Saturday 23 September 2017

Overload


铁杵成针
To grind an iron bar down to a fine needle

集腋成裘
Many a little makes a mickle (many hairs make a fur coat)




The use of weights in old practices is often a misunderstood issue. Indeed, it is often considered as either good or bad. Old practices were all about method, which means most of the time neither a total inclusion, nor exclusion, of any exercise. It was a question of opportunity, so of when, how and why. The first question to be answered was why one would use weight in training, then would come the when was it opportune and how to train with them. Since training was primarily customised for children and teenagers, whose body would transform very quickly, the opportunity to use weights in training would come very fast. Hence, as far as teenagers were concerned, weights were almost from the beginning a part of their training. Unfortunately, going from children professionally trained to leisurely adult changes totally the equation. Therefore, it may be interesting to describe how adults shall face the weight issue.

Saturday 16 September 2017

Shape, Vapours and Spirit


布形候氣,與神俱往
Deploying the body and awaiting the arrival of vapours, entirely bound for the spirit

布 to spread, to deploy, to disseminate, to dispose, to arrange, cotton cloth
形 form, shape, body
候 to await, to attend, to wait upon, to inquire after, to serve (by extension, in 伺候)
vapours
與 used to introduce 神 the recipient of the action, with, to follow, to assist
神 spirit
俱 all, entirely, without exception
往 in the direction of, towards, bound for, to go




From a basic understanding, such statement can be expanded or modified to decipher even more out of it.