What is Kung Fu and lion dance? Part self defense and fighting, part meditation and culture and part performance with drums and arts and crafts. Come and learn this art on Saturdays at 108 Stirling Road. Warren, NJ We work with Murray Hill Chinese School which also offers many other programs both cultural, academic and athletic.
Check ou their website here
https://www.mhcs-nj.org/
Kung Fu and Love
A great gift for Valentine's day or Chinese New Year
I spend a lot of time blogging about Chinatown on my other Blog. But I really love the neighborhood I live in. JP. I didn't even really know of it's existence till I moved in here. Yeah I had been to the pond with Red Oak once. But a field trip might as well be a trip into another world. Just look at this view. I took this picture biking down the street.
The Connolly Branch Library had a little parade, trick or treat event. Starting at 3:30
We left a little later than that.
I thought we were late, but actually there was a whole event at the Library, food, crafts everything. It was awesome. There was a band too. We followed them down Center Street (The Jackson Square side.)
We ended up over by Hyde Square Task force.
I guess this is bobbing for donuts. Reminds me of gallows for hanging witches. In fact the kids stood up on the bales of hay and then tried to eat the doughnut. By this time the kids had eaten way too many lollipops. I'm considering not even letting them bring trick or treat containers next year and only allowing them to march in the parade, no candy. Dai Dai got sick from eating like 3 lollipops. Of course I threw some of them out before he finished... but still.
I had to buy another pumpikin because the one I carved last week rotted and was squished by Shao. The two small ones on the steps were from the library. The one he is holding was the one we grew.
Dai Dai passed out while we watched Back to the Future. I promised we would watch part 2 today, but now suddenly I have to pay. Instead we are watching Song of the Sea, which is a great Halloween movie.
Today Shao and Dai will do the little library parade trick or treat thing. Interestingly I was in Chinatown and some preschoolers headed over to the CCBA at 11am for the same thing.
"We didn't prepare anything." said the office woman shocked. "Halloween is tomorrow."
"We came last year."
I wanted to take a picture to tell the story of the mix up because in a way it is kind of funny. It's not like the children were really disappointed, We're talking like kids that can't walk yet.
"No! Bu ke neng!" said the teacher. Probably because you can't take pictures of kids by policy. But I totally could have settled on a pic of the teachers and the stroller but I didn't want to push it. We helped her out the door again and the office woman repeated, "I really didn't know about this." Basically yes you can trick or treat early but you usually let people know you will be coming. They stopped off at other places and did have one bag full already. It's kind of like Lion Dance. It doesn't have to be on New Year, but you have to let the stores know you will be coming so they can prepare.
But no harm done right? Just a mistake, no bid deal. But I think the teacher took the Office woman's last comment as an insult. Or maybe she just felt silly because it was so hard to push the big stroller up the ramp.
She gave a look that, if looks could kill, she would have slaughtered thousands, "Trick or Treat American Culture so Sorry." She said. But by the tone what I think she meant by it really had to do with the circumstances of our conception, the occupation of our mothers, and possibly the quality and smell of our maternal ancestors reproductive parts and perhaps injury to them during said conception going back 18 generations. Yeah that curse.
Anyway, this reminded me of the times I took my students out trick or treating. Once was when they were little kids and it was cute. Another time was when they were teens. Now that was funny. I'll post it next tomorrow though. This is already too long.
I read Jorge Ramos's "Immigrant Manifesto", glanced through a book about the Chinese in Mississippi and I'm finishing up on Thomas Cahill's, "How the Irish Saved Civilization." Of course I would apply what I see in these books to my own experience, especially with Chinatown. Jorge Ramos's book was actually pretty eye opening because of all the studies that work to debunk the stuff that has been said, THIS Campaign. But one of them I wary of. The one about crime being lower in immigrant populations. Immigrants, especially an undocumented one, are less likely to report crimes. But in any case, less crimes against citizens then right?
It's just weird that everyone always likes to pick on immigrants, because their easy. Politicians do it because they can't vote anyway. Robbers do it because they can't report the crime. And people of the same ethnic group do it as a way of aligning themselves with the people in power.
From the bits and pieces I read about the Chinese in Mississippi, similar stuff happened. Chinese started of black and sort of moved up to white. And then that community has dwindled significantly because after a few generations they just wanted to get out of that whole system and go up north. Not that the north doesn't have a similar social structure, but it's not written into law.
If you believe Thomas Cahill's book, (which I think is contradicted somewhat by a book I read about the Druids) Cahill paints a picture of Irish culture being upgraded and unsavaged (mostly, or at least greatly) by Christianity. No white person nowadays really talks about Chinese culture as being savage (though they used to.) Instead you see that kind of rhetoric from Chinese themselves talking about newly immigrant Chinese. Or Taiwanese talking about Mainlanders. Or Northern mainlanders talking about Southern Mainlanders. Or... flip all those around.
In Chinatown there is this belief that certain parts of the population need to be educated or punished. Brought the good news to them, as if they are other.
Do I have a real point to this? Not really. On to children's reading. I could say something like "We're all one." or "let's work together." But I say that shit a lot. Today I'm just making notes.
On to Children's reading!
Jonah has memorized the Moh scale of hardness. Time to get some new books.
I also got something from school that says he is far sighted. Doesn't that mean he sees better far away than up close? Doesn't that mean he should have trouble reading? But the kid is always reading? Well I guess we have to take another look.
Each time I pass by it is because I am going into are coming back from Chinatown.
It kind of makes me feel like I am doing stuff for Chinatown, but not doing enough in the Community where I now live.
What happened here? I had to look it up, although I did hear about it through Twitter. It was a stabbing . I think I might have biked passed it right after it happened because I remember seeing a lot of police around there and thinking "Should I investigate this now that I am blogging" But I didn't want to get in the way, or worse, get caught in the middle and somehow become a suspect or a victim.
In the articles I read the incident happened at around 3:20 and I would have been biking down there before that, around 2:20 or so, because I was coming back to pick up my son. When I first moved to JP not long ago these were the first things that struck me. The altars set up by the community... sometimes where a red spot still stained the cement. (That one was a shooting) Can I do anything about it? These young men knew each other. They got into a fight. No gun was used, it was a knife.
My sons fight. Sometimes it gets out of hand and something is picked up. But they are small children and they are brothers....If there were no knife the stabbed young man would most certainly be alive. But knives are so easy to come by. What can be done?
I may be naive, but I do think Martial Arts and meditation could help. Not the victim. But you can change the culture in a way that you can make people not want to carry a knife. Or maybe not. Maybe martial arts doesn't matter at all. Maybe tragedies just happen. But it seems like even if one of them had somewhere to go, or something else to do so that they did not have time for this argument...no, but maybe they did already belong to some community program. Hard to say.
A very successful man told me in high school he had carried a cheese knife and when another guy had hit him with books in the back of the head this man went Bezerk and cut the attacking boy's face. He did not serve any time because of the culture of the country and time where this happened. But after that he didn't dare carry any sort of weapon ever. In fact he is a very nonviolent person.
He went on to do many successful incredible things.
The other boy had a cut face, but he lived.
Too bad that was not the case at Jackson Square. One boy is dead, the other we most certainly serve time for murder in prison.
When I was at Moh Goon in Tai Tung Village, one boy stabbed another in the parking lot. (I was not there I heard about it later.) The victim was stabbed in the abdomen. He was lucky. He lived. The attacker, I'm not sure what became of the case, but he probably served two years only because nobody died and because of the volume of cases in Suffolk County.
People were harmed in this case.
But still it is then thousand times better than the incident that resulted in candles next to a T station Pillar.
My Si Hing wrote about what a good person is in the Greek and Roman Philosophical tradition, on his blog, Agathos. I wanted to pipe in not in terms of Eastern Philosophy that is written down, but what I saw growing up. In Chinese, yes of course the will talk about good people "ho yun." vs, bad people "wai yun."
But the only people that ever really said this stuff to me were teachers in the context of a preschool class or other parents talking to very small children. Once you get old enough to do stuff, the words your hear more often are USEFUL. "Yau Yung" means they have use. "Moh yung" means no use.
For instance you load a dulcimer the wrong way, "moh yung." You get caught selling drugs (getting caught is key.) "Moh Yung." You go to jail. "Moh Yung."
You give someone a ride home, "Yau yung." You help out at Chinese New Year, "Yau Yung" You hold campaign signs for the the people the politician someone wants elected. "Yau Yung." You hold signs for the other person, "Moh Yung."
Get it?
This leads me now to a more antiquated concept. "Ho Hohn." Or Good Han.
Here is a song telling you to be a good Han. It's mostly saying get stronger and then go do some stuff to make the country stronger.
And for kicks here are my kids singing it.
The 108 heroes of the water margin describe the heroes as "Ho Hohn." What kind of people are they? Yes there are very moral people who are part of the group. But there are also rapists, cannibals, murderers... yeah a lot of murderers. Some of them murdered bad people. But some of the people that were murdered were just adulterers or even rape victims. How does that make the victim bad and the perpetrator good? But at least back when the novel was written, that's how it was seen.
But to join they sort of had to stop some of the bad things they did, theoretically. Is that what main them Good Han? No what made them Good Han is that when stuff goes down they would be there to watch your back and die for you. In other words they could be totally horrible people. But they are still good Han.
So in philosophy there is all this stuff but I think even now on the street in all cultures not just Chinese. Good people are often just people that are helping you.
Unless they commit some sort of socially unacceptable thing, like child molestation or kidnapping... and are proven guilty. For instance. Michael Jackson allegedly did stuff to children. But those parents still let their kids go over and sleep at his house. If they thought he was bad, they wouldn't do that. After all, look at all the money he made, and gave us, and all the good videos he did. He did stuff. He has to be good.
Look at Roman Polanski. He made really good movies. So most people who are friends with him cannot see him as a rapist. Why? because he can do a good thing. He can make a good movie.
I mean most people want to burn child molesters at the stake, unless it's Michael Jackson or Roman Polanski and that Sanduski, I mean people had to know. But what was his crime? His crime was when he finally got caught. Or Bill Cosby. Because they did good things, or won games, or made great TV shows, it is hard to see them as bad unless there is enough evidence.
This is in normal society.
Now what about a rebellion or an uprising or a less stable time? I mean there are probably nice refined people who join in battle too. But you need all these ruthless guys to get the job done too. They may be the scum of the earth during normal times, but during some sort of "just war" they are suddenly heroes and if they die, it's like all their sins are wiped clean or at least over looked because they did something for a Cause.
We don't call people that don't hurt people good. We usually call them nice. "He's a nice guy." In other words, "I don't THINK he'll stab you in the back or slit your throat. He's okay...."
And if you're in the mob or something being good might mean doing bad stuff and not telling. "I don't think he'll snitch, and I think he'll stab the other guy or slit the other guy's throat who we don't like. He's okay, He's good."
We might talk about morality but ultimately we are just primates trying not to get eaten by tigers or killed by other primates and trying to find all the fruit and water possible and we still tend to see the world pretty much just like the animals we are in our day to day life.
When a person is no longer useful, can no longer make great movies, can no longer win games, can no longer make great TV... now they can be attacked for all the wrong things they did. Now they are a horrible person. But if they die before that... they die a Saint. Weird yes. But just look at it. It is kind of how we judge people.
While I was in Chinatown talking to everyone Grace did a little market research project with the kids. They developed cardboard slippers.
I had seen Shao with a prototype of these a few days ago, and I mentioned that I also made cardboard slippers as a child, so that I could skate around the Philadelphia house.
It looks like Dai Dai's don't work, but actually it's justthat the toes have space to stick out.
As you can see they still cover his feet. They also have grippy things stuck onto the bottom.
Apparently Grace did a whole Market Research focus group. Here's are the notes.
It describes why they like them. Tester 1 was Shao
*****
Tester 1
*Not Cold Not Wet
*soft in them
***** (Five out of Five stars
Tester 2 was Dai Dai
*Love to Walk in them
*Put Them Softer, needs more comfort
***** (Five out of five stars.)
Actually Dai Dai had some constructive criticism. Later they did lawyer time because Dai dai put the soft sticky things that go on the bottom in his food.
"Do you think these belong in food?" Asked Mommy.
"I'm not going to answer that question."
"Where do these go."
"I'm not going to answer that question."
Mommy was impressed that Dai Dai basically knew how to plead the fifth, something she would not have considered doing.
We are watching Back to the Future this Sunday afternoon and Dia Dia comes up to me, "Look what I can do Baba! He jumps up and then lands on his knees.
"Aiya! don't do that Dai Dai! you will hurt yourself. I used to do that too and my mommy told me not to."
"What's going on?" Grace said. I guess it was freaky because of the whole time travelling thing.
But it's true, I remember running up to my mom in the Philly house and saying, "Look what I can do!" and then jumping up into the air and instead of landing on my feet I landed on my knees because I thought it was cool that I stayed on the air longer that way.
I've also been feeling very time travelly because I was looking at old photos for my Chinatown blog and I've been listening to a lot of old stories. Listening to those stories is like travelling there almost.
Then looking at the pictures of myself, I see Dai Dai. It's like Dai Dai is back there in the 80's sleeping in a stroller the way he does now. My mother also happened to take a picture of someone in Chinatown. I facebooked and one of my friends is her Grandaughter. But I thought it was her aunt because my mind was in that fantastical time travelling mood. You look into the past and you see people from the present and in some ways you see the future too.
Watching Back to the Future gave me another idea. All this takes place in a small town, and I thought of all the events that became legendary in Chinese Villages regarding Kung Fu. And if you think about it, Chinatown might be in the city, but it is a lot like a small town itself. I had experimented with writing a novel about the lion masks being time machines. But I stopped because I got out of my depth. I was going to have them be ancient time machines that were uncovered in Nicaragua with the building of the Canal by a Chinese Tycoon.
But wouldn't it be cool to just focus on the Lion head time machine thing in Boston's Chinatown? Like in the 1700's it was beach front property. In the late 1800's it was a small Chinatown. Then the whole 1911 revolution thing had to do with overseas Chinese Americans and other Americans raising money to support that movement. And then what about the future? But of course I have to study more, and do more research.
These kids just love reading a book I got about Rock Collecting, to the point where Dai Dai will recite, no SHOUT the Mohs scale of hardness. He used to say "Talec" instead of Talc, but after correcting him today he said Talk. But I realized I have to write down that he had said Talec or I'll forget. There are so many other words that Shao used to mispronounce that were so cute. But at the same time I want them to pronounce it properly too.
Dai Dai calls Shrimps "crimps."
Mostly their singing "oro se do bheatha bhaile" in any which way they want. Then they ask me How to pronounce these Gaelic words and I have to shrug. I have no idea.
Dai Dai's Pledge allegiance went something like this.
"I pledge allegiance
Mother of god
.....
Amen.
I care! We Care! (clap clap) Curley Cares!"
This is because he got the pledge of allegiance mixed up with the Hail Mary. And then the school's part at the end is something all the kids have to do. So they now think it is part of the Nation's Pledge.
What else?
You assume that these things are just part of life and that you'll remember. But the truth is if you don't write it down, you won't.
Dai Dai fell on his face yesterday on a rock. It happened while I was helping another parent try to hammer in this sand box lower. It seems like any time I do something for the School Playground, my kids get hurt, like the spirits don't want me doing that. I put some medicine on his face last night. He really didn't want it. But I want it to heal faster you know?
Today we had Kung Fu class at the house. Dai Dai does not really participate, but he has been coming up to me now and then and showing me his punches and actually he is improving, so I'm not crazy about forcing him to practice. I mean as long as he is getting better right?
Shao has been slacking a little bit in the forms department. But actually I don't think doing forms every day forcing him to do them mindlessly is the answer. I was considering teaching him new forms but I realize that's wrong too. What I need to do is just go through one technique a day and have him really master those. He can work on Sup Ji and the first stick form for a while. If he pushes me to learn the next form then fine. But it's a lot to maintain.
I'm also thinking about teaching adults again, but on a large scale. I talked to a few other martial artists I know and I'm getting some ideas. One friend told me about studying Karate for 10 bucks a month back in the day and another friend said that when he taught Karate he always made pretty good money from a three month beginners course which would support the Dojo where he and his friends practiced more seriously. In other words, even though he had a Dojo, for this beginners courses they would rent out a space. He was saying that the more people you get, that means you can charge cheaper and that means you can make the price cheap so that poorer kids can join too.
In other words the Capitalist way ends up being more altruistic too. I mean when I taught for free, I did not see good results.
Basically I need like 150 students or more, some sort of gym to rent for an hour or an hour and a half, for three months Monday-Friday. It would make sense to hold the class later at night when the kids are already in bed, like 7:30-8:30pm. I mean all you need is one hour really especially if it's every day. I think 20 bucks a month is pretty cheap for nowadays, but make them pay for all three months up front. And maybe some rule that if they sign up three or five at a time they only have to pay 10 bucks a month.
It would be a sign up type of thing, with a list and then it would have a clear ending maybe with a ceremony and a Lion Dance from Woo Ching White Crane, and then if they wanted to continue they could join Jing's school. If not, then they can practice what they already learned.
Plus, I would also make a good chunk of change that I can then put into the blog or more classes or college savings plans. Whatever.
After doing my Chinatown Blogger interviews I had to bike straight to the school to pick up Shao and Dai. It's almost like I have a job now, except for the income part. But I'm realizing that there are other types of income besides money. In fact within these last few weeks, (or has it only been two?) since I started this Chinatown Blog, I have become part of a board, initiated a project that several organizations and corporations got behind, and I can see some sort of change on the horizon. I feel like I am learning a ton. I feel like the work I am doing is more important than when I just showed up to work and did what others told me to because it's like I'm exploring a new world even though I'm in the same city I have always been in. Don't get me wrong, this blog helped me a lot too. This blog brought me my sanity and adult thoughts onto a page. And from here I wrote several books. But now I feel like I'm playing with the real world. I kind of feel rich and free and enabled. It's weird.
I also like riding around on my bike.
When I got to the playground Shao yelled at me for not bringing snacks. But we still ended up staying pretty late before going home for dinner. Plus the snacks he wants are not real food. So is that hunger? He also said they gave him a lot of food for lunch but not enough time to eat it. I think he is having trouble opening the plastic bags and he can't save his lunch for later. Maybe I should pack him a little Tupperware thing to put leftovers in. Then he can have his leftover lunch for snack. Jonah had no complaints.
Jonah sat on the front bar frame of the bike while I rode it home. Noah had to kind of just run behind. But it has given me and idea for traveling to violin lessons. Noah will bike, and so will me and Dai Dai. Of course we will have to go really slow that way, but it will still be faster than walking. Maybe I should get one of those seats for Jonah.
I talked to may neighbor about opening up a Kung Fu school. This is something I want to do in Five years. I should say martial arts school because it will be more commercial. In fact I wouldn't mind having teachers that did Karate and Ju Jitsu like stuff, but the flue that would hold it together would be Chuen POw Cup been ngau, lion dance, meditation, and some internal Mein Lei jum like stuff, Probably not the whole form.
The reason why I don't want to limit to just Kung Fu is because I might need other people to teach, and I can't expect them to learn my forms. But I could expect them to learn four white crane moves yeah?
Anyway, the boys were mad I was talking about adult stuff. So inside to watch Curious George and Wild Kratts and have a quick dinner.
Pretty Balanced. Yeah it's microwaved chicken nuggets. But I have little rice balls on seaweed too.
Look Dai Dai almost finished his.
Let's take a closer look at the plate.
Oh yeah. I forgot before we actually got inside I took some pictures with the Pumpkin.
And Noah McGuivered this cool toy out of wax from those cheese circles and stuff he found on the ground at the playground. Pretty cool right?
Well dinner, then bath then Noah did his forms and violin. He got real pissed when I made him start over because I wanted him to redo a move and he lost his place. I've been lax on the forms enforcement mainly because I see him playing around with Kung Fu on his own. Should I make him to forms everyday anyway?
Actually what he really needs is to take the techniques from the form and play with them. But ultimately I can only encourage this. I mean to drill all of those techniques that would be too much.
Then story time and off to sleep. Tonight I put them to bed before getting on the computer, because I needed to focus to do my other blog, again like a real job. I mentioned the Chinatown Master Plan in it, which I just found out is over. But what does that mean? I mean there is still development right? I'll find out more. I set up an interview with Lydia Lowe sometime next week.
Noah fools around too much during his lesson. But whatever. The notes for today are that we need to buy a new sponge or "polypad." The thing looks like something I could make. But we will probably pay for it instead. We can get it at Jonson's in Newton or look online. (I'm guessing we'll buy it online.)
He needs to work on his contact point ie where the bow touches the string. He needs to get it closer to the bridge. Sometimes it slips up toward the finger board. (I had this problem. In fact I think I might STILL have this problem.) And that's it. You can't really go over too much in 30 minutes. But even in that short period of time Noah manages to waste time and procrastinate. Which means really, it's all about practice.
On another note, I started teaching him some Irish folk songs. Me and the kids are going to start a band man. Jonah will play Piano and I guess I'll start learning guitar, and we'll all sing.
I'll upload a video of us singing some song in a sec.
We were getting ready for bed and Grace mentioned something about people wanting to boycott the new star wars and I'm not even going to go into their reasoning because they have to be a fringe minority of white supremists. By why would Nazis like star wars? I mean traditionally Science Fiction is the one genre where people of color can get cast more easily. I mean after all there are blue and green people with tentacles sticking out of their head too?
Plus, I've heard stuff where the original 1970's star wars didn't have a lot of women or people of color. But Billy Dee Williams was there. And in the newer one Samuel L. Jackson was a Jedi. And Natalie Portman was a heroic Queen Amidala. I'm just saying why would White Supremist types be the main fan base for this genre? I mean when I heard that they didn't like that Idris Elba was Heimdall, I thought it was weird. But it kind of makes sense because the Aryan Nation and Hitler were all about the Norse myths. I mean why you would think that Marvel Comics would stick with your world view is strange but I can see why they would go to twitter and groan.
But why would Nazis watch Star Wars?
Then I remembered that maybe there is a reason why they would like star wars. I mean Jar Jar binks was basically the Amos and Andy type of minstrel show character except you can get away with it because he is an alien. And then Anakin's owner had a very Der Sturmer caricature of how Nazis drew Jewish people.
Then the orginal Star Wars plot is a lot like the Weimar Republic turning into the Third Reich. But it's also a lot like Rome's history. Plus Storm Troopers are a lot like SS storm troopers and the uniforms look very WWII Germany-esque. So maybe Neo Nazis do get together and watch Star Wars together.
But I love that J.J. Abrams made a conscious decision to try and find actors and actresses of color. That's amazing. But beside all that, the trailer is just awesome. I have so many questions! How did the Empire suddenly take over? Why is the original star wars (4,5,6) just a legend? And Harrison Ford is back! Because honestly I it's Han Solo that did it for me. Mark Hamill... I don't hate him. But even his character, Luke is just kind of lame. I'm really excited watch this new Jedi, who starts off as a storm trooper. And you need a vigorous actor for battle scenes. Someone who can really kick ass. Harrison Ford was like that when he was older. Mark Hamill not so much. And all the fight scenes in episode 1,2,3, sucked. I'm more a fan of the new Disney stuff. But what J.J. Abrams did with Star Trek was amazing and it looks like Star Wars has just entered a new era of awesomeness.
So forget these White Supremist punk. Star Wars is about to get a bunch of new fans who usually wouldn't go for Science Fiction I bet. This trailer by itself is already incredible.
I saw this little image on face book that said "Work Out every (expletive) Day" and then said do 100 push ups, 100 squats, 100 sit ups and then run in place for ten minutes.
I like the simplicity of it and I try to do different things. I've also been getting pretty skinny so I decided to do it. Well I did a modified version because I started with meditation and my sit ups were a stretch sit up and I just did basics instead of squats and shadow boxed for the rest in between sets.
But Today I am pretty sore. I remember why I stopped doing so much push ups. But I need to find a balance. I need to work out my upper body but I guess I will have to ease into it because I feel like I sacrificed some technique and the stiffness feels like toxins. So Today I just did meditation and stretching.
I was going to do a set of basics for the camera but even if I do it for people to follow along, I don't want a video much longer then 10 minutes. I've also been teaching my friend our Mein Lei Jum and I'm pretty sore so I went with a Mein Lei Jum video instead.
But doing the whole form will make it impossible to follow along. So I decided to just do a few techniques.
Here is my attempt
But realistically, I guess you would just watch this video, and not follow along right? I mean I'm kin dof moving too fast. It's more fo a reference point for is I'm already teaching you. But If the video was just one technique would that be too boring.
Plus after watching it, you're probably like, "Dude this is Tai Chi."
Perhaps I should just call it Tai Chi. I can allow that. Or call it "Mein lei jum" Tai Chi.
But when it comes to calling my Kung Fu " Karate", well that's harder to swallow. And if I allow the one.. well isn't that a slippery slope.
In fact Jonah started calling it Karate just to piss me off, and then Noah followed suit.
It would be easier to just give up and go with it huh?
I mean I wouldn't even have to call it Karate. If I opened a school and wrote Kung Fu up there people would still call it Karate, so all I would have to do is not correct someone when they called it that. I mean they aren't completely wrong right? It's still a martial art. There is a relationship. Would I be as annoyed if someone called what I was doing Hung Gar? I guess I should just say "Martial Art."
I wouldn't even have to sell gis I could just allow the Karate types who want to wear gis to wear them if that's what they need to do to get focused, And I just wouldn't wear said Gi. But I bet, there would still end up being a room full of people wearing gis, yelling and punching. So then what am I doing?
(Sigh)
That's why I just want to go make up my own terminology, with my Celtic Cross Kung Fu. Call it the magic Fairy dance or something and maybe then someone will pay attention when I tell them the moves are based on Chinese Kung Fu. But in the end, to relax, I always go back to the stuff I studied, which is the traditional art.
So what should I call myself?
Cheung's Martial Arts. How's that sound? It's a lot shorter than Cheung Family Kung Fu.
Cheung's. Even better. CHEUNG's (martial arts).
"Hey guys let's go over to Cheung's?"
"I think you should hire Cheung's for the lion dance performance."
Or just Cheung.
"I do Cheung."
"I Practice Cheung."
"I Cheung on the weekend."
Dragon Cheung's? Tiger Cheung's? Lion Cheung's?
Here's one that would work for Grace teaching a self defense class.
"Lion Mom Cheung Self Defense."
Get it? Instead of Tiger Mom? Because Grace is also Taiwanese American? And we don't the other lady suing us.
Then again there's always Kung Fu Dad. Anyway, this video I'm sharing is me running through some relaxing techniques. If you want me to make another video just going through stuff one at a time, or a longer video where I do the whole form and you follow along, I can do that. But like and subscribe and write comments on my blog. And share. And buy my book for goodness sake!
"Mommy, nobody knows how much we love each other."
"That's right Dai Dai." Mommy.
"I know." says Shao Bao.
"No. Nobody knows except me and Mommy. Shao Bao doesn't know. Baba doesn't know."
"Thats' my Dai Dai."
"Ha Ha" sings Dai Dai, "Nobody knows how much we love each other except me and Mommy."
***
"So Grace what do you think about-"
"SHHHHH! stop talking right now! Nobody can talk! I don't want to hear anybody talking at all." says Dai Dai.
*****
"Baba! Shao is trying to get me! Hit Shao right now!."
"Aha! this is called the Kill with a borrowed sword strategy of the 36 strategies. You see that Grace! That's my boy."
"Baba! I said hit Shao right now!."
"Okay Dai Dai, I see what you're doing. and I admire you strategic panning. You are weaker than Shao and so you try to get others to do your dirty work for you. But you are going to have to work this out with Shao yourself because you guys are both playing. If you don't want to play with him roughly then just separate."
"Mommy! Hit Shao!"
********
"Baba what Yoga move am I doing?"
"Uhh Airplane?"
"Yeah say something about it."
"Good job Dai Dai."
"Now whatmove am I doing?"
"Pretzel?"
"Aren't you going to say something? You Have to say something about it. Longer this time!"
"Wow good job Dai Dai I'm really impressed with your Yoga moves."
"Okay now watch this move and say something about it okay? Watch!"
Today we went to dim sum in Dorchester, and it really kicked butt. I wouldn't know this place existed except that we happened to go to a wedding here. There was no problem finding parking, and the portions were slightly bigger than what we are used to.
Business seemed kind of slow and I was told that Saturdays are usually quiet and that it is Sundays that are more crowded. Most of the clients seemed to be Vietnamese Chinese, but there were a few white Americans. For us it was nice because it was slow paced and a lot of the dishes that you usually have to order (like the steamed vegetables) come right to you. Dim Sum goes from 9am-3pm everyday 365 days (according to one of the waiters.) But if you come at 2 then there isn't as much stuff and you will have to order it and they'll make it for you. There were side dishes which we didn't check out and a ton of Vietnamese dishes, which we also did not check out this time around.
So is this a sign that Chinatown is moving? is this an expansion? or what is this?
That's right. That IS the Rainbow Swash gas tank you see in the back ground. The blue swash being called a portrait of Ho Chi Minh by some politicians. That's what politicians yelled about back in the 70's and 80's. Now they scream about immigration and Islam. We have cheap direct flights to Ho Chi Minh City for tourists and this controversial Rainbow swash is across the street (highway but still a street) from one of the most kick ass Vietnamese Chinese restaurants in Boston. Kinda makes you wonder- Who will we shout about in the Future? How will we perceive the cultures we get red in the face at now 20 years from down the line?
(The picture does not do justice. This is some serious Ha Cherng right here. Having lived in Chinatown, I'm a bit of a dim sum snob. I can take it or leave it. But today I stuffed myself and still felt fairly healthy afterward.)
For sure this is change. The location is only a couple miles away from Chinatown, and it is closer to Fields Corner (which is like a Vietnamese town.) It's also a lot closer to our house. And frankly, though I like Quincy, I was more impressed by this dim sum. It's like that formula I seem to have realized eating in Philadelphia. Low rent equals better ingredients and therefore better food. Perhaps the Chefs are paid more as well.
But the business was slow for the amount of wait staff around. The way the food tasted this place should be hopping and the waiters should be running.
A lot of people may say that such a place is cannot replace Chinatown. This is true. One restaurant does not equal a community. Actually it's probably that there is a community, and that's why the restaurant could
open. But if I compare this to what I saw in Philly near the house my Grandfather bought, what's needed is some sort of social club, like a family association or a church, a grocery store and bakery, and bam that is a small Chinatown like center right there.
But how the hell would a tourist or even someone like us know about a place like this? The first place you would go would be the stop on the T that says Chinatown. Which in Boston's case will take you near Boston Common, and the Theater district.
But as Chinatown is shrinking, you could view these little offshoots as expansions. And it would be great if we can hold on to whatever we can in Chinatown (the nonprofits, the family associations etc.) and work with these new businesses and communities popping up that are within 5 miles.
Anyway. Go support Chinatown businesses with your pocketbook, but go to Chau Chau City in Dorchester too. I'm telling you, it's kind of mind blowing.
Well I was going to keep Noah home today. But he really wanted to go to school. His teacher is still out. I told the subs the situation and they said they would call me if he ends up not feeling better.
Well I guess I have a lot of work to do on my Chinatown Blog. I actually got involved in this new street sweeping thing I'm doing. I was thinking I was going to call it Zen Street Sweeping and appeal to people sense of service. To serve is to rule etc. But then I thought, crap I have it all wrong.
You know that guy who is selling leaves all over the country? He sold bottles of snow (which of course became bottles of water) from those huge snow storms on EBay. Well most people are saying Chinatown is disappearing right?
That means that anything from Chinatown is rare and should be valuable. Including Chinatown Trash. I mean if you had some street sweepings from the WW2 era how much would that be worth? I mean it's got to be the right combination of Song Hei cigarette packs and epoch times newspaper and it would great if one of those tobacco bong type things that look like an opium pipe made out of a soda can could be thrown in there.
I mean if I had street sweepings from the Combat Zone in the 80's that would be worth something.
Ten bucks on Ebay. Plus if you buy it your are supporting me and I am sweeping up Chinatown right?
Well I was planning to just sweeping up Tyler STreet, the CCBA block, the Tai Tung playground I blogged about before. It's like Musashi (the novel version) working on his crappy piece of land.
Except I'm doing it once a week and only for an hour. (probably more like 20 minutes) But my actions could inspire others right. And then again, maybe my idea of selling the trash will work out. Hmmm which angle should I use for a column for the Sampan? Please advise me readers!
Noah was delirious last night. Not really fever I think, but he would just wake up saying crazy stuff like, "I want Dai Dai! I want the skin part!"
Dude if you are sick just go to sleep.
So basically I think the whole two violin lessons (and biking to the first one) was too much. Plus this long weekend, instead of being rest time, was actually quite taxing with Double Ten and all.
I am keeping him home as a precaution. I went in to tell his teacher but guess what? She's out sick too. I guess something is just going around.
You might call it crazy but I want to keep him home so that he will be able to go to the Fall Fling Tomorrow. After all, school is everyday. The Fall Fling is once a year. I can imagine him yelling at me when he is in his twenties about how he missed the Fall Fling for nothing.
This weekend is also the Lantern Festival in JP. I don'tr want to miss that. In other words. This weekend is going to be busy too. This kid needs a rest.
So far he just wants me to read "Let's Go Rock collecting" ten times. I've read it three times. Well Seven to go. Let's get back to work.
This is a good a place as any to write my parent Suzuki notes. We had two lessons today. One was the private lesson and the other is the group lesson which Grace just took Noah to. We just parted screaming at each other because my phone was in my other backpack and I didn't hear it. Why did I use two back packs today? Because I picked up groceries and her special Coffee. But it doesn't matter because in the end, she still had to take him, which means I had to wait for her to get home before she could take him in the car.
I have the song Whiskey in Jar stuck in my head.
"They never can be easy." That much is true I guess. If you believe in "the secret" brought this upon myself by singing those damn lyrics all day.
So what are we to focus on today. Noah needs to focus on bow placement, as in contact point.
What else?
Well in past lessons it was the problem of holding the violin with the finger hand. A problem I had. But that wasn't such a big deal this time around. What was it? I guess that's why you bring the damn notebook to the lesson. Except I lost it.
Well we are working on "Oh Come Little Children" and I have to make sure he starts with an up bow, and do the up bow drill which is just part of the "Oh come Little children" song.
Oh yeah the fingers are slipping so sometimes the notes are out of tune. Of course if I mention this to Noah then 15 minutes of practice (that's all I expect, let's be realistic) will become 3 hours of arguing. We'll see.
Well this is Kung Fu Dad so what does this have to do with Kung Fu.
Well it doesn't matter how many songs you know. You still have to have the core basics down. The bow has to go on the string the right way to make a nice sound come out. The fingers have the hit where you want them to hit to make the note the note that you want.
Likewise, it doesn't matter how many forms or techniques you know. If you can't even get into a good stance (not a low stance but a good one.) or if you can't even make the motion of the punch whatever technique it is then your form is crap. Just going through the motions is pointless. And going through it sort of okay is equivalent to scratching out something fast nasty out of tune and tempo all over the place perhaps even rushing and we haven't gotten to soul and feeling yet.
Noah spent a lot of time at the lesson trying to balance one leg. Don't Blame ME! I didn't tell him to do that.
Anyway, that's the equivalent of fancy moves. A fancy move done badly is crap. But if you can play really well and dance on one leg. Now then that's pretty cool. So fancy moves are good, if they are good. Hmmm sounds redundant.
I have a couple fancy moves which I am pretty crap at. But I still do them anyway, because they are in the form. As long as I don't hurt myself.
Mommy got the Costco keyboard that will function as our family's piano. Who will play said piano? I suppose it will be Jonah eventually. But right now I will only let him play it while supervised. It's a key board after all, not a real piano, so I think it is easier to break. No banging on it! I mean, I didn't think he would be able to break my dulcimer sticks. I mean you would have to purposefully snap the heads off. So I will be watching him very carefully even if he is just fooling around.
Mostly while I set up the key board the kids played with the Styrofoam and the cardboard box. It turns out, Noah can punch through the styrofoam and Jonah cannot. Surprise? Not really. But it got me rethinking my position on breaking boards. In a way you don't need that. But in another way, besides building confidence, which is what most martial arts schools use it for, or conditioning your hands (which can be done on a tree or a punching bag or the ground, without breaking anything) it is kind of a test. I mean I can tell Jonah's punches aren't that great. But when you say that you just piss off the child and also he thinks you are lying. So the board, wooden or styrofoam, is more of a test not for the teacher, but for the student.
"You see, you can't break the board so your punch isn't strong enough."
Anyway, the boxes became ships which we raced on, and then we went to the piano once it was set up.
It got me thinking.
I have been trying to rewrite some Irish songs with Lyrics about Chinatown. Noah's learning violin. We know the lyrics to the Wong Fei Hung song as well as the "Best in the world" song in Hokien, maybe we should start a band. The Chinatown Cheungs. Or maybe we should drop the "e" since it confuses people. The Chinatown Chungs. Or maybe it should still be Kung Fu dad and sons for now. I mean we're already going around performing right?
Well today I'm off to the Clean Up Chinatown meeting. I guess I'll blog about that on my other more Journalistic blog. A couple of people have said I should just do it all on one blog and just hammer "Kung Fu Dad" as a brand name over and over. But I'm hoping some other people might contribute to the Chinatown Blog too.
We'll see.
Better bring my nicer camera instead of the Go Pro. Maybe I'll run into some people to interview.
"What is Columbus day?" Noah asked me yesterday.
In 1492 Columbus sailed the ocean blue (from Spain, and Isabella kicked out all the Muslims and the Jews, and probably killed a bunch too.) What do you tell a kid now that you know a little but more than the cartoon metanarrative?
"Well there was this guy Columbus, he was a Genoan, which is a city in Italy. But Italy wasn't realy a country then. And he sailed from Spain, for Spain and landed in Hispanola, which is like the Island where the Dominican Republic and Haiti are now... I think. He thought he was in India saw that's why we call Native Americans Indians. He wanted gold and killed a bunch of people and was the first of a lot of Europeans who started Colonizing this part of the world. But since he killed a lot of people a lot of people don't like him. In fact I think most Hispanics just celebrate Dia de La Raza."
I didn't get to explain Dia de La Raza though.
"And then what happened?" Noah asks.
I look around, at the streets and the buildings and how America is basically a European country, even now.
"Everything you've ever seen around you in your 6 years is what happened. The reason why England set up Colonies up here is because Spain set up Colonies down there. The whole reason why we have a United States of America or why Mexicans and Central Americans speak Spanish. or-" and then we crossed the street and the conversation turned to other things. Possibly arguing about having dropped a stick that was special and is now lost forever.
So what are we going to do today on Columbus day/Dia de La Raza?
So far Dai Dai is throwing blocks at Noah who is to stand there with his plastic plate shield and block.
Blocking blocks. They wanted to do this with the wooden ones but I suggested they use foam.
Other than that? we might bike over to the tot lot. I'll try to find my phone which is lost and ran out of batteries so I can't call it. And I guess before biking, I need to find Dai Dai's helmet. Oh yeah Laundry and setting up a piano, and maybe we'll sing some songs.
I used to write for the Chinatown blog. It actually wasn't my blog but I submitted a lot of content. After I had kids I stopped and the owner of the blog also got too busy with other stuff. For a while people would still talk to me about it when they met me. "Oh I think I know you from the Chinatown blog." etc.
With Kung Fu Dad I blog a lot about personal stuff and I've been trying to make it more about Chinatown too. But Grace made me realize that maybe I should have a blog specifically for Chinatown that was more journalistic. And I could still do all my really opinionated stuff on Kung Fu Dad. But Kung Fu dad shouldn't be where my journalistic stuff was.
So I'm doing it.
When I was a kid people saw me as someone who was not a follower. Not someone they had to worry about joining a gang. But I realize that for a while I have just been doing whatever other people told me. And Grace's suggestions are usually the best ones.
Basically the blog's goal will simply be to hold up a mirror to Chinatown. The good, the bad, the controversial, all of it.
I don't want just, "Woah is the community." But also the whores and the druggies and the condos and all of it. I want to talk to people who live in Chinatown, who own businesses in Chinatown, who work in Chinatown, and also the people who are the "gentrifiers" What do they think?
And you know what else? I want to go to Southie and ask some of those locals what THEY think about Chinatown. There's stuff you can't print in a newspaper. But this blog isn't to take sides. That's what Kung Fu Dad is for.
So I guess I should try to talk to developers too. Everyone. But of course at first it's going to be mostly people from Chinatown or part of the community in some way.
On October 10th
Luckily being a Saturday
Late we rushed to Chinatown,
Shao Biking
I, runnning
The Parade had started.
Hung Ching passed by
and we looked like part of the audience.
Then out with our Kung Fu uniforms and heads.
The Policeman was surprised.
A musket fired and he was even more so.
Shao jumped off his bike and Woo Ching came up.
We joined the parade.
Noah lion danced like a champ.
With stance and Kung Fu skill.
Next to the big head,
A giant of a man with a child's face,
Sup yut.
The large adult head looked like a child's head on him.
You only knew how big it was because liitle Shao was next to him.
Noah Moh Seed.
I pulled his bike.
Except when he rode it.
And I jumped on drum.
His Face shone so brightly,
a true son of Taiwan
That the rapid fire pictures clicked faster
on his face than they had
on his lion head.
And in the head his power and energy showed so well.
But like a fool I forgot my Camera and my Go pro.
Arriving at Boston City Hall. They handed out bags.
In the bags by Wing Kai To
was reading of Double Ten
But I refused the bags Because I didn't know.
I thought it was just a bag.
(I need to get an extra copy of that Pamphlet.)
Noah performed and we went off
and back to Chinatown,
(following Wah Lum's Dragon)
Then skooting ahead we got Baos
at Hing Sing for lunch.
at Moh GoonShao Retired
until his Mommy got him.
I stayed for a Lion Dance at a wedding.
"Weren't you at the Taiwan thing in Chinatown today?"
says the Best Man.
We were.
But Giant Sup Yut
Had thrown up in the car
so cymbals for him this time.
And me in the head.
And bowing and giving and lettuce and tangerines
and we were back to Chinatown
and then back home for me.
"Where have you been!" yelled Dai Dai
"You have to read me stories right now!"
And so I did.
Until I could read no more and we all fell asleep.
"I need my shield." Whined shao, naked except for a towel. Refusing to get dressed after his bath until he found the plastic plate with Mommy's hair band (aka the warrior band) that he had dubbed his shield.
"I'll find it Shao!" said Dai Dai.
And hour later, during story time and lights out, Shoa was still refusing.
"Look, we have to sleep now. It's somewhere here. We'll find it tomorrow. If not, it's a plastic plate. We'll make another one.
I drugged them, and myself with melatonin and we went to sleep.
(a pharmacist told me I need to cycle this natural remedy. We did on the weekend. It was not fun. But perhaps it did work better after not having taken it for a few days.)
Then in the morning. early morning, before sunrise, Shao awoke.
"I'm all wet. I don't know why because I didn't pee the bed."
"Actually, you did and my shirt is all wet too."
"Baba! you have to wash me right now! It's all your fault because you didn't take me to the bathroooom!"
"Dude don't yell at me because you wet the bed."
Anyway, Grace washed Noah and he huddled up into a ball in his towel. Dai Dai stayed asleep until sunrise when he started frantically galloping around.
"Go Pee!" said Mommy.
"No! I have to find Shao's shield!"
"Baba! Get Dai Dai, he's trying to find Shaos shielf without taking care of his own needs... just like you."
I tackled him and brought him over to the toilet. I had some adult conversation with Grace which we are not allowed to do at night. "Shhhh Stop talking right now" Dai Dai will say, "I can't sleep because you are talking."
Then Lo and behold. Dai Dai DID find Shao's shield!
Like some relic found on a quest, a piece of the true cross, or excalibur, it was played with... and then cast aside.
But I did get to see some brotherly love reciprocated. Running to school Dai Dai tripped. It was actually not Shao's fault this time. I walked on, because he can get up himself.
But he wouldn't without Shao's help. Not so much physical help and talking him through it.
"Okay no move to a squat position." Noah directed as Jonah followed instructions as if this is what he requeired, "And now slowly get up."
And Dai Dai did. Then they ran to school together.
It was nice to have the brotherly love this morning instead of sibling rivalry for a change.
Monday morning (October 5) on the way to school I saw a giant rabbit. For regular people a rabbit is a cool thing to see. For me, I take it as a sign. My mother always gave me stiffed rabbits when I was little. In fact my favorite "teddy bear" was a rabbit named Peter. I also watched them at the house in Philly. (real ones) and my mother had a rabbit as a pet when she was a little girl which (her cousin, while taking care of it, decided to cook and eat it.)
Anyway, I take a rabbit a a sign whenever I see it, that whatever I was trying to do or whatever, that my Mother is with me.
I tried to think of what it was that my mother could be with me about.
The day before (Sunday) Grace suggested opening a drug rehab center.
Even if I fail, it would be a valued life experience. And I would think that my Mother would want me to do this for other reasons as well.
Someone had also joked to me that I should run for CCBA president. Those nightly banquets would keep me away from my children and they are still young. But I should find a way to do something for Chinatown. I am blogging and have decided to submit columns to Sampan. But maybe it is also time to get my feet wet with some other stuff too, as long as it takes place during school hours and I can get back in time to pick up my kids.
I have ideas for Chinatown ten years in the making. And more important than that, there are a million ideas that I don't have that 20 somethings and high school kids, and older people that don't usually get involved in Chinatown have. And I believe I could tap into that by being a bridge between Chinatown Insiders and Chinatown Outsiders.
Later on that night, I learned that Tony Yee passed away. I will take that as a reminder that whatever you want to do, you better not put it off because you might run out of time.
So these silly thoughts or ideas are things I better act on.
There was one more idea that the rabbit could have meant. I am working on a Chapter of Kung Fu and Cooking. It was going in the wrong direction. I think I should fit Rabbits and Mooncakes and Mochi's into it.
I guess the last one is the easiest to act on. I can do it right now... but I'll let it simmer a bit in my subconscious.
I brought my Go Pro into Chinatown to take some pictures of stuff.
I revisited the Gallery at the CCBA conference room. Basically I'm realy bad at taking pcitures with this Go Pro. I should have brought the other camera. The Eagle I would buy if I had the dough is still there. The Gallery has work from 20 artists. If you want to buy stuff you have to talk to the artist though. The idea of the gallery is not to sell stuff. I talked to an old woman who was the artist who did most of the flowers. She was impressed by my Cantonese.
These Photos are by George Moy. My little ink painting that was destroyed was based on one of his photos. My photos are crappy. Go and check out this stuff yourself. The gallery is an annual event. If you are one of the rich people living in Chinatown. Go in and try to buy something or ask for the Artists info.
Buy = Mai. Just pull out some cash and point to the painting and they will get someone who speaks English. You will be confused and discouraged but the experience will help you to bond with the Chinatown experience. Plus if you buy something you will be supporting local artists.
The female artist who painted the Chinese Flowers also did these Western Style flowers.
Western= Sai Yerng.
I think.
I started talking with more people as they came in and of course I have to quickly do my elevator pitch of why I even exist.
I'm half Chinese. My Father is Chinese not my mother. I learned Chinese from Kwong Kow Chinese School and TVB. I take care of my kids and I write and try to sell books now. I also teach Kung Fu. I'm associated with the school upstairs, Woo Ching White Crane. But I don't exactly teach there anymore.
The Conversation became deeper, about how much potential I had as someone who was white and bilingual and who spoke Chinese. I could learn Mandarin and move to Beijing and do business.
Ironically my Chinese was not good enough to understand everything that was said. Plus, look at me I have no income! I edged away and tried to cover the Safety Committee meeting happening next door, but the door was shut. I talked to some people about it. A new restaurant is opening up where Cafe Lulu's was. Eastern.. ah I forget. That's too bad because I knew the owner of Cafe Lulu's.
Also there were a bunch of assaults. The usual in Chinatown. Perhaps I should go to the next meeting and.. I don't know try to DO something about that as Kung Fu Dad.
Here is the new Park by Little Panda and the old Unitarian Church building by Mass Pike. It's coming along. You can use the Playground already.
I rode my bike back and saw this guy who does a nomadic bike shop in Roxbury, right behind the big Police Station by Ruggles. I though it was cool so I asked if I could take a picture.
Actually it's called MELS Mobie Bicycle Shop.
melsbikeshop.co 617-980-1326
He does the morning and the afternoon commute I guess. He fills tires with air for free.
This part of Roxbury, by the way, is unrecognizable. It is actually part of Northeastern's campus and the huge Police Station is there. I can't believe I used to go to school here.
