have to pull it back this one all the way like this. Then you have to push the button and it goes voom. It goes out like that Baba. You see it?"
In fact he's been asking me the same questions everyday. Like why does the stroller bump on a bump. But he's not asking me because he wants to know. He is asking me because he wants to hear my explanation. Then he will ask me again and I will get frustrated and say that I already told him my answer, so what was his answer. He will then try to copy exactly what I just said in his own way. At first I thought he wasn't listening to my explanation and that was why he asked me again right after I answered him. But obviously if he can say it back to me he was paying attention. In fact he is probably asking me twice so that he could memorize my answer. That kind of makes me nervous because I was just giving an answer off the top of my head to keep him occupied.
Anyway every dusk, he also asks me why it's getting dark. And I keep telling him the earth is turning away from the sun etc. Sometimes I accidentally say the sun is turning away from the earth and then when I correct myself he gets really mad and says, "No the sun is turning away from the earth." I usually defer to the Cat in the hat episode we saw or the Dinosaur train episode we saw which deals with this question.
I also tried this little trick to get him thinking and also to give me a break from talking where I simply say, "I don't know what do you think?"
After a while he started using the same trick on me so it doesn't work anymore. The truth is too, I also want to know what he thinks. If you just say, "the earth is turning away from the sun." well that's just a bunch of words really that don't mean anything. And even if you accept it as true, you will still probably say the sun went down and indeed still think of the sun as moving instead of the earth turning. After all that's what you are seeing right? Just repeating that the earth turns doesn't mean that you understand what that means does it? So it takes some more thought and unless I know what he thinks and how, then it's difficult to know how to explain things.

Kung Fu, Community, watermelon, and voting

Today at 10am around 15 people (including kids and adults) were part of the class. It was pretty cool. There were some older kids, which again, really centers the group.
Then we had to rush off to the Oak Street Fair in Chinatown. Not only was Cheung Family Kung Fu doing a demo at 12 pm, but Noah was supposed to perform with Lai Chan as part of the kids Tai Chi group. I guess Noah enjoyed it so I suppose are the rehearsals that he had to participate in and had to give up time at the playground was okay. I didn't realize he had a choice. I thought the whole class was simply performing.
Jonah enjoyed Noah's performance and particularly like the Big Watermelon song.

We had to wait around a while for technical reasons, which is hard for a four year old. And then we had to wait again in between kids Tai Chi and my little gig. Noah kept wanting to run over to this number wheel and spin it. Well eventually it was my turn. It was a little difficult without a hands free mic, but we did the class. And a bunch of kids enjoyed it so that was that. Jonah was pretty tired so Grace headed home with him early. (Bringing our little food coupons with her. Nooo!!!)
We ate a bunch of scallion pancakes and dumpling which were sold fairly cheaply. We did the tooth brushing table, the puppet table, the painting table, and then we did the games upstairs, and Noah did the watermelon eating contest too. John Barros showed up and actually participated in the watermelon eating contest.
I've seen a few other candidates in Chinatown. Felix Arroyo showed up to the Federation. Mike Ross showed up to some of the festivals.
On Thurdsday someone who works for the city actually asked me who I was voting for. I haven't been asked that in a long time.
I'm actually voting for Dan Conley because not only is he a strong candidate, but I know him, and I owe him a favor. Most women usually tut tut at me for that kind of "old politics" thinking, but every male I've told that to nods or says, "Of Course." for that same sort of thinking. But even though my mind is already made up, I appreciate and respect the other candidates for coming out to the communities, and indeed this race does have a lot of strong candidates. I guess the only unbiased reason why I would put Dan Conley above the others is that I think he already knows how to play the political game well enough to be able to accomplish what he wants as Mayor. Whereas I think there will be a more obvious learning curve for the other candidates if they win. Even though they have experience too, it's not the same. I mean most of these Boston events had Menino and Dan Conley standing side by side for a long time. He's already up there. With Conley the transition will be natural and smooth.

But there are a lot of good candidates and everyone should get out and vote for their favorite. I almost wish I could vote for more than one to tell the truth.

 There was a little flash mob performance at Oak Street Fair to get out the vote, which Noah liked. Strangely it seemed to end in an obscene gesture, though none of the kids performing it seemed to know what they were signing. It is more of an Italian gesture, but still it is known to most Americans. The Audience was largely Chinese Immigrant for the adults and Asian and African American for the kids. The dance of course was supposed to be positive and I guess the choreographer must not have known what it meant. This dance is going around to many different communities, I think specifically of color. So I guess they won't be doing  the under arm fist pump in the North End, so it won't matter.

Food Monster

Jonah loves food. He can eat and eat, even if he is probably already full, and then pass out in a very Homer Simpson-esque manner. I think it's definitely from my side of the family. I would say it was my mother's side, but then I now recall that my dad was also very fond of eating very fatty fau yuk, and was a chef after all. But that's more form what I've heard about him then actually seeing him eat.
Today we got egg sandwiches from Back Bay station after visiting the Library. They are cheap, and good, and he'll eat them. Only when he was eating them, and saying hi to a couple on the train, he started pausing, breathing in very deeply (which made me a little nervous that he would choke) and then shoved the sandwich into his mouth  attacking it... basically like cookie monster. This also made me nervous because Noah had gone through this stage with cookies. Only he would do what the Muppet Cookie monster would do. That is to say, crumple it up with his hands and mouth letting the majority of the cookie, or cookie prop fall onto the floor. After all, a Muppet does not actually have a throat or an esophagus. Just a mouth that is cloth covering someone's hand.
Anyway. Jonah attacked his sandwich like cookie monster.... but he made sure none of the food spilled.
He ate most of the sandwich including most of the crust as well.
And now he has passed out on the couch.

August Moon Party

I went to the little Panda August Moon party with Noah today. Jonah slept late for his nap in and I happened to have people to watch him besides. He always gets to go to little panda. Noah never does. I met up with the Woo Ching White Crane lion dance team on the way. The children were all sitting down in the courtyard where we usually do our class, singing etc. It was quite nice and felt very festive with the lanterns hanging from the trees, and us in our full uniforms and lion heads. We started. Of course some kids cried and were terrified of the lion. Most were not though. After the lion dance I did a shortened version of my class. It was not as mobile because the courtyard was packed. Actually, it felt really good to have that many kids following along doing Kung Fu. (and managing not hit each other.) Indeed it shows that my wheels on the bus system is pretty good for crowds. I saw some parents recording their children. I really hope they post it on youtube or something.
Anyway, after all that, they served mooncakes, tea, and other snacks. Noah stayed a little longer than the lion dance team, and then we played in the playground too. I kind of wanted to go straight home, but I knew the only way to get him to leave the playground would be to go somewhere else he wanted to go first. i.e. to go see Jing. So we did that. It turns out they were doing the August Moon ritual feast at the school. Not so much of a feast in terms of food. Just some simple meat and moon cakes, offered to the gods/spirits/ancestors first. (all of which I guess are included in the word "sun") and then burned paper offerings of money gold and other currency. Spirit money, of course. not actual currency.
I wanted to stay for that so that Noah would see it. He seen it before of course, but I want it to be part of his childhood memory. There were many questions about why paper burns and all that. Also questions about why we were bowing, and why were going outside and why we were lighting incense, and why fire is fire, and why fire burns out. I did not have very good answers I will admit
Anyway, after that we headed home, and after many questions about why it's so dark, why the dogs are barking, and why we can see even though it's night time. And now they are in bed.

Noah's School birthday.

Today I dropped off Noah, then did the Kung Fu Panda thing, then ordered the cake to pick up at 3 then went home, did the lunch thing, then soon had to head back out to pick up the mango mouse cake from May;s Cake House to do the birthday thing. Except I forgot the candles so I went back home... (in retrospect I should have just bought new ones)
Noah liked his little simple birthday party which just means cake instead of the regular snack they usually get. I was late but it seemed to turn out okay. Jonah was asleep until the cheers woke him up. I liked the cake and so did my kids, but I noticed that most children just ate the mango exterior and threw the rest away.
After that we passed out the dinosaur grabber thingy part favors and that was that. But I had to stick around until Noah wanted to leave. I mean, he always wants to stay anyway, and today was his birthday, why give him a hard time. Besides, Jonah wanted to stay too. We didn't leave until about 5:15. We headed over to Moh Goon. Today was also Uncle Hong's last day of vacation. Tomorrow he goes back to the grind of restaurant kitchen life. (I swear I've seen knew Chinese immigrants age about 10 years in 6 months living that life.)
Anyway, when we came in, he was actually napping on one of our stretch mats on the floor. Eventually the kids woke him up and after he situated himself he asked m to take a look at the techniques he had been working on. I was actually thinking of a subtle way to broach the subject and was glad he brought it up instead. Today I got him to the full Fu Hok SOng Ying Cuen opening. Of course it does not yet have the look and power of the opening, but he understands it and can practice it on his own until he gets it. I was really glad too that he didn't want to go too far. He is a really easy student. Not so much because he picks up the moves quickly (which he does.) But also because he understands that he can't learn too much at once and understands that he needs to "Leen suk coi seen." Or practice until he has it before moving onto the next step. Noah didn't do many basics, and I guess I have been neglecting HIS Kung Fu training recently. But I know too that all the guys that used to just watch SIfu's students in China as children, gained an ability to pick up the moves fast when I showed them 20-30 years later as adults.
But still, tomorrow Noah is doing his basics.

Pee pee vs. coat

Today as we were heading up to Stars classroom in the elevator, Noah started doing the pee pee dance.
"Hold it!" I said, "Hold it until we get to the classroom don't pee pee in your pants."
I opened the door.
"Go! Go!" I said as Noah rushed through the door in delight. But then as I was signing in, he didn't go to the bathroom. Instead he was slowly taking off his coat. His coat was off and I continued to tell him to go to the bathroom but he was frozen there looking at me.
"Hurry up Shao you told me you had to go to the bathroom now go!" I realized later that the Pau Pau in the classroom was asking him to take off his sweatshirt first, by himself. I guess this is the classroom norm, the morning ritual, that every child must do. And Noah didn't dare disobey, even though his pee was probably trickling out into his underwear already. But all of this I thought later. What I thought at the moment was, "damn it!" I put down the clip board and rushed over realizing I would have to physically bring Noah to the bathroom again, otherwise I would have to change his underwear and pants, and I had a KUng Fu class at Little Panda's to go to, and I would have to just leave Jonah unsupervised.
After it was all over I could tell Pau Pau was mad that I had undermined her authority. Not only that, but the teacher had also said Noah should go to the bathroom. Maybe most kids don't pee their pants, but we are still having issue with this with Noah. The main problem is if anyone tries to make him go as a precaution, because there won't be time to go later, he doesn't want to do it. It is only at the last second when he really has to go that he will even allow you to go through the process of going to the bathroom. If that happens on the train or at the upstairs playground, basically there is nothing to be done because he is going to pee his pants. The other day he did this and I knew he was doing it because he went into the toy closet to do it. I questioned him, but he simply denied he was peeing. But of course later I found out that he had been.
Anyway, so i made pau pau mad, and after all, my son is going to be with pau pau for half the day (paus paus do a halfday and then are replaced by another afternoon pau pau) so if she decides to take revenge I am powerless. But what the hell the kid had to pee. You can pee with your coat on can't you? What's wrong with that other than that it is not how things are usually done?

Tiger Crane double silhouette

For the federation banquet I performed Fu Hok Song Ying (Tiger crane double shape/silhouette/image) After me, Uncle Hong performed basics. Uncle Hong is from the same hometown as Sifu. He came to the U.S. within the last 5 years or so and regularly hangs out at the Kung Fu school, mainly to chat with Sifu along with a few others who also share the same hometown and some other old Chinese men who happened into the school and the Lion Dance team through other ways. They may have been attracted by the kung fu, or perhaps were waiting to pick up their grandchild form across the Hall, or maybe they work close by. In any event, we welcome in the public (provided they follow Kung Fu rules) and a sort of social organization of older Chinese immigrants that drink tea at the school is almost as much a part of our identity as our actual Kung Fu students.
Uncle Hong is a restaurant worker and indeed had done some Kung Fu with a famous master in China, One who Sifu also knew of. Inevitably after talking about politics (both international, local and hometown village) sports, and other things, the conversation will also turn to Kung Fu. So when I first met Uncle Hong he was usually talking about this technique or that technique or asking about White Crane (he had learned a form of Old Hung Gar from Uncle Tong, Uncle as in a generation of above him. Uncle Hong is a generation above me) White Crane was actually quite famous in Taishan, in terms of fighting. At some point Uncle Hong actually started practicing basics and even performed at the Federation both last year and this year. This year's was much better than last year. He doesn't train particularly hard, mainly the pows and cups and benn ngows are very good for loosening the shoulder muscles (as long as you don't over train like a crazy young kid trying to prove something that is) In fact once I corrected his punches, mainly because he is always getting stuff for Noah and Jonah and even me, and I wanted to repay the kindness. He allowed me to correct him, but later he told me that when he was young, a lot of pretty famous masters wanted to teach him Kung Fu and he simply had no interest. He learned a few techniques, and that combined with the fact that he was a laborer that was still young and very strong got him by. He said in China he once punched someone in the chest and they started spitting out blood. In the U.S.  someone explained to him that fighting at the workplace could result in a lawsuit and other things in the U.S. and he said that made him not dare to fight. But in China people fight at work all the time. In fact there are some videos on Youtube of riots in the factory dormitories.
The point was that, he is practicing the basics, for health, not for fighting.

But today he had a lot of questions about my form. Health is health and fighting is fighting. But the truth is, a lot of people like our forms simply because of a coolness factor. You want to learn it, not to fight, or even for health (because for health and fighting you only need three or for moves.) It's just that you want to learn the form and can't really explain why. Later on as I was leaving Sifu said, "Sahng ah" (that's me), "You teach Brother Hong Fu hok song ying. You take care of him. He's going to learn it."
Uncle Hong laughed. You could tell it was like, he wanted to learn it, but at the same time didn't think he could, or that I wouldn;t teach him, but then Sifu just said it would be so. For me it would be so because he is my Sifu. But also for Uncle Hong it would be so because Sifu's status among his generation in the hometown is pretty high, and if he said he was learning, he would learn.
"Okay I'll teach you a few moves before I leave."
Uncle Hong's face brightened and he got up. I guess he was surprised that I would take the comment seriously. It's been a while since I taught adults, let alone a serious adult who was going to learn this form.(which is my specialty) It's not an easy form to learn. But I'm pretty optimistic and excited about having a student like Uncle Hong.

Reza Aslan's Zealot

I am about halfway through this book. I have many feelings about it that are complicated, but on the whole positive. I went to a Jesuit run middle School (Nativity), an Episcopal High school (Groton), and studied religion again at Stonehill College, and though that College is the order of the Holy Cross, the professor was Jewish and she was also a Scholar of Islamic studies. So I was familiar with a lot of the information about Jesus already. In fact I remember having an argument at Nativity about a passage about Jesus healung a Phoenician women, where he eventually heals here but basically calls her a gentile dog.

I would say I am part Christian because I was baptized Catholic, educated as mentioned above, and also I grew up in America, where European Christianity is all over television. In fact it is the stories and fairy tales on tv like touched by an angel or other Christmas specials that most sparked that warm cozy fuzzy religious feeling in me. The historical Jesus is a man I respect, but we would not be friends. After all, part of the Euro-American Christianity is pagan. And I love that part of my religious beliefs. Also, my Chinese side, is also primarily Pagan, and then Buddhist. And finally I have my atheistic rational side as well, from the other classes I took in my schooling and from watching any science special ever. And that view is much more in line with the Roman way of thinking, (and today's America).

Christian or not, you should read this book. It is amazing to see how similar Jesus's time is to ours. I mean what is the big thing in the news today. Syria. But others are more qualified to blog about that.

I have to say the most striking thing that Aslan is revealing to me, is that historical Jesus was a lot like Hung Hei Goon. Hung Hei Goon's mythology. And that statement and thought that popped into my mind while reading about what Jesus's Kingdom of God really meant sheds a lot more light on the significance of the whole Shaolin lineage in Chinese and especially Hong Kong culture. The triads have Shaolin origins as do the Kung Fu schools, and 90% of the Kung Fu in the South is from Hung Hei Goon, who brought the Kung Fu directly to the villages en masse for the purpose of raising an army against the Qing Government. My point is, triads and Kung fu is more than just gangsterism and martial arts. It's almost like a religion, especially when you go back to the 1960's. Now.. not so much. And plenty of people who are part of these organizations and practices are also Christians. I'm just pointing out that there is a reason why Kung Fu movies (even Kung Fu Panda) can induce that same warm fuzzy feeling that a Christmas special does. It might not be preaching a religion but it usually is a kind of kick ass preaching.

But Hung Hei Goon of course cannot compare in similarity to another Qing Dynasty rebel, Hong Xiaoquan, or God's Chinese son, who claimed to be Jesus's younger brother (I guess spiritually) In fact they did take half of China (which is a hell of a lot bigger than measly Israel ever was) in the Taiping rebellion. And they did create a literal Chinese Kingdom of God, for a while. I don't know much about that. But strangely reading about historical Jesus makes me want to read more about the Taiping leader, and truthfully, it sounds like they are more similar than I once imagined.

Anyway, I like learning about the historical Jesus, and I definitely respect him and knowing about him helps me understand the Christ Jesus a little better too, and also to understand, I can worship any kind of Jesus or Buddha, or Odin/Santa Claus, and indeed Gwan Gung, I see fit, regardless of what their actual historical original person might have been. And knowing this helps me feel more comfortable bowing to my version of my many gods, as well as my more elemental Universal Spirit that I meditate towards. In a wierd way, knowing that something is a fiction, somehow grounds my worship of it in reality. Maybe because if suddenly it is discovered that historical Liu Bei, or Gwan Gung, or Zhang Fei did x, y,  or z according to some knew archaeological evidence, or indeed if I think about some of the footnotes and passages of the three Kingdoms that mention some terrible stuff, it doesn't matter. Because I'm not bowing to a historical figure, but an idea of morality, based on a historical figure that I can mold and change with my modern sensibilities. At the same time, it's good to study the historical figure. But that also doesn't make the fictitious mythological figure less important or relevant to daily life and worhsip.

Cheems and Faces

Jonah likes to play these face games. One is where he will ask for various "cheems" or kisses.
I want mouth cheems, I want eye cheems, I want nose cheems, I want hair cheems, I want ear cheems. And then we will either tough noses, or in the case of eyes, just get our eyes really close to each other at which point Jonah will crack up and ask for a different cheem. We were playing this today on the subway and it occurred to me that I should probably write down that we play this game, because we won't always play it, especially on the subway. I wonder at what age it will become, uncool.
Another game we play, which Grace actually started was doing different emotional faces.
"Do mad face." Grace will say. "Do sad face, do happy face, do surprised face." I was so surprised at how good Jonah's acting was. I think he should do theater and the arts. I think my mom knew this about me too. But I looked around at the projects we lived in and said out loud to her, "I can't do that I have to make money." But right now I don't have a job anyway, so I guess I just should have studied and done what I wanted and not for a second worried about money. Worrying about money didn't make me any money. And as it turns out I'm still working in the arts, but if I had studied them I would probably at least have some sort of job connected to them, or at least more connections in that industry as well as different options.

Another thing I found interesting was that Jonah's original faces were the best. Because he would actually look the way he looked when he was sad or angry. But later Noah wanted to play the game too. In fact, there is probbaly some sort of version of this game at school. Noah's faces were exaggerated and then Joanh started copying these faces too as what one should do for a sad face. In other words, a frown. And a mad face was an angry face that you would pull out specifically for such a game. But the game angry face looks completely different than a child's actual angry face. I guess that's why  movies like to go with newer or untrained actors for certain roles.

Kung Fu dinner and a movie

Today was the Kung Fu Federation August Moon Banquet. In fact, as far as I know, it could still be going on. I came home early to see if the children were rioting. (Because apparently yesterday they were.) I don't hear anything upstairs but I don't dare go all the way up there.
This weekend was also the Kung Fu Film Festival at the Gate. I was so mad that I forgot that this was going on because on Friday I was actually free, in Chinatown, looking for something to do. I wasted that freedom.
On Saturday I did the lion dance at the aquarium and today I had to be at the Federation Banquet because I was actually performing. But the movie was playing for free, in the park, right down the street. I signaled my friend, who was performing (after my performing obligations were complete) and we snuck down and watched some of the movie. I saw some community activist type people I knew and watched for a short while before heading back. Wah Lum was performing to very exciting music which for some reason made me want to eat very energetically. Like I was in a Kung Fu feeding frenzy or something. So I chomped like crazy while they kicked, flipped, and split.
I noticed at one point as one of my students was leaving, that it was already 9pm. I usually do the Tiger Fork at the end, but I don't have to. Time to go. I just let Jing know I was leaving. On my way out I passed by the movie,

(a chinese movie I had seen by the way, but there really is something great about watching a Chinese movie in Chinese on the big screen. Makes you feel like your ethnicity is ten times more important, relevant, and appreciated. In fact it brought me right back to watching "Police woman" with my dad at the Chinese Movie theatre. Had to leave that one early too because he wasn't feeling well. I kicked and screamed. My dad really was feeling ill though. I mean, he must have died within a few months to a year, because he died when I was four and I must have been about that age based on my memories of how I talked, and my experience with how Noah is now talking.)

I almost just left and went home, but I stopped halfway down the block. I am super cheap, but I went back to buy a films at the gate T-shirts. One of the people helping out for ACDC was actually a mother of a child at BCNC and she recognized me from a parent board meeting we had. It turns out there was one kids T-shirt left (which I couldn't see because it was dark) I got a T-shirt with little Sung Dunasty looking fellow doing Kung Fu on it for Noah. It's for a 6 year old really but he'll grow into it. I imagined giving it to him if he was still awake and crying for me to sleep next to him. He is asleep though. (I think.)


On my way back home, walking from Stony Brook, I thought about how I would want to somehow organize the Federation Banquet around a Kung Fu Film Festival with ACDC. I mean, we could have started our banquet at 4pm on a Saturday, and advertise the fact that there was a movie starting at 7pm right across the street for free. Or maybe the banquet could be more of a Kung Fu picnic, and we could just do all of our performances outside, while eating from food carts, and then at the end, Kung Fu movie. I mean we already have all the performers set up. It would be another festival in Chinatown, with a movie spin to it. Of course I am sure there is all sorts of issues with serving food outside, and maybe some of the people that come now from the suburbs like the banquet. But anyway, that's how I would do it, and even if you didn't have the same Kung Fu people watching, you would have Chinatown old people that used to do Kung Fu watching. Heck, I saw the guy that used to do the Tiger Fork for my Sifu's team in China, at the movie. He had given me a lecture and a story about that Tiger Fork... how he had once run into the old men in a village (when he was young) who had been alive during the more traditional days and wore beards down to their waists. They demanded traditional skill. Sifu took him aside. The Tiger Fork Uncle did the Tiger Fork while a lighter man they called "monkey boy" jumped on top of the fork and the swung and did moves with the Tiger fork facing heaven while monkey boy kept his balance on top of it.

Anyway, There are a lot of "Kung Fu treasures" walking around Chinatown, sitting in the park already. And there are so many schools and teams that are just itching to perform, who will perform for free (especially when it's fun and convenient) and there's organizations like ACDC with backing and experience in putting on these Film Festivals. Combining these things might leave some people wishing for a banquet with lobster (which is still possible if you combine) but I think there is something to be said for at least working together on scheduling in the future. It could lead to something even bigger and more fun for the community. We could move toward something different and hopefully better each year. The decision to move it to August Moon, instead of New Year, was definitely a step in the right direction.

Home style Birthday party

We started the day with our little Kung Fu class. Wei tzu and her mom came too, took pictures and even followed along with some self defense moves. Noah and Jonah were slow to start but fell into line even before Nathaniel showed up. The main thing was, they wanted to do Kung Fu around the tree and hit the pad. I guess it's not so much that they need other kids to be part of the class. It's just that there are certain aspects of class that they like better than others. We did the songs and lion dance. I have actually developed away to use lion dance moves as a simple self defense and so we did that. Nathaniel's parents were very impressed actually by how well Wei Tzu and her mom did those particular moves. My theory is that watching Kung Fu soap opera's helps you pick up the moves.
After that we walked around part of the pond, throwing rocks in the water. We ran over a very large and hungry caterpillar. It caused a big commotion because several children ran over to look at it. I moved it over to the grass so that it had a better chance of surviving, but honestly I doubt it will turn into a butterfly or moth. More likely some other animal will eat it.
Then we headed home and had our home style birthday. The only children there were Jonah and Noah. But there were enough adults to make it a party, and since everyone was paying attention to them, it kind of made it a better party than having a ton of kids. We had pizza and pasta and cake. Then did a Japanese sushi/candy kit just like on RRCherrypie's youtube videos. Only not as good and very stressful. But still the candy was made. Then we painted rocks and opened presents. It was pretty fun for the kids, and tiring for me just watching. I'm not sure why but even though I was only taking pictures for the Japanese candy making thing, I was really worn out afterward. I bathed the kids and then I actually headed out to a lion dance for a wedding at the aquarium. That was pretty cool. If the kids were older they could have come too. But even as it was it was cool.

The Hulk strikes again

Last night Grace had to use the Hulk to get the children upstairs. (I did not fit in the car home and so was given 2 hours of freedom in Chinatown.) The Hulk has recently become more real to Noah due to two separate incidents. One was that because Grace put a kumquat plant over the rug, the rug ended up being wet. When I finally discovered this I had to move the rug out and didn't have time to put everything back. Jonah saw the whole thing. But when Noah got home he thought the Hulk had done it. Grace reinforced his thinking. When Noah asked me, "Baba, why did Hulk do this?' indeed getting a little sad faced and slightly teary eyed, I asked him, "Are you sure Hulk did this? Why don't you ask Jonah who did this?"
Noah then asked Jonah, "Jonah why did Hulk do this?"
Eventually I tried to get Jonah to answer myself. Jonah's first and final answer to who did this was. "Bolt." whoever that is. And Noah's response was, "No just Hulk did it."

The week before Jonah had built some train tracks with my friend during the day. We didn't clean it up and again, when Noah came home he asked, "Did Hulk build these train tracks? Baba why did Hulk build these train tracks?"
Again I tried to get him to ask Jonah who had built the train tracks and Noah asked Jonah, "Jonah why did Hulk build these train tracks? Did Hulk build them for me?"

Jonah never did answer that one.

I wonder if even though Jonah saw me move the rug and built the train tracks himself, if he actually believes the Hulk did these things too, simply because Noah says it over and over.

Confusing Good byes and limitations of power.

Today one of the roommates that was Jonah's playmate left and won't be coming back. Jonah was pretty shy and not sure of giving hugs or exactly saying goodbye. He had just met her and I guess seemed to be still getting to know her. But after playgroup on our way home he kept saying, "I want to see Li sing I want to see Li sing." and when we got to our house he was actually pretty mad at the fact that I was telling him that he couldn't. I told him we could go in the house but she wouldn't be there. That's pretty hard stuff to understand for a two year old I guess. Actually I don't recall Noah ever being sad like that. Of course he cried when I left him for the first time at group and at school. Usually when his grandparents leave he is fine. Only once when they left from a sort of family reunion did he sort of cry. Mainly the situation was just confusing because nobody else left yet and Noah didn't understand why Gong Gong went outside and didn't come back. He though Gong Gong was going for a walk, not for a trip out of state. (Truth is the whole thing was difficult for me to understand to. I just happen to not be emotionally involved. It's not my Gong Gong who I happen to be the spitting image of after all. )
I guess this goodbye is confusing for Jonah too. He only just met Li Sing, she is the sister of the roommate who he really formed a bond with. And the family went out, but will be back, but Li Sing is going somewhere else to meet with friends. It's confusing itinerary especially when Jonah's trips are usually drop off Noah, and pick up Noah and stay with Baba, Except on Thursdays when he goes to play group.
Also, in general, anything he wants, I have the power to get for him quite easily, it's usually just a question of whether I want him to have it or not. You want a show? Here it is. I can pull it up on Amazon or the internet. You want to play with a toy? Here it is. You want candy? I can get it for you easily. Whether I will or not is another question. You want a specific person? Well that's just out of my control. I wonder if he knows that. Or does he think I am just withholding visiting rights from him.
In any event I guess he's over it by now and it's time for a nap.

One Soul

I have been thinking about this idea a lot recently. Not that we are all part of one big Soul/God/ Brahma. But actually one little soul reincarnated over and over. Part of the idea popped into my head when I was watching NOVA 's episodes about Physics. It explained quantum physics for lay people like me for entertainment. In any event, time and space are connected and different areas of space have their own time and indeed time is more like space than a river that flows and then is gone. Time actually goes in all directions and past and future is more like right and left or north and south. Of course we don't experience it like that, but that's what quantum physics says its like (apparently.... I'm not a scientist) The other part of the idea cam when I was reading Osamu Tezuka's Phoenix saga. He had one of the character's be reincarnated in the past. I had always thought of reincarnation as only being able to happen chronologically. But then if time is really space-time, then Chronological is not as limited as we would think of it as being on a time line.
So maybe  not only can you be reincarnated in the past or the future, but one soul (if you believe in souls) could theoretically live out many lives , being reborn over and over throughout space-time. So when you squish a bug, it's not just that in the future you may be reincarnated as a bug and someone else can squish you. It's that you may be reincarnated as that same bug that you are not squishing and be squished by yourself, or that in a past life you were that bug and your present self is now squishing your past self. Of course past present and future is not only not as significant in the time you can be reincarnated, but probably also in the order in which the soul goes. It doesn't matter if the bug you squish is your past or future self. The point is that part of yourself is killing another part of yourself. I think of this every time I swat a bug, because Grace asks me to. I usually have to swat it out of the air first and then go for the control shot after it is stunned and wriggling on the ground. In any case, I obviously still squish my bug selves and argue with my other human selves. I'm just saying the idea has occurred to me that we are all one. Not just like the left arm and the right arm are two different parts of the same Whole self. But the way in which my childhood self and my teenager self are different parts of the whole self.

Full House

One of our old roomate's is visiting us with her sister and mother. It's kind of like having extended family over, only more so. Mainly because when Grace's parents visit, after ten minutes of saying hi to the kids it's kind of like, "okay.. moving on."
But Yesterday Jonah had three women who were all paying attention to him, and even after Noah came home Jonah still got plenty of attention. Activities included, trains, blocks, dulcimer, violin (the sister played Mozart and Dvorak really really well. followed by some Theresa Tang and wheels on the bus.), lion dance, drums, tunnel, and various other games. Noah cooked on his pretend kitchen for them. It was like a little party. And when it was time to take a bath, the kids weren't having it. Jonah was kicking and screaming in a technique I've seen in Norman Rockwell paintings and cartoons, but actually never in real life. It kind of reminded me of the way I used to cry when I had to go to sleep when I was visiting my Grandmother and Grandfather's house for Christmas all the Aunts and Uncles were there. I didn't want to miss the fun. I didn't want it to end. And the way they got me to go take a bath was a promise that I could come back and say goodnight before I went to bed. And so that's what I did with my own children and it worked. They got pretty excited for the saying of goodnight, but when it was time to say good bye they did so amicably enough. I guess the hardest thing is to be pulled away without ceremony and having the chance to say goodnight properly.

Men

Mom's are great. They can do Kung Fu as good as anyone. Women power rah rah rah and all that.
But the last couple of classes in the park other dad's showed up for the class too. Again, Mom's are great, but i got a different feeling from having all the boys and the dad's running around and punching things. Something that I had been missing. It's probably because I usually interact with moms a lot more than dads, on the playground, waiting for playgroup to end. etc.
But with the dad's it felt like the first time I really joined Woo Ching White Crane. There were female students too, but the predominantly male atmosphere was something that my 14 year old mind needed.
I had been part of another Kung Fu school before headed by Bo Sim Mark. She was good at what she was teaching, and I'm not even going to get into the differences in Kung Fu or training methods here. I'm just talking about atmosphere. Maybe it's because my dad died when i was four, or maybe it was because he never taught me Kung Fu but we watched a lot of TVB and Kung Fu movies together... and I guess I really needed to learn Kung Fu from a man, from like a real, from China, rough around the edges, smoking, kick ass man.

Now I do not have the same personality as my Sifu. Probably because I was raised almost entirely by women. My mother, my aunts, my teachers. In fact some neighbors of my Grandmother in Philadelphia would sometimes step in to try and be a man around me telling my mother I needed it. What did we do? Not Kung Fu exactly, but the American version. We got baseball gloves and played catch. Played some basketball. I wasn't shown how to punch but they explained that if I were to punch someone in the nose to aim for the back of their head. I was still very young and my mom didn't want me to fight. (But actually she had been in quite a few bloody fights in her neighborhood and her Catholic School as a child. but that is another story, which I have probably related already.)
 I don't smoke or fight and I'm not that macho or old country. In fact I like reading and playing dulcimer and drawing. I'm pretty introverted and physically inactive... except for Kung Fu. But I noticed that after having been in the female realm for so long... You know, strollers that are built for someone shorter than I am (I'm not tall) and I don't know there is a lot of children's things that are just more geared toward women. It didn't bother me. And after so much masculinity around the Kung Fu school I welcomed the female change. But Having the dads come to the Kung Fu playgroup gave me that feeling. We were men hanging out with our boys doing Kung Fu. Of course everything needs a balance, and probably if it's all men all the time that is no good. For instance, I've noticed that the playgroups can be more centered and focused simply by having a few girls in the mix. And mothers feel more comfortable expressing opinion probably, where as men seem to automatically sense hierarchical systems. But just as some things can need a woman's touch. I'm pretty sure things can also use a man's touch too. Just saying it's good to have men around, as a boy, and as a man.

Going through the motions

This morning I got up pretty early. But I just didn't feel in the mood for meditation, or kung fu. Sometimes that's enough for me to try and go back to sleep, or do something else. But recently I have been starting the day with sun Salutation from Yoga. I treat it as just stretching out or going through the motions lightly. For some reason, if I do the positions that I am familiar with and use for hardcore Kung Fu/Chi Gung/ spiritual practice, it is a bit much. Or if I just go through the motions with these movements I feel Like I am being fake or false. But If I go through the motions with Yoga moves, or even somebody else's basic chi gung stretches from Tai Chi or something, that seems okay to me. And even though I'm not training as "seriously" it's better than going back to bed and it helps me to warm up to the idea of actually training.
Today I had allergies too. which means I was sneezing and not able to breathe through my nose well. Again, This would throw me off if I was trying to do some of my real training. But Since I was just going through the motions, I did a lot. After a while I started going through my old stretches and calisthenic stuff that I used to do after meditation at the beginning of every Kung Fu class. I suddenly started remembering my beginning days at Woo Ching White Crane. In the beginning, if I got there early, I would just find a corner and do all these stretches and calisthenics. I just wanted to practice but felt too embarrassed to do Kung Fu. I felt I couldn't practice because I didn't know a form yet. And for some reason I felt I had to do all these calisthenics and stretches before I did basics. Or I didn't want to do basics because I knew that during class we would be doing plenty of those. After I finished my first form I suddenly realized how important basics were (even though everyone had been telling me that all along) and I started doing a lot more of those.
I guess this popped into my mind because I was again just going through the motions of practice. But now I was getting back in shape and in the beginning I was getting into shape in the first place. I guess you need some sort of base of physical fitness sometimes before you are ready for Kung Fu, and if you let that base go... well it's not that your Kung Fu will necessarily suffer... but anyway this morning I was thinking about it again. It was something to do. It was part meditative, because I was trying to do it that way, but not really. But it was something and I feel accomplished and it is still pretty early in the morning.

JP Music fest

As I went over to Pinebank for my 10 am class today I noticed them setting up for the Music fest. The class was pretty nice. Noah and Jonah refused to obey me but suddenly when the only other child that showed up came, everyone got in line and acted like a class instead of my children. I still don't quite understand it.

We then went out to one of my old Student's birthday parties. At some point Jonah became fussy because it was his nap time and actually Grace had taken some allergy medicine so she was out of it too. We got home and pretty much everyone fell asleep in the car despite the thump thumping of the music festival which can be heard from our house. Grace crawled into the house and then later when Jonah woke up, I got both kids inside despite much protest from Noah who promptly passed out again on the floor. Jonah was up so after changing and changing him again because of a poo, we went over to the festival with his tricycle. At first I was kind of like, this is lame for a 2 year old. There was a cool cardboard slide going down the sugar bowl. But the line was long, and that would be scary for him anyway. The crowd was nice, the music was nice, the food trucks were great... but I was already full and Jonah was not excited by the crowd. Suddenly I saw that there was a children's corner. What I had planned to be a quick checking out of an event turned into Jonah playing with chalk at a homemade chalkboard for what seemed like hours. We then went to the drum circle and did some arts and crafts. There was stilt walking too, but I think it's too early for him. All in all pretty cool, but I had to head home at some point to the rest of my family for dinner. Grace is usually not into these festival kind of things, and actually now I'm tired too and am glad if the children will accept some quiet time at home as entertainment enough.

Networking

Tomorrow is my first Free Saturday class at Pinebank 10 am.  I've thought about making flyers or going around to the playgrounds and telling parents about the class. But as I sat at the playground watching Jonah play, I couldn't bring myself to cheesily walk over to parents or nannies and be like, "Hi I'm Adam Cheung. I'm wondering if you would be interested in a free Kung Fu class I'm running tomorrow at Pinebank, Jamaica Pond. It starts at 10 am. It will be 15-30 minutes long. Yes it's okay to bring your kids. In fact it's for kids and their parents, it's sort of a Kung Fu playgroup."
In fact I just felt like sitting there and dealing with my fall allergies, which I did not realize I had. Maybe if I had some sort of prop, like the T-shirt, or a flyer, or a sign up sheet, or a business card. But actually all those props just make it seem more cheesy and the truth is just bring it up to other parents is better. After all, most of these parents know where Pinebank is, or could google it right there on their phone. And they don't need any other information than the location and when the class is. So why didn't I advertise myself?
Partly because I want to see how the class goes with the members I have first at that time.
No not really, I know how it will go. It will go the same way the Tuesday classes went. Well I guess I should just try practicing being a walking sales pitch in person. Maybe I should get a little flyer or something to help people remember when and where, or just to break the ice.

J.D. Salinger

I'm watching Charlie Rose episode about this guy who did a book on J.D. Salinger's life. I have not read Salinger since middle school. at Nativity Prep. I have to say, I guess the opinions most people had of his work is completely different than the way I read them as an inner city child. I suppose Catcher in the Rye was supposed to be the most famous condemnation of prep schools written. The funny thing is, that book made me want to go to prep school for some reason. In fact, when I visited a Nativity Alumni at Groton and stayed there, one of his friends reminded me of Holden Caulfield. In fact he turned out to be half Chinese but for some reason, as I continued to read Catcher in the Rye (I did the overnight to Groton in the middle of our class reading the book) I could not picture Holden Caulfield any other way than this person who was a class ahead of me. I ended up going to Groton...and I didn't like it while I was there. But there were times when I obviously enjoyed the atmosphere, more than the projects... but there were times when I swear to God, I missed the projects, I missed Chinatown, and me and my friend (who was not from the inner city) would hang out as 6th formers (seniors) in parts of campus that looked more like they could be part of the inner city. I can't really explain it, but I'm sure some people know what I'm talking about.
Anyway, I didn't know that Salinger wrote Catcher in the Rye while fighting in WWII. In fact he landed on D-Day with the first 6 chapters on his person, and carried that around with him. I may have to take another look at some of these books and stories and definitely read this knew work about his life. But as I start to even think about reading Salinger's work, of entering that world of rich whiteness, my heart starts to beat faster and fearful adrenalin pumps through my veins like some sort of fear. Why is that? It's like I'm afraid to go back to that place even in fiction. Maybe more so in fiction because a story can be more real sometimes than a physical visit.

Circles

I went with Jonah to another little Panda Kung Fu session today. I have started using lion dance for stretches and warm up, right after seated breathing. But I use lion dance without the head. I figured not everyone can get a turn on the head so it's a bit of a distraction. Also It's hard to carry so much stuff. I had a lot of success with just using the hit pad yesterday at Pinebank and last week for both classes. So I fgure that's the only prop I need. However, the little kids had a problem going in a circle. I think part of it is that at Pinebank I have the kids run around a tree. The tree centers the circle, making sure that the circle is wide enough. Plus when there is a tree there, you can't very well cut through the middle. But this often happens when there isn;t a tree to center the circle because the kids want to cut in front to hit the pad again. There are trees in the courtyard but they are placed on the edges, which makes more sense aesthetically. But it just means I can really use them to run around. You would think I could explain how to run in a wide circle.. around this tree and also outside this pole. But kids that young don;t really understand directions like that easily. And when they finally get it, then you have to show them how to hit the pad again and they have lost interest. We just made due with a lopsided circle and then moved on to more songs.


I explained to the director that I decided to have the class take place in JP instead because it was just easier that way.

It turns out they are having an August Moon party too and I will probably do something like that. I'll see if Woo Ching WHite Crane and/or the Federation can do some lion dance for it too. Probably just the kids from Woo Ching White crane. It would just be cool to have the big kids do the lion dance and drumming with the big kid equipment. Of course the real thing might be scary. Truth is just bringing it down might be good enough, We'll see.

Picking Fruit

For Labor day we went to Look Out Farms. expensive, but close, and fun. We picked peaches, plums and apples. A small train took us to each picking area though tunnels made of trees and a roof of grape vines, which we also pciked through a choi chiang lion dancing technique. Jonah was more fearless, standing up on my shoulders immediately. But he wasn't as good at grabbing the grapes. He also didn't bend his knees to get down, but chose instead to fall straight forward like a tree, laughing at my having to hold him awkwardly and yelling for him to just bend his knees. Noah was afraid to stand up or to let go of my hands and reach up.  But he did understand the concept of picking the grape.
There was a playground and other attractions. There were no pony rides or BBQ food because it was a rainy day and not a lot of people showed up. But I actually preferred the overcast day. When it started getting sunny it got oppressively hot. We ate lunch at Comella's in Wellsley. We got some funny looks there. Not sure if it was because we were a mixed couple. (or looked like one anyway) I thought that the White Male Asian Female combination was considered okay and only the Asian Male White Female combination that was still more confined to Jamaica Plain and other such "alternative lifestyle" neighborhoods. I know my parents had problems because that was their combination. But for most welthy neighborhoods, the former white male asian female combo should be normal by now, because that combo tends to have money.
Of course there was also the fact that there was dirt on my shoulders from the kids picking grapes. Or maybe I don't look as white as I think. During parts of my life I have been mistaken for Hispanic. But nobody in JP ever asks me a question in Spanish at a restaurant or grocery store. Anyway, for whatever reason A this white guy and this black guy looked us over like we didn't belong. So it was probably the dirt on my shoulders. But the servers were great and the food was great. Another good reason why that BBQ wasn't open at the orchards because that wouldn't have been as good.

The Free class

I just saw an inspirational piece on the news today about this guy that started a free Tennis Class in New York and now it's grown almost into an organization with grants and with many volunteers who mentor kids and their day jobs are lawyers and doctors. This is the kind of thing I always wanted to do with Kung Fu. I always thought, "I want to build a school like that." Then I thought, "There are plenty of buildings and organizations that do this kind of outreach so all I really need to do is work with those organizations and teach Kung Fu there." Of course those classes never really worked out exactly the way I wanted. I wouldn't call them failures. I would just say, I wanted more out of the kids or, I pushed myself too hard (like teaching for five hours with Jonah tagging along) or not enough kids showed up (like Mission park). And the overall energy of my students was complacent.
But this guy just showed me what I already knew. I can just do the thing outside and still be a success.
Now I already have a free class, but it is an out of the way place at an out of the way time. Which means I don't have a lot of students. But that is actually good for me right now because the class has to fit Jonah's needs. But soon that class will have to switch to the weekend because the kids will start school and it's getting me to think more about where I want the class, what time, and how serious I want the kids to train. It would be great to have a class that sort of culminated in the Chinatown Chinese New Year Parade, so that the kids and parents felt that there were practicing towards something. It would also justify why we practice outside. After all the parade is outside and sometimes in the Snow, so don;t be a wimp about "weather conditions." (Obviously though if it is raining I would still probably cancel class. (Or maybe just wear the rain coats and let people decide for themselves if they want to show up or not. Anyway. my gears have been turning with regards to this idea again.

Dim Sum ritual

Grace had friends up from New York which meant.. dim sum time. Me and Noah took the T while the rest took the car. While walking through the Chinatown park we ran into Zhou Suk, who plays gong for our lion dance tea, and also Si Mo, my Sifu's wife. We got there real early so finding a parking space and finding a table was easy. I think the key is to do Dim Sum while most people are still in Church. Dim Sum is an after Church ritual for a lot of families. A lot of families just do the dim sum, but tend to wake up later on Sunday. Sometimes I see a whole table full of Kung Fu people from other schools in work out gear. So I guess for them it's a post workout ritual.
That's actually a pretty good idea. I ended up taking Jonah to the Kung Fu school after he started getting bored. And of course after you have dim summed, your not going to be doing much working out.
But it would be a cool idea (when my kids are older) to get together with some Kung Fu people and do a rigorous hour or two of Kung Fu. Maybe just a regular class at the school starting with meditation and stretching. It could start as early as 6am or 7am. That's what the Yoga people like to do right? Actually even earlier.
Or maybe you could even just do a 45 minute thing in the park where I ran into people. Some mein lei jum (tai chi) in the park. Followed by external forms after the warm up. Or maybe even start it off with basics. Have an actual class or weekly group. And then  walk over to eat Dim Sum.
Right now it's a little much because Noah goes to Chinatown everyday for school and we like to take advantage of our home toys and JP's parks. But when he starts going to a school elsewhere and Chinatown becomes a novelty, this would be a good little weekly ritual.