Site Overview

The www.dontow.com is the website of Don M. Tow. It contains articles in three topical categories (or pages): Political/Social Commentary, Taiji, and Other Topics.  Currently, a new release of this website is published usually every three months.  The website also has a fourth category “Soccer” about the soccer book that I published in 2006.

Any article in a particular category can be accessed via the corresponding category on the menu bar at the top of the page. Any article in a particular release can be accessed via the corresponding release on the right sidebar.

This website began in October 2006, and the website has been redesigned twice, once in October 2008, and the second time in November 2009.

Due to WordPress is no longer supporting the “theme” (Modern Style) I have used for my website for more than the past 15 years, I will need to choose another WordPress theme in the future. At that time, changing the “theme” will change the structure and appearance of my website.

We welcome comments from readers. Readers can directly submit their comments at the end of any article.

Latest Update on Recovery from My Stroke

First let me summarize my current situation with respect to recovery from the minor stroke I experienced in September 2023. Although I can do all, or almost all, of my ordinary routines, often slowly, there are certain limitations to what I can do. When I walk, instead of lifting the left foot off the floor while stepping forward, I often have a tendency to drag the left foot on the floor. I also may have difficulty keeping my balance. My stamina is not the same as before, in the sense that I tire more easily.

In March 2025, I did go back to do more physical therapy (PT), currently once per week (although we may increase that to two times per week) at Bell Wellness in the old AT&T Bell Labs building next to where we now live. During the PT, I work on exercises to increase the working together of the left foot and the right foot, paying attention to reducing the scraping of the left foot on the floor, and building the stamina so I can continue to do this for longer periods.

Over the next few months, I will continue to take more walks, paying attention to my walking problems.

As a long time practitioner of Taiji, I decided that besides taking more walks, the best practice to work on my walking problems is to practice my Taiji. Here are some notes on this.

  • As I walk, I need to make sure that I lift up my left foot before stepping forward to avoid scraping the floor with my left foot. After my stroke, I have a tendency to scrape the floor with my left foot.
  • My left foot and right foot need to be separated by roughly a shoulder width to provide the stability needed for walking when I am walking forward. This separation between the left foot and the right foot is changed only when I am trying to make a turn. If I want to make a left turn, the left foot needs to make a smaller step forward, while the right foot needs to make a larger step forward. If I want to make a right turn, then suitable changes need to be made to the above instructions.
  • As I walk forward, I should keep that separation between the left foot and the right feet so that the stability can be kept.
  • If I am moving backward, that separation between the left foot and the right foot need to be kept. Otherwise the stability is lost.
  • If you are involved in Taiji, you need to pay attention to many slight bodily turns, because these turns allow you to turn your waist while keeping your opponent in front of you. It is the turning of the waist that gives the power to your strikes.
  • For example, before you step forward to strike your opponent, you turn your body, e.g., slightly to the left. Then you turn your body slightly to the right while stepping forward toward your opponent. That sight bodily turn adds power to your strike while still facing your opponent.
  • All these movements, steps, bodily turns, rotation of the waist are built into the basic Taiji movements. They are taught when you are learning the basic Taiji movements, such as in the basic Taiji 24 Form. These movements should be taught at the very beginning of learning your forms. It adds power to your strikes.

As I am recovering from my stroke, I try to do my Taiji forms, starting from the most basic ones, such as the Yang-Style 10 Form or the Yang-Style 16 Form or the Yang-Style 24 Form.

Although I may still remember all these forms, however, currently I may not be doing these forms correctly. I think it may take me several weeks, and perhaps even months for me to do these forms properly. I will continue to work on this in the next few months..

More on Second Part of My Book

Throughout my life I have been very active on extracurricular activities. The previous
article “Introducing My New Book” in the March 2025 issue of my website describes the first part of my book “The Yin and Yang of the Dragon and the Eagle: Tale of Two Cultures and Two Countries, which I plan to publish later this year in both English and Chinese.” That article discusses the first half of my book. It discusses that my family had to pull up roots multiple times due to the need to escape from wars. It also discusses the period of the 1960s at the University of California at Berkeley during the turpulent times of the Free Speech Movement and the beginning of the worldwide Diaoyutai Student Movement.

The second part of my book describes the many extracurricular activities that I was involved in during my adult life. Most of these activities have centered on injustices and atrocities, especially those injustices and atrocities that were experienced by the Chinese that occurred during WWII. It describes extracurricular activities that involve organization like “The New Jersey Alliance for Learning and Preserving the History of WWII in Asia (NJ-ALPHA)” and “Ten Thousand Cries for Justice (10,000 CFJ).” This current article describes an example of the extracurricular activities that I was involved in during these 50+ years.

Next year will mark the 95th anniversary of the start of the Second Sino-Japanese War: 1931-1945, a war that resulted in approximately 25-30 million Chinese killed, millions of women and girls raped, and millions of innocent civilians slaughtered. Yet, the country that did all of this still has not acknowledged what it did and has been trying to rewrite this part of history. We are reaching the time when all of the people who experienced this tragedy first hand will have passed away. However, many people of different nationalities around the world have not forgotten and are working hard to make sure that we learn the lessons from this part of history so that similar mistakes will not be repeated anywhere else in this world.

Two persons, one a Chinese citizen and one a Japanese citizen, have done the most to lead this movement so that justice can be restored and history will not be forgotten. This article illustrates the activities of these two people, Tong Zeng (童增) of China and Tamaki Matsuoka (松岡環) of Japan.

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An Assessment of Trump’s Latest Moves

Trump has been in office as the President of the U.S. for his second term for only two months, he has made numerous political moves, both in domestic policies and in international policies. I don’t think many of these policies are well thought out or follow a certain theoretical framework. His policies, besides reflecting on the characteristics of Trump as a self-centered person whose primary interest is himself, his wealth and reputation, and a narrow view on what is good for the U.S., I don’t think that these policies reflect a well-thought-out domestic or international policy, so when these policies receive critical reviews, Trump would backtrack. Nevertheless, I think politically Trump is very much against China, so his policies always reflect a policy that is critical of China and takes measures that impede the natural growth of China and the accompanying growth of the rest of the world.

This is clear from many perspectives. From his cabinet members who are always been severe critics of China, such as Secretary of State Mario Rubio and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth. Although he advocates the Monroe Doctrine that other countries should not have any significant involvement in North America, or even Central America or South America, he is intimately involved in forming alliances in Asia, far from the U.S.’s home base in North America. This includes forming military alliances such as with Japan, South Korea, Philippines, Australia. One also cannot just take his words for granted. One must see what he is doing with his actions. Even though on the surface he seems to be friends to Putin of Russia, but that may be part of his strategy to create more differences between Russia and China, to split Russia and China, to avoid having to face both Russia and China when conflicts arise.

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