A professor commuted from Tokyo to Nanin’s temple in Kamakura many Sunday mornings to learn Zen. One morning Nanin served him tea. He poured the professor’s cup full – and kept on pouring. The professor watched until he could restrain himself no longer. “Sensei!” he protested, “it is overflowing!” Then Master Nanin said, “Like this cup, you are so full of opinions and speculations that there is no room for anything further.

When learning something new, it’s hard not to fall back on old ideas. Newer ideas might be better, but we may be reluctant to give up the ones we have. We tend towards that which we know, and shy away from the unknown. This is not a bad thing; it’s just the way we work.

Like in the zen koan above, we must empty ourselves of preconceived notions, in order to fully grasp new ones. Otherwise, we will meet with resistance, and be unable to absorb as much as we possibly could. It will take us longer to grasp an idea, if we do not allow the idea to flourish on its own.

Empty yourself of preconceived notions, and learn things with a fresh mind, and you will be amazed at how quickly you can learn. Fail at this, and you will be dismayed at how slowly you learn.

I’ve recently decided to start taking the martial art Wing Chun. In addition to helping me be less of a fat bastard, I get the opportunity to learn first hand about a Chinese martial art style, about which I’ve been fascinated since childhood. Who didn’t love watching martial arts flicks as a kid?

This brings us to an interesting question: why does anyone take a martial art? It’s one of the first questions that gets asked when you start almost any style, and the answers generally are one of the following:

• Fitness: People want to get in shape, and martial arts seem like a great way to get a workout.
• Self defense: People want to be able to protect themselves, and learn how to fight.
• Stress relief: Nothing beats a good workout for relieving the day’s stress and anxieties.
• Interest in the style: A fascination with the style and / or lineage of a martial art drives a person to take the art.

The unfortunate part is that people make choices out of ignorance or convenience, rather than intelligence. Why do people think it’s a good idea to go to a studio that has one hour classes? Why are people so obsessed with belt rankings? Why don’t people think about application and effectiveness of an art, rather than blindly accepting the art? All things bear consideration, and martial arts are no different. Be careful, folks!

I’m ready to begin my quest in becoming a martial artist. I’m starting late in life, but it’s better than never starting at all. I just wish I could fast-foward my training a few years. Wish me luck!

There are things in society that we know, but don’t admit. Things exist but we don’t acknowledge them (at least, publically). The conservatives of this country might even deny these points, but they’re no less true. I like to call it societal blindness. We turn a blind eye to various things in society, though most everybody knows about them. Sometimes, they’re overlooked illegalities. Other times, we just turn a blind eye. What things you might ask? Read on.
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Recently, I was having a conversation when I uttered the phrase, “all the sudden…”. I paused to correct myself and say, “all of the sudden…” when I realized that this particular phrase doesn’t really make sense to me. (The correct phrasing, I gather, is “all of a sudden,” with which some people take major issue.) Why all of a sudden? Can you have some of a sudden? What about none of a sudden? What exactly is a sudden? Is it fluffy?
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As a kid, I remember eating Jell-O Pudding pops. Chocolate, Vanilla, or Swirl, those things were the bomb. What person of my generation doesn’t remember Bill Cosby raving about them in commercials? Yet, suddenly, mysteriously, they vanished from production. What the hell? Where did they go? Why were they pulled? Did demand wane that much? Is there any hope for pudding poppers?
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“Once she gets over the shock of it and settles into a routine, she starts looking around her…and realizes that this is just like life must be for about 99 percent of the people in the world. You’re in this place. There’s other people all around you, but they don’t understand you and you don’t understand them, but people do a lot of pointless babbling anyway. In order to stay alive, you have to spend all day every day doing stupid meaningless work. And the only way to get out of it is to quit, cut loose, take a flyer, and go off into the wicked world, where you will be swallowed up and never heard from again.”

- from Snow Crash, Neal Stephenson

Crrrraaaaacccckkkk! On the first pitch of the bottom of the 11th, Aaron Boone crushed the hopes and dreams of Red Sox fans the world around. What an incredible game.

As you probably have already heard, the Cubs lost to the Marlins in the decisive game 7 of the NLCS, meaning the Marlins are cruising their way to the World Series. I can’t even imagine what people in Chicago are feeling right now — to have come so close, with such good prospects, only to fail in the eleventh hour…the Cubs watched unbelievably as their 3-1 lead in the series disappeared, one painful game at a time.
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Two of my favorite teams were vying for the World Series, and both looked like strong contenders…until yesterday. The Red Sox had a tough loss to the Yankees, leaving them 3-2 in the ALCS, while the Cubs just lost their composure after one little incident. They looked like shoe-ins, and now have a tough game to play against the Marlins today.

Yesterday was nothing but heartbreak. From the close Red Sox loss, to the simply unbelievable eighth inning for the Cubs, yesterday was rough. But the Cubs game…that was just hurtful. And by hurtful, I mean terrible to watch. Mark Prior pitched an absolutely stunning two hitter shut out through the seventh, only for it all to go awry. The curses, it seems, continue to fight. I sat in stunned silence as the eighth inning unfolded in all its monstrous glory.

Both teams have a hell of a fight today, to battle back from mediocrity to seize the prize. Can they do it, or will it be yet another crushing, crushing day?

As the Red Sox pull in an important victory bringing them to 2-2 in the ALCS, it looks like they’re still in the game. Woo hoo! The Cubbies aren’t looking too bad either, pulling out a 3-1 lead in the NLCS. Though the Marlins dropped that to a 3-2 lead, no team has come back from a 3-1 slump since like the 20′s.

Note in the above how I sound like a baseball afficionado? I’m not. In fact, I would be completely lost in the above dialogue, say, a month ago, because I never paid that close attention to baseball. Why? Because I’d been a Cubbies fan for years growing up, and then a Red Sox fan after moving to Boston (which sounds an awful lot like trading six dozen of one for half a dozen of the other). It’s been nothing but heart break for years and years, and suddenly, both actually stand a chance. That’s why I’m so into this series, but it leaves me a bit conflicted.
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