History and Knowledge

A few short paragraphs on the etymology the "martial arts."  Excellent work.

Long time readers of this blog know that I've gone from ranting-and-raging to equanimity on the subject of Yoga overstreching and hypermobility.  Finally the subject is getting some serious attention at Yoga International.

And there is a link to an academic paper (PDF) as well.

Ben Judkins did this short piece on Tiger Soldiers that I missed during the Summer.  I've used the first two images in my up-coming book, but for a different effect.  He assembled some very cool images, well worth checking out and thinking about.

Which leads me to another free floating thought.  Many of the westerners who wrote about China before 1900 and a few in the early 1900s were very astute.  Not so many people read or study these accounts. We have come to expect writers about China to be sensitive to all sorts of signifiers about the preciousness of Culture that most of these writers lack.  And there is a sense that academia is always making progress, so we should read the most recent thing.  But when I read this stuff I'm often astounded at how broad and insightful these folks were.  All this stuff is free and in the public domain.  Check it out (Wiki).

I got this one from the library, it was apparently very popular at one time...1902...so there are a lot of copies around in good conditions, Mrs Archibald Little.

 Dr. Doolittle

All of J.J.M. de Groot's books are available for download or viewing.  The guy basically invented Chinese studies.  I'm working my way through book 6.

And Henri Dore's works too!

Still just scratching the surface.