currently reading

Cheng Tzu's Thirteen Treatises on T'ai Chi Ch'uan, Professor Cheng Man Ch'ing (1985)
Taijiquan and the Search for the Little Old Man: Understanding Identity through Martial Arts, Adam D. Frank (2006)
Touching the Void, Joe Simpson (1988)

interested has been re-aroused in internal martial arts (IMA) after frequenting formosa neijia . usually, most IMA demonstrations seem highly dubious, u know, the aikido throws that project you across the room with a feather touch. not to say it's not possible, but, practical- wise, is that really possible in a confused chaotic environment with ppl resisting, rather than cooperating. hmmmmm. this could spark a furor amongst some - yes, aikido is based on battlefield techniques, yes, it can be lethal if applied wrongly. it's just my functional training background - usually best outcome occurs if you train patient for the task itself, rather than the components. as in, if u want to get someone to stand from sitting, best way to do that is if they practise the task itself rather than say, strengthening the quads. so yeah, if u want to train for self-defense, practise doing that. that is why i'm always a bit iffy about traditional martial arts, which seems to focus quite heavily on forms/kata. beneficial, yes, but i think there are more efficient ways.

anyways, that's why i am reading up a bit on the taichi stuff. it's not just for old ppl, you know. ^^there's a few clips on youtube showing it being done in a very yang way, which is not the traditional slow moves you see. when it's done fast, the results are quite different.

Touching the Void is about two men's ordeal on a mountain. one, who fell and broke his leg, and his partner, who tried to rescue him and had to abandon him in the end, thinking he was dead. usually stories of endurance and survival interest me, but for some reason, this book is really not drawing me in. hmmm. but will continue with it.

still reading the Garden. taking it slow because it's one of those books that i learn something new every chapter. there was one particular chapter that actually made me lose sleep for one night because the point it raised was...a bit hard to swallow. in fact, there are many things in this book that i actually have to stop and think about. that's why taking it slow. but it's good. it's been a while since a book has actually made me stop and think.