With determination

I saw a self help mean that said to start the day with determination. I realize that a lot of guys... people... who seem more successful wake up early and work out. Im not really concerned about how little I work out. I tend to start the day sipping tea and staring out the window at the deer in the woods.

Buy perhaps I would feel different if I woke up earlier and did some bad ass Kung fu. Should I?

Wasted potential

Have you ever worried about wasted potential? Wondered... what am I doing with my life? I have. I have thought about what I would do if I had a million dollars
Or this or that... and I have realized that money is actually holding back in anyway. I mean pretty much I must do what I am doing no matter what... which isnt much. I totally binge watched a ton of Netflix thia week. I realize that my father would binge watch TVB tapes as well despite having 12 hour restaurant shifts and then his other side job which was to watch (and play) at a gambling house.

Does it really matter too much what yoy house looks like or where it is located if you are watchinh in the dark?

I don't feel that this activity is waste of time either. Sure if it is my whole life that is kind of lame. So the question is not so much what should I be doing instead of what I am doing... but in addition too.

Vacation

I've been binge watching Marvel stuff on Netflix. Its weird how you can actually feel like you are accomplishing something.
I sort of tried to adapt the Rashneeshpuram meditation to Kung Fu. Yesterday I did two quick sessions. Its surprisingly tiring. I'll try to fit some in today. Eventually I want to try 3-5 sessions a day and also regular basics and practice as well.

Snow day tv watching

Jonah was sick and then we had a snow day... which meant that I watched a giod deal of TV. First I finally saw Abacus: small enough to jail.

It kind of made me want to open up an account at the bank just to show support lol. My first bank account was at Asian American Bank. I liked how the symbol was a Kei Lun and I knew a lot of the people who worked there.

I tried to date one of the tellers actually. And then later I would become a bank teller at another bank and get hit on by men and older women.

Asian American Bank got bought out and the owners were pretty freaking happy I think. It was before all the mortgahe trouble and all that. I wonder, if they had not been bought out, if they would have had a similar trial by fire as Abacus did.

Then I watched Wild wild country. Its a documentary about Rashneeshpuram in Oregon which existed between 1981-85.

I never heard of it. Pretty crazy stuff.

Then  I started playing guitar again and wondered why I haven't been.

St. Patrick's day

I sort of felt like we did St. Patrick's Day last weekend because that is when we went to a parade. The 17th was actually my first official day teaching Kung Fu Class at Murray Hill Chinese school. All the previous classes I taught were lion dance classes and I have a feeling I'm not really going to see the two students I trained for the CNY performance that much.

The class I ak teaching now is Kung Fu first, but I snuck in some lions and dragons and drums. Drummers are actually a hot commodity in the lion dance world because for some reason... not that many lion dancers can drum. To br honest... I heard the drum and I could do it. Of course I still had tips and improvements. Yes I've gotten better... but basically  I could just play. And that is actually true of a lot of drummers for lion dance.

But I also know that the skill can be trained. So I handed out 10 pairs of rolled up magazines and we did drumming meditation and stretching. The drumsticks were held for Chuen pow cup... and then used for light sabre dagger fencing...ie. the kids play fought with the them under the condition that they didnt actually hit or hurt each other. It was just for a few minutes but I figured it was important to introduce the concept of fighting in their minds and not through a static drill that might not even be that effective. Better to break up the class with some fun.

So my St. Patrick's day wasn't that Irish.

Then I realized that Grace's cousin had sent me a picture of tha parade the week before... of himself! Marching and playing the bag pipes... suddenly I totally aanted to do that. Truth is as a kid, I wanted to do lion dance... and bag pipes. Hell maybe both at the same time.

Maybe this is a sign that I should get on that.

Forced basics

Noah's Kung Fu looked really good yesterday. He could even do roundhouse kicks and sweeps I thought were beyond his ability. He looked as good that I taught when we did 100 basics for class...is ut because asnpunishment he had to do 90? Does doing more basics enable you, even within the same class to perfirm your forms better? He said it was because he was angry for being punished.

In any case we all worked hardbat Kung Fu yesterday because I was also pissed that he wasn't listening and out it into my Kung Fu. Instead if Chap sau I yelled Chap Shao! We were tired and cracking up from being tired. We did three round of everything except lion danve... because I forgot and by the time we stopped it was dinner time.

Basically I realize that there really is no getting around skipping aspects of the class. Basics are importantband so are meditation and stretches and calisthenics. And inside all of this I am trying to add in ground fighting and jiu jitsu mives just ti expose them to it. But they will not "roll" the kicks come out and also they cannot do the jiu jitsu moves... not really.

I think they woukd have to lose to children there age who are also weaker to understand.

BRITANNIA

I've been watching this on Amazon.. and so had Noah. Too violent for Jonah. I think they ttied for aspects of historical accuracy because I read the book entitked the Druids and aome of the events recorded by the Romans appear in this show, the response to the dead by burying the messenger with a note in his mouth in particular. Woukd live to know what Joe Callahan blogger on Arete has to say about it, given his expertise in history and his own genetic background.

Basically I ended uo having some deep conversations with Noah about racism that were easier for me since the cast, although it has black romans... basically the savages are white. And therr is disiote about how the Druids really were given that most of the history about them thay has survived is written by the Romans.

But see if we are watching Naruto or something American depicting Chinese or African Americans....well it gets complicated. I mean we watched Black Panther, and although black people seem to love the movie now....I wonder if it would be considered racist or blackploitation in 50 years.

Anyway befor e Black Panther, and I do believe that Levar Burton's assessment that the movie is probably a turning point especially since it made so much money.

Shows about White Savages were so popular. Because everyone would watch it. Black people will enjoy it despite a lack of representation, because it is depicting whites in a way that people of color were often depicted in movies pre 1960.

And white racists woukd love the same media because it is often about their pantheons. Think Vikings.

Anyway, if I talk to Noah about representation, even when talking about Asians I will have to dabce around a ton of political correctness because not only will Noah repeat what is said... he will get the terminology all mixed up and then all this bs will be pinned on me.

However if I talk about Romans and Druids people have nothing to say about the poltical correct terms of either group.

Even many Nordic people find the word Viking to be offensive because it means pirate and not all people in Iceland were robbers on the high seas. Many did not participate, choosing dairy farming instead.

I mean the only people who could possibly get offended woukd be a Latin teacher or a historian of the Druids. I think they would give Noah a pass.

It's also interesting how race is not yet quite in the structure that is in today. Again there are pale skinned barbarians. And there are Dark skinned Romans. And since being Roman or speaking Latin is that time periods equivalent of being "white" today... well you see its just an interesting concept. That there can be racism that isn't based on color, but more so on language.