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What's going on around here...
Dec. 26th, 2013 10:26 pmThat's a statement, not a question.
I made every effort to minimize my computer and email footprint yesterday, and largely succeeded. An item came in from Russia, but since nobody needed it "right now," I simply acknowledged receipt and went on my way.
Galina and I spent most of the day within several feet of each other, including a stint in the Toyota just driving around. (Why? I have no idea, as everything was closed. Still, it was a pleasant drive...)
I hit the ground running this morning, and by the time the dust had cleared, I'd translated about 5,000 words, with another roughly equivalent amount waiting in the wings, to be done this weekend.
I've also decided to write a short non-fiction piece on memorization, with more details to come as the idea takes better shape.
* * * All of this week's tai chi sessions have been interesting. There were only three students present on Monday and two on Tuesday, which gave those sessions almost the status of private lessons. And the more I become aware of what's going on—and I can feel that happening—the more I see the challenges ahead of me. In any event, it's becoming clear to me that the key to progress is, indeed, what sifu has been saying all along that it is: an ever-improving understanding of The Form (capitals supplied by me).
Today's session was unusual in that the tai chi group and the gung fu group were sharing the floor space at the same time, and there came a time during which sifu explained (as I understood his explanation) how the two disciplines represented a sort of ying and yang, with gung fu centered on the application of force and tai chi, on the manipulation of balance.
We then split up into gung fu/tai chi pairs and practiced getting out of choke holds, which was interesting, because this kind of activity (a) forces us to move outside a set of constraints (i.e., "don't fight") that've been drilled into us from a very early age, and (b) that said, is not really long enough to provide hugely positive results.
I see it as very similar it to the several hours of hand-to-hand combat training one gets in boot camp, which brings to mind a memory:
One of the techniques we learned on Parris Island was something called the "naked stranglehold." The basics of this maneuver consisted in snaking the arch formed by the right thumb and the wrist under the intended target's jaw and then clasping one's hands together, which constricts the windpipe and draws the target off-balance backward. Simultaneously pressing inward with the top phalange of the thumb constricts blood flow in the carotid artery, leading to a partial or total loss of consciousness within seconds. We all "practiced" it a few times under controlled conditions and that was that.
Years later, during my stint working for a U.S. travel agency in Moscow, I was walking late one night down a side street near Red Square when I came upon a fellow who was drunk, had his back to me, and doing his best to beat up a woman companion. Calling the cops was not an option, really, and I felt that just casually calling attention to myself (in the spirit of the Marquess of Queensbury) was not my best course of action. So I took a deep breath and launched an unannounced "naked stranglehold" attack.
Well, the result involved good news and bad news. The bad news was that, as a "naked stranglehold," my "technique" sucked dead bunny rabbits through a soda straw. However, the good news was that I got the guy to leave his companion alone by managing to knock him down and yell at him to clear out before I called the cops, which he did. The young woman, as I recall, took off in another direction.
The conclusion I came to after I got back to my hotel was that the only thing I had going for me in that situation, really, was a positive mental attitude, which is a good thing to instill in Marine recruits and to have in general, I suppose, but not adequate for the real world without a lot of drill and practice. (The obvious question then presents itself: "Are you willing to put in that drill and practice?" For most of us, the answer is "No.")
Cheers...
I made every effort to minimize my computer and email footprint yesterday, and largely succeeded. An item came in from Russia, but since nobody needed it "right now," I simply acknowledged receipt and went on my way.
Galina and I spent most of the day within several feet of each other, including a stint in the Toyota just driving around. (Why? I have no idea, as everything was closed. Still, it was a pleasant drive...)
I hit the ground running this morning, and by the time the dust had cleared, I'd translated about 5,000 words, with another roughly equivalent amount waiting in the wings, to be done this weekend.
I've also decided to write a short non-fiction piece on memorization, with more details to come as the idea takes better shape.
Today's session was unusual in that the tai chi group and the gung fu group were sharing the floor space at the same time, and there came a time during which sifu explained (as I understood his explanation) how the two disciplines represented a sort of ying and yang, with gung fu centered on the application of force and tai chi, on the manipulation of balance.
We then split up into gung fu/tai chi pairs and practiced getting out of choke holds, which was interesting, because this kind of activity (a) forces us to move outside a set of constraints (i.e., "don't fight") that've been drilled into us from a very early age, and (b) that said, is not really long enough to provide hugely positive results.
I see it as very similar it to the several hours of hand-to-hand combat training one gets in boot camp, which brings to mind a memory:
One of the techniques we learned on Parris Island was something called the "naked stranglehold." The basics of this maneuver consisted in snaking the arch formed by the right thumb and the wrist under the intended target's jaw and then clasping one's hands together, which constricts the windpipe and draws the target off-balance backward. Simultaneously pressing inward with the top phalange of the thumb constricts blood flow in the carotid artery, leading to a partial or total loss of consciousness within seconds. We all "practiced" it a few times under controlled conditions and that was that.
Years later, during my stint working for a U.S. travel agency in Moscow, I was walking late one night down a side street near Red Square when I came upon a fellow who was drunk, had his back to me, and doing his best to beat up a woman companion. Calling the cops was not an option, really, and I felt that just casually calling attention to myself (in the spirit of the Marquess of Queensbury) was not my best course of action. So I took a deep breath and launched an unannounced "naked stranglehold" attack.
Well, the result involved good news and bad news. The bad news was that, as a "naked stranglehold," my "technique" sucked dead bunny rabbits through a soda straw. However, the good news was that I got the guy to leave his companion alone by managing to knock him down and yell at him to clear out before I called the cops, which he did. The young woman, as I recall, took off in another direction.
The conclusion I came to after I got back to my hotel was that the only thing I had going for me in that situation, really, was a positive mental attitude, which is a good thing to instill in Marine recruits and to have in general, I suppose, but not adequate for the real world without a lot of drill and practice. (The obvious question then presents itself: "Are you willing to put in that drill and practice?" For most of us, the answer is "No.")
Cheers...
