Updates

Yikes, I haven't posted a blog in over a month.  I'm still working on a book.  For January I'm house sitting South of San Francisco.  I'm trying to write all day, everyday.  In February I'm going to stay in a home in the Southern Sierra Nevada and after that I'm not sure.  It depends on whether my book is finished.

I am teaching a half day workshop.  I get so much pleasure out of teaching, I really miss it:

 Jan. 26th, 2014  12-3PM  $35  at Soja in Oakland, CA  (click on Adult Workshops and scroll down)

The purpose of playing games is to have as much fun as possible and to unleash spontaneity which is the only proof we have that we are not robots.  When we get rid of fear and replace it with exhilaration, competitiveness melts away, leaving behind a joyful cooperative buzz that lasts for days. The martial arts skills we condition and test in games are the skills we trust the most.

 

Traditionally folks retreated to the quiet mountains to meditate and find equanimity, but martial artists were rebel tricksters who instead invented games that are sneaky down and dirty short-cuts to enlightenment. They are the quick and easy route to joyful comfort in our bodies, discarding limitation, and entering the Void via a secret door.

We will particularly work with creating positive stimulation via soft hand slapping, unbalancing, and games that condition speed with relaxation and increase spatial awareness. Come ready to play, invent and develop ways to improve martial arts games. Bring your own funny bone, you may have the opportunity to hit someone with it.

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Also, a giant in the world of martial arts passed away this morning.  A true hero in the worlds of kungfu, commerce and entertainment.

Run Run Shaw 1907-2014

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I want to give a plug to Rafe Kelley and his Good Men Project,  he also has a business called Evolve Move Play.  His latest blog post is right on!  I nearly got ejected from a Christmas Dinner for saying the same thing, albeit in more provocative terms.  Well, and also I did punch someone as a way of answering the question: "Why is fighting essential for emotional and intellectual development?"  Hey, a single punch is worth a thousand words, right?  Why We Need a Little Roughhousing!

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I'm presenting a paper on the Theatrical and Religious origins of Taijiquan and doing a workshop in Boston at the:

Tradition and Transition 9th International Conference on Daoist Studies Boston University, May 29-June 1, 2014 

These conferences are a lot of fun, I hope to meet some of my East Coast friends and readers while I'm there!

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I would have more to say, but... my Apple Stickies program crashed with about 7 half-finished blog posts, sooooo 2003. amirite?

Don't worry, I have numerous blog posts still spinning in my head and I'll have them up soon.