http://northstarmartialarts.com/blog1 A place to explore ideas related to martial arts, health and inner cultivation Sat, 17 May 2008 03:01:52 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en My partner Sarah Halverstandt has just opened a new Traditional Chinese Medicine Clinic. If you are in San Francisco come on down for the party. I'll be giving a talk in the heart for about 20 minutes, there will be food, music, and free gifts. What's new? Acupuncture Healthcare ... http://northstarmartialarts.com/blog1/2008/05/16/acupuncture-healthcare/ Because I perform several different sword forms I've gotten in the habit of explaining a little bit about dueling.  It is a nice tie in with History and teachers appreciate it.  The funny thing is, students already know what a duel is.  They often don't know it by name, but ... http://northstarmartialarts.com/blog1/2008/05/16/how-do-kids-learn/ I have a simple question for which I don't have a good answer. Is brutality part of the art? Most, if not all, of the old masters used or experienced brutality in their training. Is it necessary or were they just crazy. Buster Keaton, one of the greatest physical ... http://northstarmartialarts.com/blog1/2008/05/15/a-simple-question/ I saw David Mamet's new film, Red Belt last night. I loved it. Great fight scenes too. The star Chiwetel Ejiofor is a great actor, I just hang on his every word, he played the honor-obsessed interplanetary government Space Martial in Joss Whedon's Serenity, which I also loved. This film ... http://northstarmartialarts.com/blog1/2008/05/13/red-belt/ I've decided to add a new category called training tips.  These will obviously consist of preliminary steps one can take to achieve perfection. Try to connect your arm to the opposite side ribs in everything you practice-- forms, single movement  practice, resistance practice, push-hands, opening the car door, whatever. The bones naturally ... http://northstarmartialarts.com/blog1/2008/05/13/training-tip/ I've been thinking a lot about prowess lately. The dissertation “Martial Gods and Magic Swords,” by Avron Boretz got me going on it. This is a difficult work to review, especially since I had to return it to inter-library loan a few days ago. The classical explanation of ... http://northstarmartialarts.com/blog1/2008/05/12/prowess/ Here is an article about placebo trials that acknowledges ritual may be the decisive factor in a lot of healing, and side effects too. After 10 weeks, subjects taking sham pills said their pain decreased an average of 1.50 points on the 10-point scale. After 8 weeks, those receiving fake acupuncture ... http://northstarmartialarts.com/blog1/2008/05/11/placebo-vs-placebo/ The flexibility of Chinese religious convictions is food for thought. This story suggests an interesting blend of confidence and reluctance. YILAN, Taiwan -- Bulletins are going up in the western part of Suao, a fishing port near Yilan on northeast Taiwan. Put up by a temple of land gods or ... http://northstarmartialarts.com/blog1/2008/05/09/homeless-shelter-for-impotent-deities/ I grew up arguing every night at the dinner table. For the most part it was an edifying and respectful experience. This kind of intensive educational model is pretty rare world-wide (except in Israel where it is the norm). We also drank orange juice with our dinner which is ... http://northstarmartialarts.com/blog1/2008/05/08/orange-juice-and-hermits/ It seems like I'm surrounded by people doing various things they call a seasonal liver cleanse. Inevitably these people are thin. The project varies from simply taking a purgative every other day for a week, to not eating for 10 days. As winter turns to spring we become more ... http://northstarmartialarts.com/blog1/2008/05/07/liver-cleans/