The other day, I was training in Yiquan with my friend and teacher, Gary Wass. I was talking about how my Xingyiquan form was lacking in power. And he said something along the lines of Yiquan simply being the engine that you can put into any form. Coincidentally, this idea of a core basis of effort or power in each of the main internal martial arts styles had been percolating in my mind ever since taking a five-day workshop with Grandmaster Chen Xiaoxing. At that workshop, I realized that all of the Chen Taijiquan form is simply applying various strikes, kicks, grabs and take-downs to the Chán Sī Jìn (纏絲勁) or Silk Reeling Energy movement. I also realized that nearly identical concepts were used for the Mud-dragging Step (趟泥步 “Tàng Ní Bù") of Baguazhang.
Wednesday, April 15, 2015
Saturday, February 8, 2014
德道 The Way of Virtue
This morning, as I was trying to rescue a mayfly from my dog's water bowl, I was trying to get the creature to cooperate with me so that I could help to dry its wings. It had a lot of spunk and fight in it still, which was, of course, a good sign. And surely, little voices in my head wondered if the mayfly even considered everything I was doing for it. Whether it would have any appreciation for me or my help.
Of course, that is completely irrelevant, besides being totally anthropocentric. But it made me think about how we humans, as social animals, crave friendship. Sometimes, we do good things for others in order to build friendships or positive relationships, or good karma or what have you. But the Daodejing repeatedly points out that virtue for the sake of credit or merit is empty. (The Book also says that it's better than nothing, but still misses the point.) Daodejing points out that the Way provides unlimited life for all, without any need for merit. And that the Sage does what she can to be more like the Way.
The little mayfly may not make it. But at least it did not die a violent death or a death encased in fear. And I'm not going to crush it to put it out of its misery. I've never experienced a violent death. And while they say that killing something that is dying would put it out of its misery, I haven't met anyone yet who has experienced a quick but violent death to tell me that it is not equally or perhaps more miserable. All I know is that pain hurts.
My intention was to rescue the mayfly in order that it might, as Zhuangzi says, live out the years (or hours) that the Way gave it. Maybe I am misguided. But I noticed it struggling in my dog's water bowl and needed to change the water anyway.
Of course, that is completely irrelevant, besides being totally anthropocentric. But it made me think about how we humans, as social animals, crave friendship. Sometimes, we do good things for others in order to build friendships or positive relationships, or good karma or what have you. But the Daodejing repeatedly points out that virtue for the sake of credit or merit is empty. (The Book also says that it's better than nothing, but still misses the point.) Daodejing points out that the Way provides unlimited life for all, without any need for merit. And that the Sage does what she can to be more like the Way.
The little mayfly may not make it. But at least it did not die a violent death or a death encased in fear. And I'm not going to crush it to put it out of its misery. I've never experienced a violent death. And while they say that killing something that is dying would put it out of its misery, I haven't met anyone yet who has experienced a quick but violent death to tell me that it is not equally or perhaps more miserable. All I know is that pain hurts.
My intention was to rescue the mayfly in order that it might, as Zhuangzi says, live out the years (or hours) that the Way gave it. Maybe I am misguided. But I noticed it struggling in my dog's water bowl and needed to change the water anyway.
Monday, October 29, 2012
Samhain
My son, Iolar, has been asking me for the last couple years to establish a family tradition of celebrating the four Celtic fire festivals. So, now that we just moved to Portland, Oregon, a climate not unlike that of our Northwest European Celtic ancestors, I thought it would be a good time to start. And of course, since the Celtic notion of time always begins with the dark half, it makes sense to start with Samhain (pronounced saun or sa'wen).
Most of what I know about Celtic lore and tradition comes from years of research, with special attention to the writings of Alwyn and Brinley Rees and Peter Beresford Ellis, as well as to various translations of the Book of Invasions (Lebor Gabála Érenn). These writings are very thoughtful and discriminate authentic tradition and heritage from neo-paganism of the 19th and 20th centuries.
The word "samhain" means something like "summer's end" and is also the Gaelic (and Celtic cognates) name for the month of November. Hence, Halloween is called Oicha Shamhna (November Eve) in Gaelic. The Celtic lunar calendar, recorded in the Coligny tablet and also perhaps the Kerbstone at Knowth, begins with the month of Samhain. It marks the beginning of the dark half of the year and is associated with watery depths. It is in the dark waters that all life is conceived and formed. Birth or coming into being happens later, at the beginning of the light half of the year (Bealtaine). Functionally, the Celts did two important things on Samhain: 1) honor the ancestors and recently deceased friends and relatives, and 2) reconvene the entire tribe.
Honoring the dead is an ancient tradition common to pretty much all cultures. I don't think that it is in any way particular to Celtic heritage. There may be some customs that local Celtic clans adhered to, but I think we can be creative and invent our own family custom. Since my daughter, Brighid, is half-Mexican, we have incorporated Día de los Muertos customs in the past. Samhain has nothing to do with devil-worship or human sacrifice. People who propagate such nonsense have an agenda of wiping out the old ways of the Celtic world and erasing its historical role in the Gregorian calendar through its descendent Halloween (All Hallows Eve).
The second function of Samhain is pretty interesting. On the Eve of November, all flames in the country (Ireland in this case) were extinguished. And all people of the tribe (Tuatha) met at the Hill of Tlaghta for the big bonfire (by compulsion, no less). After the fire was ritually ignited, the people were said to have been blessed by a single flame. And every household took some of this flame back to their home to ignite their own hearth fires with. In this way, each year every single hearth fire in the land originated from the same source. One flame - one people.
Most of what I know about Celtic lore and tradition comes from years of research, with special attention to the writings of Alwyn and Brinley Rees and Peter Beresford Ellis, as well as to various translations of the Book of Invasions (Lebor Gabála Érenn). These writings are very thoughtful and discriminate authentic tradition and heritage from neo-paganism of the 19th and 20th centuries.
The word "samhain" means something like "summer's end" and is also the Gaelic (and Celtic cognates) name for the month of November. Hence, Halloween is called Oicha Shamhna (November Eve) in Gaelic. The Celtic lunar calendar, recorded in the Coligny tablet and also perhaps the Kerbstone at Knowth, begins with the month of Samhain. It marks the beginning of the dark half of the year and is associated with watery depths. It is in the dark waters that all life is conceived and formed. Birth or coming into being happens later, at the beginning of the light half of the year (Bealtaine). Functionally, the Celts did two important things on Samhain: 1) honor the ancestors and recently deceased friends and relatives, and 2) reconvene the entire tribe.
Honoring the dead is an ancient tradition common to pretty much all cultures. I don't think that it is in any way particular to Celtic heritage. There may be some customs that local Celtic clans adhered to, but I think we can be creative and invent our own family custom. Since my daughter, Brighid, is half-Mexican, we have incorporated Día de los Muertos customs in the past. Samhain has nothing to do with devil-worship or human sacrifice. People who propagate such nonsense have an agenda of wiping out the old ways of the Celtic world and erasing its historical role in the Gregorian calendar through its descendent Halloween (All Hallows Eve).
The second function of Samhain is pretty interesting. On the Eve of November, all flames in the country (Ireland in this case) were extinguished. And all people of the tribe (Tuatha) met at the Hill of Tlaghta for the big bonfire (by compulsion, no less). After the fire was ritually ignited, the people were said to have been blessed by a single flame. And every household took some of this flame back to their home to ignite their own hearth fires with. In this way, each year every single hearth fire in the land originated from the same source. One flame - one people.
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