Sunday, September 17, 2006

我第一弟弟学习中文

My brother is learning Mandarin too now. Awesome! We can now tell secrets at family gatherings. Though he probably doesn't know very much yet - I bet most of the secrets will be "Uncle so-and-so is very tall." "Does he have a dog?" "No, he doesn't have a dog. Aunt such-and-such has a dog."

Oh man, I have to look up how to say aunt and uncle again. I forget words about as fast as I learn them.

Goshin jitsu is today. Joker posted on the GJ message board, speculating about whether MMA-type training is the same as hazing, along with a scanned-in copy of an article that made me want to puke. He was wondering whether all that work helps these guys somehow, or if he's actually just a big fat bully. I think whether he's a bully or not is in his head, and depends on his intentions - we're all getting something out of it, though, so if he intends to be a bully and make us unjustifiabley miserable maybe he should step it up.

There's some validity in the idea that martial arts training is kind of a rite of passage, though. It's overwhelmingly full of young men who probably find confidence in their own strength through testing it, and social acceptance in a group of other men who are doing the same thing. I admit that I also want to be liked, especially by people who are better at martial arts than me.

As for women like me.... well, there's no reason we can't want those things. Our priorities are just skewed from all the women who look for validation from other women by worrying together about their weight & looks or doing yoga together or something. Not that I don't dig yoga, it's just that in the US it's a very female activity and there's certain kinds of lady activities that surround that.

I was kind of down yesterday because I feel like everybody else improves faster at bjj than I do. Today I'm not down, I just guess I should work harder & smarter. If only I were smart!

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