Of Circles and Squares

I'm sorry to all the people who have been wondering where I am for the past month. The fact is that there was some problem with getting an Internet connection that was stable, but now everything has been sorted out and here I am again!

Hopefully with a greater passion to blog. Or not, depending on how things turn out. Hahas..I guess I am another inconstant blogger. :O Surprise, surprise..

Anyway..

The topic of the day is circles. Like those round-ish things you see when a plate is presented to you, or like those 7 circle-ish things in this sentence. Permit me to digress, if you will. Circles are a really big thing in life. You have the circle of life, which many societies believe in. There are the carbon and nitrogen (among others) cycles, which is almost universally accepted by those who know their science well. The full moon, which is a circle, holds special place in Chinese and Western mythologies. So it is no small surprise when circles are incorporated into martial arts, both Eastern and Western. There are circles in the principles of sticky hands in Wing Chun, circles traced by the hands of an opponent being brought down by Aikido practitioners, arc-ing circles made by kicks in Capoeira (indeed, there's even a half moon kick!). Heck, even boxing has rudimentary half circles in their uppercuts and when ducking.

Well the thing that struck me about circles today is that it can be of any size. Of course, it seems quite obvious now that I say it out but you know sometimes how certain things become so basic that they do not consciously register in your mind? (Yeah, like grammar stuff..past participles and the like) But as the sensei said, "He's got long arms, it's perfect for you to train the big circles!" I guess what he wanted to drive in was that one should always start from the basics and work their way up, not directly jump to the end. At least, that's what taichi masters usually espouse. And yes, it supposedly takes a person practically their whole life to master taichi techniques. Why else do you think all those people learning taichi usually start off doing motions so slowly? Yes, definitely speed and smaller circles are much more economical and effective, but I guess sometimes you just need to slow down, to take in the essence of things. A small flaw introduced to a beginner might not look too obvious (especially since everything isn't really tip top anyway), but once firmly set in and allowed to proceed, it is greatly magnified later on.

One thing at a time, and build on from there. Or as ancient master used to say in his long lost teachings.. .. .. hmmm, actually there's a reason why his teachings are long lost.

And about sqaures.

There was some significant point about squares, but somehow it just slipped the author's mind a minute ago. If it ever comes back, or is significant, you'll be the first to know. =p