Category: General Interest

A general page for discussion, relating to topics not listed in their own categories.

Samurai – Miyamoto Musashi (Documentary by Mark Dacascos)

Here is a great video of Mark Dacascos travelling through Japan and visiting many of the places in Miyamoto Musashi’s life, and discussing what he has learned of the greatest swordsman to ever live… The book that he is reading about Musashi on the train is called “the Lone Samurai” (William Scott Wilson), and covers …

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A friendly duel

What I like about this video is simple – it’s a friendly duel between two martial artists. There is no actual ring, and I assume that there weren’t any issues of smack talk prior to this contest; this being simply a contest of capability.   Notwithstanding the obvious size difference between the two fighters (which …

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Jet Li’s 10 Things – “the biggest enemy is ourselves”

KFEB #31) A skillful warrior strikes a decisive blow and stops. He does not continue the attack to assert his mastery. He will strike the blow, but be on his guard against being vain or arrogant over his success. He strikes it as a matter of necessity, but not from a wish of mastery.

This entry into the KFEB is brought to you by Lao Tzu, making it Taoist in nature.  There is some paradigmatic baggage from Taoism that we won’t go into in-depth here, but will likely touch upon it. This one is rather simple, and straightforward – it’s an almost intuitive concept, but what’s interesting is that it’s not …

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KFEB #30) The superior man moves his lips; the common man moves his fists.

This particular KFEB entry comes from an anonymous author, but they could either be Confucian or Taoist in mindset, mostly based on the statement of the “Superior Man”.  Remember that both of these belief’s notion of a “Superior Man” is essentially one who embodies the best of humanity, which is reflected here via a direct comparison …

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KFEB #29) It is equally criminal in the governor, and in the governed, to violate laws.

This particular KFEB entry comes from someone other than the standard masters, already discussed at length – the new entry into the philosophical arena is from the Xianwen Shu (Hien Wen Shoo); a Chinese book (‘the book of virtuous writing’), likely of the Confucian persuasion, that includes this particular KFEB submission in the literal translation as: “Offending …

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KFEB #28 – The Master said “Learning without thought is labour lost; thought without learning is perilous.”

This one is rather simple to ferret out where it comes from – pretty much any time that the words “the Master said” are used, it’s associated with Confucius. China would go through a major period in their history when people would do tests based on the different philosophies that made their way to prominence …

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KFEB #27 – A gentleman blames himself while a common man blames others.

I have always loved this one, although I never really understood it that much (beyond the intuitive level) when I was a teenager.  I’ve always tried to be a gentleman, and I’ve thought I’d succeeded on many occasions, but it’s not something that is readily available in a modern society; parts of, yes, but there …

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The Complete Book of Tai Chi, by Sifu Wong Kiew Kit

To be forthright, Tai Chi is not my primary style, but I love this book.  I consider this book to be akin to Aikido and the Dynamic Sphere (another review forthcoming) as it is a reference that helps any martial artist’s background in a conceptual manner. As the title suggests, this is a rather complete …

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KFEB# 26 – There is no greater lie than the lie that becomes necessary to defend another lie.

I have loved this saying since I read it – and, like most people, I have felt the sting of lies… Unfortunately, I have also felt the sting from lying… which only underscores the point. In a valuation of “lies”, which is what this KFEB entry is trying to say, the initial lie does not …

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