Kung Fu Castles

Today we went to a Castle, and walking through the halls I felt very Kung Fu-ish for some reason. In that I wanted to do Kung Fu in a smaller space.

Now some people would then say, "Oh then you should do Win Chun." Well what I end up doing is my own Kung Fu but just focus on the shorter techniques and shortening the longer ones. It got me thinking about how important it is to adapt to your surroundings. So you should never be saying that you don't have enough space or an improper practice space. Of course if I had money... I would probably build myself a freaking Castle like this Mercer guy did (more to come on that later) or maybe a large Condo or something that makes money... but since I do not have that sort of money... what's wrong with my house and the sidewalk?
 I mean the park is actually the best. But I feel like the reason those shorter styles developed was to adapt to the environment. I mean there is a sword style that is meant to be practiced under a table.

Maybe I should start working on these fun aspects of the Martial Arts with adults and not just Noah. It's just that they can't be performed, or don't look good when performed. But who cares?

Practical Reasons Naked Kung Fu

I've heard of people doing Naked Yoga. I actually often do Kung Fu without clothes on for several reasons... and they are going to seem really bizarre but they actually make sense.

The first reason is actually to dry off after a shower, especially if it is cold and there is nobody to hand you a towel.. or not quickly enough.

There is actually a white crane technique that my Sifu had encouraged us to try after a shower, to, like a crane (though more likely you've seen a dog do this) try to shake dry. That power of shaking dry and be used to produce power to strike or to create space when  some one is trying to grab you. Again, it also warms you up, sort of like over exaggerated shivering on purpose.

The Fukienese White Crane does this a lot. I enjoyed doing these shorter technques in the bathroom because I knew that pows and cups might mean I would hit the wall or pump into something.

Another reason to practice naked is a form of laziness. If you get clothing all sweaty, then you will have to wash that clothing. If you just get all sweaty and then towel off then you save resources washing clothes.

I know these are not the answers one expected with this title... but that is the point.

This second reason is not usually an issue.. but since we are traveling, I sport of had a limited supply of clothing and ended up doing some basics in front of the mirror naked.

But part of it was to observe my body. I had felt like I was getting heavier and weighed myself. I am about 185, which according to doctors would be overweight. 175 was my high school weight. Most doctors would say i could go down to 165 or even 160 for my height.

I did notice some chunk so I wanted to see what I looked like doing basics.


When doing basics, you don't exactly suck your stomach in the way people trying to look thinner do. But you do flex and the visual look is similar.

Anyway I used to prefer teaching people with their shirt tucked in because there is aspects of the posture and alignment that is difficult to see.

Practicing naked I noticed details in positioning of my thighs and calves that I wouldn't have looked at before. Even though i don't practice Kung Fu that much I would still say you can definitely tell by the proportions of my body that it does Kung Fu and that it has adapted to do Kung Fu. I certainly don't look like a long distance runner or a swimmer.

I was just surprised because I had noticed that my stance seemed weaker recently or needed work (in fact I wrote about this) But looking in the mirror I'm just saying that despite being lax... it is still obvious that my body has done Kung Fu seriously for over a decade. Over two decades if you count my childhood playtime training.

I thought of the Romans and the Greeks doing sports naked. It's not really a Han tradition at all. But it would be interesting to take that approach to Kung Fu as well.

Noah Kung Fu King

Noah was walking down the streets of Brooklyn today in his little red Chinese Jacket that Grace bought him. He (or rather I) had forgotten to pack his jacket. Luckily unpacking I found a fall jacket tucked away in the car and as it turns out it is only 50 degrees. But for his moment strutting down the street like a combination of John Travolta in Saturday Night Fever, and Stephen Chow in... any movie where he wears a super Chinese Jacket unbuttoned Sik Sun (King of Chef's.. er eating?)  eating a lollipop in red and gold silk, it was worth it.

We got some video of us eating Yunnan noodles and we just got siu lap. Brooklyn's Chinatown is so full of energy and is less judgmental than Manhattan. My Jeans and a hoodie were not as out of place as I usually seem to be in New York. The outdoor markets seemed more fresh, more inviting.

I got Noah to do the next Sup Ji move for the 100 day Kung Fu Challange, right there on the street. That got some smiles.  BTW the streets are a lot wider so it doesn't feel like you are going to lose your children.

It was a lot of fun! Videos to come.

The Contract

A lot of brothers fight. It's natural I hear. I wouldn't know because I am an only child. But Noah and Jonah have an added aspect to their relationship which perhaps presents a conflict of interest. You see, Jonah is actually Noah's lawyer. What I mean by this is Noah cannot defend himself with words at all. But when Jonah is asked to defend him... for say stealing candy and eating it, he will ask questions like, "Well did you see him eat the candy actually?" And often will negotiate a lighter sentence for Noah.

But what if Noah's crime is against Jonah?

Noah hit Jonah and for punishment Mommy had wanted Noah to write out what he did. But he just wouldn't do it. So Jonah wrote up a contract for Noah.

It read something like, "I will not hit Dai Dai. I will stop hitting Dai Dai. If I don't stop hitting dai dai I will not get any test. And I will stop being angry." Their followed several marking that looked like "g"s but apparently were actually "o"s and were there simply to demonstrate to Noah how to write an "o" properly.

Then there was a line where Noah had to sign his name... which he did trusting fully in Jonah's ethics.

I'm just saying brothers fight and that is normal. But I think this is not, and also extremely hilarious, which is why I feel compelled to write it down before I forget.

Kung Fu 100 day Magis Challenge

The above Video is day 3 but I will put day one and day two below  as well.

I am drawing from the 100 day transformation...which would be more about a work out.. a serious one at that. Following along with these videos is not that much of a work out. I suppose Day Three is the closest thing to what a physical transformation would be like. You do those basics, 100 each, for 100 days, so 800 basics (because you have to do the walking) and at the end you should have a sufficient base to start doing Kung Fu. But Day 4 is actually going to be new techniques. So this 100 days is more mental At the end you will have learned all the techniques of a form and possibly be able to do that form. I also show who each small section of the form can be used like a basic training technique or a style of fighting on it's own. It would be fun to know if anyone actually manages to learn the form from this video. And perhaps to see them perform these exercises as well. I guess you can tag a friend that always wanted to learn Kung Fu but never had the time or something and then show yourself doing the exercises and if you can, at the end, do the whole form.  Most people tell me it's basically impossible to learn Kung Fu this way. But I think learning basic moves a piece at a time, shouldn't be to hard.  

On Wushu Dance

Well I am learning this form online  to teach to little kids.

At first I actually injured my arm because I tried to put power into the moves.


Here is my anti-Wushu rant. But also a traditional form which I adapted to be used in a similar way. ie. The kids can follow along and not move their feet. I guess this would be useful for adults too who like doing a bunch of techniques but don't have the space. I actually started practicing like this when I broke my foot. I still want to practice techniques from the forms but I wasn't really mobile. I could walk but  not much. But back then I wasn't doing it for performance so I freestyled it. I remember doing Luk Lik stuff an developing new ways to do them. My Sifu commented that I had broken through my understanding of the Tiger Crane double set. In our style the Tiger and the Crane become one animal. And there is another hidden animal in there as well. You won't see that break through in the video below. This is a rant that is defending why I teach children the way I do... but writing about it just reminded me.

The point is, that breakthrough in understanding partially came about due to breaking my foot. My arm is slightly injured now... but as you can see I can still do regular Kung Fu in this video no problem. I realized if I don't use any power at all.. like Linghu Chung, and forget all my Kung Fu and just put the random techniques forced upon me in the video by putting my hands down first and treating them as what they are, separated random techniques, and using the duqu gau geem technique of Fong ching Yerng, a la "Proud Smiling Wanderer" (Siu ngo Gong Wu) then I can memorize this form and just do it. 

Violin Lessons

Part of this video really shows the problem of the traffic around Forrest Hills T station. I had to turn off the camera to cross because it was so dangerous. But yeah, if there is something that politicians should really be pushing to fix with all their efforts, it should be this. Grace actually Tweeterd to Matt O'Malley about it and some aide ended up telling her to call the construction company.

You know what? that's actually the job of the politicians, to put pressure to make their district better. Not going around ribbon cutting or putting up cigarette butt dispensers in JP, where frankly I haven't noticed the cigarette butts to be much of a problem. 

I am going to start documenting what I can of my children's life more. Mostly because I actually find a lot of what they do entertaining. More so than when they do Kung Fu. The stuff that they do that normally would be edited out is actually the stuff that is funniest. Come to think of it. Today they were late for school. But getting the whole process down of why they were late is pretty funny. I mean I have the Go Pro. Why not use it?

Also, this other stuff that is relevant to the community comes up. Like traffic problems... and also, where you can go to get violin lessons. Her web site is here. 

Here is Noah's part of the lesson. 

The Jau fau yup mau of modernization

You know we tend to think that if the majority of people start going in one direction that there must be something right about that and to not follow would mean to be left behind. To fall behind the times.

I tend not to do that but the one time I really tried I have injured myself.


I do traditional Kung Fu. Yes I started off with Wushu... but in order to teach some kids I tried to learn this performance set online. It's a form made for kids. It's dumbed down as it were. It's supposed to be easy. The problem is the moves don't flow together.  A kid will get up there and just flail his and her arms out and hyper extend and end up fine, more or less, because of their rubbery constitution.

But if I get up there there has to be some sort of power behind the moves, otherwise what is the point of me doing it.

Tried to do the whole duk gu Gau heem thing of any technique should work... but you know what? They managed somehow to put perfectly good techniques together in a timed sequence to music that makes absolutely no sense. I Tried to make sense of them and the power and the foot work and the result is I pulled something in my elbow.

I remember my father always having to crack his elbow while reading his newspaper. An occupational hazard of restaurant work or something. Now I'm going to have that problem except it was because I tried to modernize my teaching methods.

Shoot the thing is, My wheels on the bus Kung Fu might look really silly and sound childish. But I could totally use all those techniques in a streetfight in that order. exactly as I do them in the form. In fact they are more practical in the way I teach them than some of the traditional forms because they are more raw. But Now if I ever had to do that it would have to be with one hand because I hurt my elbow trying to learn chidren's Kung Fu off of Youtube. Fantastic.

Look. Just because everyone is eating McDonald's doesn't mean it's better.  

I think it's important that I tried. But now that I have managed to injure myself, I think it's important that I stop.

Rooster Eagle Phoenix Firebird dance

I resumed making this eagle I had started over the summer. And when I found out that the coming year is going to be the year of the rooster I was tempted to  turn it that way. But I realized I could only use a rooster for this Chinese New Year. But I could use an eagle for many things. But if the Eagle was a fire eagle.... people would interpret it as a rooster anyway.

Part of the idea was converting all of the Kung Fu to dance like movements that were a) simple b) possible to be practiced internally. In fact this morning when I woke up and started doing exercises with metal swrods and Noah was with me, I switched over to Tai Chi slowness with Lion Heads. After all those ar ethe muscles Noah really has to develop.


And then I was thinking about swords and how they are cool... but imply violence and remembered my Eagle costume idea. The swords would be wings, and vice versa.

I made a Dragon that works like a Spear and a Dragon that works like a Dai Do or Ax and the swords can also get the Chuen Pow Cup Motions in there.

In my mind they were always for children and beginners. And intro to Kung Fu. Or a way to perform without necessarily performing something inherently violent.

Recently I have been teaching the fighting forms more openly and I'm not sure that this stuff I made up is necessarily easier though. Especially since kids tend to be real rough with the creations and I would rather they be rough like that with something I did not spend days to make.

Opening

I am teaching a bunch of students the opening.

So I thought I would reshare this.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-2Of7jcVlRU


But I think I should make a new video with the go pro

Vision of a Kung Fu School

People often ask me, actually students of mine often ask me, if I will one day open a Kung Fu school. This post is not to rant or complain about how difficult that is, but rather to live in a fantasy and describe what my vision for a Kung Fu school would actually be. There are many reasons why even if I hit the lottery, this would not be the best way to go about doing this. I am only writing about what I thought of doing since I lived in a Kung Fu school and how mine would look like.


1) The House.

Bam! you have a big house. There is space to Kung Fu and the basement has mats and you can throw each other around etc. It is structurally sound. The yard is big. Maybe there is stuff to hit. Punching bags or tires or whatever. Truth is, that doesn't really matter. For my Kung Fu you actually don't need equipment at all except drums Lion heads, sticks and swords, which all cost way less than a house and in truth, all of this can be adapted. In terms of Kung Fu I can teach outside in the park. The house is more of a center of operation.

2) The core group.

The house has to make money. One way would be membership fees. I was thinking $100-$300 a month. Which is high.... but you could sleep in the house. So this would be a commitment to a Shaolin-esque lifestyle. And part of the requirement would be that even if you are some sort of billionaire... you would have to get a job and pay for tuition with that job. Or I should say income. If you are able to create your own job then you have to teach the others how or whatever. The point is, it's not like this is college. I would want the students to both practice Kung Fu and continue their career or whatever. The way they fit it in is they are living in a school. No way they can't fit in 1-3 hours a day easily, of some sort of training. The schedule would not be rigid, as I would expect to have different types of career choices. In fact I would want that. Some people with a 9-5. But some people working graveyard shift.


So it would almost be like the Ninja turtles or whatever that just like a lot of Lion Dance clients expect, at any given moment you have a whole team  (a small team) of hardcore performers that could do a lion dance no matter how awkward the time. Drums can be practiced quietly on pads. Kung Fu doesn't have to be loud. So soundproof walls is cool, but not necessary. Nobody would get their own room. This would be hardcore sleeping on the floor type of living. I would only expect a person to sign up for this one or two years tops. Maybe five. Then they would move on with their life.

3) Outside students

These group of hardcore students could teach classes in the surrounding community. Preferably for pay, but if they wanted to volunteer, whatever. We could also offer classes for a nominal fee to the typical Kung Fu student type that goes to work and then comes in for a lesson. These classes could be affordable. I won't say free because if they really can't afford a nominal fee, then they should use their time to find work instead of learning Kung Fu.  Maybe there is free Tai Chi for the elderly or something.. but again that could be in the park nearby or whatever. Anyway, this is the normal school. Perhaps what would be best is to charge normal rates but to have promotional classes now and again.


4) School and after school

The house could also have a school. Like a summer camp or day care. That would have to be done by the book of course. Perhaps teachers get free Kung Fu lessons, or are required to learn Kung Fu.

And then you have after school. This stuff would make the most money. Because of all this going on, the core members would be few and a very specific type of person that would be willing to pay to basically be teaching all the time 24/7 But the idea would be that that would be a phase to move through in life.


5) Replication

Then similar houses could be established in all cities and locations that are cool. So that members could travel all over the world staying at these houses. Secret codes would be employed.

6)Shoot for the stars
What would be really and truly bad ass would be if core members found real ways to make money, like Founding Google or Facebook, or even smaller businesses, and then a small space on the campus or Hotel or whatever it is you own is set aside as a Kung Fu School.

7) Back to earth

Even before the internet, you could totally have this network of Kung Fu schools without owning anything, simply by using parks and community spaces. So it isn't the money. It is the people interested in learning.

And technically couldn't everyone learn from a website? From Youtube videos? I mean especially the really simple stuff? I have put out videos for free. Nobody watched them hardly... but they are out there. Th thing is there are a ton of such videos out there. But anyway, if you people wanted to learn my Kung Fu, they could totally start with that. And then they could come to me, or any master or any mentor and pick up a little. It's not the same... but this shows that what you pay for in a school is not the Kung Fu itself. I have heard of people hurting themselves learning Kung Fu alone... but people hurt themselves at schools where they pay too.

So really what you pay for in a school is not so much the instruction (unless you actually want to be really good) I mean it is the instruction but it is the social aspect of the instruction. After all if it was really about fighting, you would simply join the military. They have said structure and more, especially in the United States, the most powerful military in the world.


If it is just about health, then you can go for walks and eat right.

If it is just about spirituality you can just meditate.



I'm not trying to be self defeatist. I'm just saying yes I have a vision for a school. But also I have a vision for a "school" in the old sense of the word, like a school of thought that does not necessarily require brick and mortar. But Brick and mortar would be cool. In Boston. that coolness costs some serious $$$$.

Horse stance outside

I usually think of "outside" practice and "inside" practice. Usually these terms refer to the secrecy of the arts you are practicing. That is not what I'm talking about. i don't have a gym per se so there are things you can do outside (running, jumping,  stick swinging, full on forms) that you may not want to do in the playroom that used to be a living room and is therefore structurally unsound.


Of course when I teach children we end up doing a lot of "outside" inside but slowly and carefully. There is also the problem of bringing your swords and sticks outside and what people may think of that. So I often do the swords inside, again slowly and carefully.

But push ups, basics, and standing still in horse stance are all good for inside. But today, due to fatigue, or a sense that my structure needs to be tended to in order to prevent injury when I do the more complicated forms, standing still in horse stance and even standing basics was part of my outdoor routine. Not only this, but I really felt like I was tired and could not do everything I set out to do. I mean I could have pushed it...but I am going to opt for practicing more often, maybe throughout the day, instead of trying to push it all in one go, possibly injuring myself.

Also, whenever I do basics in the house, and start sweating, Grace will complain.

It feels good to do some simple horse stance and Kung Fu outside, in the sun, with the eagles and Hawks flying over head. Even if I only get to a few of them.  And in a way that's all you need. Yes of course I danced around and did complicated forms and Tai Chi and walked around the pond as well.

But as I did the basic stuff I realized that even if I'm not going to make the kids do 2 hours of horse stance...and even if I introduce a lot of material to make it more fun... there needs to be at least part of the class that is just horse stance.. and correct them on that somewhat strictly.

and then those standing basics, even if you only do a few, have to do it and correct them. And then everything esle, whatever they can do. You open up a path for students, and encourage them to take it, coaxing them with stories and entertainment. But you still have to introduce the idea of the hard practice, even if you can't force them to do it.

The Force and the Eightfold Path: Speech Action Thought

I was thinking today that I am going to start focusing more on the eight fold path. But instead of focusing on "right speech" and "right thought" I think I am just going to be mindful of speech, thought, action, intention, practice, livelihood, view, concentration... hold on let me check what they are again.

Well I think I really think of speech, thought, action. So my eightfold path is a trinity. Which is convenient because I am more Christian culturally. Another Buddhist Trinity I like is Past, Present and Future.


And then I like to think of things in terms of the Physical and the Spiritual.

So here is my Eight fold path, or Eight things to think about.

Speech, Thought, Action.

Past, Present, Future

Spirit and Body.


Now I'm going with being mindful about these things instead of being "right." First of all, I guess I don't always know what is right and it is not necessarily how I make decisions. Whether something is right.

I don't feel like it is a sin to do something "wrong."  But to even have thoughts that are hyped up and frothing at the mouth. Like massive amounts of anger or even joy... insanity... I won;t say insanity is a sin. But you have to have control or at least limits. If your thoughts are completely all over the place all of the time, your done.

And the same goes with speech and actions. Actually actions that are out of control can potentially get you locked up. And speech and get you in trouble or at least sued. That's our society's rules.

But what I am going for is to try and put effort even into speech and definitely action. Basically when i do something... to know what I am doing.

To do it right.

More than to do the right thing.


I was thinking about the Force and the Jedi thing, which though fictional, draws on Buddhism, and also Christianity. But I was thinking about how I don't think that the dark side is bad per se.
I mean in the movie yes. But actually you need a balance. The Dark side is another means of using the force. Ideally you would want to use the dark and the light side of the force. And to struggle and resist the dark side is actually making it stronger. Instead you need to just have it all flow evenly and use the one or the other depending on the situation but to take ownership of both.

F*CK with love

I've seen this tag from Chinatown to JP and was wondering what it meant. It occurred to me that if it was a revolutionary signal, it would be genius. I mean when you see it on the street, on the subway or on a wall in Chinatown, there is no * obviously it's just the word. So say you try to Google that phrase. What will come up? Probably porn or something. So it is a symbol? Does it mean something?


I've never really known much about graffiti art or Hop Hop or break dancing the way most people my age would no about it. I mean my friends did that while I did Kung Fu and got into Kung Fu or reading books. I really was a PBS type of kid hooked on British Dramas. But watching this new Netflix show, "The Get Down" I'm intrigued. Part of me is more sold on the show about those art forms than the art forms themselves... I guess I'm still learning. But I aim to learn all I can and try my hand at some things with my own approach. It seems like these art forms drew heavily from Kung Fu cinema and that ancient culture. I guess my plan is the inverse of that. Having been immersed in that type of antiquated thinking and philosophy, I plan to draw from some of the ideas created out of that.

But anyway, when I see a tag with a curse on it in my neighborhood.. how should I feel about that? I mean the tag itself does not look to me like the most spectacular piece of art. It isn't an ink painting even of the simplest form. It's not deep. I never had a problem when the kids were little and asking what words were. We watched Super Why and I would just say they were super letters, and I figured at that age if they could read the curse word, then more power to them. But now they read quite well and you would have to have lyrics and poetry on the wall for it to be deemed educational.

Doing Nothing

I can totally see why the old Buddhist monks philosophy was to do as little damage as possible by doing nothing. Yesterday I messed up a whole bunch of stuff, from my bike to my sons face. Where if I had just decided to sleep for 24 hours I would be further along than I am now. I tried to put my bike together but misunderstood the manual and now I am trying to just fix what I messed up and I am not even further along than I would have been and have learned nothing from the experience, i decided I needed to take a break in the park and took Noah with me to stick fight. It was fun. But then I started doing this thing where I push his stick away. Eventually, he sung his stick, I pushed his stick and his stick went into his face. Now he has a bruise under his eye.

Although it didn't bother him for long, the mark is still there.

And it's too close to the eye to put medicine on it. We did the boiled egg thing, but he didn't really feel like letting me put it on his face, nor did he really want to do it himself.

Since playing with sticks is really just recreational... this was a waste of time.

It sort of makes me wonder what else i shouldn't be doing. Maybe I should just meditate all day long instead of trying to do this and that and the other thing.

Instead so far today I wrote some short stories on my other blog which are Christmas themed. They are sure to enrage people ranging from the very religious to the atheistic because they can either be seen as pro or anti Christianity based on how you choose to read them.

I have a few other ideas for posts.... but I think I will let them simmer in my subconscious for a while.

Maybe I'll read a book instead and pretty soon, it will be time to pick up the children.

Marvel on Netflix

I've been binge watching Marvel series. Luke Cage, Jessica Jones, Daredevil.... Their so cool because their all talking about fairly small neighborhoods. Harlem and Hell's Kitchen.
I find myself identifying not only with the protagonists... but often with the Villains. Like Wilson Fiske. I mean, he is a little over the top... but he has his point. Cotton Mouth... you could see how they would have an argument for actually helping their neighborhood.

Like if I were the hero in that case, I would totally strike a deal and work with the villain, trying to find common ground on certain issues and moving forward on those, while agreeing to disagree about the other stuff.

I guess that's how real life works.


But that' snot that exciting, at least not in a comic book style way.

Morning Omens

This morning a rabbit was run over in front of our house. actually, I wouldn't be able to tell whether the rabbit got run over last night or what. But it's dead carcass was there in the street. For me, rabbits are a sign from my mother, so this would be a bad omen, superstitiously. I called 311 but the line was busy. I thought of eating the rabbit, but realized I could make a mess and probably spread bacteria all over the house.... I also wouldn't know how to skin it, but it occurred to me that that was the best way to honor it.

But it isn't what I did. Maybe the meat was sititng there too long too... actually probably not. I ended up burying it and as I scraped the carcass off the road I noticed that the meat looked fresher than any meat I had ever seen and that there was not a lot of it.

I buried and lit incense for it and got out a little mat and did meditation . I saw the image of a rabbit, only it was in a strange impressionistic form, except not with paint but real colors. I suppose you could create such a photographic Picasso like image nowadays quite easily. It was as if I saw the baby rabbit and the adult at the same time, it's whole life. I was aware that I looked like a freak meditating there on the front lawn near cards and people walking their dogs so I ended up opening my eyes and just waiting for the incense to burn out.

Hula Bruises and Chinatown adventures

This weekend Adriana Li brought over Hula Hoops for the kids to play with. This has ended up being one of the best toys introduced to them. They will totally Hula hoop and they are way better than me at this skill now. As I watched Jonah to 100 then 200 then 300 turns I wondered why they couldn't do Kung Fu like that. I later realized that there are things that are part of Kung Fu that they will do for quite some time. For instance, later on Noah and I stick fought stylistically at the Kung Fu school. It was with real sticks too. And the techniques he used were sound and varied. Maybe I should just start doing this again at the park or whatever. Technically it is even more realistic then the training I had lined up for him. Forms etc.


Also it's not like he wouldn't do the painful stuff either because he totally got down in horse stance, just doing horse stance during this class my old student was running.

He just doesn't want to do forms. So ... whatever, fine don't do them. I mean he ran through once during the class, and forgot a bunch, but whatever.

He can freestyle one no problem... so he can perform. Why do I need him to memorize the traditional ones?


They both have bruises from doing the hula so hard. But Jonah has enough control that he can actually avoid the bruised areas while hula-ing.

His record so far is 310.

I can do about 3.

Out Of Touch: Looking at the 2016 election historically in terms of technological advances.

Look back in history. Every time a new technology comes along pollsters and the media get surprised about candidates. for FDR's election they polled people... with telephones. Thing is not everyone that voted could afford a telephone.

Radio came out and then it was Radio and TV, where Nixon won the debate according to people who heard it on the radio, and Kennedy won according to people who watched it on television.

The new technology this time around was Twitter, You tube, Facebook... social media.

The fact that a lot of people get their news from these sources nowadays and not from the mainstream.

So now everyone is all surprised that this is a tight race.

If I, a blogger with limited resources am not surprised and the experts are, that is saying something about the experts. They are doing something wrong. But it always has been so. You expect the people in power to be better than normal people, to have all the answers. But the truth is, they are just regular people standing behind a position. And they might not know even what the normal person on the street (or nowadays on free social media) know.

Was this election different than past ones?

Yes and no.

It's not really the people that made it different but the use of a new technology this time around.

Halloween

I used to be all excited to try and do everything with the kids on Hallowee. I catually pulled them out of BCNC early with delusions of trick treating in JP and on Beacon Hill.
Then it was Dunster Road and the Library parade.

But this year less was more.

We went to the Connolly branch library, which had a band, fruit, chips, empanadas and other food as well if you were willing to wait in line. You could decorate a real pumpkin and get your face painted.

We did want to wait in line so we just had fruits and some snacks while listening to the band and then ducked out before it became too crowded and waited for the parade to start.

We didn't hit every store on the route because why collect candy you can't finish anyway?

We just walked along with friends dancing to the band. It was a lot like lion dance.

"How did it become Candy? What's the story of Halloween?" Noah asked me. I explained Samhain. The Celtic Holiday where the door to the other world was opened and spirits mixed with our world, some malevolent some good. You dress up so that the malevolent ones don't bother you.  

Bread and water was left out for friends and family visiting.

There was also supposedly some dance with a sheep's head, but whether that was actually Samhain or Beltane is unclear as far as I can tell and I'm no scholar.


The parade ended at Hyde Square Task force where there was music blasting from speakers powered by children turning bicycle gears and all sorts of games... none fo which we played really except to hang out.

Eventually we headed home hitting some stores and houses on the way,
The dentist office handed out toothbrushes, and Food Wall handed out Durian Candy and Fortune Cookies.

I love it.

In fact if everyone passed out something more specific to their business that would be awesome as far as I'm concerned.

The kids had a little candy, And by a little I mean way too much but less then 10% of what they collected.

 I passed out some candy. (Or pretzels rather.)

And we ate dinner.

Now we are chilling at home and the chips pretzels and extra candy is sitting outside for children.

Good enough. Way good enough. Did I get old?

I don't know, I just feel like walking for long periods of time and stressing yourself out is not all its cracked up to be.

But then... maybe when they are older  we will do more.

The Party of the mind at FFTG

Last week I got to sit in during a radio show, FFTG or Flows from the Gutter.
I was impressed, first of all, by Papa Mingo and Miss Marcie's skill at keeping the conversation going.
But from a Buddhist philosphy perspective I learned something. When you hear a party on the radio, or when you see a music video you have an idea of a wild time. There is that "Party" or that "Happening place"
that kind of only exists in the mind and is shown to you in the movies. I had this experience once before when we did a lion dance at the airport and there was professional lighting and red carpets out. I realized that when this was filmed it would look like a Lion Dance in Zeus's halls.
And in the end, the Halls of kings of the past, were not as great even as some of the office buildings that are kind of Blah today.

So that is the illusion, way of looking at it. The cynical feeling that there is no real party.

However, there is another way of looking at it, and that is that the party does indeed exist.
But that it exists in your mind and it is the power of the person that creates that creates that party, that super positive state of mind, through skill and a state of being. THAT is what I learned from the show but also from the guests, Chazz Shabazz promoting a new album(spelling) and the CEO Billionaire Dreams (Again spelling... I apologize for my ignorance.)

I want to point out again that I am writing this as someone who knows NOTHING about HIP HOP. I might as well be some old guy who is walking by the young people listening to rap or whatever. I usually listen to Irish Music and Chinese Music and then random world music. (The Lyrics for some of that folk music though is remarkably similar to many Hip Hop narratives)

It was people being interviewed around a table but the energy of the room made it the hottest party there is. Better than any Hollywood thing I could imagine. Some club packed with people is for the masses, but this was the place where the immortals gather, at least the local ones. Not to put down what you hear in the mainstream, but I prefer the local flavor. Now if anyone of them make it huge then that doesn't make them less per se, but just because they haven't made it huge, also does not make them less than what you hear on the radio.

So they talk and the energy is high and then they put on some tracks. Now this was the "Aha!" or "Ommm" moment for me, because the tracks were not played for everyone in the room, just those with the headphones on. So watching, I saw people bobbing their heads making the typical hand gestures, Chazz Shabazz going through his own lyrics, his art, as he listened. But I was watching all of this in silence.

This is why I felt that Buddhist comparison.

The Buddha never had to be in a Temple  or on a mountain top to be the Buddha. In fact the Bodhi tree was kind of on the side of the road somewhere, and the side of the road is also where one goes to relieve oneself or dumps a body or garbage.

But in that place, Buddha was still Buddha.

This room was much nicer than the side of the road, but what I saw was, these artists were great and this art and the party was the happening place, not because of the physical location of the radio show or what people were wearing or the chairs they were sitting in. Their Spirit made it it the place by pure energy and THOUGHT.

It was eye opening to say the least and I knew I had to write about it. It just felt weird trying to write about Hip Hop, something which I know very little about, but trying to convey what I experienced... frankly without having even heard the music yet. It makes me want to start going to all these concerts and buying the albums and supporting the local Boston artists, because I feel that even people who don't listen to hip hop, should take a chance and broaden their perspective, especially if it means supporting people from THEIR community, from THEIR City.

I hope to get more involved with this in the future.

Wu Tao Fortune Rap of the day

Two cups drop out before asking a question
It's already there without even learning a lesson
Sometimes things were just meant to be there
Whether it's right or wrong far or unfair

Rash warriors fighting for ideals
Don't make no sense
Just going how they feel

Wanting to create a situation of a stand off
Three swords piercing the heart
Limbs are cut off

Lo paus like the clothes
Brothers are like limbs
Clothes can be sewed
Sewn Bones is still broken.

One child can help
with the emtional imagination
One Child can hurt
working with occupation

All of it will end up
being mad foolish.
The Fool is next to the king
and has real power to do this.

Looking at Hip Hop through Kung Fu and Stoic Philosophy

I want to start by saying that I am not a rap fan per se. When I say that I mean I ma not your typical white or Chinese kids that bought album after album of rap music. What did I listen to? Soundtracks, Disney and others. Braveheart etc. Who did i try to emulate? Well let's put it like this, I might be Half Chinese but for all intents and purposes I was a white kid that grew up in the projects. Everyone else was Chinese, Black or Hispanic, and let's not pretend like everyone got along. You could say that we used all of our whiteness to survive. IE befriending police. Do you see what I'm saying.

Even for say, our black South African Neighbor, the guys in the video above were the faces of the enemy. For our neighbor this was further complicated because the Police also saw him as a danger. When we moved to another part of the projects drug dealers moved in. Our South African neighbor, who always, because of life experience, tended to stay out of everything. But he ended up helping the Police in a sting.. which is crazy. 

And then, another thing is that this is West Coast stuff. But friends listened to it. It's not like the music was foreign to me. But I didn't buy it. It was just there. The way Power rangers and Pokemon are there for my kids even though we've never watched it. 

So I heard this song exactly ONCE all the way through before I decided to write about it today. 

Who did I try to emulate as a kid? Well I watched this show called "Campion" on PBS as Hercule Poirot. And I guess the closest thing to gangsta-ness was Sharpe's Eagle. I had forgotten major characters to Kung Fu movies that my Dad had watched. I was emulating white characters and tried to move toward that. White people of the past that were in books. 

But when I got into a prep school, all these white kids researched and followed rap and hip hop. I'm not even going to pretend to have all the genres right like I understand.

The reason why I wrote this is to talk about the philosophy in here. And I think this song should be re-written for our generation. Especially with all the stuff happening with Black lives matter. Because there is something positive in what he is saying here, except that it is some what deviant... but that deviance comes more from society and less from the philosophy itself. 

Basically the "Gangsta" and really what you have to realize is that word is interchangeable with Warrior and Kung Fu practitioner. The thing we have forgotten just how depraved Achilles was. We talk about how people need to stop the violence but Politicians are pretty much required to study and to some degree worship Greeks who got into freaking boats and paddled for years just to go be Gangsta as well with Trojans. And don't forget that the Kung Fu past has all kinds of cults and movements in it that are brutal. 

So anyway, the warrior poet is focused on a goal. In this case the goal is sex with certain women. They act itself, or the gate of life that he is changing. Now when it is seen in modern philosophy this is seen as trashy or abusive. But in the ancient world?

Anyway, that is his goal which tends to be what the Shaolin Monk tries to avoid. But going back to hunter gatherer times when there was less people, I mean if we are tigers and lions, this is the goal because it is the continuation of the species or the tribe. 

But the warrior poet does avoid the "cheap tricks" so it isn't too clear why the one is the goal but the other is to avoided. 

But here is where Stoicism and Buddhism would actually come in. 

They are robbed and they get into street battles. But they do not let these circumstances or obstacles get to them. They deal with these issues and then return to the goal. Which again, in the modern world seems kind of low. 

But remember this has to sell. 

But watching this now, who would be riding and who would be pulling them over? What with all the black lives matter stuff. And what would be the goal? But that spirit of stoicism, like you were just belittled and perhaps even your friend or family killed while being pulled over, but then you get right back up and continue with your original goal..(again what is the goal? A degree? A house? A political position? I don't have an answer.)  That is why I think this song should be re-written for the modern era and with these things in mind.)

For Buddhism, I guess the idea is you fight, but then you let these experiences pass and change and don't let them bother you. 

There are other examples obviously. And I am starting to look more into today's local Hip Hop. For various reasons. Again I have a lot to learn, but there is something in these songs that I see as powerful, and not just because of the beat, or the sales of records. 

I'm not advocating the above lifestyle. Though I do like to point out that we tend to hold up similarly brutal and merciless heroes. Our Founding fathers owned slaves and fought some brutal wars. I doubt they would be shocked by the events in this pretend story.

Also, the popularity of these songs and re-engage a younger generation in a more positive way that isn't just BS.

Of course there are NEW songs that are incredible. Which I need to listen to and why don't I write about THEM and those artists. I will okay! I just need to educate myself. This first post is just to introduce myself as someone who is now going to listen to a ton of Hip Hop, but to explain that although I have heard the older songs, it was not so much by choice. 

In other words I'm not your typical fan.

Kung Fu Stoic Week

 A friend of mine wrote this post on his blog about Stoic Week. I vaguely know what it is, but only from reading his blog. I always tell myself I will look into it, but actually.. Joe Callahan why don't you break it down for us Lay people who aren't going to bother to Wikipedia it.

I know you probably wrote an old article about it, but how about one more time just for kicks.

Anyway, with regards to my practice, this sounds like a god idea. A week where I do exercises and maybe my students do exercises that we are supposed to do all the time anyway.

I guess that's my real question. What are the specific exercises.


I realize that for a martial artist, I am extremely chaotic and undisciplined. Not lazy. I practice every day. But the way I get it in is nuts.

I was talking to another Sifu, Mai Du, whose Warrior Spirit event is coming up soon in Malden. She mentioned that she meditates every day at a specific time.

This is something I do not do. I mean I go in and out of meditating every day etc. But the fact that she has a specific time that is a meditation time. I'm not saying this is better for her Kung Fu then what I do (though it may very well be better) But it is definitely apparent in other aspects of life.

For instance she has a successful school. I don't. But she started her own school in a similar situation as me, while taking care of kids at home. She still has a full time job, and is able to achieve all of these things.

I know because more than a decade ago a co worker was studying with her and mentioned the Malden School. I was teaching at Kwong Kow at that time.

Discipline may or may not be a factor in my Kung Fu. I think I'm all right in terms of Kung Fu itself. Of course I could be better.

But where I really see a problem is in having a school.

If I was more Stoic and disciplined about doing something every day in a rational manner I may have achieved something greater by now, instead of continuing to run around chasing a few students. Or maybe my books would have sold better. Or maybe my Blogs would be making money. I'm not sure. But I do see value in putting aside time to do exrecises. In Kung Fu, stoicism, writing, or working on your career.

Tai Chi Monsters

I was at the playground with the kid and I really wanted to do internal mein lei jum forms. (simiilar to Tai Chi. But the kids wanted to play "monsters."  And so I became the "Tai Chi Monster" that is to say, I did Tai chi at them and chased them... really slowly. Which of cousre means they always got away and loved it, and also I had to adapt my technique to the surroundings of the playground.

Sometimes I did lion dance moves but mostly they wanted Tai Chi monster.

These weekend I also made some creatures and I thought about how the Spear Dragon I made, a dragon head where the head is in the position that a spear would be, as well as the Dragon head that is on top of the stick like an ax, the way most dragons are, would be great for this game.

I mean basically you could do all these moves as a play dance. The problem is when you let kids do this by themselves they tend to just start hitting each other with the heads, which not only can hurt the other child, but will leave your paper mache in pieces.

I knew you could do this in a hard external way and also of course you could do it in an internal way. But really that is a whole art right there. Not saying you don't need Tai Chi forms or Kung Fu forms, but you could totally have a practice where the focus is just on these dance aspects and running around a playground.

Can't wait to make my eagle Creature, because that one will definitely focus on the White Crane like movements, chuen pow cup, in dance form.


Wu Tao Fortune Cookie freestyle of the day:

You have you own Kingdom
So close you can see it
You started building foundation
So close you can be it

But look at you wanting to wander
like a Ronin
Fiefdom to fiefdom
Causing mad trouble like Odin

You need to go down to the
pool of Mimir
Or Lao Tzu by himself
Taoist hermit with refer

Fighting's all bad for you
So is separation
Do some meditation
or you be paying reparation

You heading to illusion
The ocean at night
With under towing currents
Too strong for you to fight.

Wu Tao Advice

I'm going to start doing a daily Tarot reading. Wu Tao is how you say Taro (like the Potato in Chinese)

For fun I was thinking I would try to make it into a rap. Although I am not good at this, I figure if I do it everyday I will get better.

If you w ant me to do a Tarot reading for you, write in with your question:

Guidance:

You an entrepreneur
Frontin like a cop
Judgment on your side
Abandonment is not.

Blast from the past
your child hood
Memories

That be the
Ultimate outcome
Inevitably

Joyful eyes of fighting

I was teaching a married couple a secret Kung Fu fighting form. It is so secret and deadly that it can only be practiced at night behind closed doors. It can be performed anywhere, but the essence that is past down and which makes it powerful are trade secrets. In any case, being excited I suppose I was rather loud and their child woke up and decided to come downstairs to sit on the couch and watch. The little girl, who is a Ninja Turtles fan, watched as her normal everyday parents suddenly became magical Kung Fu warriors spinning around with weapons.

"Mommy and Daddy aren't really fighting honey, we are just pretending so neither of us are going to get hurt." said the mother when I mentioned the little girl's eyes widening after a sequence.

But they did not widen in fear.

They had widened in admiration as she saw her mother HAIII! and the clash of weapons and spinning n the living room created an atmosphere which enlivened the home more than any Kung Fu movie (especially the ones nowadays) were capable of doing.

The power (and danger) of Bruce Lee

I came up with a great way to entertain the kids in my class. I have a Bruce Lee routine that I teach them. There is a form that I do which is four basic moves with Bruce Lee stuff in between. But I also broke down the front and side kicks Bruce Lee style. It's great because instead of doing say, 20 kicks, I only do like three. First two are slow and the last one is a fast "Waaatahhh!!!!!"

It's mostly posing.

But I didn't notice the kids just couldn't stop. So I made a rule that there would bne no Lei siu long or watahhh if they didn't show me that they could stop and do breathing meditation and control their bodies.


But Lo and behold today I actually got a talking to. Turns out the parents have been complaining ever since I started the Bruce Lee sequences that their children have self radicalized into Bruce Lee monsters at home, watahhh-ing all over the house.

I am told from now on only to teach the Kung Fu as an exercise and no more li xiao long.


It is kind of funny because the Bruce Lee section is mostly poses where as say in the wheels on the Bus sequence we actually do eye gouges, throat strikes, groin grabs and what not. So in a way, it's the spirit and the feeling that is far more dangerous than moves themselves. I guess that was always true about Kung Fu. No sequence of moves can take over a country, but getting people frothing at the mouth and working together totally can.

Well, sorry Bruce Lee, gonna have to put you to the side again.

Apple Picking.... oops none left

We went apple picking but all the Apples were pciked already. So we just bought them from this farm stand. 

But at least we have some fall Pics right?

The morning workout

I see people running around the pond except for old ladies and then me. I walk. I go to a nice part of the beach (because the pond is so dry) and do my Mein Lei Jum Tai Chinj like moves and run through my forms.

It was after talking to a friend about how he had felt some really great results after starting Tai Chi that I have decided to start doing this more regularly. I even do my external forms slow and measured and not even a whole lot of tense power into it.

At some point I take a break and my mind wanders and my imagination flies.

I used to think of these flights of fancy as problems, lack of focus. But now I realize I am actually working out some problems in my mind. If anything the early morning exercise is more mental than physical.

Perhaps the movements do not even prepare my body for what an actual fight would entail.

I mean strikes and flexibility yes. But more than that, my body will be able to perform the forms if for some reason, randomly, I am called onto a stage to perform in front of people. For me, this happens more often then you would think.

I think about some Jiu Jitsu videos I watched with Noah and the chokes. I realize that to choke someone out (and then let them revive) is much more safe in terms of the law... but then if a knife is pulled during this encounter...much more dangerous. In the end it's not only good to know both ways to handle the situation... but a variety of other strategies to deal with it, many which do not involve martial arts at all.

But still the early morning Kung Fu is good for you.

The Placebo effect was featured on last Sunday's This Sunday Morning.

So even taking a pill when you know it is fake medicine can help you.

So the same should be true of an exercise that increases blood flow and is stretches and strengthens your limbs.

The elderly Tai Chi and Kung Fu routine is good for the body and soul.

I'm going to start doing it more often. And not worry about getting in hard practice as much.

Child's play: A Kung Fu class with Adriana Li

After the Double Ten Parade Noah and I went to the park with Adriana. Technically, this was Noah teaching Adriana some spinny stick moves.

Together, they decided to create a prep drill done with the hands. This is not something I showed Noah because he never needed it. He just picked up how to do the spinny stick move on his own from watching me. But not all student are the same. Right in front of me a new basic drill was born.  

You see... you can actually learn a lot from teaching. That is why I often have Noah teach classes. When you try to explain to a beginner how to do movements that already come as second nature to you, you will see the importance of self practice. 

Noah also showed Adriana a simple stick fighting game.

It's cool because it involves strikes, blocks, and jumps. 

But what I noticed more than anything is that Noah did Kung Fu with Adriana for a really long time. Usually when I am showing him something we will end up arguing. It shows me that to lead or be the leader in a situation, doesn;t necessarily mean you have to be the most knowledgeable about the art. Adriana was the adult, guiding the lesson. Noah was skilled person, the master, the Sifu, that actually knew the art. But he would not have been practicing on his own, if Adriana hadn't asked him to show her. So what ended up happening was that together they were able to practice Kung Fu. She learned... but he also learned or at least reviewed what he already knew, in a way that he would not do with me. This class that I witnessed was much better than my classes with him, because a) he had fun and b) he actually ran through quite a bit of material. The fact that Adriana is an expert at working with kids probably helped a great deal 

"Real" fights

I have been thinking, is it better to just get a bunch of people together doing Kung Fu that they watch in the movies? It's more confusing than a class. More chaotic than standing in lines. But are drills better? I think drills are better for getting a group to work together. It's like training an army. But for training individuals... what if you just watched You tube videos of Old Kung Fu movies... not even Kung Fu tutorials... but the movies or even Avatar episodes... and then do all that stuff on each other for hours... which kids will do.

Of course people will get hurt.


But people get hurt anyway. And believe it or not children will naturally pull punches. Most children anyway. And those that don't will usually get jumped... unless they are strong enough that they somehow end up as leader... that's how a tyrant is created.

But Since a lot of Kung Fu comes from watching animals. Let's go ahead and watch animals. They are pretty strong and they can be ruthless. Animals still know all about "real" fighting in a way that humans don't. Even humans in war. Because for animals... it is just life. They are still in the food chain. Just look at their life spans.

Anyway, do they get in lines? Geese around the pond fly in formation. So I guess that's the closest thing I can think of. But other than that, it's all play. Fun and games as it were... for training. There is no need to make it more "real."  Because real life is all around them.

Still waters

Falling blows upon my back
Blood eagle of the heart
My spirit is stolen right out of my lungs.

My hands they move my feet they step
What is this I see before me?

It is not a knife.

But the goddess of the East
my soul wrapped in forked tongue
framed in fanged teeth

The holy Nagas chanting sutras
in other realms fall in whispers on my chest.

Their voices are sad and forlorn
Singing a melody
like the Maiden plays on her dulcimer

A vision of beauty
with the moon at her breast
she is calm on the lake this still night.

But rushing forward to slake my thirst I break through,
Washing my face in reality.

The water, sweet on my throat
and tinted with the essence of the flowers
that fall into the stream a ways away.
can never hold or repair her image.

But a flowing river is beautiful
and still water is stagnant.

My take on "Birth of a Dragon"

I had read Linda Lee's and Bruce Lee's account of the Bruce Lee vs. Wong Jack Man fight and I believe it because basically I had similar experiences. So when Grace got all excited and said "Have you seen this new movie they made about Bruce Lee?" and I was like, "The Chinese one?" which is not that new, kin dof old. Tony Leung Ka Fei plays his father. And I thought it was weird that Grace was saying this because I saw the thing with her.

"No the American one."

I saw the trailer, and being a white-ish guy that does Kung Fu, maybe you would be surprised that my first reaction was, "Who the hell is this white guy?"

Then when Isaw what they turned the fight into at first I was like "What the hell?"

But then I thought... didn't I do exactly the same type of thing in my novels? Who cares? If that's what they want to do they can do that.

But the thing is... I feel like Kung Fu Panda 3 did it better, that's all.

What the fight ends up being is an artistic representation of the push and pull between modern martial arts, and the buddhist zen/cha'an philosophy of Shaolin Temple. Not necessarily traditional Shaolin Kung Fu, but you now Modern Shaolin Temple with the orange outfits and the music.

I mean it is basically and argument between two modern versions of Kung Fu, the one that looks to the past as a golden age, and the one that looks to the future.

It's Self Help vs. Buddhism

Individual learning versus the Sifu.

Again... Kung Fu Panda 3 did this better.

I guess it's cool. I guess I should still watch it. The guy playing Bruce Lee has some cool lines and gestures.

It's not as good as Bruce Lee's actual movies (although those are problematic too. Looking back, Way of the Dragon is pretty racist against black people in that scene where Jazz starts playing.)

I also feel like Bruce Lee certainly has become a modern God and people follow all of his advice, much of which is Buddhist stories.... but I feel like they forget that he died young. So when you talk about being inspiration to push as hard as you can... I mean you want to know that right? That the guy who is talking about no limitations died? I think it's important before starting your exercise regimen based on that.

I guess I am a total outlier in my view on Kung Fu in that I don't necessarily fit Bruce Lee's or the Modern Shaolin philosophy into my training.

I do take Bruce Lee's moves as entertainment for the children. Not to say that I think Bruce was a joke. I like his poses. They actually work as simple Chi Gung moves and blend nicely with some of teh White Crane forms (There is oral history that says he learned some White Crane in Singapore and that a lot of his invented Kung Fu is based on that.)

I like his philosophy of the superman that just knocks you the hell out in a zen like Bam! similar to the Japanese sword strike. I feel like a lot of what he was, was in line with Musashi's ideas actually, even though in the movies Bruce fights Japanese villains.

My Kung Fu ideas though... I feel are based a lot more in mythology. Like real mythology, not people who some tales were told about/ But I look to spirits and gods of other cultures outside of China that forced their way in. The Tai Ping and Boxer Rebellions. Teh story of the Nian and the Lions and Dragons and the beating of drums. Of rousing movements to get normal farmers to believe they can fight or die trying.

Because you can talk about real street fights al you want. But history shows that the Brits or rather the East India Company... a private company with ships that had more canons on them then were on the ground at Waterloo... because you can do that with boats, shelled the hell out of Guangzhou. The Chinese had guns too, that some guys made on their own without any help of the government (useless government) but those guns didn't go as far, and hell, maybe they just exploded actually, and so the ships were basically invincible.

Kung Fu that.


I'm not saying Kung Fu is useless, but at that point it doesn't really matter whether you punched kicked or eye gouged right?

The role of Kung Fu was more about spirit. Fill a young boy with so much testosterone through an exercise that strengthens him... horse stance... and make him take pain in a way that strengthens him instead of cripples him and make him believe in himself and his country.

Get a group of farmers to do a complicated sequence of movements that CAN be used in hand to hand combat together for team building dynamics.

Then.. get the shelled like crazy, but resist and show some force.

The ships sailed north. It was the Qing dynasty that surrendered to save their own corrupt skin but the Brits never did land in the south.

Just because the power of Kung Fu is mostly in your head does not make it fake.

Man of the House

So apparently Jonah has stepped up in the parenting role. He has taken it upon himself to read to Noah (the older brother) at night and even marked off Noah's required reading, initialing the homework J.C. in the parent's initials section.

He also has been known to set out Noah's toothbrushes and get his socks. 

On the one hand, Noah should do this himself. 

On the other hand... what the hell do they need me for? I mean if it was legal I think Jonah could take Noah to school. I guess they need me for food. And then if they could find some sort of way to create income.. seriously that's it? That was a quick childhood.

I wonder if this is some sort of evolution. I mean Darwin's theory was actually pretty slow and I think the trend nowadays is towards Darwin blended with Lemark, and what I am going to suggest is way quicker than any of that and super unscientific... 

But I remember when my dad died when I was four, some guy (I don't even remember who he was, a doctor or something) was like, "Well now your the man of the house. You have to take care of your mother."

Could it be that my genes created a sperm that would produce a child that at around the age of five (well maybe even four because Dai dai has been taking care of Noah and Grace for a while now. Maybe a year.) that had genetic coding that would kick in to become the man of the house? He kills bugs for Grace, puts Noah to bed, and provides the dopamine reactions in Grace through snuggling that for the emotional glue of the family. Before he was campaigning for elder sibling. But why stop there? Shoot high to hit low. Why not just run for head of household?

Meditation

I have been sick. So no push ups. Classes and stuff yes of course.
But I noticed that throughout the day, the only time I don't feel sick, is when I am meditating, concentrating on my breath.

When Meditation becomes something more than a warm up, when it becomes the purpose of the "workout" the main thing. It becomes more sacred, even without the trappings of incense and an altar.

Da Jau

Hit sit.

There is something about the Kung Fu meditation,

The one I learned

or perhaps the way I learned that is harder (not more difficult) but something more of a hammer or a fist.

Not that the yogic candles and meditation isn't fantastic.

I have a Tibetan prayer bowl and a rock and a dragon and a statue to Nike.

But inside there is something still of the old Moh Goon.

The one that the floor and cold tile is hard.

Air is mixed with oil from cooking, incense and cigarette smoke.

Instead of chanting there is the talking of herng ha politics.

Now my meditation is on a carpeted floor, or the grass,

and the altar is built on a shaky shelf, with no offerings of incense.

Dragons and rocks and knives that are special only because of where they came from.

Heirlooms and gifts.,

The truth is it's all in your mind.


 The Kung Fu, The Meditation, The Essence.

Debate Tactics

Love him or hate him, that was brilliant of Trump to tweet that nasty ad about Hillary 4 minutes before the debate while she is surfing the net on Twitter. The idea is to throw her before the debate starts. So did Hillary have something up her sleeve to release on Twitter? No. Nobody has even been thinking about these new tools like social media that people have been using in politics from the Arab Spring to the Occupy movement to Black Lives Matter.

If anything, I think it is important to note who is good as using these tools to campaign.

Camera Fu

I try to do some exercise every morning. Today I am sick so I did not do my 100 pushups, but still went for a walk. I always used to think in terms of Kung Fu. Maybe bring a stick and do some fighting moves. But I am fast realizing that my weapons that could actually potentially make me money are the Camera and the Gung lik behind it is writing. 

Again, all I really know is Kung Fu, so I will have to approach it from that perspective. ie take a lot of photos. But if my Camera is going to be my sword (and just like in my style of Kung Fu I don't have a Treasure sword of a camera. A butcher knife will do)  

I realize I must familiarize myself with the tool. And since I need to work out anyway, well yeah I was doing stances and all that with my camera and Kung Fu moves with one hand. Sounds crazy? Well I don't care it's what I am going to be doing. 

Ethan Hawke's, "Rules for a Knight"

I picked up this little book at the library. It is small and unassuming. Not intimidating.
It looked like a western version of the Hagakura, except fiction, which is basically what it is.
It's awesome.

I'll be reading it to Noah soon, but honestly, the language is simple enough that he can read it himself.

In it you will recognize many Buddhist teachings often found in Kung Fu movies, except re-written to make sense in European Knighthood. Now di the author make that jump or were those lessons always there? I think it was the author.

But It would be nice to write something similar for my own students. It's what I intended (sort of) with Kung Fu and Love, Parenting, all that. But I realize is that although my books are short... in a way they also have too many words.  Less is more.

Yet another project to put on the back burner.

Take Three breaths

For my children's classes I do a brief meditation that lasts three breaths. Followed by nine more breaths, with the hands moving, 3 front, 3 to the side and three up.

I did this yesterday for Three different classes, actually four. Three preschool classes and one fourth grade class in JP

The main reason I choose three is because I know kids are not going to sit still for a 20 minute mediation.

However, part of Chi Gung and Kung Fu is that you are supposed to breathe and be doing it throuighout the day if possible. Like all the time. While you are walking or waiting, whatever.

But the difference I felt from closing my eyes and doing the three breaths, should me that I was definitely not doing this. If three breaths can make such a difference, imagine the 20 minutes of meditation? I have to get back into doing that.

Advice from Auntie Amy

I stopped by the Chinese Historical Presentation at Tufts medical center... late for the presentation but I chanced into Auntie Amy among others and we had some long discussions.

"Hey Adam, did your mother tell you many stories about your father?"asked Auntie Amy suddenly. People around here kind of thought it was weird she was suddenly talking to me I think.

I was assuming she was asking me whether I knew my father ran a gambling den and the like or not. The answer to that was sort of. I knew stuff but not details. Not because my mother didn't tell me. More because she probably didn't know the details and also I was young.


"Yeah sure."

"You should write about your father. Because he and his friends were very influential in Chinatown for that time period. He and the people around him and the work they did with Nai Lun Association and others was essential to Chinatown at that time."

Okay so to write something like that first off I don't know enough. I basically know enough to write a mention that doesn't do justice. Plus I had always thought I was brought into Nai Lun Association as a child... but I wasn't sure. I think I went in there when my dad gambled and I remember grabbing at the dice. We werent't playing nickel and dime Mah Jong it was craps. And I rolled snake eyes not knowing the meaning of it all. It's one of the reasons why I don't gamble.

Hearing the words come out of Auntie Amy's mouth sort of was just a confirmation. Still, I know nothing about Nai Lun Association... except that it seem sto be gone now, and that is a recent thing.

"How old was your father?"

Uhhh he was born in '34 I think but we weren't sure. He wasn't sure actually.

She nodded her head, "So he would be about 80... I think enough time has passed that you can talk about all these things. "

There are two big things to pull out of this sentence.

A) even if my dad were alive, he would be younger than Auntie Amy.


B) she was totally talking about Statute of limitations.


Okay so it would be interesting to write those stories. But even IF I knew them all, I would wait till everyone was dead before putting it out there. But again just I kind of knew what was going on. It didn't mean that I KNEW what was going on, like names dates and events.

Hell my mom didn't even KNOW know. Not really, because it was irrelevant to her. The FBI had approached her to be some sort of spy and it was the same thing. First of all she didn't know as much as they thought she did and secondly, F off because she was with my dad.

I mean some people would think that some of my sense of loyalties and all that is somehow adopted from the Chinese culture. Let me tell you, a lot of it comes from my mother and my maternal grandfather.

A lot of Chinese don't realize just how bad-ass a traditional "Chinese" wife a white woman or any non Asian woman can be. There are more cultural similarities than differences across the board.


But what was most interesting to me about what Auntie Amy said, is that there was a community side to the vague things that my dad did. I just thought he ran a gambling house and was a chef, and watched a ton of TVB kek jap soap operas, and that is the end of the story. One sentence. But what is Nai Lun Association? What was the work in the community? I actually even know that my father did stuff with the CCBA but only because he shook his head and grumbled about it (which might not be what Auntie Amy wanted me to write.) But that's all I know. I mean, my mom didn't speak Chinese and my dad didn't speak English. It isn't like they would have long political discussions with details about what was going on and who was who.

My mom had saved a bunch of articles from the time and she would only say that what was in the newspapers was spun in to way to make these guys look so terrible, so bad. I mean there must have been some truth to that, but it's true that the humanity, the community side of the story gets thrown out because it's harder and more complicated to understand.

The Importance of sleep

I saw something on Facebook once about how sleeping in might be better for your body sometimes than working out.

Honestly I didn't even read the article or MEME. Mainly because the computer stalled and I lost patience.

But the other day I had gotten home late... or early depending on your perspective, and woke up after a nap because the kids were going nuts in the house. Eating candy and what have you. They had to go to the playground. So we went.

I was watching them slash resting on the bench. So basically I was listening to their voices. When I didn't hear voices I called out.

"Baba aren't you going to do pull ups?"

No.

"Why because you are doing your 22 pushups?"

No

"Why not?"

Not today I'm tired.


"But it just takes a few seconds..."


Okay seriously though I knew that doing that stuff would a) potentially not help me get stronger at that particular moment and b) potentially injure me. You have to know your body.


I woke up and actually sat up later when a family (who were friends arrived.

"Hahaha uhh are you practicing? Like being homeless? We were like 'Who is that creepy guy.'" SO I got up and socialized a bit. But yes I did 0 pushups that day.

But it's okay because I am doing 100 today.

Class structure versus informal training

A parent recently asked me about classes and wondered why her son like studying from me at the playground last year but did not seem interested in signing up for martial arts at a formal school. (Not with me btw. And this is a subject for another post, but I notice that a good amount of my Kung Fu outreach, as it were, is actually just free advertising for your generic Martial Arts place.)

But having just watched a slew of performances on You Tube and also teaching a new class at Nativity Prep I am comparing the movements and the spirit of the movements in my mind between someone who is trained in a class setting and someone who is raw and untrained.

For instance, the most athletic kids in my class can do some back flips and stuff like that. From a performance perspective these are my guys. They can perform a part of the show right now and look awesome. We have to work on pausing and Kung Fu movements and get the feel for Chinese rhythms and body structure... but for the flips they already got it.

Thing is to get that structure you have to a) line up...

Now before I even get to Jam Jong and basics and ding lik and all that we are still at lining up. Because the most athletic kids cannot stand or sit still. They are constantly in motion.

So they get an "A" in the performance section. If I was just training them we could just jump right in. But for teaching the entire class Kung Fu...I almost want to kick them out. That's because of the setting. It is a formal class.

Now there are other kids that are fantiastic at lining up. Some are physically athletic too. But they are more calm. Less raw.

You know you can see a difference between kids forced to do a routine over and over and then become good at it and two kids wailing on each other with sticks. The energy in the play fighting is different. There is no holding back. It's more lethal and without any practice.


Many forms, done together as a routine look gelded. It's the difference between a mustang and a race horse with one testicle. The race horse will have better endurance and run around in a circle. The wild Mustang is much faster but will not even allow a person or a saddle on his back.

Of course there are those that can have the structure of the form and the raw power of the natural fight.

So how do you find balance when teaching a class?

100 Pushups

I am sort of proud that I managed to fit 100 pushups in while dropping the kids off at school. But this feeling of accomplishment sort of meant that I did not do as much Kung Fu and meditation practice later in the day. I guess there are drawbacks to these small accomplishments. On the other hand I guess it's why people like to do pushups. It doesn't take much time but you really feel like you've accomplished something. You also kin dof look puffed up so you LOOK like you've accomplished something as well.

Practicing Little Things

Although I have been practicing every day, recently it has all been classes where I am teaching. Although I get down into horse stance, etc. Mentally and spiritually it is not the same. I realize I have to put some time for my own practice. I decreased the amount of basics that I make the children do and that gave me an idea to do a daily practice of small things. One Mein Lay jum /Tai Chi form. Because the idea of the practice is not to get better at Mein Lei Jum but to give myself a mental break.
A few minutes of siting meditation.
Perhaps I should put an external form in there as well.
Today I performed and for some reason that always feels like a huge event even if you do the math It may not be as many hours or minutes of actual Kung Fu.