Disjoint

[rinue]

I am a yellow belt in one of the foremost Kung Fu dojos in the world.

Val: "What the hell is an acetabula?"
Romie: "Val, don't ask me about acid tabs, I'm trying to write some kind of entry. Besides, you know I can hallucinate perfectly well on my own."

Preparing to make a midnight run for sushi and soymilk.

Prof. L______ very bearable today because he's drinking a lot of whiskey; claims it is for an imminent cold. It makes him mix up numbers; I mock him and get away with it.

Val: "I mean, who wants to be related to Kenyanthropus platyops?"
Romie: "Bunch of savages, I tell you."

(Val is studying for a biology exam. I'm more of a chemist, myself. Well, that and quantum physics. Not a big fan of memorization, you see.)

"Je suis un ane solitaire" -- I credit my ability to skip two semesters of French to Camus, Baudelaire, Dr. Richman, Prevert, and repeated watchings of Twin Peaks.

Prof. Warde pulled me aside after class to show me a sentence in a book on Japanese artwork and ask my opinion of the color gray. He said I seemed the sort of person who would know.

Coincidentally, he was right.

Val: "I love Mill."
Romie: "John Stuart? Yeah -- he was awesome."
Val: "It's like reading you, to a disturbing extent. You two rant about exactly the same things. I mean, I have passages highlighted."

What this has to do with biology, I don't pretend to know.

Sometimes you just have to let the world remain inscrutable.




[Conversation immediately after I post this entry:

Val: "What's the title of that entry?"

Romie: "Fuck -- did I even remember to put one. . . Oh, yeah. Disjoint."

Val: "You really do try not to make references to drug culture and I know that, but you really can't help it, can you?"

Romie: "What doesn't make a lot of sense is that I manage to be an eternal member of the drug culture without actually doing much in the way of drugs -- how often do you even see me drink?"

Val: "Look, even the little emoticon guy is smoking a joint. Face it: you're destined to be the eternal druggie, just like I have to be the slut. I even have the Gidget ponytail. Come on -- let's get sushi."]

Comments

[hipgunslinger.livejournal.com]

Romie:
I've decided to take up a martial art, and I'm trying my best to get any kind of input from people involved in said arts I show interest in before making any kinds of committments, so in lieu of my respect for your opinion...
Kung fu. Gimme the lowdown.
uh, please.

[rinue.livejournal.com]

There's a book called _Arts of Strength, Arts of Serentity_: you probably don't want to buy it (I certainly don't) but the introduction/first chapter is worth flipping through. It discusses the differences between the various budo (Japanese martial arts) and the personalities that are attracted to each. It also brings up the essential point that the art itself is not as important as the teacher. Find the best dojo that you can, the one with the proper. . . dignity. When you meet the right teacher, you just know.

One thing I'm particularly a stickler for is bowing. Both schools I've been involved with (I was in judo previously) really stressed ettiquette, and I've noticed that tends to accompany a seriousness of mind and of purpose -- and the people in those dojos care more about not hurting each other. Respect. Always.

Okay, now a quick rundown on Kung Fu:

Kung Fu is an ancient chinese martial art invented by the Shaolin monks. The Shaolin were Buddhist; if you're looking for a specifically Taoist art, go with Tai Chi (which *is* actually a combat martial art, most people just teach it wrong). Kung Fu is as much about attacking/manipulating your and your opponents' internal energies (chi) as the muscles involved(although you don't really get into this until you reach higher levels). Precisely because of this, and because of its religious origin, Kung Fu is one of the more spiritual martial arts.

Kung Fu is also the origin of all the budo -- judo, karate, aikido, iaido, kendo . . . you name it. The budo are in turn the root of Korean Tae Kwan Do -- which I'd stay away from. Call it a bias if you want, but I've never run across a martial artist from a dicipline other than Tae Kwan Do that respects it. That's not meant as a slight of people who take the art -- quite a few of my friends are very high ranking; I just can't conscience a school that lets a 13 year old become a black belt and never teaches him to control his temper.

Kung fu itself sprung from an ancient Indian martial art, but there's no way in hell you'll find a teacher and I don't even know its name. It's that obscure.

Kung fu itself focuses on various animal postures -- Crane, Tiger, Horse, Leopard, Tiger, Dragon, Cat . . . and different people will have different strengths within those stances. It's an art made to capitalize on individuality -- not that you should change the techniques, because they are the way they are for a reason, but you can find the right balance of upper- and lower-body strength and speed. With that comes a certain mysticism (which appears in various movies) to the extent that you have the "spirit" of that animal.

And yes, we're the ones with the mythic "touch of death."

Okay, now the problems with Kung Fu. . .

It's hard to find a good teacher. Until about 20 years ago, maybe a little longer, it was impossible to find it taught outside of China and Hong Kong (and Communist China has perverted it quite a bit -- everyone has to learn it, but there is no spirituality. Just gymnastics. It's really tragic and makes me a bit weepy). There's still a racist bias in a lot of dojos, such that a teacher will refuse to teach you if you're not Chinese or will take your money but not show you the internal workings.

There are half a dozen different schools within Kung Fu, each of which emphasize different stances and postures. Most teachers have spent time in several of them, taking what they like from each. On the one hand, this is very freeing, because it allows you to use your specific strengths (once you get high enough to know what they are) and to be an eternal student. On the other hand, it means no two schools are going to teach the exact same things so that if you move schools you may come in at a different rank. ('Course, this is true of most arts, just to a greater extent with Kung Fu. And with Tae Kwan Do, but I've already discussed why that's a bad idea.)

Re:

[hipgunslinger.livejournal.com]

Many thanks.

part two

[rinue.livejournal.com]

[livejournal said my comment was too long, so I had to split part of it off into this second post.]

So just in general, in any school, look for the following:

- a teacher you can respect
- a camaraderie between the students
- ettiquette
- no bullying (this is *damn* important. Some people get into the arts in order to beat up on others, and you don't want to be around them)
- a difficult promotion system, not because it's complicated, but because you have to know what you're doing. Some schools promote people very quickly so that they can get the belt testing fees. Sad, but true.
- a seriousness of purpose
- an art that makes external sense. If your up block only works in a school setting, and you couldn't use it to protect your face in a streetfight, then the block is no good.

that's about everything I can think of offhand. Lemme know if there's anything specific you want me to address.

-Romie