Tai chi is today thought of as a Chinese martial art created for combat and self-defense, but that is tai chi chuan, chuan meaning "fist."
For most practitioners, it has (d)evolved into an "exercise," a relaxation technique, and a sport. As an exercise and relaxation technique, tai chi is practiced in set sequences known as "forms" (taolu), usually in gentle, flowing, circular motions that are often described as "meditation in motion," though they may also be performed in faster and more vigorous routines.
As a sport, competitors are judged on their performance in forms, pushing hands, and free sparring. As a martial art, practitioners master the applications of forms and partner work for effective self-defense.
Master Lam practicing in Sichuan
Qigong (Chi gong) is the movement of energy: It is a system of coordinated body-posture and movement, breathing, and meditation [2] said to be useful for the purposes of spirituality, health, and self-defense martial arts training [3]. With roots in Chinese medicine, philosophy, and martial arts, qigong is traditionally viewed by the Chinese and throughout Asia as a practice to cultivate and balance the mystical life-force chi or qi [4]. Qigong practice typically involves moving meditation, coordinating slow-flowing movement, deep rhythmic breathing, and a calm meditative state of mind. People qigong worldwide for meditation, recreation, exercise, relaxation, preventive medicine, self-healing, alternative medicine, self-cultivation, and training for martial arts [2].
One implies the other in pairs. It is not balance
Many styles of tai chi are practiced, both traditional and modern. While the precise origins are not known, the earliest well-documented practice began during the Ming-Qing transition at Chen Village and Zhabao Village in Henan on the North China Plain, a region where centuries of rebellions, invasions, and adverse economic and social conditions nurtured the development of a wide range of martial arts, including those of the Shaolin (Kung Fu) Buddhist Monastery on Mount Song at the western edge of the plain.
Most modern styles trace their development to five traditional schools:
Chen,
Yang,
Wu (Hao),
Wu,
Sun.
In the early 20th century, Yang Chengfu, Wu Jianquan, Sun Lutang, and others promoted and standardized the art for its health benefits in programs supported by the Nationalist government.
This approach was further expanded and institutionalized by the PRC (Peoples Republic of China) government after 1949. In 2020, tai chi was included in the UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.
More
Forty-four or so underachieving male high school students gang raped children, female high schoolers, over the course of 11 months [1].
The case caused a public outcry due to police mistreatment of the victims who finally came forward, insensitivity to their plight and danger, the bungling of the case, and the offenders' very light punishments.
Background
I hope I didn't influence them (Ariana Grande)
The victims lived in Ulsan and Changwon, while the perpetrators were from Miryang and Changwon [2]. The perpetrators were initially believed to be members of a high school gang [3], but little evidence for this was found [4] by bungling and unmotivated police on the case.
The gang reached the first female 14-year-old victim over the phone. When she met the gang members, she was sexually assaulted, the whole scene filmed on video to blackmail and extort her.
According to police, she was raped 10 times by three to 24 high school boys at each occurrence. At least 44 boys were involved in the attacks over a period of 11 months [1, 3]. But 70 more were later discovered to be affiliated.
The sexually assaulted girl was ordered to bring her 13-year-old sister and 16-year-old female cousin to Miryang the next time [3] so they could also be gang raped, which is where the cousin was sexually assaulted.
The original police report stated that the younger sister was sexually assaulted as well, but it may only have been a physical assault [4]. The attackers extorted money from their victims [5].
After the sisters' aunt reported the gang rapes to the police [1], only three of the boys were arrested. Following protests from the victims and an outraged public, another nine students were arrested, and 29 were charged.
The perpetrators family members threatened the victims, warning them that they should "watch out for reporting our sons to police" [3]. They were never charged for the crimes of intimidating witnesses, interference with an active case, or terroristic threats.
Difficult Women (Helen Lewis)
In a television interview, a female parent of one of the offenders stated, "Why should we feel sorry for the victim's family? Why don't you consider our suffering? Who can resist temptation when girls are trying to seduce boys? They should have taught their daughters how to behave in order to avoid this kind of accident" [5].
One girl victim reportedly quit school after repeated visits and verbal abuse from the offenders' parents [6], and the original victim is said to have attempted suicide on various occasions. More
Blame the old culture or the young music?
OMG, we're not gay! We're K-pop boy idols.
K-pop (Korean 케이팝, RR Keipap, an abbreviation of "Korean popular music" [1]) is a form of popular music originating in South Korea [2]. The music genre that the term is used to refer to colloquially emerged in the 1990s as a form of youth subculture, with Korean musicians influenced by Western dance music, rap, hip-hop, R&B, and rock [3, 4, 5]. Today, K-pop commonly refers to the musical output of teen idol acts, chiefly all-girl groups and androgynous boy-bands, who emphasize visual appeal and performance [6] over substance and individual expression.
They represent a corporate approach to profit making and an illusory bigger-than-life persona and emphasis on PR (public relations). As a music genre, K-pop is characterized by its melodic quality and cultural hybridity [7, 8, 9]. K-pop can trace its origins to "rap dance," a fusion of hip-hop, techno, and rock popularized by the group Seo Taiji and Boys, whose experimentation helped to modernize South Korea's contemporary music scene in the early 1990s [10, 11, 12]. Their popularity with teenagers led the music industry to start to focus on this demographic. More
NEMOPHILA takes over The Glass House in the Pomona Arts Colony (next to the Fox Theater Pomona), Los Angeles County, on Tuesday, July 14, 8:00 pm. The cost of attending the future Babymetal overlords in Los Angeles is $25 (DOS) or $39.87 (full price in advance, no surprises later).
Female fronted Mortalis opened, but they need a lot more practice. The drummer was struggling, the singer was nervous, and... what can be said that they don't already know? Next was Islander, which was a significant improvement with the metalcore growling for every song and real guitarwork, though between bands we left and worked our way into neighboring all-ages nightclub The Haven to see A November Morning (a kind of early Job for a Cowboy). The sign at the door clearly says, "No Crowd Killing, Moshing, Slamming, Mosh Pit, Crowd Surfing, or expressions of aggression," the floor was cleared by berserkers doing the tornado with fists, feet, and cartwheels, practicing their karate high kicks. It was all well and good until the young girl with bone earrings in the striped suspenders got kicked in the face and had to be taken out crying, bleeding, and lamenting her choice to participate in the ultraviolence. But A November Morning and the other acts on the bill were good, so good it delayed us returning to the Glasshouse to continue the show. Eventually, we had to and, boy, was it worth it! Nemophila are fantastic.
We love that crazy Disney plush toy fish?
First, what's with the name? Like the unspeakable act known as necrophilia, "love of corpses," the band loves (philia) Nemo from Finding Nemo? Maybe they meant Nemo'tode.
It's not a gimmick. There's very little "hard rock" about it, except that the singer has clearly listened to a lot of Iron Maiden. This is aggressive metal core in the vein of Hanabie. (shown above) and the goddesses that are Babymetal. But every song was solid, as they were coming off of an 11-stop North American tour that started in Chicago, hit New York, and crawled its way to LA. These are future stars with tremendous drumming talent, no ego, young girls who dress more like Billie Eilish or Tokyo schoolgirls than the rockstars they already are. The rhythm section just kept chugging along non-stop. It was amazing. And how the singer, who must weigh all of 80 pounds, can keep that Chester Bennington yell going song after song, tour stop after tour stop, boggles the mind. The highlight was when each member got the mic to speak their love of LA in very broken English. The first few songs were marred by technical issues, no fault of the band, that the club couldn't seem to fix. So they had to delay the show and turn on the lights. In the meantime, the singer got on her phone, seeming to make a call to her mom in Japan about how it was going, but actually using a translation app to explain to the audience that these technical issues were no fault of theirs and please be patient. She later read a speech to the audience that must have taken her hours to compose on the tour bus with a thesaurus. The audience -- mostly white and Latino, older with lots of dads and grandpas, with an unusually high number of teenybopper Asians and their guardian chaperones for an extreme metal show, and not a single Black person -- loved it, chanted along, and after the fifth song broke into a continuous circle pit of appreciation. Watch out, Black Pink and Katseye, these gals are coming.
LYRICS: Babymetal's "Gimme Chocolate!!" - "Give me chocolate! Atatata taata taatatata zukkyun Watatata taata taatatata dokkyun Zukyun, dokyun Zukyun, dokyun/ I won't, won't, won't, won't/ Never, never, never!// [CHORUS:] Check-it-out chocolate/ Can I have a bit of chocolate?/ But my weight worries me a bit these days/ However, chocolate/ Can I have a bit of chocolate?/ But wait a while!/ Wait a while! Wait! Wait! Wait!/ Atatata taata taatatata zukkyun Watatata taata taatatata dokkyun Zukyun, dokyun Zukyun, dokyun/ Not yet, yet, yet, yet/ Never, never, never!/ Check-it-out chocolate/ I can have a bit of chocolate, can't I?/ But my weight worries me a bit these days/ However, chocolate/ I can have a bit of chocolate, can't I?/ But wait a while! Wait a while!/ Wait! Wait! Wait!/ Parappappappaa rappappappaa rappappappaa paapapapapaa/ Too, too late/ Too, too late/ Too, too P! P! P!/ Come on!"
NEMOPHILA’s music can be described as a mixture of various styles ranging from loud rock to grunge.
The band displays a sound heavier than heck, while presenting a soft [infantilized] and gentle-cute character at the same time. The band aims to exhibit an unpredictable mixture in their appearance and fashion along with a positive heavy metal sound bringing a smile to everyone around the world. Full lineup:
NEMOPHILA
Islander
Mortalis
This is an all-ages event presented by The Glass House Concert Hall. Doors open 7:00 pm. The Glasshouse APP: Discover the best nights out in this city, with tailored recommendations synced to any music library.
Keep track of what’s coming up by saving events, sharing them with friends, or even listening to new music in the app.
The Glasshouse has made it easy to swap a ticket with a friend or return it to the waitlist no stress (iOS
Android). MoreVENUE:
LYRICS: "I don't feel a single thing/ Have the pills done too much?/ Haven't caught up with my friends in weeks/ And now we're outta touch/ I've been drivin' in L.A./ And the world, it feels too big/ Like a floating ball that's bound to break/ Snap my psyche like a twig// And I just wanna see/ If you feel the same as me
[CHORUS]
This is God's own racist country, the Deep South
Do you ever get a little bit tired of life?/ Like you're not really happy, but you don't wanna die/ Like you're hangin' by a thread, but you gotta survive/ 'Cause you gotta survive/ Like your body's in the room, but you're not really there/ Like you have empathy inside, but you don't really care/ Like you're fresh outta love, but it's been in the air/ Am I past repair?
A little bit tired of trying to care when I don't/ A little bit tired of quick repairs to cope/ A little bit tired of sinkin', there's water in my boat/ I'm barely breathin', tryna stay afloat/ So I got these quick repairs to cope/ Guess I'm just broken and broke
[VERSE 2] The prescription's on its way/ With a name I can't pronounce/ And the dose I gotta take/ Boy, I wish that I could count/ 'Cause I just wanna see/ If this could make me happy// [CHORUS]
A little bit tired of trying to care when I don't/ A little bit tired of quick repairs to cope/ A little bit tired of sinkin', there's water in my boat/ I'm barely breathin', tryna stay afloat/ So I got these quick repairs to cope
[OUTRO] Do you ever get a little bit tired of life?/ Like you're not really happy, but you don't wanna die/ Like a numb little bug that's gotta survive/ That's gotta survive.
Whoa, Asians be crazy? (Rosemead)
What happened to former reigning Asian Hollywood (Kill Bill) Beauty Queen Lucy Liu?
Community members are invited to gather at Barnes Park in Monterey Park, California on Saturday, January 17 from 10:00 am to 2:00 pm for Resiliency Day, a day of community renewal, remembrance and hope.
Resiliency Day commemorates that January incident (2023 Monterey Park shooting) while promoting strength and healing through community connection.
At this FREE event, attendees of all ages can enjoy music and live performances and connect with other community members through activities, including:
Programs like the meditative poetry writing and music therapy offer opportunities for contemplation and creativity.
For those seeking information and support, the Resiliency Fair allows attendees to talk one-on-one with community organizations working in mental health, physical health, and social services.
The day also offers a range of engaging activities for children including crafts, bubbles, and sensory play.
Over 30 community organizations will be in attendance to provide activities and information.
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