Displaying posts filed under

Some Thoughts

Oct
14
2015

Adam Hsu Interview, Part 2

Learning “true basics” is at the core of Kung Fu. In this session, Part 2 of our interview, Adam Hsu talks about communicating and the practice of Kung Fu Weaponry. Want to watch All (Parts 1-8) on youtube? Want to watch Part 1 on this site? Want to watch Part 3 on this site? Want […]

Oct
13
2015

Adam Hsu Interview, Part 1

In Part 1, our interview starts with a question about Kung Fu’s true DNA. Discussion follows, on the Kung Fu experience, and what that means, and what makes Kung Fu absolutely unique as a martial art. Part 2 (on this site) Part 3 (on this site) Part 4 (on this site) Part 5 (on this […]

Apr
13
2012

The Way of Chuang Tzu, Thomas Merton

Chuang Tzu , living almost 2500 years ago, was what we might today term a monk. He was certainly an iconoclast. Thomas Merton was not only a monk but…

Mar
28
2012

Standing Still

Personally, I continue to believe that standing practice is important and useful. The trouble is that there is a deep, deep contradiction in the way it is taught in many schools.

Feb
5
2012

Why Are the Forms on Your DVDs different …

At Plum we get this question all the time. On one level the answer is obvious as a spinning heel hook; different people teach differently. But that is not the whole story.

Jan
24
2012

Sonoluminescence: The Light at the End of the Tumble

We are filled with light, never forget that. But the metaphor of light used by so many is a weak substitute for the true light inside us. Some practices encourage this recognition. But too many half-heartedly pursued, improperly understood, lackadaisically researched impressions and clichés only dim the inner experience to weakly glowing embers.

Jan
21
2012

A Black Belt Story

I start teaching the next class but I’m really bothered; on the one hand, Dan might just be claiming what never happened; on the other hand, I guess I could have forgotten I attended a ceremony, or something like that.

Jan
13
2012

My Gripes About Push Hands

I remember Adam Hsu telling me that there had recently been a big Push Hands championship in China. Then, shaking his head, he said, “…and all the students beat the instructors.” This was hardly a surprise to me. I have officiated at Push Hands competitions and can see all the problems.

Dec
21
2011

Midnight and Midwinter

At this time of the year I think about two things: giving and darkness.

Nov
3
2011

Form

When I open the door I expect the garden to be there. It would not shift in the night. That is just not the garden’s style. First I visit the olive trees which, in the morning, stand and sparkle with a.m. light next to my front door, as though they had been rehearsing to show […]

Oct
16
2011

Loss: Revisted

Sometimes people remind me of the saying “Invest in loss.” For martial artists this is a pivotal idea. Even before you think much about it you also have to admit that there are times in life when it isn’t even a choice,  when loss is all we have. It would make me uncomfortable to drag […]

Sep
16
2011

Poem

  The Glitter of Moonlight Here, in my hand is the hilt, Still, without life until lifted Now, when the set is just started Moon, comes to flash until finished.      

Sep
13
2011

The Double Voice

Martial artists are an ornery lot. They dedicate themselves to discovering their own way. In this modern world where rewards are social and ridiculously exaggerated, it’s hard to follow a very faint voice at the back of your mind.

Aug
15
2011

Enantiodromia: A Lesson in Yin and Yang

That’s a bit of a mouthful, isn’t it? This fine, full-bodied word derives from the Greek and means “the tendency of qualities to reverse themselves at the extreme.” The classic example is that of the moon which, as it reaches the extreme of its waxing, begins to wane.

Aug
2
2011

The Corner Man

We all need a corner man now and then…

Apr
14
2011

Huge Disconnects

Ever notice how some people who love the martial arts actually have big disconnects between certain parts? I knew an instructor who practiced diligently, hours a day…

Jul
21
2010

The Body/Mind Connection

To put the monks in the condition necessary to carry out the Buddhist practices Bodhidharma or Ta Mo as the Chinese call him, taught them a series of physical movements and breathing exercises that came to known as Chi Kung.

Jul
21
2008

What You Should Know About the I Ching

Here’s an introductory article, nothing more, on one of the most influential and oldest books ever written.

Aug
18
2007

The Body, the Mind and Conscious Movement

Seen with normal eyes the body is a single solid thing, but any scientist can tell us that that’s just an illusion, that the body, like everything else in the universe, is more air than matter.

Dec
21
2006

At Taoism Class

When I was 10, my younger sister and I mounted a campaign to convince our parents that the money they were spending on religious school (every Saturday, lessons at the Temple) could be used in a better way…