Monthly Archive for September, 2005

Second handers

Published on 30 September, 2005 in Cool friends and ideas, High performance, Self-awareness and Social development. 0 Comments

“Second hander” is a term that I trace back to Ayn Rand. My late Grandfather gave me a copy of The Fountainhead when I was about 14, with the warning that the first half is very boring, but that some great insights come through in the second half. Just as he said, I found the first half of the book immensely tiring and boring; the second half was gold.

Perhaps I was too young to read it, but it seemed to express ideas that I had always believed tacitly, and much of the philosophy of Objectivism I subsequently integrated into my outlook on life. Fortunately, I grew up a bit and started noticing the limitations of the philosophy, but I remain stuck with a few concepts that I still really like!

A ‘Second Hander’ is someone who lives for others, not someone who serves others because they want to, but someone whose system of values and motivations are given to them by others. Rand regarded these people as being the lowest of the food chain, arguing that we should all, instead, think for ourselves and do what we want to do.

Have you ever met someone who was intelligent enough, though driven by ambition enough to know that if she sucks up to the right people and tows the ‘party line’, she will get somewhere? This is second-handed, as most people aspiring for power and significance usually are. Rand noted that those aspiring for power over others are usually the worse second handers of them all.

Sometimes I wonder how to handle such people. Part of me wants to pop their delusion of living a life of perceived significance and help them realise that the only meaningful life is one that is internally driven. Another part of me wonders whether such a desire is more founded upon wanting to prove other people wrong and prove myself right – upon my own ego and my own fears and my own doubts.

Is this person really happy? And, if they really are happy, should I interfere?
How can I judge whether they are really happy?
What if I interfere, and force them to accept the complexity and confusion that so much of life has… Surely their life would be easier and simpler if they stayed ‘plugged in’, rather than actually really thinking for themself?

A dilemma…

Emma Leung

Published on 30 September, 2005 in Cool friends and ideas. 0 Comments

Great work to Emma Leung, who appeared this week on the SBS programme, Insight. Emma is an ambitious, articulate and attractive young law student from The University of Sydney, who rose to President of their Golden Key Chapter and was elected as the Asia Pacific Student Representative for that organisation. If you’re interested in what she said, checkout the transcript of the show and look around a third of the way down.

Her publicist is going overtime, last year even scoring her a spot in a fashion competition of sorts where the downside is that you score $200 in clothes!

Perhaps interestingly, she used a classic hypnotic device to show that she’d finished saying anything. “I think I’d rather make a decision based on solid information, based on statistical scientific evidence.” The device is referred to as deleting a referential index, and she used it when she said that she would ‘rather’ do something, without providing an alternative against which her later statement could be compared. Ironically, in this case, her comment reflects conservativism that some might suggest would reduce her capacity to make a decision, outsourcing the thinking to those presenting the evidence. Interesting…

It was great fun lining up against her and her aristocratic pronunciation back in January – congratulations and good luck, Emma!

Creation vs Evolution in the infinite

Published on 29 September, 2005 in Cool friends and ideas. 0 Comments

That evolution is improbable does not make it impossible. Indeed, the very fact that something is acknowledged to be improbable (ie having a low chance of occuring) makes its occurrence absolutely certain.

Strange, but true.

What if you roll a die? The probability that any one side comes up is 1 in 6. The probability that a 6 will come up if you roll the die twice is pretty close to 1 in 3; and if you roll it three times, it gets pretty close to 1 in 2 or 50%. Now, if you roll that same die 1000 times, you’d guess that it’s pretty much a certainty that a ‘6′ will come up at least once, right?

It’s the same thing with evolution. If you assume that the probability for evolution occurring is 1/10000000000th of 1%, that means that it probably won’t happen today. Indeed, it probably won’t happen for a long long time. But, if you have an infinite period of time, its occurrence at some stage becomes certain.

It’s easy to say that we don’t have an infinite amount of time – which is true. But the Universe – and God – does. If there really is just one world and one God, it’s not like it’s waiting for anything or anyone to use the Universe next!

In my opinion, religion is great, and I sincerely hope that you find a religion that works for you. We ought remember that God made us to worship and adore him without superstition… Religions, through their rituals and symbolism sometimes allow us to forget that, and in doing so lead us away from the Truth.

To deny evolution is to deny facts. To blindly accept evolution without noting its limitations is to believe in things that have not been proven – which is just another religion.

In my opinion – and please accept my right to be wrong – God wants us to pursue truth.

Truth to yourself…

Published on 29 September, 2005 in Self-awareness. 0 Comments

“My mother said to me, ‘If you are a soldier, you will become a general. If you are a monk, you will become the Pope.’ Instead, I was a painter, and became Picasso.”

Do your thing… not my thing, not your parents’ thing, not your friends’ thing… Do your thing.

Balanced stances, traditional techniques

Published on 27 September, 2005 in Karate. 0 Comments

Keeping a balanced stance is fundamental. Without your foundations secure, you cannot attack with any power nor defend with any confidence. This is especially true when we change our focus or direction.

Box Patterns

One of the best ways to develop a rock-solid stance that is robust when changing directions is a set of exercises that I refer to as ‘Box Patterns.’ In our training, these are generally introduced just after the two-directional footwork exercises (Shuffle and Changeover, forward and backswards with the respective permutations) have been internalised by students. These exercises are very traditional in form, based around repeating specific techiques to the front, right, back and left sides of the room, generally in clockwise or counter-clockwise direction. From the most basic, here are some of the ones that we might use:

Changeover, Turn.
Shuffle, Changeover, Turn.
Shuffle, Turn, Changeover back.

Note: in box patterns, “Turn” refers to pivoting on the balls of the feet 90 degrees.

This morning, for example, we practiced the Changeover-Turn Box Pattern, starting with just the footwork, then adding a punch with the changeover and a chudan uke with the turn. We extended this by moving to #2 and adding a jab with the shuffle.

In each case, increasing complexity is designed to stretch the mind so that the more simple body movements require less or no conscious attention to execute precisely, thereby making the techniques more robust and the technician more effective under stressed or when otherwise impaired (such as by alcohol, fatigue, stress, multiple opponents, extreme conditions… when you actually need to use the techniques!).

If I may add to the comments made in class last week:

Legs like Earth, solid and strong.
Body like Water, fluid and dynamic.
Arms like Fire, fast and powerful.
Mind like Air, omniscient and adaptable.
Spirit like Void, aware and unattached.

On the topic of traditional techniques, we spoke a little on traditional blocks today. Traditional blocks are useful for two main reasons:

Building focus and mental discipline
As you are drilling your traditional techniques, you can develop strength and robustness in your mental focus… the focus and discipline necessary when stresses reduce the effectiveness and value of your conscious mental state.
Developing strength in a compound motion
Although largely impractical for street applications in the form that they are most commonly taught, traditional blocks are very effective when applied in different contexts. There are many applications of these blocks, though some appear below.

High block/ Jodan uke: Defence against single lapel grab by trapping the grabbing hand and striking the jaw with the lower forearm or hammerfist.

Mid-section block/ Chudan uke: Defence against wrist grab by rotating the arm around as you move blindside and dislodging the grip. This is most effective if you are moving your body also.

Basic principles and values?

Published on 27 September, 2005 in Lifestyle and Self-awareness. 0 Comments

I was just thinking about some of the things that I regard as important in life…

Firstly, balance between work, rest and service to our community.

Secondly, our conscience and understanding of the ramifications of our actions must be cultivated so as to allow our self-awareness to purify our thoughts and actions.

Finally, it is by education and discipline that we are rendered fit members of any well-organised society.

One thing that I find disturbing is the way that an honest person is often frightening in the modern world. So many of those who strive to ascend the commanding heights have hidden agendas that they fear that the talented individuals called to ascend those difficult cliffs, through the trials, are similarly motivated. There remain those of us who value integrity, virtue and honour… and a few of us who still value those things above rank and fortune.

Perhaps we ought remember that great people are those who have a burning a desire. Paraphrasing Maslow, these are people who must be what they can be.

If you could do anything, and you can, how close are you living today? What have you done today to make your life extraordinary?
How many times have you stumbled over greatness yet picked yourself up and carried on their way?
Perhaps we all do – perhaps the measure of a man or woman is how often they have actually answered the call that has gone out for them…

What do you feel called to do?

Uplift, empower and inspire

Published on 25 September, 2005 in Cool friends and ideas. 0 Comments

What if our schools and parents would uplift, empower and inspire our children…

Uplift
Go beyond the ordinary; do something that they wouldn’t have thought that they could have done otherwise… open the mind to the limitless possibilities that exist in the world.
Empower
Build self-efficacy, the willingness to consider that something is possible and the strength to make it real.
Inspire
Go beyond reality and what is perceived as possible, to see the world as it could be rather than remaining fixated upon how it is.

What a different world we would live in… how different it would be to the frightening picture painted by some (like here).
Surely, we should strive to live in a world that is free and powerful and exciting and interesting… one where we can live how we want to live so far as we are able?

Surely we are not going to be parties to a hidden Objectivist conspiracy…

Footwork

Published on 7 September, 2005 in Karate. 0 Comments

Reverse or Changeover
Strike using the arm or leg that is furthest from your opponent. For instance, when you are left leg forward, a right leg kick would be a reverse kick.

Shuffle Up
Move your back foot up to your front foot, and step forward with the original front foot.

Step Through
From left leg forward fighter’s stance, step your right leg through, bringing your knees together as your feet are together, and moving to right foot forward fighter’s stance.

Cut Back
Pull your front foot back to your back foot, dropping your body weight downward to enhance your stability. This is often followed by a front kick, and is then called a “prop front kick.”

Switch
Without changing your hand position, swap your feet from left leg forward to right leg forward (or vice versa). Jump slightly into the air and slide the feet. A switch kick will have the kicking leg land first, then the front leg, then the kick.

Spin
Step your back foot behind you to the same width as your original stance. Pivot around to face the opposite direction.