Adam Cheung: Jamaica Pond, Snapping Turtle and Swans

I went running with Jonah this morning doing my walking/running basics while he rode his bike. I have started to blog on another site, mainly because someone said I should have one site that encompasses all of my work. I figured I would share things from that one (Adam Cheung) to my Kung Fu Dad and Chinatown Blog Site if it matched the topic. But I realized I do write a lot of stuff that has nothing to do with Kung Fu or Chinatown.. and where will that go? I also thought it would be a good place to put fiction and work through ideas and also talk politics and other controversial subjects. This post is not controversial at all.







Here is the post.







Adam Cheung: Jamaica Pond, Snapping Turtle and Swans: This morning Jonah woke up extremely early. Usually he sleeps in and Noah is the one to wake up early. "Would you like to go run aroun...

Paper Tigers.

I 've been making a ton of Lion head or Dragon head like creatures with Paper mache. In fact I also started making weapons, like swords out of paper mache too. It was pretty cool because I feel like I am creating a whole Moh Goon, a whole fantasy Kung Fu world.. out of paper.

There is a saying that a paper tiger can't stand up in the rain. But frankly, none of the Kung Fu weapons... or really not even guns can stand up in modern warfare. I mean yeah we still use guns and even bayonets. But that's not going to cut it against tanks and missiles.

The point is, your sword might as well be made out of paper. It's a lot cheaper. Maybe it takes a lot of time to make, but that was a fun little arts and craft exercise.

The problem is I really need to paint these things now, and I keep obsessing that they look cracked or this or that.

Testing the Kei Lun

I just brought my unfinished Kei Lun/ Kirin/Qilin around the pond to test it out. I brought my Go Pro along to get some footage. The first thing I noticed is I cut myself on the cardboard. I guess I did this doing lion dance too but not as easily. The problem is the handles that I made for this Kirin are not good enough. So I am glad that I brought it out and shot footage of it even though I haven't painted it or even fully sealed it with glue water yet. Basically I have to cut into it and tie another cloth handle further into the head. It was really annoying to do the Kei Lun steps and not be able to move the head quickly corresponding to my feet because of the lack of a strong handle. I felt like some sort of nube learning to walk.
In fact I sound so lame right now complaining about not having a good grip, but yes, I need a better grip than I realize. Of course this head is not going to be perfect. But I can make it just a little better.

I bet some factory could make a better one quite easily out of a plastic mold and sell it for $20.00 Or even make a plush version.

But it does feel different, having made it myself. I think instead of the Chinese red cloths that they tie on it I will be taking things from nature to tie on the finished product. Maybe I will bring it to the pond to deem jing and I will mix the tradition of Catholicism.. sort of. Father son and holy spirit doesn't sound as inclusive as Tian , Dei, Sun... Heaven earth and Holy Spirit. In this day even the Heavenly term is sort of problematic since the earth sits in a small part of Heaven. I guess Cosmos, and Earth.... well to me Earth represents our little lives as we experience it.

Jumping

I remember a fellow Kung Fu practitioner talking about when he was younger and doing Karate. He said they would warm up with 40 jumps where the knees hit the chest alternating with light hops. I was doing this on the basketball court while Noah dribbled and shot around and noticed that I was pretty much done when I got to 30. I think I will start to do this at some point every day. I mean why try doing all those jump kicks like I do if I can only do 30 regular jumps? I hope they help build back the small muscles I have probably lost. I mean I can still do the jump kicks, but I suspect not as well.

Vikings

I'm pretty obsessed with this show right now. But from a Kung Fu perspective.. I mean I know it is just a show, but it is amazing all the hacking through armor these guys do with some pretty crude looking axes. I also didn't realize the Vikings used the whole shield wall thing. I sort of had read that they fought like mad men, Bezerkers, frothing at the mouth, to the point where guys would work themselves up into such a Frenzy that they would have to send them ashore to wrestle logs just to calm down.

It's really cool how they try to show the culture and stories and all that. Of course I know people from that area might actually be offended by the term Viking, which means Pirate or Raider. Because there were other people that lived there that did not go raiding and were just honest farmers. But the show is mainly about the guys and gals who did.

I mean you see these really armored soldiers looking fairly professional and then they just get hacked to pieces. Even if this is just a show, it really is like that sometimes. I mean this guy is well trained. He has armor. He has superior iron. But hack hack hack and a young shield maiden has taken his life.

I suspect that the real shield maiden's were not as thin as the ones depicted. There was a reason they could fight men, they probably had formidable upper body strength.

Also I've read that the women were just bigger and that was what was attractive. But that isn't going to sell here in America. The men were pretty big too, and that does sell so  they are. Were they cut like that? I don't know. They probably went up in down in weight a lot. Big and fat at the beginning of the voyage but towards the end right before they raided? I suspect they would lose quite a bit of weight on the boat.

Anyway if you haven't watched this show you really do have to check it out. I'm already on season 3.
The songs, the opening, it all has me pretty entranced.

Running Kung Fu in the morning

Noah and I have started getting up early to run around Jamaica Pond in the morning. While we run I do some basic Kung Fu. I did not ask Noah to do punches pows and cups.... he decided to do them on his own. I was shocked because I have become accustomed to Kung Fu time being a chore and like pulling teeth.

"This is a more fun way to practice." He told me. It's interesting because it's also more difficult. It doesn't require a studio (we are just running outside) and I really get a work out.

He likes it because it s more like sports. I remember 4th Uncle, My Sifu's younger brother, saying that he didn't do Kung Fu the way we do it, doing a whole form. He just worked on the fighting stuff. Mainly this was because for him, Kung Fu was just for fighting. Chuen Pow cup and some other techniques. So the training would remind you more of boxing... except the moves were different. And that's what Noah and I are doing right now.

Now this way of practicing would be fairly intense for a lot of people who are out of shape and are used to just working out at a Kung Fu school, slow like and talking for hours and then doing another move. It's not a class. It's self practice. But Noah already knows a bunch of forms. At this point he just has to get the Gung and I can show him forms like a story.

(Side note: I really should start writing a "Kung Fu and Parenting" sequel because that first book only deals with adjusting to the idea of being a parent. But now I really feel like I have more of a relationship with my children.)

At the same time, compared to people who regular work out, running and all that, this work out is easier by far. I'm only going as fast as a 6 year old. We only went once around the pond not freaking 5 times or whatever athletes do. But I also felt like it was enough for the day. It was only 30 minutes. Not the average recommended 45 minutes, and I didn't practice as hard as I would have without Noah. But I could have. And I also got some social time with Noah. Granted if this was winter it would be more difficult to go around the pond.... but it would still be doable. We still have other stuff to work on. Forms, lion dance, etc. But that's just because in addition to practicing for the Kung Fu aspects, we also have performances to do. It's nice to get the Gung part out of the way in the morning because now I don't feel like I have to worry about that when we do it later. It will be more about art.

Martial Arts lessons in Alex Haley's "Roots." (The 2016 version) which was plagiarized from Harold Couller's "The African"

So first off, I didn't realize that roots was not only fiction... but plagiarized. I think if I was African American that might have hurt my feelings to find that out. But, the only difference between other epic type stories like Gone with the Wind and Romance of the Three Kingdoms, is the others are written as fiction and then taken as history. It really shouldn't be a problem the Roots is fiction any more. I mean shame on Alex Haley, but who is he even? What did he even write? Well maybe it doesn't matter. Just like who is Shakespeare? Or who is Jesus. Just take the stories and use them that's all.

So I think every generations can re write roots and remake it, why not?

As a Kung Fu guy, I noticed a lot of Martial Arts lessons in the new 2016 roots. I'm not sure if that was in the original or not.

But Kunte Kinte, is almost banished for breaking the rules. In a test to become a man, instead of just using spears, he tackles Master Sila. It was never explained that this was against the rules. The point is, he was a man that didn't really fit in in his tribe either. Left alone by slave traders, he may have been an innovator to bring the Mandinga culture forward in Science and thought. I think that is what was trying to be conveyed, especially with the next chapters.


He fights for the Brits using Mandinga Spear throwing and complains of not being able to use guns. He pushes the limit, wherever he is.

There is a lot of really cool action scenes where he is killing people.

Finally he gets his foot cut off. But still manages to carry on with Bell's help.


He later names Kissi in HIS OWN way. And also brings a song, that travels throughout the saga and changes becoming an American song as well. Now, even though he cannot be much of a warrior, he trains his daughter to be one even though she is a girl. Basically not only is he breaking the white man's rules. He is also breaking the African rules and adapting to his environment. This can be compared to Jeet Kune Do. In fact. Watching this, if I was black, I would totally base a martial arts club off of this series. Put up posters of these fictional characters, use the spears. I'm just saying that this may be fiction, but entertainment wise it is better than Star Wars and has all this real life philosophical and spiritual stuff that is based in one of the most difficult situations to survive in. I mean a lot of series about slavery or the holocaust... they really get you down. Even stuff like the Hunger Games... Roots doesn't do that. All the characters, even the "villains" are really easy to relate to. Because it is based on history the characters really are multi dimensional.

Okay, so Kissi breaks more rules learning to read. To be honest, we sort of glass over her development and move onto the next boy. I wonder if that's because a man wrote this. She is trained.... but does she ever train anyone? She doesn't teach her son a lot.. mainly because he is the product of a rape and she is constantly raped by the Master, Tom Lea.

I guess her main rule breaking comes when she actually threatens to kill Tom Lea before being raped, laying down some rules of her own... and then she tells him, "Now be quick about it." In essence, even as a slave, she manages to put the him in his place. Sort of still above him but within boundaries. I've never seen that in a movie about slavery before.

Chicken George  trains Chickens to fight and here is where I first noticed the Martial Arts aspect. He tells Mango that if they can train the chickens to fly higher, then they will win more fights. But this simply hasn't been done before and Mango is against it. George does it anyway and wins. "I know what I seen!" he says.

Basically this is the most common thing I've seen in Martial Arts. People will say, "You can do that." You can't fight like that. You can't fight just from your back. (Brazilian Jiu Jitsu) You can't fight constantly throwing haymakers continuously from all directions fully extended with power. (White Crane) mainly because yoru stance won't allow it.

Perhaps the Horse stance was questioned. It has been in the west in the boxing ring. "You can't move like that" But anyone swinging a weapon, whether it is Chinese or Medieval European starts to get into stances. They will even show you a stance for firearms training. But there is certainly the argument that, "Doing horse stance and only horse stance for two hours at a time for three months is boring, a waste of time, and stupid. (Not to mention painful as hell) but i'm sure it will produce powerful fighters.

You can just fight in close (Wing Chun)

You can't fight so soft (Tai Chi.)

Anyway. Every famous fighting style probably was outside the box and crazy for it's time. It's not so much about doing it right there in the fight, but having trained something that seemed crazy and wasn't done before.

It's interesting that not only does George fight Chickens, but when he acts as second for Tom Lea, his master and father... he actually fights two white men. It's bizarre because the white men are the Cocks in a cock fight and it is the black men (and a rich whote man on the other side who is not even present) who are fighting them.

In the final episode, Chicken George becomes a soldier in the Civil War. Him and Cyrus have a lot of advice that falls on deaf ears and results in their battalion losing.

In the end, he visits his father, argues with him and puts him in his place and takes his gun.

This last episode felt very Huey Newton. Where George w=moves in with his family (who are still slaves) and walks around with a gun in his waist. Honestly, this is somewhat unthinkable today. I mean black men have been shot for less than that in an era where we have a black president. I mean it doesn't happen all the time. Obviously there are Black law enforcement officers and others who bear arms and are part of the NRA and all that. But the way George acts would be pushing the limit today. And he is doing it during slavery. Amazing.

When George gets freedom it was cool to hear Cyrus use Kunte Kinte's name as a sort of code. And George protects a black Church from the Bushwhackers.

And Tom, his son finds him by having a spiritual connection in the forest. Following Kunte Kinte's spirit. This was really meaningful to me, also the parts where Kissi says she will talk to her father. It is interesting tha George doesn't believe in this. Similar stories happen in the Three Kingdoms with Guan Gung coming back to help his sons after death. And my mother also always talked to her father and so did my Uncle Francis after they passed. I don't. Not in words. But I appreciate the story and I do feel that those that have past try to communicate with me through signs etc. I'm not sure how other people watched this. I suspect some people saw it as Superstitious African stuff, even black people.

I just wanted to point out that even on my white side we would relate very much to such a story.

George ends up using his story telling skills to join an Union Camp, showing that the best Kung Fu is  story telling and the ability to make people laugh and convey important information at the same time. Namely, that Tom is a good blacksmith and even though the soldiers don't care about black people or that George was a soldier too, that they need Tom and therefore the whole group.

The story ends with George shooting the Masters son (one of the only truly one sided villains in the story) before he shoots Tom the Black smith. This is totally breaking all rules. He is within the law of self defense yes. But Shooting a white man right after slavery? I sort of doubt it would have worked out that way, but maybe considering that the South had JUST lost, it is possible.

George then passes the Gun, a symbol of the Warrior, onto Tom. Basically this is saying that in addition to stories you have to continue the Warrior tradition and have the ability to fight. The old ways were horses and spears. The modern way is the gun. Again very Huey Newton. But at the same time, just like other Martial Arts traditions, you need some tie to the past.. even if it is just a made up story (They sort of deal with this in a monologue with Laurence Fishburn playing Haley at the end.)

I will read the book soon and I will also Read Harry Couler's book the African (which Haley stole the story from) But now that they are both dead and we are just remaking this stories, I say the fact that they are fiction gives future generations more freedom to play with these stories.

Roots, Gone with the Wind, and Romance of the Three Kingdoms.

I just finished watching Roots and I was crying at the end. Alex Haley really is the man. He sure has made my life easier. I see a lot of stuff on the internet about how to talk about race and this and that. And this series along with the Autobiography of Malcom X makes it so easy. To answer any question my kids have about race.. .it's so simple... watch Roots.. question answered.

"Why is he black but his skin sort of looks white?"

question answered in Roots.


"What's a slave?"

Question answered in Roots.

"Why'd they shoot Noah when he was running away."


I started to answer that question, "Well back then..." and then realized actually you can still get shot like that today. But maybe looking back can answer a lot of questions about ourselves.

Noah only watched 1 and 2. I just watched 3 and 4 by myself and will re watch them with Noah.

Jonah doesn't want to watch this. Maybe next year.

The thing is, Noah asks questions like, "Is that sand he is holding?... I think it's rocks. Is it rocks or sand. I know it's sand. No it's sand that is rocks."

This is the scene where Kissi is sold. How about, "Why are they selling her?"

But then it made me think more about why Kunta Kente was holding the earth. It's to bring her back to him somehow.

Well, there is a lot to talk about in this series which I will get to in later posts.

1)The strangeness of identifying with the slave holders

2) What the reaction people are having to the series existence

3) The fact that this is the story that needs to be told. Because the version that is so famous worldwide is Gone with the Wind... and the meaning of that.

4) How this story is something that people who do not have their own can hold onto as a story to bind everyone together, and the importance in that.


A lot of this is touched on in the discussions after the show of course.

As the title of my post reads.. I guess I will be talking (with myself) about my white side's reaction and my Chinese side's reaction to Roots. I guess I should also watch the original.

First and foremost though. Just as a PERSON watching the show, this is an amazing show. Everyone should watch it. Hence why I am showing it to my kids even though they are so young. And frankly, yes I know there are some things in there that are adult. But they did it in a way, that you will see, a kid can watch it with Parental guidance.

As they said at the end, the legacy of slavery is still with us today because we never had a chance to mourn it. We haven't dealt with it.

Joyce Degruy has talked about how we never really treated people for trauma from slavery and simultaneously the trauma never stopped.

Now I have heard some unexpected reactions and the last few minutes, where the Master's son says, "we will redeem this country and put you back in your place, it is the natural law."

That is the only time when I really saw a huge relevance with certain movements in this country recently. I mean if you look all over the internet there really is a shift toward Confederate beliefs. However, now it is mostly trying to argue in non racist terms somehow. The truth is complicated and confusing. But I think that Roots pretty much covers all bases. Everything is in there, and in a pretty linear story that is easy to follow.
It is a good starting place for any discussion on race and every new immigrant should watch it too to get caught up. Because I have had many a discussion with newer immigrants who are uncomfortable around black people who have a lot of questions and stuff can get turned around when you hear different parts of the story out of context.

Roots is definitely a good starting point and a good way to talk about our nation's history. It even starts before the Revolutionary War.

That is why I will also compare it to Romance of the Three Kingdoms, because like that Ming Dynasty Novel, it has everything about our culture, the origin of how we interact with each other, as well as rituals, customs and religious beliefs and dances explained. There are also a lot of parallels between the two stories. In many ways Kunta Kente, is the Kwan Gung of this story... and since the book was not even written that long ago (Romance of the Three Kingdoms was written before the events in Roots even took place, and was written about 200 AD) but perhaps the figure of Kunta Kente can further be developed with the Kwan Gung ideals and model in mind. Black people who practice traditional Kung Fu with all the rituals might know what I am trying to get at.  Although Kunta Kente has been mentioned in many rap songs, there is a lot more you can do with him as a Folk Hero. Then again, there are also more recent heroes on the Global Scale that have achieved more than many of our Folk Heroes have achieved. Mandela, for instance, actually ruled the country that oppressed him. Though he is Christian, he definitely achieved more in his lifetime than Jesus did in his.

I guess I should read the book (Roots) for good measure. As although I really liked reading the Autobiography of Malcom X, I'm not sure the movie does the book justice. And as great as this series is (haven't seen the original) maybe the book is even more in depth.

Pirate healing

Okay so this is actually medicine from Moh Goon, which I am on separated from so in a way.. I guess it's like it's stolen. What are we going to do after it runs out? I never learned the secrets of how to make the medicine. Mainly because I didn't know what the ingredients were. I guess we'll have to heal on our known just like White People allowing the injury to go deeper into the body... and then manifesting itself as problems later in life. Maybe we'll do Shamanic healing. Maybe we can still get treatment by that time.

Anyway. The whole reason Dai Dai got an injury was we watched Civil War and the extreme violence (I do not recommend this movie. There is a difference between Super hero on Super hero violence... and super hero on regular weak citizen violence. And then regular weak citizen who is actually a character you care about. Seriously. This is not the other Avengers movies. Also, it just isn't up to par when it comes to directing and plot. When Dai Dai had to go to the bathroom several times. I noticed that I was not really in a rush to go back into the theater. It's like watching the movie was a chore.

But running around like that... Dai Dai tried to do stuff he saw in the movie I think and tried to run full force and slide... looking at the ground instead of what was in front of him. Hence the giant goose egg on his head.

Well good thing we still have some medicine left.

The Americans.. "Did you have to do that?"

This episode was pretty cool for a martial artist, because not only does Elizabeth kill a dude in a self defense situation, but Paige was there and is new to all this and is like, "Did you have to do that?"

Of course the argument is played out both in the street scenario as well as on the global scale as their mission is to get biological weapons.

Real philosophical... and honestly, it's sort of not clear. They could have just run away and probably not killed the guy.. but Paige would have just stayed there stunned and might have gotten hurt. So Elizabeth having the skills, did what needed to be done. There was no time to think. If she didn't have those skills maybe they would be dead... or, maybe they would have found another way as well. One of those ways might have been getting raped. Maybe it could have just been giving over money. And maybe they could have fought (and died or or seriously injured) or fought with minor injuries or maybe even out run them. How fast can those bums run?

All what if.

But when your weapon, instead of some hand techniques, is a biological weapon you don't even have any control over, or you don't have the finances and facilities to properly control.. woah that's scary.


I guess I missed last weeks episode because of being all worried over the kids being sick and all that. Seems like so long ago.

Plus we've been hooked on Samurai movies and now, Inuyasha. More on the joys of watching Inuyasha with the kids next post.