Babies are good luck. Well at least my son was today.
For instance I wrote about a verbally hostile encounter with a man on the street in an earlier post. Guess what? I bumped into him again today, and this time I was wearing my son in the baby Bjorn. You know what happened? He apologized. And I apologized too because I'm sure that I could have made the issue go away faster. Obviously because now that I was wearing a child, there was no issue.
It seems like whenever I am with my son, nothing bad happens to me.
Not only that, people make way for me and even old ladies will get up and ask if I want to sit down. I usually decline these offers as a man holding or wheeling a baby is not at all the same thing as a woman who is pregnant. But people seem to equate that and think that they should be extra courteous to me even though I am young and somewhat athletic and my kid is already sitting either in a pouch or a stroller so he doesn't need a seat.
People won't think I look mean because they don't even see me. They are looking at my kid.
Was I good luck to my dad as a kid?
I will tell you that in fact, I know that I was not.
Here's how I know.
My dad passed when I was four. (Some astrologists might even say this is an exampled of my star overcoming his or something like that, thus really bad luck for my dad.) Anyway I have few memories of him. But those that I have are strong.
So when day, before the age of four, my dad took me into a gambling house in Chinatown (probably the one which he was partially responsible for watching. I think he took me many times but I only remember this time. They were playing a game where they throw dice into a bowl. I don't gamble so I don't know what the game was, by as a child I kept trying to grab the dice. Finally my dad picked up the dice and put them in my hand and I threw them out into the bowl. I was told later that these hands are called "virgin" hands and are therefore supposed to be extra lucky.
Guess what? My Virgin hands threw snake eyes. At the time I didn't know what that meant. I didn't even know this was gambling. I just knew things were rolling around and I had to grab them. I don't know how old I was.
I will tell you what else. My father was a Chinese Chef. No offense to my dad but he was very fresh off the boat looking. And I, his son (Yes I see the family resemblance so you can't scare me) had blond hair and pale white skin.
I heard later that people in Chinatown would give him crap about it. And I have one memory of a drunk American of non Chinese descent giving him crap and telling me to come over to him. He was speaking English which I understood and my father did not. However, the situation was something that my father understood and calmly sat there ignoring him, but I did not, and almost ran over to the drunk not being able to discern stranger from from friend.
I have had one incident though where someone called the cops because they thought I was kidnapping my son. (He wasn't in a Bjorn or a stroller and I look very white but my son looks very Asian. But I see family resemblance again I have no doubts.)
But my son knew immediately to keep his mouth shut once the police came. He is smarter than me already in this respect. But that was cleared up quite easily.
To most people, having a kid might mean having to get an extra job, setting aside dreams, doing without, moving down the economic ladder. But I tell you my son has caused me to be able to have more time to rediscover my childhood and my dreams that I had set aside, given me an excuse from other responsibilities that were going nowhere and moved me up the economic ladder, to the point where my address was a signal to the police that they were to let me go. I don't have to do without for him, because he is richer than me at the moment through no merit of mine.
I am still looking for a job, but not for my child's sake, just to pay off college loans, because my kid is basically set thanks to Gong Gong.
Sometimes I feel like it is tiresome to get all the gear ready to go out, and I did lose a hat, a spoon, and a sippy cup today, and I nearly lose my mind everyday.
But I think over all, my son is a good luck charm counteracting a lot of my bad luck.
Saturday, November 6, 2010
Saturday, October 9, 2010
Flirting with a fight. Two crazy men.
(note: this was first published on the Chinatown Blog)
Walking around with my son strapped to me can be a hassle, but I usually don't have a problem with people. People usually smile and are quite friendly with my son. The only problem I have is with owners of large dogs perhaps. If my son is on the grass I will pick him up or if he is in a stroller I will keep my distance. Some owners of large dogs don't like that I am implying that their dog is unfriendly and will argue with me that there dog is quite friendly and that I am being ridiculous. Also, I have heard that my face is naturally angry looking and so maybe they are offended by this too. However, I feel that I am not bothering them or their dog and I have the right and perhaps the responsibility to put distance and my body between my 1 year old and a friendly animal that has teeth and is large enough to eat my child.
Th thing is, when I walk around without my son, sometimes I get in trouble with people. Usually these people are crazy, but I know that my face and its naturally angry expression, coupled perhaps with my near sightedness which makes me squint at things I am trying to read, or people I am trying to determine if I recognize, makes people feel that it is necessary to give me trouble.
And now, the first crazy man.
I was walking to teach a Kung Fu class for children at the CCBA. I noticed a man staring at me very hard. I thought " Do I know this man?" In fact his face did look familiar. He looked like someone who had visited the Kung Fu School before. Perhaps he recognized me too. I wasn't sure. I will clarify right now that the man was Caucasian.
I walked up the steps and he was pushing a metal dolly on the street. He had now stopped walking and was standing there staring at me about twenty feet away or so.
I turned around and sad "Hi." in the way I usually say hi to Chinese parents and grandparents who I think I recognize from having taught their kids. Schoolteachers are in this category as well.
"Hi nuth'n." came the response.
"Oh I though maybe you were looking at me because you recognized me or something." I said. I felt the tension but I made efforts to smooth it over.
" Yeah well..." the man twitched and getsured, "You were looking at me!"
"Oh I see," I said. I wanted to just end this and go upstairs to the class I was now late for. But his anger was annoying me.
"Don't bother me alright!" he yelled "You think you are a tough guy! You aren't a tough guy so play tough guy somewhere else not here!. I've got this right here!" he yelled and slammed the metal dolly onto the ground now.
"Oh you are right" I said, "I am not a tough guy. Do you have some sort of problem with me though?" I was calm but I won't say my adrenaline was not pumping now. And now I will say this. Sometimes there is something bad about practicing too much Kung Fu. For instance if you practice Salsa dancing all the time, if the situation is right and a woman wants to salsa dance, it will be difficult for you to turn her down. This is okay as long as you aren't married to someone who is jealous. The same is true of other intimate activities. Maybe the woman is married, or too young for you, but there is that temptation even if you know that you will decline.
Now if you practice Kung Fu all the time and someone is willing to fight with you, it is the same. It can be difficult to turn down, even if that person is crazy and may not be right in the head, you just see a body that is strong and possibly able to fight, perhaps that person is a martial artist. You will want to try even if you know you shouldn't.
I thought about how he was sort of threatening me with a metal dolly, but he wasn't attacking me. I would have to go over to him and attack him. What would people say if they saw that? I would be in the wrong. I couldn't justify fighting him. He continued yelling at me saying "If you want to have a problem I'm standing right here!"
If he was just crazy, then this was a misunderstanding. He also had a twitch and a cross eyed look that didn't quite look right.
I asked him, "Did somebody pay you to come after me or something?" Now perhaps I sound crazy. But he had been staring at me, and I still think this was the same person who had been in the school before. But I could be wrong.
I forget how he responded but I wanted to know what he was doing there with the dolly. I.e. did he just happen to be there or was he looking for me. In fact, he did seem to be looking for me, and his anger did seem to be made up or at least out of place. Was this an act or was he just slightly off balance upstairs? Was I being paranoid? He sure was annoying me.
"So... what are you doing here anyway?" I asked.
"What is he doing here?" He nodded at nobody.
"What do you mean?" I asked.
"What is Kong Tzu doing here?" he yelled Kong Tzu said be mindful of your words. You should be mindful of your words pal."
I now realized he was referring to the statue of Kong Zhi (Confucious). Kong Tzu perhaps being a bastardization of Kong Zhi and either Lao Tzu (Dao te Ching author) or Sun Tzu (Art of War author) mistakes aside, he obviously new something of Chinese Culture and who the statue was supposed to be of. This makes me think even more that he had been at the school before and was someone who I recognized. The normal response to my initial "Hi." though should have been a similar greeting if he remembered me or wasn't here to start trouble. Anyway, somehow I went upstairs allowing him to have the last word and of course implying that I was not man enough to face him.
Part of me is still feeling as if I should have fought him, but to run across the street and attack him also seemed ridiculous, illegal, and would make me the crazier one.
I start teaching the kids class with Meditation and stretching.
Enter crazy man number two.
An old man this one was, also Caucasian.
He began by asking then demanding something in writing from my Si Hing who was treating a patient. He was demanding something regarding his knee and then and only then would he be willing to take classes here. My Si Hing had seen him before and it was only after this old man started insulting my Si Hing and our Kung Fu based on his having been a Japanese Samurai Warrior in his last three past incarnations did I realize that he was a little off.
I got up from stretching and asked him to leave. I told him he was not welcome in the room if he was disrespectful to our instructors. He said he was leaving but was still standing in the door way now spewing more insults which were beginning to turn obscene and he was making threats at this point too. He was saying all sorts of things which I won't repeat and many of which I don't remember. But I didn't exactly feel threatened because he was an old man. But he was becoming a hassle.
"What are you going to do?" He said almost out the door, "Hit me?"
"No but I will call the police."
"Oh yeah right." he said
I moved forward and was able in a quick motion to shut the door before he could catch it.
"You @%@%#@%" he said, "I'm going to call the police!"
Guess what. I called the police. And actually I would like feed back from other people on what I should have done.
Yes I could "handle" the old man. But what are the legalities of that.
Anyway, he returned later and said, "The police are on their way. You can deal with them when they get here."
"I know. I called them."
"Yeah right" he said.
I had opened the door again thinking he had gone.
"Please step back so I can close the door. He did. And I closed it. So he wasn't physically belligerent. (In the past I have dealt with a drunk who wandered into the old school and pulled out a knife. Guess what? Also an old white man.)
The police arrived and I did talk to them. I did feel silly because this old guy wasn't a threat, but I didn't want to put my hands on him. What if I did? I felt that the police sort of thought I should have handled it myself and the guy had left right as the police showed up. (Apparently he ranted and raved downstairs as well.) But if I handle it am I protected by law?
Anyway, at this point I realize it was a good thing I didn't decide and escalate the first crazy guy situation until it came to blows. If I had, when the old crazy guy situation came up, I would have no credibility as a sane person.
Ever since Our school moved from Tai Tung, I haven't had to deal with many crazy people. At Tai Tung, we were on the first floor and I slept there often with the door open because the elderly person that slept there couldn't breath without the door open. So I would deal with anyone that came in, all night long. I realize this lack of sleep and dealing with crazy people made me harder and perhaps age faster. Dealing with these two crazy guys brought all that back.
I guess that's why I'm writing this at midnight instead of sleeping.
Tomorrow we celebrate Double Ten at City Hall so time to sleep.
-Adam
Walking around with my son strapped to me can be a hassle, but I usually don't have a problem with people. People usually smile and are quite friendly with my son. The only problem I have is with owners of large dogs perhaps. If my son is on the grass I will pick him up or if he is in a stroller I will keep my distance. Some owners of large dogs don't like that I am implying that their dog is unfriendly and will argue with me that there dog is quite friendly and that I am being ridiculous. Also, I have heard that my face is naturally angry looking and so maybe they are offended by this too. However, I feel that I am not bothering them or their dog and I have the right and perhaps the responsibility to put distance and my body between my 1 year old and a friendly animal that has teeth and is large enough to eat my child.
Th thing is, when I walk around without my son, sometimes I get in trouble with people. Usually these people are crazy, but I know that my face and its naturally angry expression, coupled perhaps with my near sightedness which makes me squint at things I am trying to read, or people I am trying to determine if I recognize, makes people feel that it is necessary to give me trouble.
And now, the first crazy man.
I was walking to teach a Kung Fu class for children at the CCBA. I noticed a man staring at me very hard. I thought " Do I know this man?" In fact his face did look familiar. He looked like someone who had visited the Kung Fu School before. Perhaps he recognized me too. I wasn't sure. I will clarify right now that the man was Caucasian.
I walked up the steps and he was pushing a metal dolly on the street. He had now stopped walking and was standing there staring at me about twenty feet away or so.
I turned around and sad "Hi." in the way I usually say hi to Chinese parents and grandparents who I think I recognize from having taught their kids. Schoolteachers are in this category as well.
"Hi nuth'n." came the response.
"Oh I though maybe you were looking at me because you recognized me or something." I said. I felt the tension but I made efforts to smooth it over.
" Yeah well..." the man twitched and getsured, "You were looking at me!"
"Oh I see," I said. I wanted to just end this and go upstairs to the class I was now late for. But his anger was annoying me.
"Don't bother me alright!" he yelled "You think you are a tough guy! You aren't a tough guy so play tough guy somewhere else not here!. I've got this right here!" he yelled and slammed the metal dolly onto the ground now.
"Oh you are right" I said, "I am not a tough guy. Do you have some sort of problem with me though?" I was calm but I won't say my adrenaline was not pumping now. And now I will say this. Sometimes there is something bad about practicing too much Kung Fu. For instance if you practice Salsa dancing all the time, if the situation is right and a woman wants to salsa dance, it will be difficult for you to turn her down. This is okay as long as you aren't married to someone who is jealous. The same is true of other intimate activities. Maybe the woman is married, or too young for you, but there is that temptation even if you know that you will decline.
Now if you practice Kung Fu all the time and someone is willing to fight with you, it is the same. It can be difficult to turn down, even if that person is crazy and may not be right in the head, you just see a body that is strong and possibly able to fight, perhaps that person is a martial artist. You will want to try even if you know you shouldn't.
I thought about how he was sort of threatening me with a metal dolly, but he wasn't attacking me. I would have to go over to him and attack him. What would people say if they saw that? I would be in the wrong. I couldn't justify fighting him. He continued yelling at me saying "If you want to have a problem I'm standing right here!"
If he was just crazy, then this was a misunderstanding. He also had a twitch and a cross eyed look that didn't quite look right.
I asked him, "Did somebody pay you to come after me or something?" Now perhaps I sound crazy. But he had been staring at me, and I still think this was the same person who had been in the school before. But I could be wrong.
I forget how he responded but I wanted to know what he was doing there with the dolly. I.e. did he just happen to be there or was he looking for me. In fact, he did seem to be looking for me, and his anger did seem to be made up or at least out of place. Was this an act or was he just slightly off balance upstairs? Was I being paranoid? He sure was annoying me.
"So... what are you doing here anyway?" I asked.
"What is he doing here?" He nodded at nobody.
"What do you mean?" I asked.
"What is Kong Tzu doing here?" he yelled Kong Tzu said be mindful of your words. You should be mindful of your words pal."
I now realized he was referring to the statue of Kong Zhi (Confucious). Kong Tzu perhaps being a bastardization of Kong Zhi and either Lao Tzu (Dao te Ching author) or Sun Tzu (Art of War author) mistakes aside, he obviously new something of Chinese Culture and who the statue was supposed to be of. This makes me think even more that he had been at the school before and was someone who I recognized. The normal response to my initial "Hi." though should have been a similar greeting if he remembered me or wasn't here to start trouble. Anyway, somehow I went upstairs allowing him to have the last word and of course implying that I was not man enough to face him.
Part of me is still feeling as if I should have fought him, but to run across the street and attack him also seemed ridiculous, illegal, and would make me the crazier one.
I start teaching the kids class with Meditation and stretching.
Enter crazy man number two.
An old man this one was, also Caucasian.
He began by asking then demanding something in writing from my Si Hing who was treating a patient. He was demanding something regarding his knee and then and only then would he be willing to take classes here. My Si Hing had seen him before and it was only after this old man started insulting my Si Hing and our Kung Fu based on his having been a Japanese Samurai Warrior in his last three past incarnations did I realize that he was a little off.
I got up from stretching and asked him to leave. I told him he was not welcome in the room if he was disrespectful to our instructors. He said he was leaving but was still standing in the door way now spewing more insults which were beginning to turn obscene and he was making threats at this point too. He was saying all sorts of things which I won't repeat and many of which I don't remember. But I didn't exactly feel threatened because he was an old man. But he was becoming a hassle.
"What are you going to do?" He said almost out the door, "Hit me?"
"No but I will call the police."
"Oh yeah right." he said
I moved forward and was able in a quick motion to shut the door before he could catch it.
"You @%@%#@%" he said, "I'm going to call the police!"
Guess what. I called the police. And actually I would like feed back from other people on what I should have done.
Yes I could "handle" the old man. But what are the legalities of that.
Anyway, he returned later and said, "The police are on their way. You can deal with them when they get here."
"I know. I called them."
"Yeah right" he said.
I had opened the door again thinking he had gone.
"Please step back so I can close the door. He did. And I closed it. So he wasn't physically belligerent. (In the past I have dealt with a drunk who wandered into the old school and pulled out a knife. Guess what? Also an old white man.)
The police arrived and I did talk to them. I did feel silly because this old guy wasn't a threat, but I didn't want to put my hands on him. What if I did? I felt that the police sort of thought I should have handled it myself and the guy had left right as the police showed up. (Apparently he ranted and raved downstairs as well.) But if I handle it am I protected by law?
Anyway, at this point I realize it was a good thing I didn't decide and escalate the first crazy guy situation until it came to blows. If I had, when the old crazy guy situation came up, I would have no credibility as a sane person.
Ever since Our school moved from Tai Tung, I haven't had to deal with many crazy people. At Tai Tung, we were on the first floor and I slept there often with the door open because the elderly person that slept there couldn't breath without the door open. So I would deal with anyone that came in, all night long. I realize this lack of sleep and dealing with crazy people made me harder and perhaps age faster. Dealing with these two crazy guys brought all that back.
I guess that's why I'm writing this at midnight instead of sleeping.
Tomorrow we celebrate Double Ten at City Hall so time to sleep.
-Adam
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
Hacked.
Someone recently hacked into my e-mail and started spamming a (I thought) unbelievable story about how I was in the UK and needed money. At first I thought it wouldn't be a big deal but a couple of people thought it was true. Even if nobody sent money (which I hope nobody did) it still caused some stress for some relatives etc. I also had to open a new account, couldn't shut down the old one, change my bank accounts, notify college loan people, and it got into my facebook. I didn't think this would matter but I suppose I have grown attached to facebook and that type of communication where I can see everyone's updates. Even if I choose not to I know that I was connected to that many people if I wanted to share photos look at photos etc.
I have always thought that facebook in many ways is similar to the idea of the Borg on Star Trek. Except, back then they made the borg seem grungy and miserable. But if you think about it, why wouldn't there technology look super cool and sleek? why wouldn't all the men and women look gorgeous? Look at the robots that the Japanese have made recently that look like humans. On face book people can choose to put more or less of themselves out there. But think about it, If everyone shared everything you would in a way have privacy because everything would be hidden by the greater whole.
Though people always talk bad about facebook, having that total consciousness is a lot like the Buddhist notion of interconnectedness too. just a thought.
I have always thought that facebook in many ways is similar to the idea of the Borg on Star Trek. Except, back then they made the borg seem grungy and miserable. But if you think about it, why wouldn't there technology look super cool and sleek? why wouldn't all the men and women look gorgeous? Look at the robots that the Japanese have made recently that look like humans. On face book people can choose to put more or less of themselves out there. But think about it, If everyone shared everything you would in a way have privacy because everything would be hidden by the greater whole.
Though people always talk bad about facebook, having that total consciousness is a lot like the Buddhist notion of interconnectedness too. just a thought.
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
Tired and Confused
I easily get confused and flustered.
I guess this is not a recent phenomenon. I do feel lost recently.
I don't know where I am.
Before I felt less lost because I felt I had a purpose,
To become badass at Kung fu.
Now I am a father and have no income
and still have loans.
I think if I was a subsistence farmer I would feel like had a purpose.
But then life would be so hard.
Perhaps life has become too easy for me,
and that is my problem.
I guess this is not a recent phenomenon. I do feel lost recently.
I don't know where I am.
Before I felt less lost because I felt I had a purpose,
To become badass at Kung fu.
Now I am a father and have no income
and still have loans.
I think if I was a subsistence farmer I would feel like had a purpose.
But then life would be so hard.
Perhaps life has become too easy for me,
and that is my problem.
Thursday, August 19, 2010
A day at the Amusement park
Today Grace, Shao Bao, and I had a day at Canobie Lake thanks to Liberty Mutual.
Of course Shao Bao is eleven months old so he was limited to certain rides. We did the Caurousel (that kind of freaked him out, and also made Grace dizzy) and we also did the Ferris Wheel.
He freaked out a little on the Ferris Wheel but I wasn't sure whether it was because of height or just because he coincidentally felt likescreaming. He was tied to me in one of those baby carriers so there wasn't any danher or anything like that.
But the experience reminded of a story my Uncle Francis told me. (Just for clarification this is on my Peters side, that is my European American side)
Uncle Francis:
"So me and Tommy (My little brother) went on the Ferris Wheel with my Father when I was little. I remember that for whatever reason, we had stopped and Tommy started flipping out and screaming and trying to get out. So I was trying to hold his hand and calm him down when my dad just held him straight and Boom! punched and knocked him out right there. Of course I understood later... well it had to be done, but since I'd never been exposed to something like that it scared me."
Anyway, my Uncle's and Aunt's have disagreements over how my Grandfather ran his family but it is clear that he was able to do what was necessarry when it was necessary. I consider myself much more cuddly and of course sheltered than my grandfather and of course not as mentally strong. For instance I don't like rides. I've been on tall Roller Coasters at Six Flags just because but even the little rides designed for 6 year old girls at Canobie Lake still make me uneasy.
I also tried the "easy" rock climbing station at Grace's request and found that after a certain height I didn't want to continue.
These are rides with safety harnesses etc. so there is minimal danger, it's really in my mind.
Of course there ae other things I do like stilt wakling while doing lion dance that is actually quite dangerous. It is easy to lose balance and fall by tripping or fatigue or sometone pushing you over etc. There are no safety harnesses. In fact I have fallen going up stairs on stilts, (again because I freaked out.)
In fact of the kids I learned stilts with I was the most afraid. But for some reason I am now often the one of the only ones left doing lion dance on stilts even though my young students are the type that aren't afraid of large roller coasters.
I thought about this while I was on the Ferris Wheel or children's ride that makes me uneasy. But especially after the rock climbing. In fact if the hobby were cheaper, I would like to try rock climbing everyday, perhaps because I am afraid of it, and because of the workout aspect of it.
Similarly, even though it took me longer to do stilts, I started workng on it everyday until I got it when I was a teenager. It might also be because my Sifu encouraged me to perform.
This is probably another reason why I enjoy practicing Kung Fu. It is precisely because I don't go around punching people in the nose.
My Grandfather was a man that worked on skyscraper I beams, fought in World War II, and in terms of climbing..... well he shimmied up the side of a hospital where Uncle Francis(his son) was staying because he had had part of his foot blown off in Vietnam. Uncle Francis wasn't supposed to leave the Hospital. So Father and son went out the window, went for a night out on the town and then got back in through he window.
I wouldn't be able to do that. Just like I couldn't finish an easy "rock climbing" station at an amusement park, or finish sevral books that I have tried to write.
Well I guess there are some thing sthat I have been able to accomplish but writing this is showing me that it might be time that I start becoming more a man of action in the aspects of my life where I haven't been able to.
Like maybe I should start practicing Kung Fu more like I thought I would since I don't have a job, or maybe I should spend more time writing. Write a book maybe. Get it published. That would be nice. I do over think things way too much when I should do more. This has probably helped me for the earlier years of my life and kept me out of gangs and things like that, but now that I am older, I should have more follow through with me thoughts, hopes, dreams of action. Especially since these hopes of action are becoming increasingly more safe and easy to accomplish if I just started doing them.
Of course Shao Bao is eleven months old so he was limited to certain rides. We did the Caurousel (that kind of freaked him out, and also made Grace dizzy) and we also did the Ferris Wheel.
He freaked out a little on the Ferris Wheel but I wasn't sure whether it was because of height or just because he coincidentally felt likescreaming. He was tied to me in one of those baby carriers so there wasn't any danher or anything like that.
But the experience reminded of a story my Uncle Francis told me. (Just for clarification this is on my Peters side, that is my European American side)
Uncle Francis:
"So me and Tommy (My little brother) went on the Ferris Wheel with my Father when I was little. I remember that for whatever reason, we had stopped and Tommy started flipping out and screaming and trying to get out. So I was trying to hold his hand and calm him down when my dad just held him straight and Boom! punched and knocked him out right there. Of course I understood later... well it had to be done, but since I'd never been exposed to something like that it scared me."
Anyway, my Uncle's and Aunt's have disagreements over how my Grandfather ran his family but it is clear that he was able to do what was necessarry when it was necessary. I consider myself much more cuddly and of course sheltered than my grandfather and of course not as mentally strong. For instance I don't like rides. I've been on tall Roller Coasters at Six Flags just because but even the little rides designed for 6 year old girls at Canobie Lake still make me uneasy.
I also tried the "easy" rock climbing station at Grace's request and found that after a certain height I didn't want to continue.
These are rides with safety harnesses etc. so there is minimal danger, it's really in my mind.
Of course there ae other things I do like stilt wakling while doing lion dance that is actually quite dangerous. It is easy to lose balance and fall by tripping or fatigue or sometone pushing you over etc. There are no safety harnesses. In fact I have fallen going up stairs on stilts, (again because I freaked out.)
In fact of the kids I learned stilts with I was the most afraid. But for some reason I am now often the one of the only ones left doing lion dance on stilts even though my young students are the type that aren't afraid of large roller coasters.
I thought about this while I was on the Ferris Wheel or children's ride that makes me uneasy. But especially after the rock climbing. In fact if the hobby were cheaper, I would like to try rock climbing everyday, perhaps because I am afraid of it, and because of the workout aspect of it.
Similarly, even though it took me longer to do stilts, I started workng on it everyday until I got it when I was a teenager. It might also be because my Sifu encouraged me to perform.
This is probably another reason why I enjoy practicing Kung Fu. It is precisely because I don't go around punching people in the nose.
My Grandfather was a man that worked on skyscraper I beams, fought in World War II, and in terms of climbing..... well he shimmied up the side of a hospital where Uncle Francis(his son) was staying because he had had part of his foot blown off in Vietnam. Uncle Francis wasn't supposed to leave the Hospital. So Father and son went out the window, went for a night out on the town and then got back in through he window.
I wouldn't be able to do that. Just like I couldn't finish an easy "rock climbing" station at an amusement park, or finish sevral books that I have tried to write.
Well I guess there are some thing sthat I have been able to accomplish but writing this is showing me that it might be time that I start becoming more a man of action in the aspects of my life where I haven't been able to.
Like maybe I should start practicing Kung Fu more like I thought I would since I don't have a job, or maybe I should spend more time writing. Write a book maybe. Get it published. That would be nice. I do over think things way too much when I should do more. This has probably helped me for the earlier years of my life and kept me out of gangs and things like that, but now that I am older, I should have more follow through with me thoughts, hopes, dreams of action. Especially since these hopes of action are becoming increasingly more safe and easy to accomplish if I just started doing them.
Saturday, August 7, 2010
Spring roll punch, Chicken finger claws
I'm teaching a bunch of mostly Americanized Chinese Americans at Kwong Kow this summer, and so I'm having them learn the names of different Kung Fu names in Cantonese.
I got some negative feedback that one Taiwanese child was crying because it wasn't in Mandarin but I didn't see it myself. In fact I tried to teach it in Mandarin one class through the help of a Mandarin teacher but the next week, well, i think she needed a break from shouting out things for the class to do as that class was a very rowdy bunch.
A few of the kids who yell out the names very loudly are from a Mandarin o English speaking background.
But what is most funny is what happened with the kids who are actually Cantonese speakers but someone Americanized. The changed the names to English Sounding equivalents, or indeed Chinese sounding equivalents with completely different meaning. These new names tell you a lot about Chinese American Culture.
It started when Chuen kuen or Penetrating Fist became Chuen Goon, or Spring Roll.
Then the next obvious one to change was to change Long Jow, or Dragon Claw, into Fun Jow.. Phoenix Claw. Phoenix Claw is of course the name of the popular Dim Sum dish which is delicious and succulent chincken feet that you put in your mouth whole, spitting the bones out onto your plate. The tendons and all that just seem to almost dissolve away.
But that was just the first week. Now these kids have been practicing for a month and have incorporated English into their comedy.
The first basic move "Shuen Yew Joon sun" which means twisting waist turning body is yelled out by me and then they are supposed to yell it back. I hear one boy scream back quite seriously before cracking a smile "Mohegan Sun!"
Then in the form, "Cup Kuen" or stamping fist becomes "Cupcake"
Hei gerk or sometimes they say fei gerk which means "leg up" or "flying kick" respectively, this modification actually makes sense. But then some kids started saying "Hey girl!" instead of "Hei gerk"
I guess you can tell by the names they choose, what is prominent in their lives, or the lives of their parents. American things like cupcake, getting girls to pay attention to you, Dim Sum, and then of course the Casinos.
I got some negative feedback that one Taiwanese child was crying because it wasn't in Mandarin but I didn't see it myself. In fact I tried to teach it in Mandarin one class through the help of a Mandarin teacher but the next week, well, i think she needed a break from shouting out things for the class to do as that class was a very rowdy bunch.
A few of the kids who yell out the names very loudly are from a Mandarin o English speaking background.
But what is most funny is what happened with the kids who are actually Cantonese speakers but someone Americanized. The changed the names to English Sounding equivalents, or indeed Chinese sounding equivalents with completely different meaning. These new names tell you a lot about Chinese American Culture.
It started when Chuen kuen or Penetrating Fist became Chuen Goon, or Spring Roll.
Then the next obvious one to change was to change Long Jow, or Dragon Claw, into Fun Jow.. Phoenix Claw. Phoenix Claw is of course the name of the popular Dim Sum dish which is delicious and succulent chincken feet that you put in your mouth whole, spitting the bones out onto your plate. The tendons and all that just seem to almost dissolve away.
But that was just the first week. Now these kids have been practicing for a month and have incorporated English into their comedy.
The first basic move "Shuen Yew Joon sun" which means twisting waist turning body is yelled out by me and then they are supposed to yell it back. I hear one boy scream back quite seriously before cracking a smile "Mohegan Sun!"
Then in the form, "Cup Kuen" or stamping fist becomes "Cupcake"
Hei gerk or sometimes they say fei gerk which means "leg up" or "flying kick" respectively, this modification actually makes sense. But then some kids started saying "Hey girl!" instead of "Hei gerk"
I guess you can tell by the names they choose, what is prominent in their lives, or the lives of their parents. American things like cupcake, getting girls to pay attention to you, Dim Sum, and then of course the Casinos.
Thursday, August 5, 2010
Chinese School: Good kid bad kid.
This summer I am teaching Kung Fu as a sort of volunteer thing for my Kung Fu School, Woo Ching White Crane. We are located on 90 Tyler street. The volunteer work though actually occurs across the street at 87 Tyler Street, Kwong Kow Chinese School.
When teaching a group of kids Kung Fu I might earn more about real life Kung Fu than my students.
This is not to say that the Kung Fu I teach them can't be used in real life. The moves can be used to defend oneself, get stronger, maintain health, etc..... if you actually practice them and understand the whole isometric, getting down in a stance, chi gung stuff necessary t develop power. Well I guess you could still use the moves to fight or hurt someone without all that if they don't incapacitate you first. But the "good" kids, who practice, don't get into lot of physical conflicts and probably this trend will continue as they get older. The "bad" kids, you run around during the class jumping off the walls and hitting each other do get into a lot of physical conflicts, in class, in the hall way, on the stairs,and this trend will also probably continue as they get older. Often times, their fighting Kung Fu is actually better than the good kids who just follow along picking up the image of the technique without understanding the fighting principles. The bad kids learn from fighting while the moves are imprinted in their mind. I know this because during free time, these kids come after me yelling the names of the moves I taughtthe and using them better in the play fighting situation, than during the actual class.
Of course a kid that fights and practices, or practices and understands how to fight will be better, but in a class of little kids, this is unlikely.
So it seems the bad kids are actually picking up more kung fu, even though they are disrupting class.
But here is something that will carry over more to the office, or everyday "fighting" in society. That is, getting what you want. What you want could be money, housing, attention a promotion, a job, whatever it is.
What kids want is play time. (well some of the weird kids actually want to practice Kung Fu and meditate. These weird kids will perhaps become the actual Modern Kung Fu Masters like me.)
But most normal children , even if they want to practice, want to play.
So the good kids (usually girls) stand in line obey my orders etc. And there reward for being such a good class, is that they get more Kung Fu, i.e., more drills, more forms. and a longer class. This means, less play time.
The rowdier kids (usually boys, but sometimes also introverted girls) will simply refuse to line up, refuse to do kung fu, and so they play while everyone else works. At some point they are so rowdy and so disruptive that I would give up and give everyone free time. I realized that I was rewarding bad behavior. It was because of them that the good kids were freed from the slavery of drills.
Meanwhile where the good kids got ten minutes of free time, the bad kids basically had done whatever they wanted or the entire class.
This is why recently I offered ten minutes of free time at the end of class to those that were good. But that the bad kids would have to sit and watch everyone else play. This is still a better deal for the bad kid because he or she would then get 50 minutes of free time and 10 minutes of "punishment" which would consist of doing nothing. But doing nothing is often what these kids want in the first place.
Regardless it worked better than my previous model. But today. I had a class that was so bad, that I could not justify giving free time. Furthermore, the bad kids were better at memorizing the form than the good kids, because a lot of the good kids were new. So Instead of fee time I broke down the form slowly for everyone, giving each student the details of the technique to make sure everything was correct.
At the end of the day, instead of free time, they had still received a special Kung Fu lesson. So in a way, they were still rewarded for heir bad behavior, and had a ball misbehaving during the drills.
My point is, a lot of education in general, especially Chinese school, emphasizes getting in line, discipline, bowing, memorizing characters, etc.
Now having this discipline should lead you on the right path early in life because being a "bad" kid might land you in jail or something depriving you of all the opportunities a "good" kid has.
But once you get to a certain level, it is the bad behavior that is rewarded. Speaking out and being rowdy, will get yo what you want in America and relatively free societies much more than keeping your eyes to the ground and becoming invisible will.
So am I teaching these kids the wrong things?
Ultimately all the bad kids do need to learn to be good. But I am becoming increasingly more aware of the importance of the good kids need to learn to be... well... bad.
When teaching a group of kids Kung Fu I might earn more about real life Kung Fu than my students.
This is not to say that the Kung Fu I teach them can't be used in real life. The moves can be used to defend oneself, get stronger, maintain health, etc..... if you actually practice them and understand the whole isometric, getting down in a stance, chi gung stuff necessary t develop power. Well I guess you could still use the moves to fight or hurt someone without all that if they don't incapacitate you first. But the "good" kids, who practice, don't get into lot of physical conflicts and probably this trend will continue as they get older. The "bad" kids, you run around during the class jumping off the walls and hitting each other do get into a lot of physical conflicts, in class, in the hall way, on the stairs,and this trend will also probably continue as they get older. Often times, their fighting Kung Fu is actually better than the good kids who just follow along picking up the image of the technique without understanding the fighting principles. The bad kids learn from fighting while the moves are imprinted in their mind. I know this because during free time, these kids come after me yelling the names of the moves I taughtthe and using them better in the play fighting situation, than during the actual class.
Of course a kid that fights and practices, or practices and understands how to fight will be better, but in a class of little kids, this is unlikely.
So it seems the bad kids are actually picking up more kung fu, even though they are disrupting class.
But here is something that will carry over more to the office, or everyday "fighting" in society. That is, getting what you want. What you want could be money, housing, attention a promotion, a job, whatever it is.
What kids want is play time. (well some of the weird kids actually want to practice Kung Fu and meditate. These weird kids will perhaps become the actual Modern Kung Fu Masters like me.)
But most normal children , even if they want to practice, want to play.
So the good kids (usually girls) stand in line obey my orders etc. And there reward for being such a good class, is that they get more Kung Fu, i.e., more drills, more forms. and a longer class. This means, less play time.
The rowdier kids (usually boys, but sometimes also introverted girls) will simply refuse to line up, refuse to do kung fu, and so they play while everyone else works. At some point they are so rowdy and so disruptive that I would give up and give everyone free time. I realized that I was rewarding bad behavior. It was because of them that the good kids were freed from the slavery of drills.
Meanwhile where the good kids got ten minutes of free time, the bad kids basically had done whatever they wanted or the entire class.
This is why recently I offered ten minutes of free time at the end of class to those that were good. But that the bad kids would have to sit and watch everyone else play. This is still a better deal for the bad kid because he or she would then get 50 minutes of free time and 10 minutes of "punishment" which would consist of doing nothing. But doing nothing is often what these kids want in the first place.
Regardless it worked better than my previous model. But today. I had a class that was so bad, that I could not justify giving free time. Furthermore, the bad kids were better at memorizing the form than the good kids, because a lot of the good kids were new. So Instead of fee time I broke down the form slowly for everyone, giving each student the details of the technique to make sure everything was correct.
At the end of the day, instead of free time, they had still received a special Kung Fu lesson. So in a way, they were still rewarded for heir bad behavior, and had a ball misbehaving during the drills.
My point is, a lot of education in general, especially Chinese school, emphasizes getting in line, discipline, bowing, memorizing characters, etc.
Now having this discipline should lead you on the right path early in life because being a "bad" kid might land you in jail or something depriving you of all the opportunities a "good" kid has.
But once you get to a certain level, it is the bad behavior that is rewarded. Speaking out and being rowdy, will get yo what you want in America and relatively free societies much more than keeping your eyes to the ground and becoming invisible will.
So am I teaching these kids the wrong things?
Ultimately all the bad kids do need to learn to be good. But I am becoming increasingly more aware of the importance of the good kids need to learn to be... well... bad.
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