The Dragon Motif

Previously, I had posted an excerpt of a review of The Propensity of Things by Francois Jullien. Below is an excerpt from the book which particularly caught my eye.

Conclusion II: The Dragon Motif

The body of the dragon concentrates energy in its sinuous curves, and coils and uncoils to move along more quickly. It is a symbol of all the potential with which form can be charged, a potential that never ceases to be actualized The dragon now lurks in watery depths, now streaks aloft to the highest heavens, and its very gait is a continuous undulation. It presents an image of energy constantly recharged through oscillation from one pole to the other.

The dragon is a constantly evolving creature with no fixed form; it can never be immobilized or penned in, never grasped. It symbolizes a dynamism never visible in concrete form and thus unfathomable. Finally, merging with the clouds and mists, the dragon's impetus makes the surrounding world vibrate: it is the very image of an energy that diffuses itself through space, intensifying its environment and enriching itself by that aura.

--

Shortly after reading The Propensity of Things, I read Lectures on the I Ching by Dr. Richard Wilhelm.

How to go about studying the I Ching has always been somewhat of a puzzle to me. From his lectures, I got some idea of the underlying structure of how the I Ching is put together and how hexagrams are evaluated.

Throwing some coins then looking up one’s fortune, like breaking open a fortune cookie it is not.

September 11th ... 1683

Below is an excerpt from a post I made a few September 11ths' ago. The original post may be read here.

Over 300 years ago, Western Civilization was nearly overrun by Islam. The seeming unstoppable tide of Islam paused at Vienna. On September 11th, 1683, the king of Poland, John Sobieski, at the head of his Winged Hussars, the last heavy calvary in Europe, led an army down upon the besiegers. They swept the Muslim army from the field, and from that day, the grip of Islam upon Eastern Europe weakened. This battle was the beginning of the end of the Ottoman Empire.

Who Needs Fiction: Be Careful Whom You Fight

Sun Tzu would admonish us about picking the wrong opponent to fight. Below is an excerpt from an article which appeared in the Associated Press. You may read the whole article here.


We should certainly learn from the mistakes of others.

California man killed by armed bird at cockfight

Monday, February 7, 2011

(02-07) 15:09 PST Delano, Calif. (AP) --

A Kern County man attending a cockfight died after being stabbed in the leg by a bird that had a knife attached to its own limb.

The coroner says 35-year-old Jose Luis Ochoa was declared dead at the hospital about two hours after he suffered the injury in neighboring Tulare County on Jan. 30.

Bully Medicine

An article recently was published by Yahoo from which I am posting an excerpt below. It has to do with kids and bullies. The whole article may be read here.

As Real As It Gets: Bullying Victims Can Fight Back With Help From Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Royalty

Wednesday, August 24, 2011 1:17 am

Written by: Steve Henson

 FC 134 in Rio de Janeiro this weekend will rightly include homage to the iconic Gracie family, creators of Brazilian jiu-jitsu nearly 100 years ago, creators of the Ultimate Fighting Championship nearly 20 years ago, creators of legendary family fighting figures and jiu-jitsu instructors that span the globe.


But the Gracies' most positive impact might be felt at a middle school in a Denver suburb where a seventh grader is unafraid of bullies for the first time since he can remember.
Martin Hendricks, 12, spent a week this summer at the Gracie Academy in Torrance, Calif., in an intensive program designed to make him "Bullyproof." He learned as many jiu-jitsu self-defense techniques as a kid can absorb in five days, he memorized a blueprint for dealing with a bully fairly and squarely, and he gained self-confidence. The first week of school he put the lessons into practice.

"I'm still a little nervous but it all went well," Hendricks said quietly in a phone call to Rener Gracie, his personal instructor at the academy. "He'll never bother me again. Let me tell you about it."

Why I Train in Martial Arts

In this day and age, I think the main reason for most of us to train in martial arts isn't to fight, but to cultivate a calm, clear mind.

I am nearly 54 and haven't been in a fight since my early 20's. I do however find that I have an opportunity to show the advantage of a calm,clear mind nearly every day.

Take yesterday for example.

I was on the freeway with my wife and mother in law driving back from visiting some relatives in Ohio. I was in the left lane passing a truck. There was a SUV behind the truck.

Just as I was pulling alongside the SUV, he decided to change lanes sharply. I saw him coming and laid on the horn. He kept coming. I move as far to the left as I could without driving into the median.

It wasn't far enough. When he finally saw me, he hit my car and went back to his own lane.

The highway patrolman said the if he had hit me a little further back, my car might have spun and it would have been a very bad thing. If he had hit me much harder at all, I would have ended up in the median and maybe rolled over.

As it was, the damage is superficial. No one was hurt and all's well that ends well.

To Ride the Wind

A couple of years ago, I posted an article about Chinese Dragons. Both the Tiger and Dragon are elemental figures, but while the Tiger is born a Tiger, the Dragon becomes one by dint of his own effort. 


Among the fearsome powers of the Dragon is the ability to ride the wind.


Below is an excerpt from an article about a modern self made Dragon, Ram Charan. I don't know if I would want to adopt his life style, but I can't help but admire him for his expertise, erudition and focus. 


The full article may be read here.

...Having uploaded himself into the global
economy, Charan circulates, continuously, with something like the speed and efficiency
of capital. Consider the itinerary he sketched at dinner one night a few months ago in New York. He had just agreed - for the first time in his career -to let a journalist travel with him and watch him work. "I should tell you where I've been the last few weeks," he began in heavily accented English. "I go to India on the Friday of the week before
Thanksgiving. I am Sunday morning in Bombay. Monday morning I am in Delhi.
Wednesday I'm in Bombay. Thursday I'm in Bangalore. Saturday I'm in Trivandrum.
Wednesday I'm in Johannesburg. Friday morning, at seven, I am in New York. I have a
two-hour meeting with a CEO who has flown in to see me. I have two more meetings and I
fly out that night to Dubai. I am in Dubai on Sunday and Monday, then I come back here.
On Thursday night I fly out to Jubail, Saudi Arabia. Then I come back here. Tuesday
morning I have a whole-day schedule in New York. Tuesday night I go to Milwaukee. I
came from Milwaukee last night. They diverted my plane so I had to stay in Pittsburgh. I
had a meeting this morning in Philadelphia. I had three meetings here in the afternoon.
And I'm here tomorrow, with GE. Then an hour-and-a-half phone call. Then I'm going out
tomorrow night to West Palm Beach. Monday morning I have a breakfast meeting in New
York. And then I'm flying out to Perth, Australia." At least he flies first-class.


Have I mentioned that Charan has never married? That he has no children? And still I
haven't come to possibly the most peculiar aspect of his personality. I mean that which
sets him apart from virtually every person he comes in contact with, none more so than
his overachieving CEO clients: Charan has no goals. He never set out to become a
globetrotting consultant, any more than he dreamed of attending Harvard Business
School, or becoming a professor, or even so much as one day earning a living beyond the
small city in India where he was born.

Charan's weird and wonderful life is an unintended byproduct of dedication, he insists.
Dedication to learning and teaching and service, to the whole set of Hindu virtues
embodied by one of Charan's favorite phrases, "Purpose before self." "People used to
ask me, What is your ambition?" says Charan, who turned 67 this past Christmas. "I say
I have none. My dedication is going to take me where I'm going to be."

Who Needs Fiction: Life Will Find a Way

A friend sent me this.

The catastrophe at the Fukushima Reactor in Japan is very, very bad. But then again ...

"Life will find a way."

 - Ian Malcolm, "Jurrasic Park"

Unstoppable

Remember the Crane Kick from the Karate Kid?

Lyoto Machida in a MMA match: No gap.

Big vs Little

Here's a clip of some Sumo matches where the (relatively) smaller guy succeeds against a larger opponent.