distance learning

My kids did their assigments...  I think. But the truth is, they interact with kids and then ask questions and then we have conversations and that's how they really learn. I tried to impose a schedule even when it's something like, go play outside they don't listen to me. Plus my allergies or something is starting to kick in, and I am not going to spend so much time yelling at them. They will just do whatever they want anyway. The main thing is to keep them quiet so Grace can work from home and make that money. But they are wasting their time. They could be learning so much and crafting their skills at writing and drawing and Kung Fu. But they don't. I could teach them dulcimer too but I'm just not going to bother lugging it out of the basement if they aren't even go ok ng to meet me 30% if the way. 

Quarantine

I read that children should really be writing h about their experience during this Coronavirus time every day just so we can get a glimpse into how this changed society. To be honest, we live in a neighborhood that was quarantined anyway, where you never got within 20 feet of someone anyway. The main this we had to stop doing was sending the kids to school. Right after Trump's speech where he banned travel from Europe I realized we had all been a little late in shutting stuff down. So I pulled my kids from school right then. Luckily it just took the weekend for everyone to catch up and I don't look too much like that carzybguy with tinfoil around his head. I was thinking if I still lived in Boston in the projects... quarantining would actually still be easy as long as I could walk or bike to work. Facemasks would have to be worn of course and I'm not sure why people are so against them. They help even if it was just regular sickness tou are trying to stave off.  Or prevent form you your self spreading.

kei Lun

Stayed up late making a Kei Lun. I used a basketball hoop as a base. 8 had gotten a bunch of these from a metal sculptor's place in Jamaica Plain. He told me to take as many as I wanted. My wife had wanted me to throw them away many times. Initially they were going to he used to make drums. I stripped the old bamboo sticks that I had been using to teach kids Kung Fu at Chinese school because they were cracking and because a friend and another Sifu had bought nicer rattan sticks. I fashioned them into a kei lun frame pretty much the same way the real artisans do it, except that I did not always have enough of the bamboo strips to do it properly and I also didn't really know what I was doing. Instead if paper mache I chose to use duct tape. The draw backs of that is painting duct tape might be harder than painting paper. Then again, maybe I just need to do a few more coats of paint. It doesn't look as good as the last kei lun I made, but it is much lighter.

Thoughts on Abigail Hing Wen's, "Loveboat Taipei"

So I just started reading this new book

Love Boat Taipei

I saw it for free at the library, so technically the version I am reading is not the final copy. I almost didn't pick it up because I have sons not daughters, and I never went on Loveboat, though I did go to Taiwan when I was 14 for Chinese Dulcimer band.. yeah not the same thing, as a friend of mine then later went on the "Loveboat" Tour. I think by the time I was old enough to go they stopped doing that tour.

I thought for some reason Grace had gone on it but turns out she was just going to Taiwan on her own during that time. I picked up as a joke. I figured I could give it to a neighbor. I thought, "This is not my type of book really." and "I might enjoy this book, but really I shouldn't be reading it."


Then I started reading it.

Holy crap this book is awesome.

Why?

To tell the truth I usually shirk away from this sort of Asian American Narrative. ie. the one that does not include Lion Dance, Guan Yu, Gambling, Chinatown.... I don't know stuff I can relate to.


In NJ people often talk about various Chinese School Conferences that happened in Boston and I reflect on the fact that there were the type of Chinese that I hung out with (who didn't see me as Chinese necessarily) and occasionally we would be hired by or work with these other Chinese from the suburbs, who often had a higher number of mixes among them, those guys over there, see them? Say Hi... but that's it.

I also have no idea what it's like to have a Chinese mom. My mom was white.

I also have no idea what it's like to be a young Asian American girl turning into a woman especially one that is Chinese, has parents with accents, and yet doesn't speak Chinese. I mean... that's Grace I guess. But still trying to figure that out.

Basically this book brought all that into this first person world with just a few words. Reading it I'm like in that world and feeling, "Ahh sh.t so this is what this is like."

I mean it would hard to be Chinese without the lion dance, incense, stories, plethora of music and movies to fall back on... I mean f that sh.t.

The only time I had to experience that was when first moving to NJ. And I almost killed myself. And shoot I kept seeing posts about young Asian American girls killing themselves in the town. I mean I didn't, I got through it, but that's as an adult and knowing that other stuff exists out there.

Anyway, don't just think this main character has it easy.  Ever Wong.



At the same time, ( I mean this is all stuff from the first two chapters so whatever to spoilers)... As a parent I would be like, "You're going the doctor route and dance can be your back up. You got the scholarship.. so that's that . duh."

I also feel my dad would have been laid back. Or chiu been. He wouldn't be saying what career I had to do. I seriously doubt it. But that's a whole other story.

My main thing is I think everyone should read this book, because I have a feeling this book is going to make me a better parent. Cause I am struggling with how to not raise.. but be with my kids. Cause I don't really get them. I got them when we were in Boston. We were on the same page. i was taking them to where I grew up. But now... I don't know.

And I'm in between Ever's Parents and Ever. So if there is a gap between me and my kids... imagine that gap between Ever's parents and Ever.

Plus I feel like I am teaching these kids... kids like Ever...

It's like required reading... and I almost put the book back on the shelf.

Six strengths form

Okay having met a bunch of White Crane people from San Francisco and New York... and not mentioned or talked too much about the fact that I also practice White Crane it might sound strange that I am now going to write a post about this form. The reason why I didn't want to tell everyone I do White Crane per se is because I am pretty sure the forms we do with the exception of one or maybe two are different, and that can lead to all sorts of arguments and this or that which I would just rather not get into.

Interestingly, my Si Hing that I learned form is no longer teaching this form, the basic form when I learned to the young lion dance children.

And to tell the truth, I had dropped this form from my curriculum for a long time as well because Adults tend to hurt their knees, teens tend to hurt their shoulders, I can't even do the frog stance properly, and while small children don't hurt themselves even if they do the form wrong... they also can't necessarily fight with it that quickly, which used to bother me.

However recently after taking a month of BJJ ((really only 4 classes, or 3.5 cause I twisted my ankle on the last class) I saw a lot of the techniques in this form employed in grappling, where I had originally thought of these moves as strikes that went into grappling... but I had focused on the striking aspect of that move.

A while ago I had said I would reintroduce this form into my class. It is a fantasy to think I will have the kids doing the moves as grappling drills or push hands drills (Well maybe not) but in My mind I will do that. The main reason I wanted to bring the form back was because I realized it is easier to remember, and some of the moves help with the foundation stances that the kids are now having trouble with in terms of spacing for the fighting forms I have already taught them, and which they enjoy doing much more than hand forms.

Since I am going to start teaching it again I figured I should start practicing it again, and so I started doing that tonight. And I decided I would do this form as an internal form... because I also figured that if it is taught that way, like Tai Chi, there will be less chance of injury. Plus again, it is easier to remember than our MLJ Tai Chi form. (And yes this is different than other White Crane Schools but its the nomenclature we use for a particular form which may be unique to our Boston School. (Now being taught in NJ lol)

I didn't do much... but getting real low and doing the form real slow felt good. Like I should do more of this, and stretch out my hips more, and I did some Yoga stuff in between and could see some potential Drills with the opening that would focus on pushing instead of striking. We'll see.

Knock Knock

That's the sound of my son waking me up in the middle of the night because he can't sleep.
I can imagine reading parenting blogs where the response is "Awww honey do you want me to " do this that or the other thing.
My response as I was jolted from dreams was,
"What!?"
"Baba I can't sleep..."
"Well what the hell do you want me to do about it?"
"I don't know do you have any suggestions?" he said crying. You see his biggest fear is waking up without having had enough sleep. But for someone with such a fear, you would think he would not stall so much and make going to bed be like pulling teeth, I tried the whole story telling thing. But how can I really make you go upstairs for the purposes of going to sleep? I cannot really make you brush your teeth or take a shower either. I mean I could sort of... but that would be called abusive. So all I can really do is coax and explain and well....

I remind. The kid is in 4th grade. I was more annoyed by the tears.



"There is nothing I can do... if you can't sleep just lie there. Now both of us are awake."

So while I lay awake thinking about this instead of sleeping I realized something.... I had done the same thing as a kid. In fact, funny story I had woken up with my stomach hurting. It was cause I was hungry but I just didn't realize it. I thought it was some other problem. So my mother suggested sleepily that I put some milk on my stomach. So I literally did that, instead of drinking milk... which is what my mother meant. So that.. going back to bed, explaining, more wtf moments, taking a shower again... yeah. But I was much younger than 4th grade. I mean 4th grade your your own person. You think your like an adult.....


So then I realized also that when I was older I also couldn't fall asleep. So I would practice Kung Fu.
well more on that another time

Clahk Doom Chahng

When I hear the drum beat, I want to hear that deep sound that fills the body. Hitting the  side and coming out of your guts and your chest like a strike pushing the spirit of everyone on the street to to move together. Of course the modern stuff will still bring me running down a street I don't know just to watch a team I don't know do moves I don't know.

When I see the head move I want to see that deep hard stance that isn't just connected to the ground, but the body is connected to the stance and the head tight with the body with those hard lively fierce movements made for the look of those hard cheek bones of bamboo.

Like lightning striking right through to earth's core shocked by the clahk doom doom of the drum with the Cha and the Gong, playing not banging, coaxing out the metal crashing sound in music not noise.

But any moves and beats from masters or teens or children will make me come chasing for a look and pushing against strangers too. As long as the spirit is there.


When I see someone just talk about lion dance and they have that artistic feeling, that essence, without the head but in my imagination I can see their past performance from the street and from their eyes it makes me itch to pick up the drum sticks and play the accompanying beat like a possessed madman, or pick up the head and choi chiang like the same, with kei lun bo that starts and stops like wild sprints shocking children and adults into believe that the bamboo and paper might just have transformed into flesh and breath and blood.

But I will look forward to a workshop that I do by myself for children too.