The autumn leaves are falling like rain. Although my neighbors are all barbarians, and you, you are a thousand miles away, there are always two cups at my table.
T’ang Dynasty poem
One of the worlds' literary treasures is an anthology of the greatest poems of the Tang Dynasty of China. The Tang Dynasty was a high water mark in culture in ancient China and poetry was especially esteemed. The 300 Tang Dynasty Poems may be found here. Below is poem #44: A Song of a Pure Hearted Girl.
044
Meng Jiao
A SONG OF A PURE-HEARTED GIRL
Lakka-trees ripen two by two
And mandarin-ducks die side by side.
If a true-hearted girl will love only her husband,
In a life as faithfully lived as theirs,
What troubling wave can arrive to vex
A spirit like water in a timeless well?
Over at The Classical Budoka was a terrific post about the meaning of the techniques we practice in martial arts training. The meaning, the core principles. Below is an excerpt. The full article may be read here.
...Or, let’s say you’re in an aikido workshop and there’s some 50-plus people in attendance, with varying skill levels. You explain a kote-gaeshi technique. The guy grabs your right wrist with his right hand, and so you throw him down. The riai? Well, the guy is grabbing you so you throw him by stepping a certain way and twisting his wrist, forcing him to either take a tumble or you dislocate his wrist and elbow. For a large audience of mixed levels of understanding, that should suffice.
But let’s take apart the notion that riai is an understanding of very, very core principles. In fact, if you were to drill down into that one technique, you would come up with some pretty heavy duty core principles that underly all of aikido.
First of all, why in heck are we starting that way? I mean, why let the guy get close enough to grab you, and then why does uke grab your wrist? One criticism non-aikido folk make of the art is that it’s “impractical,” it relies on the notion that people will grab your wrist, or take these huge, arcing swings at you with an open palm, like a sword attack. If somebody nowadays wants to fight with you, they don’t attack like that, critics say. They’ll come at you with boxing punches, or be hunched over and try to grab you MMA-style, or kick you…
The mistake critics make is based on a lack of understanding that the kote-gaeshi forms not only teach a particular reaction to a particular attack (a wrist grab), it teaches a generalized reaction to many forms of attack, be it a grab, punch, or kick: irimi, contact, control the attacker and control the timing and distance, become the center of the movement, and execution of a defense that renders the attacker unable to counter, in fact the attacker is yanked off balance by his own momentum. Understand these general principles in kote-gaeshi, and you begin to see a glimmer of insight into nearly all the other kata of aikido. Miss it, and no matter how many forms you know, you are still not doing aikido right, because you don’t really understand the riai.
The same, I would hazard, goes for for karatedo, or any other budo. If you don’t understand the core principles behind the art, your techniques won’t look coherent. You’ll be doing something, but there won’t be a unity or cohesiveness. The techniques will look like disparate, unrelated actions. It will look choppity-chop.
(CNN) -- As Dorrie Aber-Noyek enters the cafeteria at Memorial Regional Hospital in Hollywood, Florida, the staff bursts into a round of "Happy Birthday."
It's her 104th birthday, and the chef has made one of her favorite dishes, chicken Alfredo. Hugs are given, congratulations offered and then the hospital's CEO, Zeff Ross, cuts the party short.
"At one o'clock, Dorrie has to go to work!" Ross tells the crowd.
At age 104, Aber-Noyek, who has volunteered at Memorial for 37 years, still walks the halls to deliver the mail -- and it's a big hospital.
"I can slow down for you if you want," she tells CNN photojournalist Jerry Simonson as he tries to keep up with her as she rolls her cart down the corridor.
Aber-Noyek, who turned 104 in February, lives by herself, and other than a bit of arthritis and slightly imperfect vision and hearing, she says she's in perfect health. When asked for her secret to such a long life, she shrugs her shoulders.
It's not her diet -- Alfredo sauce certainly isn't low in fat, and she eats a piece of cake or a cookie (or two) every day (her favorite is chocolate chip). It's not her physical activity -- while she's always enjoyed walking, she never belonged to a gym or worked out regularly.
A new study suggests Aber-Noyek is typical of what scientists call "super agers." The research, published in The Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, found that people who live to be 95 or older do not tend to have lived a healthier lifestyle than others who died earlier.
"As a group, the centenarians were really very bad," says Dr. Nir Barzilai, director of the Institute for Aging Research at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, and senior author of the study.
Barzilai asked 477 healthy Ashkenazi Jews between the ages of 95 and 112 about their lifestyle habits when they were 70 years old. More than 40% said they were obese or overweight, about 35% smoked and very few exercised. Their habits were no different from those of a comparison group of people from the general population.
"What this shows is that it really is the genes that helped the centenarians," he says.
We're a few weeks into the Lenten Challenge and I wondered how everyone was doing with their practice?
If you've fallen off the wagon, then get back on! It's as easy as that.
For myself, the last few weeks have been a challenge. Overhauling the main bathroom in the house has been a late winter project. It's been quite a workout climing up and down ladders, etc.; however the results have been worth it.
I'm not as young as I used to be and am a little beat up as a result. Keeping with the Lenten Challenge though, I didn't count the physical labor as my work out. I've just stayed up later, stretched out more and am still continuing with my martial arts practice.
The Mrs started a new job. It's full time in retail and she's not going to have the classic 9-5 hours that she was used to in previous jobs. Some days she'll have to start at 7 pm, and on others she'll have to close which won't get her home until around 10 pm. She'll also have to work most weekends.
I'm planning on structuring my training around her schedule. On the early days she'll have to get up at 5:30 which is an hour earlier than I usually get up. I'll just get up with her and I'll have an extra hour every morning to practice. I'll also continue to practice in the evening, so this will be something of a boost for my own training.
I had previously posted about Cameron Conaway (author of Caged: Memoirs of a Cage Fighting Poet), a mixed martial artist and award winning poet. Mr. Conaway was kind enough to write this guest post for Cook Ding's Kitchen.
When I read this, the idea that resonated with me was that through a very different path, he's coming around to some of the ideas which animate the practice and ideals of Budo, not unlike Nick Evangelista's The Inner Game of Fencing. I also thought it was a timely post during the Lenten Challenge.
Mr. Conaway's website is right here. Please pay him a visit.
Fighting as Religion
Cameron Conaway
Frank Shamrock and I discussed the issue of spirituality in the context of the martial arts.
“If I had to be categorized I’d be a secular humanist,” I said.
“Fighting is my religion,” he said.
His tone was measured. This was clearly a concept he had spent much time thinking about.
“Wherever I train is the temple – on the mats, in the bathroom brushing my teeth, it’s all keeping the body in check and this is all part of training.”
For the next few weeks this idea of fighting as religion swirled in my mind. Frank’s definition of training didn’t just include mat time or time at the gym. Even acts like brushing his teeth took on new dimensions. He wasn’t just brushing because we are supposed to, he was brushing because the health of the mouth is often a good indicator of the health of the body, because keeping the teeth in good shape will increase longevity and free up more time for training (no root canals, for example).
In this sense, fighting as religion would stick with us everywhere and be a constant source of good. Those nights where we just want to crawl in bed and sleep we wouldn’t – we’d have an extra incentive to brush our teeth first. It would make walking past a Dunkin’ Donuts stand that much easier. What once were minor daily habits would intensify and take on an importance similar to getting to the gym (something many of us martial artists value quite heavily). We’d strive to learn new languages or engage in deep conversations with friends, in part, because this would increase the health of our brain and fighting is a brainy activity. While the Gracie family have written detailed accounts of how fighting was/is their life, this concept of fighting as religion seemed at once different and more noble. Essentially, it wasn’t only about the fight competition or the sparring at the gym. Everything in life became a minor battle easily won. These easy victories and the overall tangible quality to each would make this religion of sustainability and rationality. Something that could be a positive force that changes our entire lives by not just changing the way we think about things, but making us think about things we normally wouldn’t have.
I am sure this is nothing new. In fact, I had this mindset when I was training for my own fights and I’m sure, for example, that judokas currently training for the 2012 Olympics in London have a similar mindset as well. However, now that I am retired from the fight game I’m interested in finding ways to still incorporate this mindset so that it is as feverishly sticky as it was when I had a huge fight coming up. In the end, I suppose it’s a matter of asking a question. What’s your fight?
Today is a very special day to me. My late father would have been 100 years old today. Happy Birthday, Dad.
My Dad was born in 1912, the same year that Arizona became the 48th State. He fought in WW II, lived to see a man on the moon, the introduction of the personal computer and hear his favorite music on CDs before he died.
He was the oldest son of Polish immigrants and was born in Detroit, Mi. His father died when he was 12, leaving him to be the man of the house. Twelve year olds were a lot more mature then.
The family owned a bakery and later also a neighborhood bar. My dad was a baker, a bartender and in the later part of his life, worked as a crane operator in a tool and die plant.
My dad told me stories about delivering the baked goods with a horse drawn wagon. If he took too long talking to a customer, the horse would sometimes head to the next stop without him.
As a kid, my friends knew my dad had once been a baker and went on strike one time. They wouldn't play with me until my dad made some homemade doughnuts. You could never have had doughnuts so fresh. They were outstanding.
Finishing high school wasn't common back then, but he did. He also played baseball and football.
After high school until before WW II, he played semi professional football. Maybe that's where my youngest daughter gets her athleticism
The bar was the center point of the neighborhood. On Friday nights, they'd show movies outside in the street, projected against a house wall and provided popcorn to keep the kids occupied.
When Prohibition came, they closed the front door of the place and their customers simply came in the back door. They rarely had trouble at the bar as some members of the infamous Purple Gang were frequent customers. My dad also had a few stories about bootlegging liquor over from Canada.
Leading up to WW II, he joined the National Guard. He was released from duty in May of 1941, but recalled a few months later after Pearl Harbor. He served with the 32nd Infantry Division "The Red Arrow"Division, in the Pacific.
In 1946, he married my mother, a neighbor who was nine years his junior. I am the third of three sons, coming along when my dad was 45. All my memories of him are of an older man.
I spent a lot of time with my dad when I was a kid. He was the epitome of patience and gentleness. He had a dry sense of humor. He stressed to me how important it was to read, write and communicate well. While not a highly educated man, he could see through a brick wall in time.
I remember listening to "Texaco Presents the Metropolitan Opera" every Saturday on the radio. My father loved the opera.
My mother's hobby was entering sweepstakes and one of the big prizes she once won was a week in New York to attend the Metropolitan Opera. They saw my dad's favorite, La Boheme. They met the performers and the conductor. For him, it was the very best prize that she ever could have won.
Classical music was a staple in my home. Also books. He and my mom used to dance polkas in the kitchen on Sunday mornings when the local radio station had Polish Hour.
Once he had the responsibility of raising a family, he left the bar and bakery behind and took a "steadier" job with a tool and die manufacturer that supplied the auto industry. The company he worked for was eventually purchased by Chrysler.
One of my brothers worked at that plant for a while, and described my dad's light touch on the controls of the crane moving multi-ton dies around the building. He said that dad had them floating around like soap bubbles.
I think I was in high school when he retired; maybe it was just after. That lasted about a week before he went out and got himself a part time job. He drove a delivery truck for a local tuxedo rental chain of stores and would continue until just a couple of years before his death.
My dad was a big dog lover, and the dogs loved him. If there is a better recommendation for a person's character, I don't know what it is. I don't remember us having only one dog, but we certainly had as many as four. My dad always kept a box of dog biscuits in the car and made sure that every hungry looking stray he saw at least had a biscuit. I remember him daily making his rounds, making sure the strays had something.
After I moved out, my parents had a neighbor who didn't deserve the dogs they had. My parents took two of their dogs away from them. One became a member of the family and the other one ended up with my sister in law.
The dogs loved him. My wife and I once had a black Labrador. When we were moving houses, the lab stayed with my parents for a week or so. When we took her back, she just moped around. She wasn't happy again until we finally gave her to my parents and she lived at their house permanently.
My dad used to boil chicken every day for the dogs. They got the meat and we got chicken soup.
A common scene at my parents house would be my dad in his easy chair, with the four dogs clustered around him. When he'd get up to go to the bathroom, they'd all follow him over there and wait for him (not always patiently) outside the door then escort him back to his chair. The lab would be as close to him as she could and would usually be resting her head or a paw against his knee.
When my dad died, the lab still sat by his chair with her head or a paw on the corner of the cushion where his leg would have been. She died shortly afterwards. The vet said it was cancer. I think it was a broken heart.
At age 79 he had a heart attack. I remember him in the emergency room. The doctor who was checking him out dealt with a lot of old people and was making a point of speaking loudly. My dad's hearing was fine. I remember him wincing while the doctor was bellowing at him, but he didn't want to hurt his feelings by telling him to pipe down.
He had a second heart attack while in the hospital. They tried sewing his heart back together, but there was too much damage and nothing would hold. He lasted about a week before he passed. Telling my mother that her husband of 46 years had died; and my oldest daughter, aged 4 at the time and especially close to him, were the hardest things I ever had to do at the time.
Time has passed. The ranks of that generation have thinned to where there is just a few of them left. There are few things as poignant as the passing of generations.
Sooner or later, the practitioner of nearly any kind of Japanese budo (martial Ways) will hear the term “shu, ha, ri.” It is a way to describe the learning process of a traditional art or craft.
The concept, on one level, is really quite simple. On another level, it can be very deep. I had been taught and read about “shu, ha, ri” by the time I was studying under the late Ohmori Masao, my Muso Jikiden Eishin-ryu iai sensei, in Kyoto. I was about to return to my native Hawaii after an extended stay in Japan. He was teaching me a new kata, explained its technical theories, and then told me that I should understand what “shu, ha, ri” was all about. He started to explain the meaning. Then he stopped.
“For the rest,” he smiled, “jibun de kenkyuu shinasai. You need to study the implications on your own.”
That, by itself, was an example of “shu, ha, ri.”
So what does it all mean?
Shu, ha, ri is a description of the way one should learn a traditional art, be it tea ceremony, origami (paper folding) or budo. Literally translated, the characters mean: protect, separate and understand. In other words, first protect and treasure what you have learned from your teacher, then separate yourself from your teacher’s instructions, and thereby, finally, reach your own understanding of the concepts.
Some people adopt a superficial understanding of the “ha” to mean a complete break with one’s teacher or training, and thus too many people with too little talent point to this concept as a reason why they come out with their “own” style of martial arts, the better to market their own unique punch-kick exercise system after two years’ worth of studying at a strip mall dojo. On the other hand, too many students never go beyond maintaining what they learned from their teacher even after their teacher’s retirement or passing, and are stuck in the “shu” level of simply maintaining, not excelling or attempting to go beyond what they learned from their teacher. They become stunted in their growth.
Shu, ha, ri, attempts to describe a traditional learning process, in which the end result is a new generation of “masters,” steeped in the tradition, but able to think and teach on his/her own, bringing new insight to the art. It is not really meant to justify new “styles” by people with minimum talents but maximum egos, nor is it meant to cast a teacher’s instructions in concrete, never to be violated by future changes.
Below is an excerpt from an article that appeared in The Economist, on how Mixed Martial Arts has evolved over the years. The full article may be read here.
Competition in mixed martial arts
Ultimate trust-busting championship
Oct 7th 2011, 6:52 by T.M.
IN 2000 the United States Congress passed the Muhammad Ali Boxing Reform Act, a law that sought to protect boxers from unscrupulous promoters and sanctioning bodies. Because boxing has no single governing organisation and its fighters are not unionised, promoters used to wield inordinate market power. As the industry’s “matchmakers”, they could refuse to arrange a fight, venue or broadcast deal unless boxers surrendered a disproportionate share of the proceeds and signed a long-term promotion agreement. The act tried to crack down on “coercive contracts” and level the field between fighters and promoters in negotiations. The law has rarely been invoked, but has occasionally provided some redress. Last month Fernando Guerrero, a rising middleweight boxer, filed suit against Prize Fight Promotions, alleging that the company failed to disclose proceeds of two of his televised bouts as the law requires.
However, the law only applied to boxing. In the decade since its passage, boxing’s primacy among combat sports in America has been challenged by the rise of mixed martial arts (MMA), formerly known as cage fighting. A Brazilian import, it incorporates a range of techniques, including boxing, jujitsu, wrestling and kickboxing, and originally had few regulations. In the 1990s its American promoters rebranded it and formalised its rules in an effort to fend off accusations of barbarity. MMA has since grown in popularity in both the United States and Europe, and has moved from fringe venues and the outer reaches of the cable television dial to snazzier sports arenas (usually attached to Las Vegas casinos) and broadcast networks.
When MMA was first brought to America, a number of promotion companies vied to organise events. But in recent years the industry has consolidated under the aegis of Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), which has bought up most of its rivals, including Strikeforce this March. In August UFC inked a $100m-a-year deal with the Fox network in the United States to begin broadcasting its fights in November.
The Dao De Jing is both one of the world's great works of literature and one of the foundations of philosophical Daoism. A free online version of this timeless classic may be found here. Below is chapter 42: Mind.
Every year, I throw out the LentenChallenge to my martial arts buddies. It has nothing to do with Christianity or religion. We are simply using this time as a convenient reminder to rededicate ourselves to our training. It’s kind of hard to miss either Fat Tuesday (Mardi Gras, the last day before Lent, which is also Paczki Day!) or Easter Sunday (Bunnies, candy, colored eggs; that stuff). Several of us have been doing this for years now.
The challenge is this: from Ash Wednesday (Feb 22) until the day before Easter (April 7), train every day, without fail, no excuses; even if you have to move mountains. Simple enough said, a little harder to do.
It's not as easy as it sounds; things come up. Some days, you might only be able to get a few minutes of training in; but the point is to do it everyday, no matter what.
It doesn't have to be martial arts training either. Whatever it is that you need to really rededicate yourself to: studying, practicing an instrument, walking, watching what you eat; anything - do it every day, without fail.
In the past on some forums, people have posted what they’ve done everyday. I think everyone who’s done that has become tired of writing, and the others get tired of reading it. How about you just post if you’ve had some breakthrough, or you’ve had to overcome some unusual circumstance to continue your training? Maybe just check in every once in a while to let everyone know you’re keeping at it, or to encourage everyone else to keep at it.
If you fail, no one will hate you. If you fall off of the wagon, climb back on board. Start anew.
For those of you who insist that you really do train everyday anyway, by all means continue and be supportive of the rest of us. For the rest of us who intend to train everyday, but sometimes come up short due to life’s propensity for unraveling even the best laid plans, here is an opportunity to put a stake in the ground and show your resolution.
Hong Kong --
Efforts to build a Bruce Lee museum in the late kung fu movie star's hometown of Hong Kong have been stalled again.
Fans have been calling for an official tribute to the screen icon for years. Their hopes appeared to be answered two years ago when the Hong Kong government and the owner of Lee's former home reached an agreement to convert the property - a two-story house currently used as an hourly love motel - into a museum.
I love stories about using low tech in innovative ways. Below is an excerpt from an article, which may be read in full here. Below the excerpt is a short video on the same topic.
The world is not getting smaller, but is becoming more full of life – humans to be exact. Increasing demands for water, shelter and electricity are issues that are not going away in the near future. With this in mind, a new solution has been found to meet the high demand for electricity.
While the solution may be flawed, it is an answer nonetheless. In Brazil 2002, during an energy crisis, local community members found a way to harness the sunlight into a light source to be used inside buildings. Taking a 2-liter clear bottle, two cap-sized portions of bleach, and water to fill the bottle, the bottle acts as a powerless light bulb. The bottle is then placed in a hole in the ceiling where the sun can enter on the exposed end of the bottle then refract the light into the building.
...
NGOs like Isang Litrong Liwanag (“A Liter of Light”) have already begun to install approximately 10,000 bottles in the Philippines. This proves not only to be a potential solution to the lack of access to electricity, but also may stimulate the economy due to the market for the light bulbs.
Some people, thanks to micro-lending and access to resources, have even begun to make a business out of the bottle light bulb. One man, Demi Bucras in the Philippines, now works at installing these lights for the community. His addition to the solar bottle lights: metal sheets. Bucras takes the metal sheets and cuts a small hole. He then puts the bottle into the hole and creates a secure fit. Next, he cuts the same size hole into the roof and places the bottle into the hole. The metal sheet keeps out unwanted weather, like heat and rain, while still allowing the sun light in. Within a month of the first solar bulbs in Buras community in the Philippines, over a 1,000 ‘bulbs’ were installed.
Burcras says he even had to quit his job because the demand was high, and the money was good.
Many critics say this sun light-driven light bulb is creative, but it is not a lasting solution. Questions concerning lack of access to water, multiple storey buildings, maintenance, and how to have light at night time are some of the main criticisms of the water bottle light bulb.
While the light bulbs cannot power homes at night, it can save electricity from being used during the day, which can then be used at night, or saved for other purposes. This can help reduce electricity bills and that money as well can be allocated towards other expenses.
The light bulbs not only work during sunny days, but also on cloudy days as well. Water refracts light at 360 degrees which means that any source of light can be used to create the light bulb. Users also state that opening a door or window only allows so much light in, and usually much heat or cold. The light bulbs in the ceiling allow for more light to be let in, and in controlled areas, without heating or freezing the house.
As philosophical Daoism changes into alchemy, the search for an Elixir of Immortality became the Holy Grail. Perhaps modern science isn't that far away. Below is an excerpt from a recent new article. The whole thing may be read here.
Who wants to live forever? Scientist sees aging cured
Mon, Jul 04 14:39 PM EDT
By Health and Science Correspondent Kate Kelland
LONDON (Reuters) - If Aubrey de Grey's predictions are right, the first person who will live to see their 150th birthday has already been born. And the first person to live for 1,000 years could be less than 20 years younger.
A biomedical gerontologist and chief scientist of a foundation dedicated to longevity research, de Grey reckons that within his own lifetime doctors could have all the tools they need to "cure" aging -- banishing diseases that come with it and extending life indefinitely.
"I'd say we have a 50/50 chance of bringing aging under what I'd call a decisive level of medical control within the next 25 years or so," de Grey said in an interview before delivering a lecture at Britain's Royal Institution academy of science.
"And what I mean by decisive is the same sort of medical control that we have over most infectious diseases today."
De Grey sees a time when people will go to their doctors for regular "maintenance," which by then will include gene therapies, stem cell therapies, immune stimulation and a range of other advanced medical techniques to keep them in good shape.
De Grey lives near Cambridge University where he won his doctorate in 2000 and is chief scientific officer of the non-profit California-based SENS (Strategies for Engineered Negligible Senescence) Foundation, which he co-founded in 2009.
He describes aging as the lifelong accumulation of various types of molecular and cellular damage throughout the body.
"The idea is to engage in what you might call preventative geriatrics, where you go in to periodically repair that molecular and cellular damage before it gets to the level of abundance that is pathogenic," he explained.
Upright, firm and collected -- these are the three marks of that posture which is typical of the Japanese who knows how to stand, and taken together, show the presence of Hara.
Modern man in his self-assurance holds too strongly to what he believes is his by his own efforts. Not only does he not hesitate to attract attention to himself but he even emphasizes his "persona." This means that he lacks the wise restraint suitable both in social life and toward those greater forces which are present everywhere and which may suddenly fall on him and attack him. Regarding these, man is better prepared either to ward them off or deliberately to let them in, if the deep-centeredness of the soul-body posture at least counterbalances the outward thrust and striving of the mind or, better still, slightly preponderates over it.
For avoiding all postures emphasizing the ego the Japanese has one sure remedy -- his firm Hara.
-- excerpted from Hara, The Vital Center Of Man, by Karlfried Graf Durkheim
Another excellent article at the Classical Budoka. An excerpt is below. The whole article may be read here. Martial arts isn't about organizations or styles, but the people who study, teach and practice them.
For several years, I didn’t have any formal connections to any iaido organization. Since the death of my main iai teacher in Japan several years ago, things got weird real fast in the home dojo, and the local kendo/iaido group that my club once happily worked with also got weird on us. Nobody wanted us all of a sudden.
For several years, I felt cast adrift. There was so much more left to learn in my iai system. Friends offered ideas to help me out of my dilemma and even opportunities to join their systems, but I was never quite satisfied with their solutions until this past December. I got back together with a fellow student of my iai teacher. He had an advanced degree, faced the same problems, and found his own solutions.
A friend sent me this article. An excerpt is posted below. The full article may be read here. Check out the rest of the tabs.
# SAN FRANCISCO'S CHINATOWN TRIADS
Introduction
The streets of San Francisco Chinatown seem like a regular tourist spot to most people. People gather there to eat, shop, or just sightsee. All this is very common in the daytime, but during the night, it’s a completely different scene. If you ever go to Chinatown during the daytime, you most likely see a lot of old Chinese people going grocery shopping or tourists looking around, but by 7 pm or so, the stores are closed and the streets are nearly deserted. The reason for this is that at night, the street gangs of Chinatown start to get active. There is a lot of history in San Francisco’s Chinatown that not too many people know about. Chinatown wasn’t the safe place everyone thought it was.
Origin of Gangs
It all started when Tongs started to form in Chinatown. A Tong is the term used for a type of secret society found among Chinese American immigrants. Tongs started forming during the 1850’s during the California Gold Rush when many Chinese immigrants started flocking to the city they called “Gold Mountain.” They went to California thinking they were going to be able to make a fortune but many Chinese found themselves unwelcomed. Some were being robbed, and some were being taken advantaged of by the early settlers such as the Irish or Italians. They felt like they couldn’t go to the local law enforcement because a lot of the police were of Irish descent. The Chinese needed some sort of protection, the kind they had in their homeland, which led to the forming of Tongs. Tongs were created for mutual support and protection, especially from groups hostile towards the Chinese immigration. Industries and families formed their own Tongs and built meeting halls. Each Tong was a form of self government that looked after themselves. “If you were a shoemaker, there would be a shoemaker tong. If you were a seamstress, you would be in a seamstress tong.” There would also be tongs that were formed from last names. For example if a persons last name was Wong, they would be in the Wong tong. The Tongs were, and are today, a lifesaver to many hardworking immigrants.
The Tongs also had another side to them. Some Tongs use their power to extort local merchants, both legitimate and illegal. Tongs also recruited gangsters to do their dirty work. “Some of the tongs actually have a separate branch of gangsters that work for them. Who would enforce the rules and regulations.” The FBI has kept a list of criminally influence tongs. One of the major tongs was named “The Hop Sing Tong.”
Raymond Chow and the Hop Sing Tong
Raymond Chow was one of Chinatowns most notorious criminals. Chow was born in Hong Kong in 1960. At the age of 9, he joined a gang. “I just want to be the best gangster, best fighter, and party, making money, and also selling a lot of drugs.” In 1976, Chows family moved to San Francisco where he enrolled in high school. He was in school for about two months when he got picked on for being a foreigner. To retaliate, Chow shot a classmate in the leg. He dropped out of school and spent all his time practicing martial arts. He practiced in a well known Chinese playground where a lot of gangsters hung out. One gang in particular caught Chows eyes which was the “Hop Sing Boys.” He joined the Hop Sing Tong because of their culture, loyalty, trust, and honor.
The Hop Sing Tong was one of the criminally influenced tongs that the FBI had a list of. “If you say that the Hop Sing Tong is a criminal organization, you’re wrong, because there are some members in there that are not criminals.” Raymond Chow began working for the Hop Sing Tong in 1976. At that time, there were two gangs that were employed under the Hop Sing Tong, which were the Hop Sing Boys and the “Wah Ching.” These two gangs made sure that the rules of the Hop Sing Tong were enforced.
Today begins Chinese New Year. This is the Year of the Dragon. Specifically, the is the year of the Water Dragon.
Metal Animation has a great article on Chinese Dragons, as well as pictures of some outstanding sculptures. I've copied a portion of the article below. The picture is of one of their sculptures. Follow this link for read the whole thing.
Chinese Imperial Water Dragon - Mythology
In Chinese mythology there are five types of dragon:-
1. Those guarding the gods and emperors
2. Those controlling the wind and rain
3. Earthly dragons which deepened the rivers and seas
4. Guardians of hidden treasure
5. The first dragon
The First dragon appeared to the mythical emperor Fu-hsi, and filled the hole in the sky made by the monster Kung Kung. Its waking, sleeping and breathing determined day and night. Season and weather.
There are many differences between the classical dragon and the Chinese dragon, these include the ability to fly even without wings, shape-shifting abilities, and of course the general benevolent behaviour to the populace.
The Chinese dragon is made up of nine entities. The head of camel, the eyes of a demon, the ears of a cow, the horns of a stag, the neck & body of a snake, It's claws that of an eagle, while the soles of his feet are that of a tiger, and the scales that cover it's body are that of a carp.
The Chinese dragon has four claws as standard, but the Imperial dragon has five, this is to identify it above the lesser classes. Anyone other than the emperor using the 5 claw motif was put to death.
Since I had been invited to have Cook Ding's Kitchen on a Poetry Blog ranking, I thought it would be appropriate to interject my own stuff from time to time, in between my regular posts.
So here it goes (drum roll please), I give you ... The Writer's Block Suite:
One of my favorite books on strategy is The 48 Laws of Power by Robert Greene and Joost Elffers. Where The Art of War, by Sun Tzu is written as an overview of the whole topic of strategy, seeking to provide an overall understanding of the subject; and The 36 Strategies tries to impart the knack of strategic thinking through 36 maxims related to well known Chinese folk stories, Mr. Greene focuses on how we influence and manipulate one another, ie "power".
Mr. Greene draws from both Eastern and Western history and literature as his source material. Sun Tzu and Machiavelli as cited as much as wonderful stories of famous con men. Among my favorites is about a scrap metal dealer thinking he bought the Eiffel Tower.
Each of the 48 Laws carries many examples, along with counter examples where it is appropriate that they be noted, and even reversals.
It is a very thorough study of the subject and the hardback version is beautifully produced.
The first law is: Never Outshine the Master.
Law 1 Never Outshine the Master
Always make those above you feel comfortably superior. In your desire to please or impress them, do not go too far in displaying your talents or you might accomplish the opposite inspire fear and insecurity. Make your masters appear more brilliant than they are and you will attain the heights of power.
That is, don't give your boss cause to feel threatened by outshining him. Unless of course, you're about to push him out of the way to get ahead.
Here is a link for Gottsupedia. Gottsupedia is a wiki which is a source of information about Japan and related topics, with an emphasis on history and the martial arts, particularly Aikido. "Gottsupedia" stands simply for "Gottsuiiyan Encyclopedia".
Below is an excerpt from their article on Yoshinkan Aikido. Please pay a visit.
Emphasis on basics
Yoshinkan Aikido has some 150 basic techniques which are practiced repeatedly, enabling the student to master the remaining ones, which total some 3000 overall. The syllabus contains no weapons forms, although they are practiced as an adjunct to the open hand techniques. Like many styles of aikido, Yoshinkan eschews competition; instead, it emphasizes practicality and self defense applications. Yoshinkan aikido is one of the martial arts that is taught to the Tokyo police
Distinctively, Yoshinkan places heavy emphasis on basic movements, which are practiced in the form of kata. The reason for this, in Shioda Gozo's own words, is;
"Today's Aikido is so dimension less. It's hollow, empty on the inside. People try to reach the highest levels without even paying their dues. That's why it seems so much like a dance these days. You have to master the very basics solidly, with your body, and then proceed to develop to the higher levels.... Now we see nothing but copying or imitation without any grasp of the real thing...."
Yoshinkan aikido methodology is based on the idea that proper form leads to effective aikido technique and is the key to "kokyuu ryoku"; Yoshinkan's emphasis on basics and instilling them in students through repeated drills is a direct product of the difficulties encountered when Yoshinkan first began teaching exceptionally large groups, such the Tokyo police. Another reason for Yoshinkan's teaching methods, which Shioda points out in his book Shugyo, is that because modern people think more in terms of logic, no one would respond to Ueshiba Morihei's style of intuitive teaching. Ueshiba did not give exact instruction, instead he would show a technique and let everyone figure it out saying "That's fine, that's fine" to everyone's way of doing it. He would also exclaim "Become one with heaven and earth", which Shioda says would be nearly impossible to swallow for people nowadays. Shioda points out that unless precise and systematic instruction is given, people will be unable to grasp techniques, will fail to progess, and soon quit.
Another difference between Yoshinkan and Aikikai and other styles is the position of feet and hips. Most aikido styles use a kamae (generally translated as "stance", but can also be interpreted to mean "ready" or mental and physical "attitude") with the front foot pointing straight forward, the back foot at a 90 degree angle to the front foot, and the hips on a slight angle to the side. In the Yoshinkan kamae, the hips are square to the opponent (partner), and both the front and back feet are angled outwards at approximately 45 degrees (and on a 90 degree angle to each other). The Yoshinkan kamae is not intended as a combat stance, rather it is to instill and reinforce the body's "centre line" (中心線：chuushinsen).
Yoshinkan's main interest is in teaching a form of Aikido based on the sharp and clear pre-war aikido techniques of Ueshiba Morihei. In establishing the Yoshinkan Dojo, Shioda did away with much of the esoteric components that had been a part of Ueshiba's teachings, however "spirit" and attitude were strongly emphasized in Shioda's teaching.
The name "Yoshinkan" comes from the dojo his father owned - "Yo" means cultivate; "shin" means spirit ("Shin" uses the same Chinese character as "kami," which means divine, deity or god(s) - however it is generally interpreted to mean one's own "spirit" or "mind", rather than anything to do with deities in this case), "kan" means house. Thus "Yoshinkan" is the house for the cultivation of the spirit. Shioda's, and subsequently most of his disciples', teaching style is focused in the physical realm of Aikido techniques, and techniques are spoken of in terms of Centre Power (中心: chuushinryoku）, Focused Power (集中力 : shuuchuuryoku), and Breath Power (呼吸力： kokyuuroku), and less in metaphysical. Yoshinkan will talk about energy flow and power in terms of "chikara" ("力" literally strength or power) rather than in metaphysical terms such as "ki". Despite not adhering to the religious aspects of Ueshiba's teachings, however, the Yoshinkan honbu dojo does have a kamidana at the shomen (front) of the dojo.
Having just come in from shoveling snow (there's not enough to warrant the snow thrower), what better time to contemplate cage fighting and poetry?
Below is an excerpt from a book review of Caged: Memoirs of a Cage-Fighting Poet by Cameron Conaway. After reading the review, I looked the book up at Amazon and saw that the Kindle version was 2.99. I bought it. I haven't finished reading it yet, but so far I am enjoying it. The full review may be read here.
The link between the warrior and the scholar is an old one, and in the cultures as diverse as ancient Greece and China, one as august as any. These days soldiers who become statesmen, or scholars who teach at military colleges exemplify the tradition best. While those folks are often in the news, there is amongst us a quieter, no less thoughtful philosophical pugilist. His name is Cameron Conaway, and he is an experienced MMA (mixed martial arts) fighter who also happens to be an award-winning poet who teaches Shakespeare for Ottawa University and was the University of Arizona's Poet-in-residence. Caged is the memoir of his still short, but already exceptional life.
His exquisitely written story is the work of a bard with blood on his hands, his own and that of his opponents. It's a sometimes gristly, sometimes soaring piece of work that begins with trenchant descriptions of a broken home and abusive father. It plumbs the mines of the father-son relationships and psychology, as Conaway bares his feelings when it comes to the agony of his estrangement from his dad, and much else too.
My friend Michael Hom recently published an article at Jade Dragon on book selections on strategy and leadership. Below is an excerpt. The whole post may be read here.
Here is an updated New Year's list of books for those who are looking to start the year out with a mindset towards strategy and leadership. We believe that these books should be in the library of everyone who is interested in the Asian strategic mind.
"The Art of War is the Swiss army knife of military theory—a different tool for any situation. Folded into this small package are compact views on resourcefulness, momentum, cunning, the profit motive, flexibility, integrity, secrecy, speed, positioning, surprise, deception, manipulation, responsibility, and practicality. Most passages, however, are the pinnacle of succinct clarity: Lure them in with the prospect of gain, take them by confusion” or Invincibility is in one's self; vulnerability is in the opponent. Sun Tzu's maxims are widely applicable beyond the military because they speak directly to the exigencies of survival. Your new tools will serve you well, but don't flaunt them. Remember Sun Tzu's advice: Though effective, appear to be ineffective." – Brian Bruya, Amazon.com
One of our favorite suggestions to new readers is The Complete Art of War. The first book is Sun Tzu: The Art of War. Millions of copies of this book have been sold in many languages around the world. Lost for more than 2,000 years and only recently recovered, Sun Pin: Military Methods (History & Warfare) (by Sun Tzu's great-grandson) is a brilliant elaboration on his ancestor's work.
The Complete Art of Warbrings the wisdom of these two ancient sages into a single volume and gives the reader a unique opportunity to master the essentials of Chinese thought on strategy, organization, and leadership.
Our other favorite interpretations of Sunzi's The Art of War are shown below:
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. The first book is Sun Tzu: The Art of War. Millions of copies of this book have been sold in many languages around the world. Lost for more than 2,000 years and only recently recovered, Sun Pin: Military Methods (History & Warfare)
(by Sun Tzu's great-grandson) is a brilliant elaboration on his ancestor's work. 
