Happy St Patrick's Day!

I'm only Irish by marriage, but here's my contribution...

A Different Kind of Southern Wu Sytle Taijiquan

Wu Quanyou (1834-1902) learned Taijiquan from Yang Lu Chan and his son, Yang Pan Hou. Wu in turn eventually had his own students.

When Wu relocated to Shanghai, the students he left behind continued to teach, and they became known as the Northern Wu Style of Taijiquan. It would be fair to call the art that passed down through Wu's family the Southern Wu Style of Taijiquan.

It would be fair, but that's not what this post is about.

Down in the southern United States, David Lenkovitski teaches a branch of the Wu Family Style of Taijiquan in Rogers Arkansas, at the RabBoar Studio. David has been practicing Taijiquan for over 30 years, and while he has experience in several different styles, he carries on what he has been taught by a famous inside student of Wu GongYi, Rock Ng (Wu Gaotai), where the "quan jit" or square form as taught to the family and inside students is emphasized.

I asked David if he could provide a few words to provide some insight into his study and practice of taijiquan. His response is below. Please pay his website a visit. There's a forum focused on the Wu style of taijiquan trying to get off the ground as well. Enjoy.

There are 3 elements comprising the introductory years of internal practice.

1. letting go, a process of dissolving the affects / mind knots / body armor, essentially a 'not doing' or yin process, just open your hands (mind / body...) and stop holding to the old trash.

2. chi to DT ++, a process of replenishment, accumulating post natal chi in the DT, 'cooking' it and adding the results to the one chi. This is a neutral process, where 'natural' processes are given a 'place' to occur.

3. rebuilding the original balances and alignments of the bones & joints, muscles and fascia through correct application of basic and form work. This is an active, yang process, even the re-acquisition of sung is active.

An excerpt from an article is below. The whole article may be read here.

Less Better, understanding Tai Chi Chuan

By David Lenkovitzki

On Tuesday, February 24, 2009 - 03:44

There are 2 major categories that 'thangs' fall under, 'more better' and 'less better'.

The majority of the world falls under (1) 'more better', you want to go faster, you put a bigger motor in your car, 1 aspirin does not make your headache go way, take 2, if you want to learn MA, get bigger muscles and train until you are faster than your opponent, and so on and so forth.

The balance of the world falls under (2) 'less better' paradoxical phenomena; case in point is homeopathy, where in order to increase the potency of a remedy, one dilutes it further and further, and Tai Chi Chuan where one 'never opposes' and one 'never uses force'.

Actually, life processes fall under (2) since they are mediated and facilitated by enzymes and happen at much lower temperatures and require less energy to happen than plain chemical reactions.

Category 2 is what Taoism talks about when they talk about Wu Wei http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wu_wei , when you look at the page see 'There is another less commonly referenced sense of wu wei; "action that does not involve struggle or excessive effort". In this instance, Wu means "without" and Wei means "effort". The concept of "effortless action" is a part of Taoist Internalmartial arts such as Tai Chi Chuan, Baguazhang and Xing Yi.'

So, do less, accomplish more, live longer, better ;-}

The question arises, is there any practical benefit to be had from following the path of ascent? (2)

Yang family small frame practice of Tai Chi Chuan, and Wu family practice of quanjit makes a case of lowering internal resistance as the main path for gaining strength (jin).
Is there a any indication that 'the worlds as it is' allows for gaining by letting go? Does Cheng Manching's 'invest in loss' actually mean something is is it just a cute saying?

When one lowers the temperature of a conductor gradually, the resistance lowers gradually as well, until, at a 'magical' point the resistance goes down to ZERO, and one gets a 'super conductor' in which current will flow for ever, no losses.

When one lowers the load on actine fiber (the actual engine of muscle tissue) it's efficiency grows, at very low load levels, the 'magic' happens again, and a huge peak in efficiency manifests.

So, the white eye of the black fish (tai-chi tu http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tai_chi_tu) is a 'reality' there is a family of phenomena that follows a different path.

The commonality is that these manifest near or at zero, just like there is a whole family of phenomena that manifest near or at infinity (black holes etc.)

And, Taoist yin practices that assume birth from the abyss are a good way of exploring these territories.

Learning Tai Chi Chuan is layered process.

Each layer of self change, when acquired, makes approaching the next subject matter possible, so, traditionally each one is called a gate.

The first gate IMO is that of regaining the potential to be empty; the approaches vary, but the technology of learning sung is based on dissolving blocks and letting go of the mental and emotional constructs that express themselves in these.
It matters not if the framework is that of muscle tendon change, body armor removal, dissolving ... any and all systems will deliver results.

But, if the student does not get the goods on this gate, IMO they'll never be able to progress past the externals.

Wokay... so you got a fair level of sung manifesting in your body, movement & actions, i.e. you've passed the first gate, now what?

The next chore is rebuilding the body so that it exhibits central equilibrium.

This bit of TLC (tender loving care, the 'little white lie' of real estate agents when they try to sell you a hovel, you know it'll only take a bit of TLC and it'll be GREAT) is a must. I have yet to meet a person over 5 that's not messed up in one way or another.

Whatever is wrong, physically, emotionally or by way of chi and whatever else you consider part of what and who you are, needs to be addressed, and *fixed*.

Most will have to do with posture, carriage, balance, range of motion in the joints, fascia that's too tight, or too loose, over or under developed muscles, movement primitives that are off, reflexes that are off (this is just a partial list of the most common issues). The list is personal, and each of us is off in different ways, so there is no one 'fix' that'll do it.

You notice that all that I have enumerated above are physical, however, fix the physical and the subtle will be fixed as well. You could (and some people do) come at it from the emotional, mental or chi angle and be successful.

The 'howto' here is vast, and spans all the we consider 'medical' or health related, bodywork, nutrition, habits etc. Some people will be able to make it work on their own, but most will need some outside help.

The end result is a healthy, happy body, that at rest exhibits central equilibrium.

So, you have acquired an open pelvis, good connection to the ground, a free standing & aligned spine, an open torso and an open head / neck / shoulder assembly (gates(2)), now what?

Well, you have to learn Tai Chi Chuan ;-}

The Antikythera Mechanism

The Antikythera mechanism  is an ancient mechanical computer^[1][2] designed to calculate astronomical positions. It was recovered in 1900–01 from the Antikythera wreck,^[3] but its complexity and significance were not understood until decades later. It is now thought to have been built about 150–100 BCE.^{[citation needed]} The degree of mechanical sophistication is comparable to a 19th century Swiss clock.^[4] Technological artifacts of similar complexity and workmanship did not reappear until the 14th century, when mechanical astronomical clocks appeared in Europe.

Pretty amazing, huh:? How about recreating it with ... Legos?

The Propensity of Things

I've mentioned several times that one of my favorite authors is Nassim Nicholas Taleb, the author of Fooled by Randomness and The Black Swan.


I read somewhere where one of his favorite authors is Francois Jullien, a French sinologist and the author of The Propensity of Things: Toward a History of Efficacy in China. 


The propensity of things. Understanding this opens the way to wu wei, effortless action.


Below are excerpts from a review at the MIT Press.

The Propensity of Things
Toward a History of Efficacy in China
François Jullien
Translated by Janet Lloyd

In this strikingly original contribution to our understanding of Chinese philosophy, Fran&ccedille;ois Julien, a French sinologist whose work has not yet appeared in English uses the Chinese concept of shi—meaning disposition or circumstance, power or potential—as a touchstone to explore Chinese culture and to uncover the intricate and coherent structure underlying Chinese modes of thinking.

Jullien begins with a single Chinese term, shi, whose very ambivalence and disconcerting polysemy, on the one hand, and simple efficacy, on the other, defy the order of a concept. Yet shi insinuates itself into the ordering and conditioning of reality in all its manifold and complex representations. Because shi neither gave rise to any coherent, general analysis nor figured as one of the major concepts among Chinese thinkers, Jullien follows its appearance from one field to another: from military strategy to politics; from the aesthetics of calligraphy and painting to the theory of literature; and from reflection on history to "first philosophy."

At the point where these various domains intersect, a fundamental intuition assumed self-evident for centuries emerges, namely, that reality—every kind of reality—may be perceived as a particular deployment or arrangement of things to be relied upon and worked to one's advantage. Art or wisdom, as conceived by the Chinese, lies in strategically exploiting the propensity that emanates from this particular configuration of reality. 

While we're on the subject, I also want to highlight The Disputers of the Tao by Angus C. Graham. This book is a a history of philosophical thought in ancient China and really puts Daoism in context. This is really a classic.

Lenten Challenge Update

I don't usually post an update on how the Lenten Challenge is going this early on (less than one full day into it!), but I thought today's events might be interesting and pertinent.

One of the reasons I study martial arts is to help cultivate a calm mind. I think it's far more likely that a calm mind will help me deal with the random events that pop up during the day than fighting ability.

So there I am Monday evening, on a business trip, having dinner with one of my colleagues when I notice a voicemail on my phone. I see it's my youngest (20 year old) daughter, and I'll call her back when I return to the hotel.

I get back to my room and listen to the voice mail. She's upset and crying. She's been in a car accident, and no one is hurt.

I call her immediately. She's with her mother and older sister. She's calmed down now. While going through a yellow light, a person coming the other way decided to turn left and together they proved a proposition of physics that two physical object may not occupy the same space at the same time.

The car was undrivable and had been towed away. The airbags went off and her boyfriend, who was a passenger, now has a friction burn on his face from the airbag.

I ask the older sister (24) how Mom took it. You see, the Mrs is undergoing a certain chemical transformation common to women of her age. A side effect is that she hasn't slept well for years and one of the things this all adds up to is an inability to process the unexpected easily. I was very pleased to learn that rather than bouncing off the walls, after the initial shock she took the news more or less calmly and did her best to sooth our youngest who had been really shaken up.

Your whole life can change as a result of one phone call.

There wasn't anything I could do that night, and I had my meetings in the morning, but I assigned the youngest some phone calls to make and some information to gather so I could make an insurance claim and get the proverbial wheels turning the next day to get the car back on the road.

I made the claim. The insurance company was suppsosed to pick up the car the next morning (when I would be in town) and take it to the body shop I designated. Fine.

One of the reasons it's important to have a calm, open and flexible mind is that in situations like this, the truth seems to change a little with every new person with which you have a transaction.

The towing company called to say that they wouldn't release the car until I came down there and showed them the registration and proof of insurance. Ok, fine. A slight change of plans.

We get down there to liberate the car and to check out the wreck. My daughter's boyfriend had his glasses knocked off by the airbag and in the excitement after the crash, didn't bother to look for them. Maybe they were still in the car. Nope. Not there.

The car is a 2004 Grand Am. The question would be whether they'd pay to fix it or just total it. The frond end to up in front of the front wheels was pretty mashed, but I didn't think it was that bad, all things considered.

The car gets towed to the body shop and the insurance adjuster checks it out. $9000 worth of damage, and the Blue Book for the car is $5 - 7000. They are totalling it.

Now the Mrs starts bouncing off the walls. This was one surprise to many. The daughter starts bouncing off the walls as well.

Both their reactions are human nature. The Mrs, with one additional piece of bad news to process was simply reacting. The daughter had to process the bad news as well, and in addition was mirroring her mother. We have to buy another used car for the daughter, and the Mrs doesn't want to buy a car from a stranger, because you can so easily just be buying someone else's problem (we had the Grand Am new). Replacing the car was a can of worms that really upset her.

I managed to get them both calmed down, by being calm myself. The daughter barely uses the car at all while she's at school and really doesn't need a replacement until the school year is over at the end of April. We can wait a couple of days to see what the settlement check will be.

One of my daughter's friends has 3 or 4 uncles plus a grand father who are all car brokers. Their business is finding used cars and selling them to used car lots. They see a LOT of cars every day and can quickly size up a good one from a lemon. We'll ask them to find us a replacement.

The fires are out (or at least under contol), the wheels are turning and practice tonight has never been as sweet.

The Lenten Challenge Starts ... Now!

Bring it on!

To practice is easy. To become one who practices, is not.

The Assimilation of English into Chinese

Below is an excerpt from a post at the Language Log blog by noted sinologist Victor Mair. The whole post may be read here.

Language Log

The Assimilation of English in Chinese

December 29, 2010 @ 10:51 am · Filed by Victor Mair under Language contact, Poetry, Writing Systems

The varieties of Chinese English are so numerous as to defy complete listing.  To name only the better known, we have pidgin, Chinglish, Singlish, Zhonglish, China English, Chinese-English, and sinographically transcribed English.  Martian Language, Internet Language, and much scientific, technological, and academic prose also are more or less saturated with English words.  Advertising language is particularly fond of using English words and phrases, often in very clever and unusual ways that are particularly well suited to the Chinese linguistic and cultural environment.

There have even been attempts to write English words in the shape of Chinese characters, the most famous being the "Square-Word Calligraphy" of the artist Xu Bing:  whole passage; character for "excellence"; character for "respect"; character for "elegance"; character for "design".


One type of Chinese writing that frequently displays a conspicuous amount of English vocabulary is poetry. 

Indeed, some Chinese poems use English words in quite ingenious ways and are of excellent quality.  I remember one in particular from Taiwan that I read around twenty years ago.  It very effectively played with the idea that the word "love" was inside the word "glove" like a hand inside an actual glove.

A couple of weeks ago, I received the following anonymous poem in which each line ends with an English gerund or occasionally another -ing construction.  I honestly don't think that the poem is very well written, but it certainly is a curious specimen.  The fact that such a poem could be composed and circulated on the Internet with the expectation that people would have no difficulty understanding it shows the degree to which hybrid Chinese-English styles of writing are accepted — outside of narrow, purist circles.

The title of the poem implies that "human life is full of laughing," and the first stanza may be translated thus:
====
Close your eyes and think hard,
Human life is like a painting,
With dots and drops, how to color it?
It all depends on how you're planning.

2011 Lenten Challenge

Every year, I throw out the Lenten Challenge 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 (Mar 9) until Easter (April 23), 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, we won’t 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.

As a gesture of solidarity with my Orthodox friends, I usually keep it up until the dates for Lent as is marked on their calendar. For the Eastern Church, Lent begins on March 7 and so will I.

Won't you join me?

Best Regards

Rick

The Art of Ogata Gekko

A friend send me this link to a website dedicated to Ogata Gekko (1859 - 1920), one of the first Japanese artists to be recognized internationally. The site is almost overwhelming in the examples of his handiwork.

The painting that accompanies this post is an example of his art.