New Weeks Resolution

28 Jan

I’ve been thinking a lot about resolutions lately. It’s the first chunk of the year, so I doubt I’m alone in that regard. But I’ve been thinking about how much they suck. I think more apt name for “New Year’s Resolutions” would be “List of things I plan to fail at.” Seriously, committing to something for a full year is really kind of a heavy burden to take on for no apparent reason. I also think that these lists of things that we fail at create a significant amount of psychological damage, something none of us really need. We all fail, that’s simply a fact, and we need to come to terms with it, but I don’t believe being reminded of our failures is either healthy or useful.

If we are reminded of our failures we can begin to identify ourselves with those failures. Suddenly, it stops being “I failed at losing weight” and becomes “I am a failure.” No one needs that. I can speak from experience. A year or so ago I finally went to see a therapist and was diagnosed with dysthymia. Dysthymia is an interesting little quirk, if you’ve ever had a depressive episode, one where you sleep a little too much and the house gets messy, dysthymia is kind of like that. Well, if it lasts for years on end instead of a few days it’s like dysthymia. So, really, the last thing I need is motivation to not do stuff.

But goal setting is still a good thing, within reason. Good goals have certain qualities, they are quantifiable (“drink more water” is a bad goal), have time limits, and can actually be achieved. So, what I’ve decided to do is to have my “New Week Resolutions.” Each resolution will last a week, not a long time, really, but hey, I have issues with depression and motivation and I have to start somewhere. Each resolution has to be quantifiable, and has to be possible. (No, lose 30 pounds, type stuff.)

Technically, I started my little scheme a few weeks ago. The first week I did a set of exercises increasing the reps by one every day for the entire week. Go me. Week two, different set of exercises. Didn’t do a single day. bummer. But I figured I should go public with my idea, and quest for validation. So, here it is. Each week I will post the new weeks resolution, and if possible some sort of status update through the week. If not, then a summary post at the end of the week. And that’s that.

This week’s resolution is to write a letter to someone every day. Not an email, a letter. Things that go out in the mail. I’d like to include some sort of physical thingy that makes the use of the post a bit more mandatory, but I’m not going to push it.

Luckily, I’ve already got Monday’s letter written and in the envelope, so that’s one day down. Four to go (Oh, btw, I’m only counting the weekdays, which may change later.) I’ll let you know how the rest of the week goes.

Obama on Health Care

24 Oct

This November I am voting for Barack Obama because of his stance on Health Care.

I’m really not sure what else to say on this matter. The idea that good health should be limited to those with the most money is ridiculous to say the least. The Affordable Health Care Act firmly tells insurance companies that they can no longer gouge those least able to afford insurance, and those in most dire need of medical coverage. I really don’t see who could be opposed to the idea that people should have a right to be healthy. Isn’t it even in the Declaration of Independence? (Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness).

I know the insurance mandate has some people up in arms, but really, that is just to balance the scales a bit. As of 2014 insurance companies will not be able to turn down or charge extra for someone with a pre-existing condition. The term “uninsurable” will drop from our language. As a result, these companies do need a bit of a safeguard otherwise the cost of operation would become astronomical, and they would simply collapse, thus defeating the purpose of the Act to begin with.

While the mandate has never been a problem for me, there are parts of the bill I find less savory, such as caps on Health Savings Accounts and larger taxation on “Cadillac” insurance plans. I say if you have money you want to spend on health care, go nuts. Of course, the HSAs will need to be tightly regulated so that the money there can only be spent on health care and not be a convenient tax dodge, but that already exists in the bill as written.

I’m also a little concerned about doctors being paid based on performance. I don’t know what kind of metrics are planned for that particular angle, so it makes me a bit nervous. After all, the success of any procedure depends upon patient compliance.

Even with these concerns about the bill, I still find the bulk of the matter to be to the benefit of all Americans, and as a result I intend to vote for Barack Obama, once again this year.

Right of Way Once Again

19 Oct

Right of way still gives me a bit of trouble. Every time I think I get a handle on it, I see stuff that seems a bit ridiculous. But first let’s step back and compare sport fencing to dueling.

Whether you are using a “safe” fencing blade or an actual sharp and pointy thing, the best case scenario is to make a successful attack without being touched at all by your opponent. By doing so, things are tidy and easy to sort out. Unfortunately, this scenario pretty much doesn’t happen. And plan “B” is where fencing and combat take wildly divergent paths.

If you are wielding an actual sharpened weapon, your goal is to do maximal damage to your opponent while allowing minimal damage to yourself. In that regard, seeing an attack to your non-weapon side and blocking with your non-weapon hand as you thrust into their torso is perfectly sensible. Or, accepting a shot on your weapon arm as you attack their neck is also a viable option. Largely, in these situations you end up hurt, they end up dead. In sport fencing, due to right of way, your opponent scores the point in both cases here. bummer.

In fencing your best bet is to have the first attack that is unmet by your opponent, regardless of where the cut lands (apart from in target area). So, if I feint high into my opponents weapon side (feint to 3, for those who care) and drop my attack under his parry and hit him in his flank, I score a touch even if he hits me in the head with his sword during the course of his parry. On the opposite side, if my opponent attacks my weapon side and I parry, and make contact, right of way then shifts to me and I can then riposte. The point there will be mine even if we make contact simultaneously. (Assuming proper timing, etc.)

My problem is I want to be the one to make first contact, which may not matter, or I want to be the one who makes best contact, which almost never matters. The idea of leaving my front completely exposed as in a feint to high inside that drops to the belly is just alien to me. However, right of way ends certain arguments about what would be the “best” touch. As much as it annoys me, right of way still works to streamline the sport.

Obama and Green Energy

17 Oct

This November I’m voting for Barack Obama because of his stance on Green energy.

Our modern society revolves around energy. We all rely heavily on technology for nearly every aspect of our lives. We drive cars, watch tv, use the internet… All things that require power. However, as these technologies have grown over the last century, the power that fuels them has remained fairly stagnant.

Our dependence on petroleum has been a problem in the past, and will continue to be a problem in the future, unless we do something about it. Eventually, these resources will run out, it may not be in the present generation’s lifetime, but that isn’t exactly a reason to shirk on finding a solution, now. Additionally, control over petrochemicals has historically been a source of significant amounts of conflict in the world. As the world’s supply dwindles, these conflicts can only become more heated.

On the other side is green energy, things like solar and wind power, that are nearly limitless resources with no one nation or people having an inordinate amount of control of them, which may be the point that frightens some people. With nothing to control, there is nothing to gain, and therefore no impetus to expand these existing energy concepts. But here is partly where they are wrong, America should be at the forefront of green technology. We are not a nation of cheap labor, we should be a nation of SMART labor. And Barack Obama has pledged to put us on the forefront of green technology.

Green energy will create a workforce that utilizes the United State’s increasingly educated citizenry. Not only that, by reducing our dependence on foreign nations we can truly wash our hands of oil conflicts both at home and abroad.

The solution to our present energy crisis is not “Drill, baby, drill” or even to conserve, but to utilize the abundantly renewable resource we have here at home in the intelligence of our people. And that is what I want, and it is what Barack Obama wants as well.

Right of Way

12 Oct

Whenever I try to explain certain elements of fencing to my friends they usually look at me funny at certain rules. Most often Right of Way gets me some fairly confused looks. Right of Way is often a bit confusing because people tend to think of Fencing as some form of combat, which it used to be but no longer is. Without the combat element rules to decide the winner become incredibly important. Right of Way is the solution to the age old problem that every child has experienced of “I got you first.”

Right of way appears in Foil and Sabre fencing. In general, the fencer who begins the action has priority over the opponent, unless the opponent does something to strip the “right of way” from them, usually a parry. For the most part this makes sense to most people, the person who acted first gets the point. The hiccup lies in invalid touches. If the fencer with the right of way lands off target in foil, the action is stopped. So, if both lights go on, one with a valid touch and one with off target, and the off target light had the right of way, no touches are awarded, and that’s where most of my friends get lost.

To be honest, that particular scenario always bothered me as well. Possibly because I train in more combative arts where the goal is to simulate the death of the other player, but even there we pretend. The thing to bare in mind is that fencing is a game of tag meant to take into account elements of actual combat. The word “fence” is meant as defensive. If the idea of right of way is stripped out, then fencing becomes little more than roshambo, or who can stab who fastest.
Now, I agree that some of the rules of right of way can become a bit ridiculous (attack ending at footfall in sabre), but they do serve a purpose. In an actual sabre strike you would want your full weight behind the strike to do damage, so if your foot is still off the ground at contact, then your weight is divided between your hind foot and your blade giving maximum effect.

So, until we can find a group of people willing to square off with actual edged weapons and brave the hospital/morgue, then I guess right of way makes sense.
But Point in Line is still a mystery to me.

Obama on Marriage

10 Oct

This November I’m voting for Barack Obama because I believe that same sex couples should have the same rights my wife and I enjoy.

For the most part, I think we might be better off if the government wasn’t really involved in marriage, but here we need some guidelines. A law needs to exist and clearly state that homosexual couples have the same rights and responsibilities as heterosexual couples for the simple fact that if left out of the legal realm someone, such as a justice of the peace could choose to deny a same sex couple the right to a marriage based on grounds secondary to the law of the land.

Government employees should not be given a grounds to pick and choose how to apply the law.

Meanwhile members of the clergy should retain the right to marry, or not marry, whomever they deem appropriate. If a minister chooses not to perform a same sex wedding ceremony, then that is a matter to be dealt with within the church.

The matter of same sex marriage needs to be handled at a federal level because it is divisive to leave the question up to the states. A citizen of the US who is married in Vermont should be considered married in all 50 states, not just a handful. If all of the states are willing to accept a marriage performed at a drive through chapel in Las Vegas, they should accept one between two men or two women. If we are truly ONE nation, then we should behave as one.

President Obama has given vocal support to same sex marriage in the last few years. Granted, he was a little slow on the repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, but he got there in the end, which is better than nothing. As time has passed, President Obama’s stance on the rights of the LGBT community has become more apparent, and these are the rights that everyone deserves. So, this November, I’m voting FOR a candidate who wants to expand and cement the freedoms of the citizens of our country.

 

***I have to say, I don’t like the format President Obama uses on his website to explain his position. Just tell me why you are the best candidate and leave it at that.

The Discourse to Sigala

8 Oct

I haven’t read quite as much of the Tipitaka as I should. However, of the suttas I have read I think I enjoy the Sigalovada Sutta the most.

The Buddha was clearly a brilliant thinker, and he separated the instructions for monks from those of the laity. In his mind, only monks and nuns can truly become enlightened and step off the wheel of Samsars. And that makes sense, we all transgress and make unwise decisions when we are engaged with the world, so the only way to avoid those mistakes is to step away from the world. But Gotama knew that notion was untenable for everyone to do. So, he laid out a path to enlightenment and joy for those who would not be entering the monastery, and it shows up in its most obvious form in the Sigalovada Sutta (aka DN 31).

The other thing about the Buddhist philosophy is that it is abundantly practical and the Buddha talks about rewards “in this world and the next.” The philosophy is not about purely delayed reward, as a number of religions describe, nor is it about instant gratification, as opponents of those same religions desire. In Buddhism everyone has rights and responsibilities, and DN 31 is where they are explained for the layperson.

The relationships between pretty much everyone are explained in verse in this particular sutta as:

Mother and father as the east,

Teachers as the south,

Spouse and family as the west,

Friends and colleagues as the north,

Servants and workers below,

Brahmans and ascetics above;

These directions a person should honor

In order to be truly good.

And each of these relationships is explicated in detail, such as for the Mother and Father:

28. “In five ways should a mother and father as the eastern direction be respected by a child: ‘I will support them who supported me; I will do my duty to them; I will maintain the family lineage and tradition; I will be worthy of my inheritance; and I will make donations on behalf of dead ancestors.’

“And, the mother and father so respected reciprocate with compassion in five ways: by restraining you from wrongdoing, guiding you towards good actions, training you in a profession, supporting the choice of a suitable spouse, and in due time, handing over the inheritance.

“In this way, the eastern direction is protected and made peaceful and secure.

The thing I find most interesting is that all of the relationships share the same reciprocal nature as described here between parents and children. To me, that implies that the relationship dynamic can at some point be ignored if reciprocity is not forthcoming. In that manner, a severing of ties is the way in which peace and protection are secured.

I think I cling to this particular sutta because it relies heavily on the parts of the Eightfold Path I think I understand and have already discussed on this blog. I just hope at some point I can get a grasp on the remainder of the path in sufficient detail to write about it and live it.

Right Intention

27 Aug

The idea that we should speak, behave, and work in a specific fashion isn’t that big of a stretch for most people. They may disagree on what the right actions are, but not necessarily that these behaviors exist and should be done. And even most people agree with the general idea that violence and theft lead to trouble, with lying not too far behind.

But what about intention? Why does it matter what my goals are? Why do I have to be nice to people for the right reason? Personally, think the bulk of the idea has to do with sustainabiity and change of attitude, which is really the crux of Buddhism. Of course, the other idea is internal cultivation more than external reward, but that is getting a little ahead of myself.

Part of the problem is that if I am “nice” to someone for the wrong reasons it is difficult to maintain that right action. But that’s only a small part. If my intentions are corrupted, when I fail to live up to the new expectations I am creating, the situation could be come far worse than had I left well enough alone. Robert Anton Wilson refered to this as the law of “Eristic escalation.” When a particular behaviour is suppressed for an extended period of time, when it is finally released, the backlash is often far greater than originally warranted.

But a bigger problem is that the Eightfold Path is meant to alleviate suffering. Yes, being helpful and friendly to others will likely ease their suffering, but if my intention is “unskilled” then my suffering will increase. Not only that, if my intention is something selfish (if I’m nice people will like me) or downright nasty (I should tell him what I think of his idea because it is true) then no good is likely to come of the exchange.
I run into the problem of right intention at my job all of the time. I listen to my co-workers talk about their lives and I really want to interject with advice and philosophy, but so much of it is born of my desire for people to think I’m smart that only more suffering would come of it. So, I keep quiet. It drives me nuts, but I keep quiet.

Attitude change is really the driving force behind Buddhism. Changing our behavior is all well and good, but it is our attitude towards the world that really determines our level of suffering. Expectation of positive reinforcement from others is a guaranteed way to increase our suffering. Granted, sometimes it is nice to hear people praise our actions, but if that praise is what we live for, it will ultimately let us down.

Right Intention is also the driving force behind the connection between Buddhism and martial arts. Guru Mike Casto once said that he hates the phrase self-defense, as it can best be achieved by avoiding all contact with others. He prefers the concept of protection. The idea extends beyond self to those around us, both our loved ones and strangers we happen to meet. Frankly, sometimes you may have to hurt people, either physically or mentally, and that is where intention comes in. If your goal is to protect those around you from harm, then hurting someone else becomes valid, but it is important to do so efficiently and without malice. The goal of any Martial Art taught as combative should always be to end a confrontation as quickly and cleanly as possible. In this respect, violence becomes a Buddhist act.

To me, the most interesting part of the Eightfold Path is the fact that it is less a path and more of a meadow. “Path” implies some sort of linear progression, but the Eightfold Path meanders and interconnects. Right Speech without Right Intention is impossible. Right Vocation doesn’t really make sense without Right Action. And Right Intention is powerless without Right Action. I have a feeling the other four elements are just as tightly knotted together as these, but I haven’t really wrapped my head around them as of yet. To be honest, I don’t think I could even define Right Consciousness at present, but I’ll get there.

Back to Work

14 Aug

I recently returned to work at an old employer. In fact, it’s the last job in the normal world I had before plunging headlong into academia (I teach Freshman Composition when given the opportunity.) Returning to work there really reminds me of the Ramones song “Not my Place in the 9 to 5 World.” Seriously, I have no idea how people deal with this nonsense.

More importantly, though, I’ve realized how much my life does not suck. I thought it did, but I was pretty far from accurate. The people around me are constantly talking about their kids having trouble in school or their unpaid bills. I don’t have any kids, and my bills only go unpaid if the company involved are jerks that won’t take automatic billing and I forget. I mean, my wife and I lease a 2010 Scion for crying out loud and some of these people have cars that the hood is held done with bungee cords. I think my material world is pretty sweet. My house is kind of annoying, but at least I have all of the utilities on and paid up to date.

And let’s not forget these peoples actual body. I see so many people hunched over from working at computers all day, or who have that weird old person waddle, well before old age, there it makes me sad. Clearly, they have never taken care of themselves. They sacrificed their bodies to the great machine to make Senior pictures for some little bastard. All for fear of losing their seasonal, just above minimum wage job.

The other sad thing, is I saw people working there who hired in around the same time as I did 10+ years ago, and they are still doing the same job. No advancement, and the only raise they are likely to have seen is cost of living.

Not only all of that, but I listen to these (mostly) women talk about their verbally, physically, and emotionally abusive significant others with the usual “that’s just the way he is” sort of attitude. I am disheartened that for most of America, one of the wealthiest nations on earth, a life filled with this level of unhappiness is the best they can hope for. Granted, most of these people are in their particular situations by a certain level of choice, but I still find it depressing, nonetheless.

The main thing I have taken away from returning to work in an industrial job is that unless I am diligent and work toward some sort of goal, this is my fate. No one can put me here, but me. No one can get me out of here, but me.

Back to Fencing

6 Aug

Wow, been a while since I did much specifically fencing related. Though, lately, I have been doing some footwork drills in the pool before the water aerobics class I was taking. I’m sure I looked like an absolute loon shuffling back and forth in the pool with my arms in some weird ass position, but I learned some stuff in the process. Mostly I focused on direction changes in less than ideal conditions. Once you start moving forward in a pool, suddenly going backward is a bit of a hassle, you really have to push off of that front foot to go anywhere.

While doing footwork in the pool I also found out how important throwing the left hand back is during a lunge. I didn’t notice anything during the lunge itself, but it was absolutely necessary to retract it during recovery if I wanted to get back with any sort of speed, which is not something I really would have noticed up on land.

I finally did some point control exercises this week. I rehung the tennis ball on a string on my front porch and stabbed it with my foil.

I started the exercise by just extending into the ball without a lunge. If the ball was just hanging there, I could tag it dead center about 80% of the time. However, in motion my percent dropped pretty dramatically. I could hit the ball about 30%, but rarely in the center. Granted, for a sabrist, I think that isn’t too bad.

Adding a lunge to the attack threw things pretty much into disarray. I was missing about as often as I was hitting. So, I swapped over to the sabre and kept up with lunging at the dangling ball. Only now I added the element of a sensitivity drill to it. Each time I would lunge, if I hit I would stand back up and wait for the ball to stop whipping around. If I missed I tried to recover and keep the blade between myself and the ball. I figured, commitment to an attack is all well and good, but knowing when that attac has failed miserably is pretty important.

In terms of specifically sabre work, I also tried to think of parries in terms of shifting my body position rather than extending into an oncoming blade. I think that is where I lose points to those bloody epeeists. I extend my arm, giving them a much better target, but if I maintain the angles between my blade, arm, and body when I parry I’ll actually be moving their blade out of the way, instead of providing them with a fulcrum to whip around and tag my forearm. Not only that, with my arm bent, the riposte is already set up with or without a lunge.

Now all I need is another fencer to see if all of this theory is worth anything.

And that’s my adventures in fencing for the last week or so.

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