Group punishment

I have been reading Noah a book called Sadaharu Oh. He was a Japanese baseball player... also Chinese because his father was Chinese and in Japan, you don't get to become a citizen for being born in ghe country like in the US.

Anyway, he talks about being pu ished as a group. Like the team woukd have to slap each other if one person made a stupid mistake abd how that built group dynamics.

I have seen this done badly in BPS mainly because all the boys received punishment but not the girls... but more on this another time

Nice cover

Once when I worked as a bank teller a Si Hing of mine visiting from Chicago daw me getting ready for work.

"Nice collared shirt..... nice tie...stable job.....Good cover!" He joked.

From now until I pick uo my kids I will play at the daily grind...which in all honesty for me is easier than a lot of people's jobs.

But I do want to get to the point where I am teaching Kung Fu or doing my mystical crazy dances and arttistic stuff and that is my main identity. I'VE GOT BUSINESD CARDS LOL!

Merlin

I found the perfect show to watch with Noah leading up to St. Patick's day. I live atuff about the Druids and magic. But in that nasty way where they show the flaws of those beliefs too.

I'm obsessed withe the Merlin story and all that kind of stuff, which seems u related, but most of the stuff I read tries to tie Merlin to the Druids, rightly or wrongly.

I guess I woukd love to go around in the world drumming and lion dancing and storytellibg but also meditating and doing the esoteric stuff as a way of life... and I realize writing this... what is stopping me. People actually make living teacjing Kung Fu, wushu even, after clearing rent and have asked if I would teach lion dance and work with them. Some people make a living teaching traditional Kung Fu which is out of fashion and people travel quite far to go to their school.

At first I feel I wouldnt want to open a school for various reasons, but a chain of schools that teach various artistic movements, yes Kung Fu, MMA, weapons fighting... but also playing with lightsabers or playing pirate, making lion heads out of cardboard and drums out of buckets....something more open andnout there.... that woukd be more up my alley. The money maker would be birthday parties and events.

I always think of a school as a place that I had to teach and protect, which sojnds like being chained. But if it is a chain that collects money, a business that I run. Like McDonalds....exceot healthy and creatuve and inspiring, the good stuff without the bad... that woukd be awesome.

The concepts and spirit of what I learned and love, even with some of the core movements retained, but not so much that it would hold a business or movement back.

This idea I was afraid of... or I saw as impossible... but the nore I think about it, it isn't.

What is even closer though is me going around doing what I have always done, lion dab e and Kung Fu.... but what not put on the mask of other seasons and holidays as well. Other creatures... yes I was doing thatbin Boston, my eagle and my Kei Lun were tossed in the move but I can make new ones.... just because people are hiring me for "real" lion dance ( which people take very seriously in NJ in terms of choreography and drumming... but nobody even bothets to buy gongs and cymbals... go figure)

Doesnt mean I can't make a deer and a wolf head and fashion a bodrhan out of tape and an old basketball hoop.

I yearn to teach a Kung Fu... that honestly needs to be called something else, as it might not be recognized as Chinese to someone whose eyes cannot see.

Something that touches deeper andbhits the more universal. A Dragon dance that is like the Dragon ranging from the pendragon to the Naga and the luong.

A Nian beast that is the questing beast and the southern lion, and buraks and kei luns and unicorns and even creatures from my own dreams.

I don't want to limit myself with tradition, but to unlock that feared place of the human psyche with it while still looking to science...

Snowy Chinatown

I'm not sure how Boston's Chinatiwn is fairing in this snowstorm... but if I were to net if dim sum is open or closed I would bet that it is open. When I lived in Castle Court and then later stayed at Tai Tung I never really understood the effevts of a snow storm per se, other than that the world bevame quieter and more of a playground. The bousing projects took care of shoveling, and so I only ever shovelled to help others. I had heard of kids making money to sho el, but at some point all the buildings in the area hired professionals to take care of it and so a tenant had nothing to do with snow removal.

The restaurants were always open and a giid number of the workers lived within walking distance. Heck, I would still go to work because yhe work place had heat... and internet... and more often than not it would be a quiet day.

But better way to ease cabin fever than to sit in a hot restauarabt and drink hot tea and have some dim sum, or if at night just whatever the regular menu offered. I remember back then I only ever ordered tien gai bo when eating iut because I rarely ate out, and I preferred to eat something difficult to make....actually thats what the restaurant guys I roomed with all said and I figured they knew what they were talking about.

To be honest, though NJ doesnt have a Chinatown, the rules are the same. When NJ got hit bad with snow we went to a Chinese Take out place (still good!) That was running on a generator. The customets were snow removal workers and us. The family's kids played quietly and nicley in the booths, (not like our kids)

So.... is Boston Chinatown open today in the snow?

If there is a law against it

I already knew this... but more and more I am realizing if there us a law against something, its because people do that all the time. Find something that people do everyday and there is probably a law against it.

Like when something happens in the news and people shake their heads and say its the way of the world and nothing can be done... I guarantee there is some kind of law already in place that just isn't being enforced.

And anything you could think of there is also a law somewhere against that and maybe even a law saying you can't make that law.

And in the end... people continue to do what they do. Kind of makes you wonder.

Troubles

We went to a St Patrick's day parade today, which was great. But increasingly we are ha ing trouble with my children's behavior or rather the effect that my children's behavior has on the family unit.

Right now I am ignoring the situation actually because I feel that if I stepped in it would only increase the problem.  I have said to friends that what pushes my buttons is stuff surrounding my kids. I will get very angry quickly. Right now, Noah is crying bloody murder over stuff like being ou sihed for not eating his food. At this point I don't know who is right or wrong.

Ir rather I feel that everyone is wrong and the household needs a regime change. I. Some ways the truth is that despite everything, I am actually more in charhe than other men who are breafwinners are of their households.

A week ago I felt that Xi Jinping was overstepping bounds.... but given todays events, I can see his logic.

The logic is " I watched and waited while yall tried to work stuff out... and now I realize things will only work if I am in complete and utter control."

Thats how I feel now. Of course that cannot happen even if I was the bread winner. The mere fact thatone has to earn instead of create shows lack of control.

Kung Fu classes

I have these Kung Fu classes that geel like they will never start...everytime they almost start it ends up there is an event or something. I am teachibg the class midsemester and I have decided sincebthe kids already learned some hand form and ninchucks from another teacher, that the best thing to do us show them a staff form. That way everyone will feel theu are learning somethi g new. Of course even if I taught a hand form it woukd be different, but they might geel they are being forced to start over. Plus there are aspects of the staff that are going to be really easy, and other aspects that are difficult.

I think there needs to be some form of playing that involves free play  not quite sparring two person exercise. Maybe even ground techniques. There are no mats so nothing really hard. Nothing where anyone can get hurt. But definitely they need to be able to see what all the stances, movements, and techniques are for.