Blog

  • Mailied

    Wie herrlich leuchtet
    Mir die Natur!
    Wie glänzt die Sonne!
    Wie lacht die Flur!

    Es dringen Blüten
    Aus jedem Zweig
    Und tausend Stimmen
    Aus dem Gesträuch

    Johan Wolfgang von Goethe

  • Empty vessel

    I am just an empty vessel
    saling the great sea.

    Forms arise and disappear.

    Change is just a principle
    no words describes the mysterious one.

    How can I forget
    that this moment
    and all existence
    is perfect
    and
    without flaws.

    Thomas 19/7 2009

  • Answering Questions about Taiji taiji da wen)

    – 太極答問 附單式練法 ANSWERING QUESTIONS ABOUT TAIJI Including SINGLE POSTURE PRACTICE METHODS 陳微明 by Chen Weiming [1929] [translation by Paul Brennan, Oct, 2012] – 太極答問 Answering Questions About Taiji 附單式練法 including “Single Posture Practice Methods” – [calligraphy by Chen Weiming] – 剖晰毫芒 “Analyze and make clear the smallest details.” 李景林題 – calligraphy by Li Jinglin […]

  • Tang Haos analysis of Wang Zongyue

    – 王宗岳太極拳經 / 王宗岳陰符鎗譜 AN ANALYSIS OF WANG ZONGYUE’S TAIJI BOXING CLASSICS AND CONCEAL & REVEAL SPEAR MANUAL 唐豪 by Tang Hao [published May 1, 1936] [translation by Paul Brennan, Nov, 2023] – 王宗岳考 [PART ONE] A LOOK AT WANG ZONGYUE HIMSELF – 王宗岳考目錄 CONTENTS FOR PART ONE 王宗岳的姓氏 [Chapter One] His Name 王宗岳的傳受源流 [Chapter […]

  • Taiji Boxing according to Wu Tunan

    – 科學化的國術太極拳 A MORE SCIENTIFIC MARTIAL ART: TAIJI BOXING 吳圖南 by Wu Tunan [published by 商務印書館 The Commercial Press, LTD, Oct, 1931] [translation by Paul Brennan, Feb, 2017] – 科學化的國術太極拳 A More Scientific Martial Art: Taiji Boxing 褚民誼題 – calligraphy by Chu Minyi – 吳啚南著 by Wu Tunan: 科學化的國術太極拳 A More Scientific Martial Art: Taiji […]

  • The essence of Chinese Martial Arts

    The essence of Chinese martial arts, also known as Wushu or Kung Fu, lies in the cultivation of physical, mental, and spiritual aspects to achieve overall self-improvement, self-defense, and harmony with nature. Chinese martial arts have a rich history and encompass a wide range of styles and techniques, but their core principles can be summarized Read More

  • The Five elements in martial arts

    The Five Elements Theory has a strong connection to Chinese martial arts, where it serves as a framework for understanding and categorizing techniques, strategies, and principles. Each element is associated with specific qualities, movements, and energies that can be applied to martial arts practice. Here’s a brief overview of how the Five Elements relate to Read More

  • Small Heavenly Circle

    What is the “small heavenly circle” in taoist qigong? Source: https://brennantranslation.wordpress.com/ The “Small Heavenly Circle,” also known as the “Microcosmic Orbit” or “Xiao Zhou Tian” (小周天) in Chinese, is a fundamental concept in Taoist qigong practice. It refers to the circulation of qi (life energy) along specific energy channels or meridians in the human body. Read More

  • The wonderful world of Pi

    I have a fascination with π. There is something wonderful, wondrous and unfathomable about Pi. The mystery of an unending serious of numbers with no predictable order. It’s like the mystery of the Universe. It’s like a tickle of your soul.

    π  is commonly defined as the ratio of a circle‘s circumference C to its diameter d.

    {\displaystyle \pi ={\frac {C}{d}}.}

    So simple, yet so complex.

    Memorisation of π
    According to The Guinness World Records website the official current world record is 70.000 decimals.

    How many decimals of π do you know by heart?

    If you want to challenge your self or the world, I have written a little shell script to assist your Memorisation of π.

    pigame GitHub.com

  • In the time of your life

    “In the time of your life, live—so that in that good time there shall be no ugliness or death for yourself or for any life your life touches. Seek goodness everywhere, and when it is found, bring it out of its hiding place and let it be free and unashamed.

    Place in matter and in flesh the least of the values, for these are the things that hold death and must pass away. Discover in all things that which shines and is beyond corruption. Encourage virtue in whatever heart it may have been driven into secrecy and sorrow by the shame and terror of the world. Ignore the obvious, for it is unworthy of the clear eye and the kindly heart.

    Be the inferior of no man, or of any men be superior. Remember that every man is a variation of yourself. No man’s guilt is not yours, nor is any man’s innocence a thing apart. Despise evil and ungodliness, but not men of ungodliness or evil. These, understand. Have no shame in being kindly and gentle but if the time comes in the time of your life to kill, kill and have no regret.

    In the time of your life, live—so that in that wondrous time you shall not add to the misery and sorrow of the world, but shall smile to the infinite delight and mystery of it.”

    Preface from In the time of your life by William Saroyan

    Reference:

  • This ruined house

    Although the wind
    blows terribly here,
    the moonlight also leaks
    between the roof planks
    of this ruined house.

    Izumi Shikibu (Japan, 974-1034)

    Ref.: https://www.poetryfoundation.org/articles/68606/spiritual-poetry

  • what is joy?

    what is joy?
    joy
    is to be eclipsed
    in who you are
    now
    and forever.
    it is to let down
    your weakness
    and let down
    your strength
    and find yourself
    at home
    in everything.

    Jinghai, Yu. A Scatter of Light in the Summer Sky: Poems of the Tao

  • Garg Aradhya plays the pants of Mighty Magnus

    In a recent Pro Chess League match between the Norway Gnomes and the Delhi Dynamite a young Indian player named Garg Aradhya rated 2315 played the mighty Magnus Carlsen. More than 500 rating points separated the two players. This is normally decisive without question. But in this match the rating difference did not matter. It seemed that Garg Aradhya literally played the pants of Magnus Carlsen. Unexplainable Garg Aradhya lost the time scramble in a winning completely winning position with a piece up. Before that he even could have ended the game with a simple win. All in all Garg Aradhya played brilliantly against the world champion.

    The online game with live commentry.

  • Was es ist

    Was es ist

    Es ist Unsinn
    sagt die Vernunft
    Es ist was es ist
    sagt die Liebe

    Es ist Unglück
    sagt die Berechnung
    Es ist nichts als Schmerz
    sagt die Angst
    Es ist aussichtslos
    sagt die Einsicht
    Es ist was es ist
    sagt die Liebe

    Es ist lächerlich
    sagt der Stolz
    Es ist leichtsinnig
    sagt die Vorsicht
    Es ist unmöglich
    sagt die Erfahrung
    Es ist was es ist
    sagt die Liebe

    Reference: Erich Fried