Being a Taijiquan [1] student and teacher, I, of course, can say something about what Taiji is. Being involved in Taijiquan, invariably on many occasions I have also heard of the term Wuji. However, in spite of the fact that I have heard of Wuji many, many times and have come across this term and its definition in numerous Taiji books I have read, I still was never able to understand what the term Wuji really means and the relationship between Taiji and Wuji. So recently I thought to myself why don’t I use my own knowledge from 14 years of studying Taiji to try to understand what Wuji is and the relationship between Taiji and Wuji. Instead of relying on what others have written about this subject, why don’t I try to explain this subject using my own words, knowledge, and experience. This article describes the outcome of that thinking process.
How Alaska Left Russia and Became Part of the U.S.?
This summer my family and I took a two-week cruise/land-tour of Alaska. While we were immersed in enjoying the tranquil beauty of Alaska, we were also fascinated by the history of Alaska, in particular, how did Alaska leave Russia and become part of the U.S., which is the topic of this article.
Sun Tzu’s “The Art of War” and Taijiquan
“The Art of War” written by Sun Tzu (孫子兵法) about 500 B.C. is an ancient Chinese classic on conducting warfare. A large part of this book is about how to lead an army of soldiers to defeat the enemy’s army of soldiers. This classic has been read and studied by many military establishments, including the U.S. Army. Parts of this classic are also applicable to individual combats. This article discusses the relevance of this portion of “The Art of War” to Taijiquan as a martial art as manifested in Taiji Push Hands.
918 Incident and the Start of WWII
This year marks the 80th anniversary of the “918 Event” that marked the invasion of China by Japan on September 18, 1931 and triggered the 14-year (1931-1945) War of Resistance by China against the Japanese occupation of China. Many people also consider this date to be the beginning of WWII even though China did not officially declare war on Japan until many years later. The 14-year War of Resistance resulted in the killing of over 20 million Chinese and the additional wounding of over 10 million Chinese, and the many kinds of atrocities that Japan inflicted on China and many other countries in Southeast Asia. Since Japan has yet to acknowledge, apologize, and compensate to the victims of these atrocities, it is critically important for the world to remember this 918 date and incident so that this type of history will not be repeated in the future.
Read More »