August 27, 2015

Ray Bradbury's Birthday and Tai Chi


Image result for ray bradburyAmerican writer Ray Bradbury (1920-2012) wrote many intriguing stories (Dandelion Wine, novels (Fahrenheit 451), and screenplays (Moby Dick). He would have been 95 this year on August 22. This story "The Vacation" captures a sense of taiji and the never-ending movement of the universe:

"It was a day as fresh as grass growing up and clouds going over and butterflies coming down can make it. It was a day compounded from silences of bee and flower and ocean and land, which were not silences at all, but motions, stirs, flutters, risings, fallings, each in its own time and matchless rhythm. The land did not move, but moved. The sea was not still, yet was still. Paradox flowed into paradox, stillness mixed with stillness, sound with sound...."
 

August 5, 2015

New Media: Taiji Straight Sword Book


Chinese Swords: An Ancient Tradition and Modern Training Chinese Swords: An Ancient Tradition and Modern Training is a collection of articles originally published in the Journal of Asian Martial Arts, and is available as an ebook through their website. The four articles cover history, training, aesthetics, and traditions: "Ancient Chinese Bronze Swords in the MacLean Collection" by Richard A. Pegg, PhD; "Chinese Sword and Brush Masters of the Tang Dynasty (618–906)" by Richard A. Pegg, PhD; "Basic Chinese Sword Training and Practice" by Tony Yang, Andy Lianto, and Robert A. Figler, PhD; "Qingping Straight Sword: The Last Remaining Chinese Sword System?" by Stephan Berwick, M.A.; Trans. C. Hsu and X.Y. Dong.