Winter Olympics

[GeneChing]

Not usually our thing here because there aren't really any martially-derived sports in the Winter Games (except Biathalon and that's skiing marksmen). Nevertheless, we've discussed the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?67060-2014-Winter-Olympics-in-Sochi) & are following the Winter Olympics 2022 (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?68201-Winter-Olympics-2022). But now, the next Games next year are in the spotlight, so I'm launching this general winter games thread.


Russia Olympics ban: Kremlin calls for calm amid anger (http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-42250701)
1 hour ago

https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/660/cpsprodpb/150DE/production/_99083268_043416656-1.jpg
Russian bobsleigher Alexander Zubkov, pictured at the Sochi Winter Olympics opening ceremony in 2014, has been banned for life over alleged doping violations

The Kremlin says Russia must avoid an "emotional" response to being banned from the Winter Olympics.
Spokesman Dmitr Peskov said the International Olympic Committee's decision to exclude Russia from the Games in South Korea next February instead required serious analysis.
His call for calm comes amid fury from Russian politicians and athletes.
The IOC made the rulings after two investigations outlined a state-sponsored doping programme in Russia.
Russia will be banned from competing in Pyeongchang, and there will be no Russian flags, anthems or uniforms.
But athletes who can prove they are clean - and have not previously been sanctioned - will be allowed compete under a neutral flag and the name "Olympic Athlete from Russia", the IOC says.
"The situation is serious, it calls for deep analysis. It would be wrong to give in to emotion here," Kremlin spokesman Mr Peskov told reporters on Monday.
Mr Peskov said it would be wrong to jump to conclusions until Russia's athletes had met and the IOC had been contacted.
But he added that it would not be a priority to hold Russian officials responsible.
A member of the Russian parliament, Valery Rashkin, has filed a lawsuit against former sports minister Vitaly Mutko over the row. Mr Mutko has been accused of presiding over a systematic cover-up of doping in Russian sport.
Meanwhile, 22 Russian athletes have appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport over the IOC ban.
'Humiliation and insult to Russia'
Steven Rosenberg, BBC News, Moscow
The IOC's decision to exclude Russia from the Winter Olympics has sparked a furious reaction here.
The figure skating trainer Tatyana Tarasova described it as "the murder of Russia's national sport".
The deputy speaker of Russia's parliament said it was a humiliation and an insult to Russia.
In a defiant post on social media, the spokeswoman for the Russian foreign ministry said Russia would survive this - like it survived world war, the collapse of the Soviet Union and Western sanctions.
Although the Russian team has been banned from competing in South Korea, Russian athletes who can prove they are clean will be permitted to participate under the Olympic flag. But will the Kremlin allow them to?
President Vladimir Putin has in the past described such a scenario as a humiliation for his country.
In 2016, a report by lawyer Richard McLaren said that more than 1,000 Russians - including Olympic medallists - benefited from a state-sponsored doping programme between 2011 and 2015.
The IOC announcement on Tuesday followed a second investigation - the Schmid report - which found evidence of "the systemic manipulation of the anti-doping rules and system", despite repeated Russian denials.
The IOC said the ban "should draw a line under this damaging episode".

https://ichef-1.bbci.co.uk/news/624/cpsprodpb/F2FE/production/_99060226_fdsaas.jpg

[GeneChing]

...but Jackie is all over it. :cool:


https://www.thebeijinger.com/sites/default/files/thebeijinger/blog-images/313215/p1010049_copy.jpg

Jackie Chan and Lang Lang on Hand for Official Unveiling of 2022 Beijing Winter Olympic Logos (https://www.thebeijinger.com/blog/2017/12/17/jackie-chan-lang-lang-on-hand-unveiling-2022-beijing-winter-olympics)
Tom Arnstein | Dec 17, 2017 1:00 pm

On Friday, Dec 14, athletes, government representatives, Beijing 2022 Organising Committee (BOCOG) members, and the press came together at Beijing's Water Cube for the official unveiling of the official 2022 Beijing Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games emblems.

http://www.thebeijinger.com/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/p1010034.jpg
Fans posed for photographs with athletes prior to the unveiling

The event got off to a slow start with an initial gong signaling to the only half-present crowd that the run of celebrities, songs, and presentations were about to begin. At that time, 50 or so child choir singers shuffled onto the stage but wouldn't be permitted to sing their unity-espousing song, accompanied by the world-renowned concert pianist Lang Lang, for another 40 minutes.

http://www.thebeijinger.com/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/p1010046.jpg
CPC Secretary of Beijing Cai Qi demonstrates two screens are better than one

However, once the initial pomp finished, what followed was a quick succession of speeches, including a pre-recorded message from International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Thomas Bach, reminding attendees that Beijing is on track to become the first ever city to host the summer and winter Olympic Games. Then it was the turn of Cai Qi, BOCOG president and Communist Party Secretary of Beijing, to drum up excitement before the final run of Spring Festival gala-type numbers.

http://www.thebeijinger.com/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/p1010047_copy.jpg
Jackie Chan sings "Wake Up Winter"

The most notable of those performances was Jackie Chan's rousing "Wake Up Winter" alongside snowflake-twirling, sequined dancers. It also took gold for the most convincing live act, what with everyone else lip-synching their way through and a further reminder that when it comes to conveying an assertive appearance, China will leave nothing to chance.

Before the crowd had time to blast out grainy sights of Big Brother, the star-studded stage backdrop parted to give the audience what they'd been waiting for, the official 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics logo.

https://www.thebeijinger.com/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/p1010049_copy.jpg

And here it is:

https://www.thebeijinger.com/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/screen_shot_2017-12-17_at_9.48.24_am.jpg

Said to have taken inspiration from the character 冬, winter, the colorful and lively ribbon-like lines of the emblem also outline the figure of a downhill skier; knees bent, poles horizontal, and head down.

The Paralympics logo is more vivid and is said to be based on the character for fly, 飞. The lower legs of the skier in the logo above have been replaced by two semicircles, representing a wheel in motion.

https://www.thebeijinger.com/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/winterolympics.jpg

The logos were designed by Li Cunzhen, who also had a hand in creating the emblem for 2014's Summer Youth Olympic Games in Nanjing, and were chosen from 4,506 submissions from around the world, according to olympic.org.


I'm going to copy some of these Winter Olympics 2022 (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?68201-Winter-Olympics-2022) posts to our fledgling Winter Olympics (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?70589-Winter-Olympics) thread, just to help it grow for now.

[GeneChing]

North Korea to Send Olympic Athletes to South Korea, in Breakthrough (https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/08/world/asia/north-korea-south-olympics-border-talks.html)
查看简体中文版 查看繁體中文版
By CHOE SANG-HUNJAN. 8, 2018

SEOUL, South Korea — North Korea agreed on Tuesday to send athletes to February’s Winter Olympics in South Korea, a symbolic breakthrough after months of escalating tensions over the North’s rapidly advancing nuclear and missile programs.

In talks held at the border village of Panmunjom, North Korean negotiators quickly accepted South Korea’s request to send a large delegation to the Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea, next month, according to South Korean news reports. In addition to the athletes, the North will send a cheering squad and a performance-art troupe.

The event will be the first time North Korea has participated in the Winter Games in eight years. The country has competed in every Summer Olympics since 1972, except the 1984 Games in Los Angeles and the 1988 Games in Seoul, both of which it boycotted.

In fact, the North’s attendance will be a historic development in inter-Korean sports exchanges.

The North not only shunned the 1988 Seoul Olympics but also tried to disrupt them after talks on co-hosting them fell apart. Its agents planted a bomb on a Korean Air passenger plane in 1987 in a terrorist attack that the South said was aimed at sabotaging the 1988 Olympics. All 115 people on board were killed.

It was not immediately clear whether North Korea attached any conditions to its decision to attend.

The agreement was reached in talks between Cho Myoung-gyon, the South Korean cabinet minister in charge of relations with the North, and his North Korean counterpart, Ri Son-kwon.

The development came after Mr. Ri opened the talks by throwing a curveball: He suggested that the talks be open to reporters. That way, he said, the people in both Koreas would be able to witness the North’s sincerity about improving ties.

But, wary of North Korea’s mastery of propaganda, Mr. Cho agreed to open only parts of the talks to pool reporters.

https://static01.nyt.com/images/2018/01/10/world/09korea-2sub/09korea-2sub-master675.jpg
South Korea’s unification minister, Cho Myoung-gyon, left, with Mr. Ri before the start of their talks. Credit Pool photo by Yonhap, via Associated Press

The closed-circuit television footage of the talks at Panmunjom, in the middle of the world’s most dangerous border, was relayed in real time to Seoul, where officials scrutinized North Korean tactics. The North transmitted the audio of the meeting to its capital, Pyongyang.

While the focus of Tuesday’s talks was the Olympics, South Korean officials were also expected to explore whether North Korea is interested in talks with the United States to ease tensions over its nuclear arms programs.

In his New Year’s Day speech, Kim Jong-un, the leader of North Korea, proposed holding the dialogue with South Korea to discuss his country’s participation in the Pyeongchang Games. In the same speech, he also claimed to have acquired a nuclear deterrent, including intercontinental ballistic missiles that he said he could unleash on the United States with his “nuclear button.”

Some analysts said Mr. Kim was hoping to use his country’s self-proclaimed status as a nuclear weapons state as leverage to win concessions from Washington, particularly the easing of increasingly crippling sanctions. President Trump and Secretary of State Rex W. Tillerson said that Mr. Kim’s decision to start dialogue with South Korea was a sign that their campaign to isolate the North was working.

The talks at Panmunjom provide an opportunity to gauge whether North Korea is willing to moderate its behavior after a year of provocative nuclear and missile tests that have raised fears of all-out war on the Korean Peninsula.

But the initial focus was on the Olympics.

South Korean officials must still nail down the travel route, lodging and other logistics of a North Korean Olympic delegation.

North Korea has traditionally sent only a small delegation to the Winter Games and has never won a gold medal at them.

The International Olympic Committee is eager for the North to return, promising to help cover its athletes’ expenses in Pyeongchang.

https://static01.nyt.com/images/2018/01/10/world/09korea-3sub/09korea-3sub-master675.jpg
The border posts of North Korea, top, and South Korea near the Demilitarized Zone on Tuesday. Credit Ed Jones/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

The only North Korean athletes to qualify for the Pyeongchang Games so far are a pairs figure skating team. But North Korea missed an Oct. 31 deadline to accept invitations from the I.O.C. and South Korea to join the Games. The I.O.C. has said it remains flexible, willing to consider wild-card entries for North Korean athletes.

In Tuesday’s talks, South Korea also suggested that the two Korean teams march together during the opening ceremony of the Olympics, Chun Hae-sung, the vice minister of unification, told reporters in Panmunjom after the morning’s negotiations.

The South also proposed that the two countries revive their program of temporarily reuniting elderly people who have not seen their cross-border relatives since the Korean War unofficially ended in 1953. Such reunions could take place in time for lunar New Year’s Day on Feb. 16, a traditional season for family reunions in Korea, the South Korean negotiators told their North Korean counterparts.

“We told them that both sides should cooperate, based on mutual respect, and end any acts of raising tensions on the Korean Peninsula,” Mr. Chun said. “We also called for the resumption of dialogue on denuclearization and peace-building.” The North’s response was not immediately available. The negotiations continued in the afternoon.

In recent decades, North Korea has alternated between provocation and dialogue, and it remained unclear whether its participation in the Olympics signaled an overall softening. For the South Koreans, who have been rattled by the exchange of threats of war between North Korea and the United States in the past year, the border talks provide a welcome reprieve, although some analysts warned that it might be short-lived.

South Korea hopes that the talks at Panmunjom will lead to other moves to ease tensions, like temporary reunions of elderly people in both Koreas who have been separated from family members since the Korean War.

South Korea’s president, Moon Jae-in, is a strong proponent of dialogue with North Korea, even as his country’s American allies say military action remains an option to halt the North’s nuclear brinkmanship.

Mr. Moon’s government says North Korea will be less likely to conduct a nuclear or missile test during the Olympics if its athletes are competing in the South. It hopes to use such a lull in the standoff to create a momentum for negotiations between North Korea and the United States.

A version of this article appears in print on January 9, 2018, on Page A6 of the New York edition with the headline: North Korea to Send Athletes to Olympics in South Korea in Breakthrough.

To me, this is what the Olympics is all about. :)

[GeneChing]

This is one of the great contributions that martial arts gives to the world. It crosses borders and unifies.


Koreas to be united by traditional martial art of taekwondo -- again (http://m.yna.co.kr/mob2/en/contents_en.jsp?cid=AEN20180117015800315&site=0400000000&mobile)
2018-01-17 23:44
Normal FontLarge Font
SEOUL, Jan. 17 (Yonhap) -- The Korean martial art of taekwondo brought the divided Koreas together, if only briefly, south of the tense border last summer.

And it will do so again at the tail end of winter, during the Feb. 9-25 PyeongChang Winter Olympics.

North Korea agreed Wednesday to send a taekwondo demonstration team of about 30 to PyeongChang, 180 kilometers east of Seoul. The team will give performances in both PyeongChang and Seoul during its stay. The two sides will decide on a specific schedule later.

http://img.yonhapnews.co.kr/etc/inner/EN/2018/01/17/AEN20180117015800315_02_i.jpg

In this file photo taken June 24, 2017, South Korean President Moon Jae-in (fourth from L, back row) poses with taekwondo demonstrators from South Korea and North Korea after the opening ceremony of the World Taekwondo (WT) World Taekwondo Championships at T1 Arena in Muju, North Jeolla Province. (Yonhap)


Last June, during the World Taekwondo (WT) World Championships in Muju, 240 kilometers south of Seoul, North Korea sent a demonstration team for a total of four performances, including during the opening ceremony of the world championships. The taekwondo practitioners from the North belonged to the International Taekwondo Federation (ITF), a separate taekwondo entity from the WT.

The WT and the ITF have different sets of rules, and the WT is the only taekwondo body recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC). But that hasn't prevented the two organizations from making efforts to work together.

Most notably, they signed a landmark agreement in August 2014, titled "Protocol of Accord," which outlined areas of mutual cooperation. And ITF sent its delegation to Muju last summer to honor the agreement. It was the first instance of inter-Korean sports exchange under the new Moon Jae-in administration in the South.

During the ITF team's visit, Moon called on North Korea to participate in the PyeongChang Olympics and expressed his hope for a joint Korean team.

The WT was scheduled to pay a reciprocal visit to Pyongyang in September but the trip never materialized, amid a series of North Korean military provocations.

The North's nuclear test and missile launches also threatened to derail plans for a joint taekwondo demonstration by the WT and the ITF during the PyeongChang Olympics. But the mood changed for the better at the turn of the year, after North Korean leader Kim Jong-un offered to send an athletic delegation to PyeongChang in his New Year's message.

The two Koreas met eight days later, exchanging ideas on North Korean athletes' participation and also on visits by taekwondo practitioners and an art troupe.

On Wednesday, they settled on the size of the taekwondo team, which will be tasked with bringing the Koreas closer.

http://img.yonhapnews.co.kr/etc/inner/EN/2018/01/17/AEN20180117015800315_03_i.jpg

In this file photo taken June 24, 2017, taekwondo demonstrators from North Korea break bricks during the opening ceremony of the World Taekwondo (WT) World Taekwondo Championships at T1 Arena in Muju, North Jeolla Province. (Yonhap)

jeeho@yna.co.kr
(END)

Thread: Winter Olympics (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?70589-Winter-Olympics&p=1307052#post1307052)
Thread: Taekwondo (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?42906-Tae-Kwon-Do)

[wolfen]

This is one of the great contributions that martial arts gives to the world. It crosses borders and unifies.

Thread: Winter Olympics (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?70589-Winter-Olympics&p=1307052#post1307052)
Thread: Taekwondo (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?42906-Tae-Kwon-Do)

There is no "uniting" Communism and Capitalism. These are now two different countries. Martial Arts doesn't unify political systems, it fights against them and hopefully freedom wins over tyranny.



Reconciliation
They could maybe live together in relative reconciliation. this, not "unification", is a realistic goal. even though no dictatorship lives in peace with a Democratic Country.
The teams from the North will have many secret agents in them,the rest will be part of the elite and so be trustworthy and have their families under threat of execution if they don't return.
This is a political move on a political chessboard.
The North's best strategy would be to try to undermine the South with Cultural Marxism and Progressive Leftist Propaganda techniques and probably is encouraged by the examples of Germany , Canada and California where Democracy has been subverted. The South will try to undermine the North with their example of personal freedom and wealth but the people they will have there will probably be quite hardened adversaries.

"Unification" Under Communist Dictatorship and Oppression or under Democracy and Capitalism? It's one or the other, there is no middle ground.
The North wants "Unification" without democracy, The South wants Unification without Communism.


The North has three demands for "reunification", they sound a little reasonable but they are very treacherous.- These three demands will annihilate Democracy and install an Northern Run dictatorship in the South. The North has always been unwavering in these demands. The following book in Graphic Comic format explains the situation quite excellently:


Korea Unmasked In Search of the Country, the Society and the People (New Edition (http://www.hanbooks.com/koruninsearo.html)) (Graphic Novel Format)

Product Description
by Won-bok Rhie; Louis Choi, Jung Un (translation) 236 pages. publisher: Kimyoungsa, 2002.


About this book

This is an English edition of the bestseller comic book Far Countries, Neighboring Countries 9 - Korea (Sae Mon Nara Iun Nara 9 - Uri Nara). The book is to introduce real aspects of Korea that are sometimes misunderstood and unknown to foreigners. Through skillfully chosen subjects - e.g., spicy food, education fever, conglomerates, the tension between North and South Korea - Won-bok Rhie explores the unique manifestations of Korean attitudes that are often misunderstood by foreigners. It is a fascinating exploration of the Korean mindset that weaves together history, sociology and cultural anthropology. The insightful discussions on Korea's place between China and Japan, its more well-known neighbors, also clear the fog away as to who the Korean people are.

Table of contents
Foreword
Introduction

1 Neighbors but Strangers : Korea, China and Japan

2 The Korean People

3 The Successes and Tribulations of the Koreans

4 The Long and Treacherous Road to Reunification

Translators' Notes : Jung Un, Louis Choi


De Oppresso Liber

[GeneChing]

OLYMPICS 2018
What to Know About the Opening Ceremony for the 2018 Winter Olympics: When, Where and How to Watch (http://time.com/5124851/winter-olympics-opening-ceremony-2018-time/)

https://imagesvc.timeincapp.com/v3/mm/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Ftimedotcom.files.wordpress .com%2F2018%2F01%2Fwinter-olympics-2018-opening-ceremony.jpg&w=800&q=85
A South Korean dancer performs during the handover ceremony of the Olympic flame at the Panathenaic Stadium, in Athens, Greece, on Oct. 31, 2017. Yannis Kolesidis—EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock
By KATIE REILLY 9:00 AM EST

The 2018 Winter Olympics in PyeongChang, South Korea will officially kick off on Feb. 9 with its highly-anticipated opening ceremony.

The Olympics opening ceremony, which will have a peace theme, is expected to feature K-pop performances (fans may be hoping for BTS), heated patriotic uniforms and some very cold temperatures.

Here’s what we know about the Olympics opening ceremony festivities so far, including when and where it will take place:

What time does the 2018 Olympics opening ceremony start?

The Olympics opening ceremony will take place in PyeongChang on Friday, Feb. 9, beginning at 8 p.m. local time (6 a.m. EST). The opening ceremony is expected to last about two hours.

The official Winter Olympic Games schedule begins the day before the opening ceremony, with curling and ski jumping events starting on Feb. 8.


PyeongChang 2018
✔
@pyeongchang2018 (https://twitter.com/pyeongchang2018/status/958271875188080641?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=http%3A%2F%2Ftime.com%2F5124851%2Fwinter-olympics-opening-ceremony-2018-time%2F)
Almost 8 billion eyes are focused on one place! 🇰🇷
Just under 10 days left until the #PyeongChang2018 Opening Ceremony! 🔥✨ 80억 인구의 시선이 단 한 곳으로🇰🇷 #2018평창 동계올림픽 개막일까지 단 "10일" 남았습니다. #JangKeunSuk #TaeYang #LeeDongWook

1:33 AM - Jan 30, 2018 · Pyeongchang-gun, Republic of Korea
7 7 Replies 321 321 Retweets 523 523 likes
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How can I watch the Olympics opening ceremony?

Early-bird Olympic enthusiasts in the United States will be able to watch the opening ceremony live beginning at 6 a.m. EST on NBCOlympics.com and the NBC Sports app, which is available on streaming devices, including Roku, Amazon Fire and Apple TV. Later that day at 8 p.m. EST, NBC will air a “fully-produced” television broadcast of the opening ceremony, featuring interviews and commentary by hosts Katie Couric and Mike Tirico.


https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DTxfqRhU8AAjfT3.jpg
View image on Twitter (https://twitter.com/NBCOlympics/status/953742403457953793/photo/1?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=http%3A%2F%2Ftime.com%2F5124851%2Fwinter-olympics-opening-ceremony-2018-time%2F)

NBC Olympics
✔
@NBCOlympics
.@katiecouric and @miketirico are ready for the #WinterOlympics opening ceremony!

1:34 PM - Jan 17, 2018
8 8 Replies 24 24 Retweets 84 84 likes
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Where will the opening ceremony be held?

The Olympics opening ceremony will take place in the new PyeongChang Olympic Stadium, which seats 35,000 people. The venue will be used just four times — for the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2018 Olympics and Paralympics — before being torn down. Construction of the stadium was part of the roughly $13 billion that South Korea is spending on the Olympics, the Associated Press reported.

But amid severe winter weather warnings, organizers fear that the Olympic stadium, which has no roof, might make the opening ceremony too cold for spectators to endure. Conditions inside the venue at the start of the Olympics are expected to feel like 7 degrees Fahrenheit due to wind chill, Reuters reported, citing an Olympic organizing committee internal document. The forecast has prompted organizers to work on measures to prevent cases of hypothermia.

“This is a very serious issue,” South Korean lawmaker Shim Ki-joon told Reuters in December. “This is creating a headache to not only the organizers but the presidential office, which sent officials to the venue to figure out ways to fight the cold.”


https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DQ6ojSNXkAAjfXL.jpg
View image on Twitter (https://twitter.com/pyeongchang2018/status/940874707477450755?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=http%3A%2F%2Ftime.com%2F5124851%2Fwinter-olympics-opening-ceremony-2018-time%2F)

PyeongChang 2018
✔
@pyeongchang2018
It's less cold than yesterday!😉 #PyeongChang2018 - What’s the temperature where you are right now?🌤️☀️

여러분이 계신 곳의 날씨는 어떤가요? #2018평창 #겨울

1:23 AM - Dec 13, 2017
12 12 Replies 39 39 Retweets 92 92 likes
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What will happen at the Olympics opening ceremony?

As in every Olympics opening ceremony since 1908, athletes will march into the stadium under their country’s flag during the Parade of Nations. Olympic athletes from North and South Korea will march together under a single flag — a historic diplomatic decision that has caused some controversy.


IOC MEDIA
✔
@iocmedia (https://twitter.com/iocmedia/status/954698163062849536?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=http%3A%2F%2Ftime.com%2F5124851%2Fwinter-olympics-opening-ceremony-2018-time%2F)
For the first time in @Olympics history the two Korean teams will unite to compete as one team in a sport. The unified women's ice hockey team will be represented by the Korean unification flag and will compete as Korea. @PyeongChang2018

4:52 AM - Jan 20, 2018
69 69 Replies 457 457 Retweets 871 871 likes
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Even before North and South Korea agreed to unite, organizers had planned for the Olympics opening ceremony to have a theme of peace. “We have worked on all of our scenarios under the theme of peace,” Song Seung-whan, the executive creative director for the opening ceremony, said at a press conference in January, according to Reuters. “Although North Korea’s participation was decided belatedly, we think this will serve as a good opportunity for us to convey our message more clearly.”

The Olympics opening ceremony is expected to connect aspects of Korean history with current Korean culture, likely featuring K-pop performances, Reuters reported.

Pita Taufatofua — the oiled-up Tongan flag-bearer who became a social media sensation during the opening ceremony of the 2016 Rio Olympics — is set to compete in PyeongChang as a cross-country skier. It’s likely he will carry his country’s flag once again because he is the only athlete from Tonga who qualified for the Winter Olympics this year. But he will presumably be more fully clothed, as freezing temperatures in PyeongChang are expected to cause the coldest Olympic games in decades.

Team USA is preparing to weather those bitter temperatures by wearing heated parkas as the athletes parade into the Olympic stadium. The uniforms, which feature American flags made of heat-conductive ink, were designed by Polo Ralph Lauren, the official outfitter for the 2018 U.S. Olympic and Paralympic teams.


https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DUJjrQBUMAAwnkO.jpghttps://pbs.twimg.com/media/DUJjrlSUMAA_FS-.jpg
View image on Twitter (https://twitter.com/TeamUSA/status/955436018663964673?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=http%3A%2F%2Ftime.com%2F5124851%2Fwinter-olympics-opening-ceremony-2018-time%2F)

U.S. Olympic Team
✔
@TeamUSA
#TeamUSA and @RalphLauren unveil the Opening Ceremony parade uniforms, introducing a unique wearable heat concept. 🇺🇸👏 http://go.teamusa.org/2DyeCT4

5:44 AM - Jan 22, 2018
26 26 Replies 198 198 Retweets 549 549 likes

I'm intrigued by this heat-conductive ink.

[GeneChing]

"What happens in the (Olympic) Village stays in the Village." :eek:



Olympic Village stocked with 110,000 condoms (https://www.cnn.com/2018/02/01/health/olympic-village-condoms/index.html)
Anchor Muted Background
By Robert Jimison, CNN

Updated 10:56 AM ET, Fri February 2, 2018

https://cdn.cnn.com/cnnnext/dam/assets/171206121153-pyeongchang-winter-olympics-tease-exlarge-169.jpg
On February 1, the Olympic villages in Pyeongchang welcome the nearly 3,000 athletes traveling from 90 National Olympic Committees.

Story highlights
Organizers will hand out 110,000 condoms to athletes during the winter games
The Olympic villages are expected to welcome 2,925 athletes

(CNN)Are organizers of the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang expecting the most promiscuous Winter Games in modern history?
The Olympics are set to begin next week, and with no plans to be outdone by previous winter games host cities, organizers of the South Korea games have supplied athletes with 110,000 condoms. That's 10,000 more than the number doled out to athletes during the previous Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia -- and only about 100 more athletes are participating in this year's games.
It's not like there's nothing else to do. Athletes typically enjoy amenities such as a fitness center, round-the-clock dining, a media center and dedicated multifaith areas for worship.
All the comforts of home will be provided within a staged community called the athletes' village and the larger Olympic village, including a selection of shops ranging from international postal services to a flower shop.
Speaking with local media, a spokesperson for the South Korean condom manufacturer Convenience said it was supplying the condoms "with goodwill."
OK let's do the math: the Olympic villages are expected to welcome 2,925 athletes representing 90 nations. That works out to around 37 condoms per competitor. That seems like a lot of condoms for an event scheduled to last two weeks.
Members of the media and spectators need not feel left out. The contraceptives will be made available to them as well.
As former Olympic swimmer Dara Torres told CNN in 2012, "What happens in the (Olympic) Village stays in the Village."

Condoms at Olympic Games

In case you were wondering, here's a brief history of condoms at the modern Olympic Games.

1988 Summer Olympics: Condoms were first publicly distributed at the 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul, South Korea, to reduce the spread of HIV.

1994 Winter Olympics: Olympic organizers distributed free condoms to athletes, news media, and celebrities as part of an AIDS awareness campaign at the Games in Lillehammer, Norway.

2000 Summer Olympics: Olympic organizers reportedly distributed some 90,000 condoms to athletes at the Games in Sydney, Australia.

2010 Winter Olympics: The British Columbia Center for Disease Control distributed about 100,000 condoms for athletes and officials at the venues in Vancouver.

2016 Summer Olympics: At the most recent Games, organizers allocated about 450,000 condoms to distribute to athletes in Rio de Janeiro. That worked out to 42 condoms per person.

[GeneChing]

Military deployed as norovirus outbreak hits Winter Olympic security guards (https://www.cnn.com/2018/02/06/asia/winter-olympics-south-korea-norovirus-intl/index.html)
By Sol Han and Ben Westcott, CNN
Updated 6:32 AM ET, Tue February 6, 2018

(CNN)South Korea has deployed 900 military personnel after 1,200 security guards were pulled from duty following an norovirus outbreak at Winter Olympic facilities in Pyeongchang.
Organizers said 41 security guards had suffered a sudden onset of vomiting and diarrhea on Sunday and had been taken to hospital. The outbreak comes just days before the opening of South Korea's 2018 Winter Olympics on Thursday.
To prevent the spread of the disease, the other guards were withdrawn and replaced with 900 military personnel as of Monday afternoon, a statement from the Pyeongchang Olympics committee said.
"The military personnel ... will be responsible for security checks of the 20 venues as they take up jobs such as security searches, previously done by civilian safety personnel, until the patients' condition is normalized," the statement said.
All the civilian guards were in a stable condition, according to the statement. Organizers said that all Olympic accommodation and buses were being disinfected.
The first Olympic events are set to be held on Thursday, February 8. Competitions will run for two weeks before the closing ceremonies are held on Sunday, February 25.
The Korean Center for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) said in a statement Monday that the 41 security guards had been staying at the same building in Pyeongchang.
"KCDC dispatched an immediate response team to the Pyeongchang site to check additional people for symptoms, check the origin of the exposure, take measures to control infection and prevent spread," the statement said.
It's not clear how the guards become infected in the first place.
Water and food at the accommodations are currently being tested, while the Winter Olympics committee said it would strengthen checks on sleeping quarters for staff working at the games to prevent further infections.
Good thing they supplied all those condoms? :o

[GeneChing]

We've been getting record-breaking temperatures this week in the SF Bay Area. It's early February and we're all wearing T-shirts, sandals and shorts.

Am I bad for thinking I'll have extra schadenfreude watching the Winter Olympics this year? I only watch for the biathalon and curling.


Coldest Olympics in history? PyeongChang organizers break out the hats and blankets. (https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/coldest-in-history-pyeongchang-organizers-break-out-the-hats-and-blankets/2018/02/06/09fadca2-0b32-11e8-8890-372e2047c935_story.html?utm_term=.ce3a0d82f350)
By Chelsea Janes February 6 at 7:14 AM Email the author

https://img.washingtonpost.com/rf/image_1484w/2010-2019/WashingtonPost/2018/02/06/Sports/Images/Rex_PyeongChang_2018_Olympic_Games_9354472F-3076.jpg?uuid=BjHpmAszEeiIkDcuIEfJNQ
Small moving robots project weather forecasts on the floor in the media village at Gangneung, South Korea. The PyeongChang Olympics could be the coldest in history. (Barbara Walton/EPA-EFE/Rex/Shutterstock)

DAEWALLYEONG, South Korea — Lee Hee-boem, president and CEO of the PyeongChang Olympic Organizing Committee, a man with an MBA from George Washington University and a doctorate in business, sat on a dais in front of several dozen reporters from around the world Tuesday and held up a fleece blanket — his unexpected defense against a flurry of questions about what might be the coldest Winter Olympics in history.

“I have tried this blanket on my lap,” he declared, his message translated from Korean by a translator. “And I think this blanket will work in quite cold weather.”

He wasn’t finished. He then pulled a red knit cap over his head.

“You can cover your ears with this hat,” he said, providing what probably wasn’t a necessary demonstration. “If you wear it like this, you can endure the cold.”

The blanket and beanie are part of a kit that will be distributed to spectators at Friday night’s Opening Ceremonies, which will be conducted in an open-air stadium despite the biting cold and howling winds.

The Opening Ceremonies have become a focus of concern. Temperatures in Lillehammer, Norway, plummeted before zero degrees Fahrenheit in 1994, but the 2018 Olympics could top that. PyeongChang is known for bitter winters and pounding winds that blow in from the Manchurian plains and Siberia and never seem to stop this time of year. Unlike Vancouver in 2010 or Sochi in 2014, where organizers scrambled to combat unseasonably warm temperatures, organizers here are engaged in widespread efforts to keep spectators safe.

They may dodge the worst case scenario. After enduring what organizers are referring to as a lengthy “cold snap,” temperatures here are supposed to rise over the next few days and peak around 40 degrees Fahrenheit on Friday — just in time for the Opening Ceremonies later that evening.

“On the ninth, there is no forecast for snow or rain,” said Lee, who also said he plans to summon a weather expert to address reporters Wednesday. “On the day of the Opening Ceremony, the weather will be warmer than it has been so far.”

https://img.washingtonpost.com/rf/image_480w/2010-2019/WashingtonPost/2018/02/06/Sports/Images/AFP_YW1JP.jpg?uuid=uM39XAs0EeiIkDcuIEfJNQ
Lee Hee-Beom, head of PyeongChang Olympic Organizing Committee, talks to reporters about the weather at a Tuesday news conference. (Dimitar Dilkoff/AFP/Getty Images)

Nevertheless, the organizing committee has redoubled efforts to convey weather concerns to those planning to attend. Those efforts have worked a little too well, Lee said, as some try to return tickets.

A few spectators at a concert held at PyeongChang Olympic Stadium in November had to be hospitalized with hypothermia, though Lee explained that they had been wearing “autumn clothes.” Many of the 20,000 or so spectators at a dress rehearsal this past Saturday left early, too.

So organizers decided to provide the kits Lee showcased Tuesday, and add 40 large heaters to the second floor of the stadium. Lee said the committee also wanted to provide free hot drinks, but could not do so because of a sponsor contract with Coca-Cola. Instead, he said, hot drinks will be sold for roughly $1.

Logistically, organizers do not yet foresee the need to adjust the competition schedule because of the weather. The International Olympic Committee has regulations in place about the maximum wind speeds in which ski jumping can take place, and built wind shields around that course to minimize the risk of cancellation. Otherwise, the cold will likely have less effect on the scheduling of these Games than warm temperatures did on those before it.

The Olympians themselves, though accustomed to performing in the cold, have nevertheless expressed surprise at and the need to adjust to the extent of this chill.

“It’s truly winter here,” said four-time Olympian Ted Ligety, an alpine skier who said these Olympics are by far the coldest he’s experienced in his career.

Ligety plans to attend those Opening Ceremonies in a battery-powered jacket that heats the back, designed by U.S. Olympic outfitter Ralph Lauren.

“I mean, Opening Ceremonies is one of the coolest things you can ever do in your life. You just have to prepare,” said American luger Chris Mazdzer, who will be competing in his third Olympics. “The jeans we have from Ralph Lauren are really tight, and I’m not going to be able to fit a whole lot under there. But handwarmers, foot warmers, you do whatever you can. You just have to be there.”

Staying warm enough to “just be there” is one thing; being comfortable enough to compete in peak form is another.

U.S. snowboarder Jamie Anderson, who won the gold medal in Sochi’s balmy temperatures, said she and her teammates had little desire to explore the slopestyle course when they first arrived here. Even for women who spend their lives on the snow, the cold was intimidating.

“I think I’m going to have to play with my layers and neckies and everything just to feel comfortable because I believe the cold does affect our performance,” Anderson said. “Trying to stay good, when you’re out in the freezing, how can you go and perform? I’ve been drinking a lot of warm liquids. I don’t ice anything. I always drink warm tea or warm water with lemon. Thanks to the Chinese medicine teachings.”

Ligety said he’ll have to adjust his equipment and keep his boots warm. Most of the U.S. skiers say they train in places with comparable cold, particularly those who have trained in Lake Placid, N.Y., whose February temperatures are similar PyeongChang’s.

Those competing in the sliding sports will likely have to adjust even more. The deeper the chill, the harder the ice. The harder the ice, the faster the sled, meaning bobsledders, lugers, and skeleton racers will see conditions change dramatically.

While in skeleton and bobsled, riders are used to sliding side to side as they wrestle the ice for control, lugers have less margin for error, Mazdzer explained.

“Skeleton and bobsled? They’re more rounded, so they don’t have to worry. They slide around. They hit walls,” Mazdzer said. “If we hit walls, game over. We’re trying to drive this perfect line. So we need to have that sharpen our steel [on the runners].”

Mazdzer and his luge teammates will be among the coldest competitors at the Games. They wear skintight suits, the competitive effects of which none of them can afford to compromise by stuffing them with coats or base layers. For the two minutes of their race, they will have little defense against the cold.

“Once you’re going down though,” Mazdzer said, “you’re so focused on what you’re doing you don’t feel anything.”

[GeneChing]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=2&v=xxkvKJmlyHQ

Thread: Vantablack (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?70566-Vantablack)
Thread: Winter Olympics (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?70589-Winter-Olympics)

[wolfen]

Former U.N. Ambassador John Bolton discussed North Korea’s participation in the Winter Olympics on Thursday’s Breitbart News Daily with SiriusXM host Matt Boyle. (http://www.breitbart.com/radio/2018/02/08/bolton-mike-pence-mission-keep-world-united-north-korea-olympic-games/)

“I think the North Koreans are making a last-ditch effort to get across the finish line with their nuclear program while the world’s attention is focused on the Olympics,” Bolton said. “I think it’s all propaganda.”

He foresaw North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un’s sister competing with U.S. Vice President Mike Pence for media attention while both attend the Olympic games. Other aspects of North Korea’s charm offensive, such as North and South Korean teams marching together, he dismissed as “nothing new.”

“One thing about North Korean propaganda is that it’s predictable. It repeats itself. That’s what they’re doing here,” he observed.

“Let’s not forget that that sound you hear in the background is the whirring of North Korean centrifuges enriching uranium,” Bolton cautioned. “This program continues. Their ballistic missile testing continues.”

“I think Vice President Pence actually has a very important, delicate mission in South Korea as the Olympics open, to show that we’re sticking with South Korea and Japan,” he said. “We’re not going to let North Korea try and confuse the world with the female hockey teams playing together.”


FORMER US ambassador John Bolton said that force was the only way that the North Korean threat to the US would be neutralised, as tensions escalate towards a military outbreak. (https://www.express.co.uk/news/world/898078/North-Korea-Donald-Trump-Nuclear-US-advisor-warning-North-Korea)
By Oli Smith
PUBLISHED: 08:45, Sun, Dec 31, 2017


10493
John Bolton, who remains a top US security advisor, said the world only had "one play left" in dealing with North Korea.

This follows remarks from US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and the South Korean Government that diplomatic efforts have not been exhausted yet.

However, Mr Bolton claimed that sanctions had no impact on Kim Jong-un's regime and one way or another the leadership will have to be toppled.

Speaking to Fox News, Mr Bolton said that US President Donald Trump should now focus on persuading China that wiping out the North Korean regime was in their national interest.

He told the US broadcaster: "These threats will only grow worse next year, especially with both China and Russia trying to two-time us this week.

"I don’t think North Korea will ever voluntary give up their nuclear programme. Enormous pressure through sanctions has not slowed down the regime at all.

"This is a prison-camp of an economy, its people live desperate lives - but there's been no impact on the nuclear tests.

"There is one diplomatic play left here. You cannot coerce China into this, but you can persuade them that their national interest requires getting rid of this regime.

"Reunification of the peninsula is the way to go but there may be other options.

"As long as this regime stays in place, you will have a nuclear threat, not just in Asia, but they are capable of selling it to anyone around the world - be it Iran, ISIS, Al Qaeda."


10492

A South Korean Marine aims his rifle on a snowy hill during a joint winter drill with US Marines in Pyeongchang


The latter article misrepresents former UN Ambassador John Bolton. He is currently NOT one of Trump's or the USA's current advisors, he was NOT hired by the Trump administration, he is very hawkish and DJT is against that. However he does have a handle on the situation. This just puts the Olympics in light of the larger situation NK is a world nuclear threat and that is not going away.


North Vietnam "unified" South Vietnam with a tank crashing through the gate of the Presidential Palace. Eight to twelve million people died in the holocaust in SE Asia shortly thereafter , two million in South Vietnam. Communism does not compromise.
Today under Viet Communism, The North together with occupied South Vietnam is ranked 77 of 149 in terms of prosperity and personal freedom is 121 of 149. The American Left forced the US Military to leave after victory and military stability had been achieved. The new progressive marxists of America would love to do the same thing to South Korea.

[wolfen]

A North Korean army entered South Korea — an “Army of Beauties,” that is. (https://www.vox.com/world/2018/2/8/16980014/north-korea-flag-olympics-cheerleaders-kim-figure-skating)

That’s the colloquial name for North Korea’s 230-strong, all-female cheerleading squad. They form part of the country’s delegation to the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea, which also includes athletes, artists, and politicians — many of whom arrived ahead of the games.




https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t8Mx2iaPY38


North Korean cheerleaders arrive in South Korea for PyeongChang Games
(From Arirang News, Arirang is a state-run international English-language network based in Seoul, South Korea)




Approximately 230 young women strong, the squad arrived for the Pyeongchang Games (https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/08/fashion/north-korean-cheer-squad-winter-olympics-2018.html)in matching red wool coats, buttoned at the waist, with black fur trim at the neck and wrists and matching black caps, high-heeled ankle boots and sheer hosiery. They toted matching red wheelies and handbags, and all grinned matching grins.

Imagine a cross between Pan Am “stewardesses” of the 1960s, “Red Sparrow” and the Dallas Cowboys squad, and you’ll get the idea. In North Korea they are reportedly known as “the army of beauties.”

10494

The allure of the North Korean cheerleading squad is connected with the degree to which its members appear to be under complete control.




The Mesmerizing Spectacle of North Korea’s “Army of Beauties” at the Winter Olympics (https://www.newyorker.com/news/sporting-scene/the-mesmerizing-spectacle-of-north-koreas-army-of-beauties)

Cheerleading, by nature, is a form of propaganda—I can say this, I think, having cheered in Texas for six years. But the North Korean cheerleading squad, which will perform at the Winter Olympics opening ceremonies, this Friday, in Pyeongchang, South Korea, occupies its own stratosphere of weaponized comeliness and discipline. The squad, which has been dubbed, in South Korea, the “army of beauties,” presents a doll-house version of military service: girls in their late teens and early twenties are plucked from the country’s most prestigious universities and charged with making North Korea look good. The cheerleaders are chosen on the basis of appearance and ideology—they undergo background checks, to insure that there are no defectors or enemy sympathizers in their families, and they must be pretty (and at least five feet three). At this year’s Olympics, two hundred and thirty cheerleaders from North Korea will be in attendance. The country is sending about two dozen athletes.

The cheerleaders haven’t been seen outside North Korea for some time. A sparse collection of aughts-era photos and video shows them in unnerving numbers, as uniform and multitudinous as bees on a hive. They’re often dressed like golf caddies, in baseball hats and crisp polo shirts in bright red and white. Sometimes, they wear modernized hanbok. (At a 2002 basketball game against the Philippines, the girls wore singing-telegram outfits, and, at a 2013 basketball game in Pyongyang that put twelve North Korean players against four Harlem Globetrotters and ended, reportedly, in a 110–110 tie, Dennis Rodman watched the cheerleaders dance in miniskirts.) Instead of doing floor routines, they mostly stick to the stands, chanting and wielding a variety of props in unison: flags, tambourines, fans, megaphones that look like flowers.

Past cheer captains have inspired dedicated online fan clubs in South Korea, where the cheerleaders have been accumulating devotees since 2002. That year, two hundred and eighty-eight of them arrived in Busan, for the Asian Games—the largest group of North Koreans to arrive in South Korea since the Korean War. In 2003, three hundred cheerleaders, clothed in attire that the Washington Post described as “part Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders, part Red Army,” travelled to the Universiade Games, in Daegu. “What do we want?” they shouted at the South Korean crowd. “Unification!” the crowd shouted back. They raised North Korean flags and chanted, “Skill! Technique! Focus!” On the same trip, the cheerleaders caused a scene when they spotted, mid-transit, a welcome poster featuring Kim Jong Il that was getting rained on. Six buses stopped on the side of the road. Thirty or so sobbing girls ran back to retrieve the poster. A South Korean police officer told the Chosun Ilbo newspaper that the cheerleaders were “wailing loudly as they got on the bus, like women who had just lost their husbands. People who were at the scene were saying that it was beyond their comprehension, and some even said it gave them the chills.”

In 2005, a hundred and one North Korean cheerleaders were sent to Incheon, South Korea, for the Asian Athletics Championship. Among these girls was sixteen-year-old Ri Sol Ju, the daughter of a top officer in North Korea’s Air Force, who, four or five years later, would go on to marry Kim Jong Un. (A commentator told Newsweek that Ri’s work as a cheerleader served as a sort of prequalification for marrying the dictator.) The next year, reports emerged that twenty-one cheerleaders who had travelled to Incheon had been sent to a prison camp for talking about what they saw in the South. The girls had apparently pledged, before leaving, that they would regard South Korea as “enemy territory” and would never speak about their experiences. The squad has not returned to South Korea since. (In 2014, North Korea withheld its cheerleaders from the Asian Games, in Incheon, after South Korea refused to pay for expenses. Fretting politicians told The Economist that the cheerleaders were an “essential condition” for the games’ success.)

A friend who grew up in Seoul told me that the cheerleaders’ appeal in South Korea is a matter of contrast: the girls are fresh-faced and traditional, seemingly unspoiled by materialistic concerns. (“Whereas our cheerleaders are sort of K-popped out,” my friend texted me.) The Korean phrase “nam nam buk nyeo” refers to the idea that North Korean women and South Korean men make the best mates—a term that hints at female bodies becoming a conduit for the larger reunification. About eighty-five per cent of defectors who have moved to South Korea since the Korean War have been women. There are even matchmaking agencies “specializing” in North Korean women: one C.E.O. told the Dong-A Ilbo, a South Korean newspaper, that “North Korean women are highly likely to be matched because they value the character of their spouse and are less picky about age, vocation, and academic background than their South Korean counterparts.”

Today, ironically, North Korea may be the nation that gives cheerleaders the most credit, in a way. The squad is supposed to have incredible power—but that power is directly connected to the degree to which the girls appear under control. It will be absurd, in Pyeongchang, to watch one of the world’s most repressive, totalitarian nations attempt to deploy two hundred and thirty smiling women as a diplomatic shield. The underlying idea is so ridiculous that it’s almost thrilling. Female youth, beauty, and obedience are supposed to be that distracting—a spectacle that could even dissipate thoughts of nuclear war. (Exactly. A spectacle to distract from thoughts of whirring nuclear producing gyroscopes.)


Every totalitarian cloud has a silver lining. ;)
However,these are the privileged, they left the inmates of "Camp 22" behind. It's the Jungian Thing.

[GeneChing]

Darkest material on Earth creates a 'schism in space' for Winter Olympics (https://www.cnn.com/2017/11/15/world/vantablack-blackest-black-material/index.html)
By Temujin Doran and Katy Scott, CNN
Updated 7:31 AM ET, Mon February 12, 2018

Story highlights
Vantablack absorbs 99.96% of the light that hits its surface
The makers say they have been inundated with requests to use the material
A derivative has been used on a building unveiled at Winter Olympics

(CNN)A building described as the "darkest on Earth" has been unveiled at the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics, in South Korea.
It's the work of British architect Asif Khan, who achieved the super-black effect by coating the building in a revolutionary material that absorbs 99% of light.
The Hyundai Pavilion, which Khan describes as a "schism in space," has four curved walls, each of which is studded with thousands of tiny lights -- like stars against the night sky.
"It will be like you're looking into the depths of space itself," said Khan, ahead of the Games. "As you approach the building that star field will grow to fill your entire field of view, and then you'll enter as though you're being absorbed into a cloud of blackness."
Juxtaposed against the pristine whiteness of the Olympic Winter Games, Khan hopes his building will provoke a philosophical experience by presenting visitors with a "void of infinite depth and possibility."

https://cdn.cnn.com/cnnnext/dam/assets/180207135747-hyundai-pavilion-vantablack-winter-olympics-exlarge-169.jpg

The building's exterior is covered with a substance called Vantablack VBx2, a derivative of nanomaterial Vantablack. Touted as the darkest man-made substance in the world, the original Vantablack is so black the human eye can't quite decipher what it is seeing.
It is said to be the closest thing to a black hole we will ever experience.
That's because Vantablack is not a color, it's the almost complete absence of color.
Since the material was first developed by Surrey NanoSystems three years ago, the British firm has been flooded with inquiries from designers, architects and aerospace engineers -- and even people who want to wrap themselves in it or eat it.
Part of the appeal of the original Vantablack is that it absorbs 99.96% of the light that hits its surface.
"When you have no light reflected back to the viewer, you see nothing, so your brain paints it as black," Ben Jensen, co-founder of Surrey NanoSystems tells CNN.
When used as a coating, Vantablack appears to change the dimensions of an object, rendering 3D objects completely flat.
It's this absence of color, light and depth that first drew Khan to Vantablack.
"To break the fundamental rules of perception, as this material does, turns 3D things into 2D things, it absorbs light instead of reflecting light, it's as powerful as switching off gravity. That's the possibility of it in architecture," said Khan.

Breaking down Vantablack -- can I eat it?

One square centimeter of Vantablack consists of about one billion carbon nanotubes spaced perfectly apart. When light comes in it is bounced around and ultimately trapped and converted to heat.
"Carbon nanotubes are like very, very long blades of grass," explains Jensen. "Now you imagine if you were a human walking around in grass 1,000 feet tall how little light would get down to you. It's like that but on a very tiny scale."
The nanotubes are "grown" under powerful lamps that bring the surface temperature to 430 degrees Celsius or higher.

https://cdn.cnn.com/cnnnext/dam/assets/140716164633-hex-horizontal-large-gallery.jpg
Each carbon nanotube measures roughly one millionth of a millimeter.

The spray-applied version used by Khan isn't based on carbon nanotubes and absorbs 99% of the light that hits its surface.
Vantablack was originally designed for engineering in space, but, since launching in 2014, Jensen has been inundated with requests to use the material.
"The inquiries built like an avalanche... everything from superstars wanting to coat their guitars in it to people wanting to coat their cars in it," he says.
The strangest request Jensen received was from someone wanting to film themselves eating it and then post the video on YouTube. "Obviously that's not a really good idea," Jensen says.
Nor is crafting a little (Vanta)black dress, as the material would irritate your skin, and you'd look like shapeless piece of cardboard.

But the material has been used in a $95,000 limited-edition watch by Swiss watchmaker MCT. Set against a Vantablack background, the elements of the watch seem to be floating in a bottomless void.
The nanotubes are "grown" at temperatures of 430 degrees Celsius or higher.

https://cdn.cnn.com/cnnnext/dam/assets/171107164055-vantablack-watch-2-exlarge-169.jpg
Photos: Vantablack: The world's darkest material
The world's darkest material – Vantablack has been used in various aesthetic applications including this luxury watch by Manufacture Contemporaine du Temps (MCT) in Switzerland.

Blacking out light in space

A company in Sweden is using Vantablack to coat the inside of an optical telescope, which will be attached to a microsatellite. The coating will block stray light from the sun and city lights.
"We would like to make sure that the light that comes from the telescope comes from the atmosphere and not from any disturbing sources," says engineer Arvid Hammer of Omnisys Instruments.
By doing so, scientific researchers can get clearer pictures of the atmosphere and better data to improve current climate models, he explains. This can help make better weather and global warming predictions.

https://cdn.cnn.com/cnnnext/dam/assets/171025112909-darkest-black-pipe-exlarge-169.jpg
Vantablack coated baffle for tracking stars.

Despite this range of applications, Jensen is keen to stress Vantablack cannot simply be "painted" on just anything.
"There's this misconception out there that it's a black paint. It's not," says Jensen. "It's something that's grown through very complex means ... definitely not something you can paint out of a bucket."
Clarification: This story has been updated to better clarify the type of materials architect Asif Khan is using in his designs.


"can i eat it?" NOT a freakin tide pod...:rolleyes:

Thread: Vantablack (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?70566-Vantablack)
Thread: Winter Olympics (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?70589-Winter-Olympics)

[wolfen]

The MSN shows their true totalitarian colors again.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QwJzs-099n0

Liberal's New Hero - by Mark Dice


There’s a new competitive sport at this year’s Winter Olympics in South Korea (http://www.breitbart.com/big-journalism/2018/02/12/mansour-the-olympic-gold-medal-for-sucking-up-to-a-murderous-totalitarian-regime-goes-to/). Its participants are members of the establishment media. Their aim: to s*** up to the despotic regime in North Korea.
...
the current field of play is the media’s fawning coverage of Kim Yo Jong, sister of North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un, who has become the media’s belle of the ball. As a CNN headline put it, she is “stealing the show” at the Winter Olympics.

The Zucker News Network, vying for the gold, trilled about Kim’s ability to offer “a smile, a handshake and a warm message” to fellow attendees. And CNN didn’t stop there: “If ‘diplomatic dance’ were an event at the Winter Olympics,” it added, “Kim Jong Un’s younger sister would be favored to win gold.”

Not to be outdone, Reuters jumped into the competition with this headline: “North Korea heading for diplomacy gold medal at Olympics.”
..

And make no mistake, it is murderous. The North Korean regime is run like a Stalinist police state, enslaving and killing millions of its own people, including his own family members. Human Rights Watch calls it “one of the most repressive authoritarian states in the world,” and Amnesty International agrees. Kim Yo Jong, who heads the “Propaganda and Agitation Department” of the country’s communist party, is a major bloody cog in that monstrous system. For the unfortunate souls who live under her family’s regime, any rejection of her propaganda will get you a death sentence or your entire family a prison sentence.

On that last point, United Nations inspector Michael Kirby spoke in 2013 about the “unspeakable atrocities” committed in North Korea’s political prison camps, including “survivors who suffered through childhoods of starvation”–forced to survive on lizards, rodents, and grass–due to the regime’s practice of “guilt by association” to punish “other generations for a family member’s perceived political views or affiliation.” Kirby also heard testimony of women forced to drown their own babies in buckets.

If there were any justice in this world, Sister Kim would be locked up for crimes against humanity. But instead, the establishment corporate media piles on the praise, making themselves once again useful idiots for a mass murderer’s propaganda machine.

Why would anyone with a scintilla of moral discernment do this? I can think of three reasons:

1. The Media ♥ Commies

The establishment media has had an historic romance with communism. Back in 1932, The New York Times won a Pulitzer Prize for its completely false coverage—whitewashing the evil darkness—of Joseph Stalin’s deliberately induced famine in Ukraine, then an unwilling part of the Soviet Union. That planned calamity killed millions (we might note that the words “killed millions” and “communism” go well together). Then, in the 1950s, the Times ladled equally laudatory coverage on another communist monster, Fidel Castro.

And the more howlingly anti-American a communist regime is—and most, if not all, of them have been—the more love the media bestows on them. So, is it any wonder they love Sister Kim? After all, her brother—the man who has repeatedly threatened to nuke the U.S.—is an honorary member of the #Resistance.

2. “Okay, so he’s killed a lot of people, but I’ll ask him about that in the interview!”

In addition to its left-wing-ness, the establishment media has another ideology: ego gratification. Reporters would love nothing more than to get the “get.” And the big “get” rigjt now is an interview with Kim Jong Un. They are happy to walk over corpses to get access to him. So, they are sucking up to the North Koreans any which way they can; the industry jargon is “beat sweetening.”

Of course, there’s nothing new about this cynical tactic. Back in 2003, Eason Jordan, a top CNN executive, confessed that his network went easy on Iraq to maintain its access to Saddam Hussein. On this point, former Bush 43 press secretary Ari Fleischer nailed it when he tweeted:

3. Sister Kim might have murdered people, but Mike Pence won’t bake gay wedding cakes!

For the establishment media, pro-North Korea coverage is also anti-Mike Pence coverage. As The New York Times put it, “Without a word, only flashing smiles, Kim Jong-un’s sister outflanked Vice President Mike Pence in diplomacy.” Take that, Pence!

Yes, the media finds it pleasing, for PC reasons, to depict Pence as worse than the North Korean dictatrix. Okay, mass-murder is bad, but Pence-style social conservatism is worse.

You think that that’s too strong a statement? That I’m exaggerating the nature of establishment media bias?

Let me introduce you to this year’s Gold Medalist for Morally Bankrupt Murderous Tyrant Bootlicking: Jeet Heer of The New Republic.

Heer tweeted on February 10: “Do you realize how massively you have to f*** up so that Kim Jong Un’s family looks good by comparison? But Trump & Pence have pulled it off.”

So there you have it: Pence, and, of course, Trump, are worse than the murderous North Korean regime.

[wolfen]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Srg1O7uzldY

Fake News Pushes North Korea Propaganda | Michael Malice and Stefan Molyneux

Michael Malice is the author of Dear Reader: The Unauthorized Autobiography of Kim Jong Il 2014
(https://www.amazon.ca/Dear-Reader-Unauthorized-Autobiography-Jong/dp/1495283259)

[GeneChing]

Olympic Athletes Will Still Get Free McDonald's Food (http://www.foodandwine.com/news/olympic-athletes-free-mcdonalds-food)

https://imagesvc.timeincapp.com/v3/mm/image?url=http%3A%2F%2Fcdn-image.foodandwine.com%2Fsites%2Fdefault%2Ffiles%2F styles%2Fmedium_2x%2Fpublic%2Fmcdonalds-olympics-2018-ft-blog0218.jpg%3Fitok%3DZ64pnW7N&w=800&q=85
BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI / Getty Images

Despite McDonald's ending its partnership with the Olympics, McDonald's Korea will continue to indulge the appetites of PyeongChang's athletes.

ELISABETH SHERMAN February 09, 2018
There are many perks to being an Olympic athlete: The medals, the world travels, the adoring fans whom they inspire and encourage. Also, there’s the free fast food. For the past 41 years, McDonald’s has been an official sponsor of the Olympic games, but last year that partnership abruptly came to an end. Will that stop the South Korean arm of the chain from giving out free food to athletes? No, not at all.

Last summer, McDonald’s decided to end its three-year contract with the Olympics early—the company had originally intended to continue sponsoring the games up until the 2020 summer Olympics in Tokyo. In recent years the IOC has faced criticism that sponsors like McDonald’s and Coca-Cola conflict with the healthy lifestyle that most athletes promote and embody.

McDonald’s will still be allowed to have a presence in Pyeongchang this year, however, and it’s capitalizing on the opportunity by opening two locations in Gangneung—one of which is shaped like a burger and fries. Those locations will still offer free meals to the competing athletes. Demand for those Big Macs is so high, in fact, that during the 2016 Olympic Games, McDonald’s actually had to put a cap on the number of items an athlete is allowed to order at one time at 20.

For the average person, 20 McDonald’s menu items at once might seem like a lot of food, but remember that these athletes are training into the early hours of the morning, making demands of their bodies us non-Olympians probably can’t even imagine. As Michael Phelps recently told Food & Wine, at the height of his career he was eating as many as 10,000 calories per day—and a few cheeseburgers and boxes of chicken nuggets goes a long way in contributing to that lofty number.

While Phelps explains that he tried to be as healthy as possibly during the games, only indulging after he checked out of the Olympic village, his attitude at least seems as though it’s unique: McDonald’s is so popular among the athletes, the company literally had to tell them to stop ordering so much food. Maybe that will put things in perspective next time you’re feeling guilty about stopping by McDonald’s for a Big Mac (or two).


Thread: Winter Olympics (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?70589-Winter-Olympics)
Thread: McDonalds (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?65572-McDonalds)

[Jimbo]

I read that Winter Olympics viewership this year is WAY down from the Sochi Olympics. I can see why. IMO, Olympics in general are boring, and the Winter Olympics even more so. Maybe the North/South Korea/political stuff also has something to do with it.

I did watch the opening ceremony and thought it was so-so. The Korean opera singer was amazing, but the Koreans' rendition of John Lennon's 'Imagine' was terrible. It sounded off-key and like someone was being tortured. Others seemed to like it. I know it's the popular trend nowadays to say that EVERYTHING from South Korea is great, but IMO just coming from there alone does not guarantee something is good.

Of course, as opening (and closing) ceremonies go, ANY country will have a tough time following the epic scale of those of the Beijing Summer Olympics.

[wolfen]

but the Koreans' rendition of John Lennon's 'Imagine' was terrible. It sounded off-key and like someone was being tortured. Others seemed to like it. I know it's the popular trend nowadays to say that EVERYTHING from South Korea is great, but IMO just coming from there alone does not guarantee something is good.
.

The Song "Imagine" is a Communist anthem. It is hilarious that the South Koreans would sing it It is a good example of how politics permeates popular culture without the population even being aware of it, They can't see the forest for the trees.
If the world described in Imagine came true, life for everyone would be absolute H3ll, Imagine describes a Stalinist Ste on Steroids. It's a deceptive fantasy, a ravening totalitarian wolf in liberal sheep's clothing.
..
The mood is pleasant , soothing and loving, the lyrics describe world slavery. A world without religion, possessions and countries and where everyone is exactly the same (poor and enslaved) has already been achieved under Stalin and Mao. And shortly it may be achieved again in Europe, Canada and then America, The song closely follows the method of current MSN cultural propaganda - telling soothing pleasant lies to disguise a stealth war on human freedom.

South Korea is 99 percent Korean and will stay that way. In 12 years if America begins to collapse like Europe and Canada you may wish you lived there.



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q6Uws-D_cOM


Imagine Communism

[wolfen]

Imagine is now more like the New World Order or Globalist Anthem. Before the election of DJT, The NWO was once an Alex Jones Conspiracy myth, now Open Borders and Globalism is openly advocated by the EU and the American Globalist Propaganda machine , the MSN. They have come out of the closet.


Imagine a world with no borders,
Imagine America as a h3ll hole,
Everyone all the same,
Nothing to live or die for,
It's easy if you try....



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LtPL__CGCJw

"Imagine" is the anthem of the New World Order (Global Communism!)


Ben Shapiro trashes John Lennon's "Imagine" (video link) (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ej0NBRwht-w)


Imagine Communism - John Lennon - (Video Link) (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YO6OwKyaLDY)

[Jimbo]

The Song "Imagine" is a Communist anthem. It is hilarious that the South Koreans would sing it It is a good example of how politics permeates popular culture without the population even being aware of it, They can't see the forest for the trees.
If the world described in Imagine came true, life for everyone would be absolute H3ll, Imagine describes a Stalinist Ste on Steroids. It's a deceptive fantasy, a ravening totalitarian wolf in liberal sheep's clothing.
..
The mood is pleasant , soothing and loving, the lyrics describe world slavery. A world without religion, possessions and countries and where everyone is exactly the same (poor and enslaved) has already been achieved under Stalin and Mao. And shortly it may be achieved again in Europe, Canada and then America, The song closely follows the method of current MSN cultural propaganda - telling soothing pleasant lies to disguise a stealth war on human freedom.

South Korea is 99 percent Korean and will stay that way. In 12 years if America begins to collapse like Europe and Canada you may wish you lived there.



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q6Uws-D_cOM


Imagine Communism

I always took John Lennon's Imagine to mean nothing left to fight and hate over; a naive, idealistic peace fantasy. As I recall, John Lennon did not think Mao was cool at all. From his song Revolution:

'But if you go carrying pictures of Chairman Mao,
You ain't gonna make it with anyone anyhow.'

And as far as me wishing I lived in South Korea: I don't think so. I'm of Japanese descent, and Korea (North and South) is probably the most anti-Japanese country on the planet. Even though I did have a pleasant traveling experience in S. Korea 27 years ago. No, I'm quite happy where I am. Anywhere you run to to avoid the 'globalists' or the 'Marxists' or the 'Bilderbergers' or whoever the Bogeymen are will have its own issues and can 'collapse'. Some guy was advocating that all smart Americans pack up and move to the Brazilian jungle to start a large American community to avoid the collapse. Yeah, great idea.

[wolfen]

The politics that is heard from the MSN on the Olympics coverage is not merely North/South Politics. The MSN is using the event to wage Globalist Propaganda war on the American people.

If anyone listens to anything from the MSN , there is no escape from politics, The MSN pursues the Globalist agenda of eliminating all individual freedom and individual choice in America and installing a Globalist Totalitarian State. With the MSN every aspect of a person's life is politics. All of us must be "Reprogrammed". There is no escape from it.
Personally, I don't listen to the MSN, nothing , no Cable TV, no newspapers, no radio. I get my news from the internet, I only hear about what the MSN is saying from the internet or inadvertently. The alternative internet has everything that is important - most of the MSN "News" is just propaganda or irrelevant distraction. It takes a great deal of strength of mind to turn off the MSN and disconnect the cable, but once it's done it's just like kicking a bad food addiction or smoking which I did years ago) - you feel wonderful and you never want to go back.

If anyone listens to the MSN and thinks they are not involved in politics then they have been successfully manipulated and are unaware of how the strings are being pulled.
Take a litmus test. What did the MSN say about the War in Europe, the Slow Death of Europe.. Today? Yesterday? Last Week?
About Islamification? FGM? Honor Killings? Islamic Terrorism? Islamic Jihad?
About illegal immigrant crime in California?
... <crickets>....
Their main method of deceit is lying by omission. That is what being re-pilled means - not to learn to "truth", but to learn the full information what the MSN has hidden. Once you see behind the curtain, you'll never go back to the matrix. That is why they are now so desperate to censor the internet, ..google, youtube, facebook etc.



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SQ6p7pZbyMA

Media Hearts North Korea | The Andrew Klavan Show Ep. 460


Amoung other things Andrew Klavan goes over the history of the Olympics - how the MSN has praised tyranny - even listen to how they gushed over Adolph Hitler.

[wolfen]

I always took John Lennon's Imagine to mean nothing left to fight and hate over; a naive, idealistic peace fantasy. As I recall, John Lennon did not think Mao was cool at all. From his song Revolution:

'But if you go carrying pictures of Chairman Mao,
You ain't gonna make it with anyone anyhow.'

And as far as me wishing I lived in South Korea: I don't think so. I'm of Japanese descent, and Korea (North and South) is probably the most anti-Japanese country on the planet. Even though I did have a pleasant traveling experience in S. Korea 27 years ago. No, I'm quite happy where I am. Anywhere you run to to avoid the 'globalists' or the 'Marxists' or the 'Bilderbergers' or whoever the Bogeymen are will have its own issues and can 'collapse'. Some guy was advocating that all smart Americans pack up and move to the Brazilian jungle to start a large American community to avoid the collapse. Yeah, great idea.

Yes the lie in the imagine song is that nothing to hate and fight over means peace and happiness. If you don't hate tyranny and fight for freedom, you don't have it. Just because Lennon said something negative about Mao doesn't mean he wasn't a liberal socialist and that his "naive peace fantasy" wasn't in fact a prescription for totalitarianism. Lennon was rich and privileged, he got rich telling people fantasies and illusions, he would never have to suffer he consequences of open borders and his liberal fantasies.

Well, if you are Japanese, you can escape to Japan. If you are privileged in America you may last longer than most common folk but your descendants if you have way will not. You just look at Europe, not the MSN's Europe, the real Europe - that is your future.
Japan is remaining nationalistic and they don't allow any immigrant invaders to destroy their country nor do they have a Globalist propaganda machine attacking their national identity. . Donald Trump did not stop the destruction of America, he merely slowed it down a little. If you knew something other than what the MSN is telling you you would know this.
I don't recommend Brazil, I recommend Asia. Europe is Dead, Canada is Swedenstan 2.0 and becoming a Stalinist Sate, When Europe goes, America will be alone and most probable descend into Chaos.
Forewarned is Forearmed. You will not be blithely practicing individual Martial Arts in a One Party Globalist State in 2030. Maybe you will be practicing Government-Fu like the Chinese.


You think Globalism is some kind of boogeyman? Everything that is happening in America is a war between Globalism and Nationalism, between totalitarianism and individual freedom.
Trudeau declared he would make Canada into a Post-Nationalist country. He is succeeding. THIS IS GLOBALISM.

How many families do you think own the MSN in America? Five? Seven? Do you think that could possibly mean anything, seven people maybe less, deciding what all the American MSN will say and what people will think? I know that the lie is so well done, the illusion created seems so nice and pleasant, so "reasonable" and groovy that it doesn't seem to matter that all the information is coming from a small group of people that own 95 percent of the wealth and have an agenda. .
The American people are under assault 24/7 from Globalist Propaganda. How is it you can "mistrust" DJT and those "people in Washington" and yet totally trust everything the MSN is telling you? Almost everything important that is told the people about politics and is a lie.They are truly the enemy of the people The MSN is the bogeyman's mouthpiece. Do you not see the attacks made on every single individual and every single group by the MSN?What would it take to redpill you I wonder?
How can the Bogeyman not exist, when the Bogeyman is whispering in your ear every minute of every day?
..
Do you think the Cultural Marxist assault on human beings is some kind of fantasy? Do you understand what "Cultural Marxism means? u Do you not see SJW's at work every day trying to destroy the lives and freedom of people and the MSN telling you how "good" if it is to be re-programmed?
...
If America goes like Europe you may wish you were in the Brazilian Jungle. Europe no longer exists a s "Europe" anymore or didn't you know? Of course you don't know, the MSN doesn't want you to know. The people of Europe certainly do know. They know everything is wrong but even as they are being led to their deaths they don't know why.

The thing about totalitarian control of the media is that nothing is real. the reality of the lives of people will never match the propaganda image of what their lives are supposed to be.

For instance the IMAGE of feminism is more important than women. In order to promote the image of feminism, millions of women can be killed or raped just to maintain the image. In the propaganda world only the image is real, people are not real.
From the way you phrased things, it doesn't seem you understand your society, you don't seem to understated the words like "Marxism" you are using. Actually the people engaging in the processes of civilizational suicide and self-destruction don't think about themselves much or understand what they are doing. They are only reacting emotionally without using their intellectual rational function. To the SJW's , even though they are practicing Cultural Marxism they have no understanding of what it is.

The manipulative propaganda job is done so well on people that even at the point of death, even as the bomb drops on them , even as they are sent to the gulag they have no understanding of what is happening to them.
Take for instance in one of the London Islamic Jihadist knife attacks (that of course had nothing to do with Islam :rolleyes: ) .. as the Muslim was coming to kill them, one guy said "Damm Muslims!" and the guy next to him said "Don't be racist".
..
If you practice Martial arts I would suggest try to use some strength of mind from the practice to resist the manipulative control of the MSN Globalist Propaganda machine. I guess the first thing to accomplish is to become aware that you are in a propaganda bubble.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kYmTFL9nbRQ

The Mass Brainwashing of Germany

Capitulation This is the canary in the coal mine. It is dead. It's has passed on. It is not a real canary anymore, it's feet are nailed to the perch

[Jimbo]

I said I'm of Japanese descent. That is not the same as being native Japanese. Look at Japan's treatment of Brazilian-born Japanese who were living in Japan doing the dirty work most native Japanese won't. Japan wanted them out. Japanese descent does NOT equal being accepted or treated as Japanese in Japan. Move there? Not for me. From the outside, any place can seem perfect until you realize it isn't. Japan and South Korea also have among the world's highest suicide rates. I wonder why. And wish I were in the Brazilian jungle? How much do you know about living and surviving in the jungle? I'll bet you dollars to donuts most Brazilians wouldn't know how.

I'm aware of quite a bit more than you think. I just don't like constantly worrying or proselytizing about it. I can choose to live my entire life in fear and anxiety, or choose to make my bit of the world a better place for myself and those in my life. I choose the latter. If that makes me ignorant or a lesser human, so be it. Constant fear, worry and self-righteousness is not good for quality of life, and can kill as well as any terminal disease.

Besides, anything can happen anywhere.

[wolfen]

I said I'm of Japanese descent. That is not the same as being native Japanese. Look at Japan's treatment of Brazilian-born Japanese who were living in Japan doing the dirty work most native Japanese won't. Japan wanted them out. Japanese descent does NOT equal being accepted or treated as Japanese in Japan. Move there? Not for me. From the outside, any place can seem perfect until you realize it isn't. Japan and South Korea also have among the world's highest suicide rates. I wonder why. And wish I were in the Brazilian jungle? How much do you know about living and surviving in the jungle? I'll bet you dollars to donuts most Brazilians wouldn't know how.

I'm aware of quite a bit more than you think. I just don't like constantly worrying or proselytizing about it. I can choose to live my entire life in fear and anxiety, or choose to make my bit of the world a better place for myself and those in my life. I choose the latter. If that makes me ignorant or a lesser human, so be it. Constant fear, worry and self-righteousness is not good for quality of life, and can kill as well as any terminal disease.

Besides, anything can happen anywhere.

I'm well aware of Asian and Japanese Racism. But it has some good effects in protecting those countries form the ongoing Globalist War from the West.
So no Korea, no Japan, well then, there is always HK, China the Philippines and the rest of SE Asia. Andy one of those places will be a safe haven when the bubble pops. A perfect place is not needs, just a safe place.

Well you know, the solution to the threat of to high suicide rates is simply not to commit suicide. :rolleyes:

The thing about the Brazilian jungle is that a form of it is coming to you. Being prepared for it, doesn't mean you have to be afraid and anxious. You can use your Martial Arts to conquer your fear and remain calm in a world of threat, oppression and violence.

So my take is that you said you are making the world a better place for yourself but you don't want to worry about it or "proselytize" (?) about making it a better place. That does not compute. It sounds like words used to make a emotional protective bubble. I suppose that works,
..
Anything can happen anywhere, but knowing what is happening here and now is what is important.

In the following video, the German MSN are completely exposed as liars and propagandists in the face of social collapse brought about by the European Globalists. The same thing is happening in America, the consequences are so far hidden and disguised by the MSN.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lTZZ_lcV1kY

Tommy Robinson: Germany Fights Back!

(..but obviously to anyone, Germany is losing.)

[Jimbo]

I'm well aware of Asian and Japanese Racism. But it has some good effects in protecting those countries form the ongoing Globalist War from the West.
So no Korea, no Japan, well then, there is always HK, China the Philippines and the rest of SE Asia. Andy one of those places will be a safe haven when the bubble pops. A perfect place is not needs, just a safe place.

Well you know, the solution to the threat of to high suicide rates is simply not to commit suicide. :rolleyes:

The thing about the Brazilian jungle is that a form of it is coming to you. Being prepared for it, doesn't mean you have to be afraid and anxious. You can use your Martial Arts to conquer your fear and remain calm in a world of threat, oppression and violence.

So my take is that you said you are making the world a better place for yourself but you don't want to worry about it or "proselytize" (?) about making it a better place. That does not compute. It sounds like words used to make a emotional protective bubble. I suppose that works,
..
Anything can happen anywhere, but knowing what is happening here and now is what is important.

In the following video, the German MSN are completely exposed as liars and propagandists in the face of social collapse brought about by the European Globalists. The same thing is happening in America, the consequences are so far hidden and disguised by the MSN.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lTZZ_lcV1kY

Tommy Robinson: Germany Fights Back!

(..but obviously to anyone, Germany is losing.)

I think you're twisting my meaning. I'm not afraid or anxious. I said I choose not to live in fear, not that I do. That isn't creating an "emotional protective bubble", as you say. Constantly obsessing over a thing IS anxiety. I could say something like you're fleeing the West in fear; or that you'd LIKE the collapse to happen so you could say, "I told you so." But I won't, because I don't know you, and what you do with your life is none of my business, anyway. I would expect that same courtesy from you. If you're in a place where you're happy and feel secure in, why do you care so much about everybody else that you feel aren't? By 'proselytizing' I mean the constant preaching and fear-mongering that makes no one's life better, and in fact turns many (most?) people off from caring to learn about the truth.

And regarding Japan and S. Korea's extremely high suicide rates: Have you ever wondered WHY they are so high? The solution would be in revealing what about life there has driven so many to it. Like the opioid epidemic in the States. 'Just don't use opioids'. Well, what is the root cause or reason for it? Otherwise, 'just say no' isn't going to do squat. Personally, I'm not the suicide type. But there is no solution to the problem by only addressing the outer symptoms without examining and treating the root cause(s). Suggesting 'just don't commit suicide' does nothing to address the societal issues that drive so many to do it in the first place. That would require a monumental cultural self-examination and overhaul that will likely never happen.

Oh, yes, and I am aware of the 'liberal media' and politicians, global elites, and what has been planned. I started becoming aware of these things more than 20 years ago. Unfortunately, the 'right' isn't much better. They're two arms attached to the same body to give the illusion of 'sides'. Anybody who believes THE ANSWER is in the next politician (experienced or not) is sadly mistaken. It hasn't worked out for the past few centuries.

That's as far as I'm going on this subject here. Anyway, we'll have to agree to disagree on certain things.

[wolfen]

One of the Guests is Sean Kanan from Karate Kid 3

"Ha, Ha, You're Dream's Dead"



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DBKHa0iNz6M

Greg Gutfeld's review of the Winter Olympics

[Jimbo]

Wolfen, I'm aware of far more than you think I am. The difference between us is that I don't choose to write about these things in every single post. That's not 'feels', that's fact. Perhaps there's some level of delusion on your part to think that anyone who has a different opinion from you is therefore ignorant. Or perhaps you're still in 'the matrix' and believe the old 'liberal' vs 'conservative' argument that only serves to create division while the real ones in power sit back and laugh.

And your suggestion that Westerners abandon the US, Canada and Europe to resettle in Asia is ironic, considering that's exactly what you've been complaining about with the waves of migrants from North Africa, the Middle East and South Asia flooding into Europe.

No, you're no more right on this than I am. But it's obvious you're going to continue believing only you know what's really going on and everybody else is ignorant. Up to now I've chosen to be respectful on the matter. The fact is, nobody convinces anybody to their side by getting in their face and shrilly screaming that they're ignorant, wrong, stupid, etc., etc. It doesn't work for the 'anti-fascists', the 'white nationalists', the BLM movement; and certainly not for the #metoo militants.

All of which has nothing at all to do with the Olympics, which is what this thread is/was about.

[Jimbo]

Great postings on this and the BP thread Wolfen. Jimbo treated me this way in a thread several years ago. It is what he does. It is what they all do. They do one of two response: 1) ignore you 2) ridicule you. You are dealing with a belief system here. Belief= religion. As you point out, full of emotion, run by emotion, ruled by emotion. You will not change these beliefs but that does not mean you should not make the authors of them uncomfortable.

SKM, I have no idea what you're talking about. Treated you 'this way' regarding what? If you can't answer that, you have no point to make.

[Jimbo]

So you don't have an answer. OK, fine. If you'd been able to give a clear example and prove I was clearly wrong about something, or being impolite to you personally, I would have manned up and apologized if I was wrong. I never said I was perfect.

Now who's the one ruled by emotion?

[GeneChing]

Delaware grad and tai chi master training Olympic athletes in Pyeongchang (https://www.delawareonline.com/story/news/education/2018/02/20/delaware-grad-and-tai-chi-master-training-olympic-athletes-pyeongchang/352772002/)
Jessica Bies, The News Journal Published 9:46 a.m. ET Feb. 20, 2018 | Updated 10:16 a.m. ET Feb. 20, 2018

https://www.gannett-cdn.com/-mm-/54bfc50989482a4f1c742b6346165bb256757ecf/c=253-0-4546-3228&r=x404&c=534x401/local/-/media/2018/02/19/USATODAY/USATODAY/636546647697206160-USP-Olympics--Speed-Skating.jpg
South Korea and Norway fans wave flags during a venue victory ceremony for men's speedskating 500m during the Pyeongchang 2018 Olympic Winter Games at Gangneung Ice Arena in Pyeongchang, South Korea.
(Photo: JEFFREY SWINGER, USA TODAY Sports)

A St. Andrew's School graduate and tai chi instructor is in Pyeongchang, South Korea, this month working with the U.S. Olympic speedskating team.

Tai chi is just one of several out-of-the-box training ideas U.S. Speedskating has embraced since a disastrous showing at the 2014 Olympics in Sochi, Russia, The New York Times reported. The team won one silver medal.

Though athletes originally blamed their poor performance on speedskating suits made by Under Armour, experts have since determined the racers just weren't as good as they thought they were. They were underprepared and overhyped for the games.



Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/SASDelaware/posts/10156248272997422)

https://scontent.fsnc1-1.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-0/p526x296/27972171_10156248253657422_8618127523108961962_n.j pg?oh=7392754998cd0f988621baec32b97c6a&oe=5B1C8CFD

St. Andrew's School
February 19 at 12:22pm ·
St. Andrew’s goes to South Korea!
We are so excited to follow the U.S. Olympic Speedskaters as Mark Cheng ’90 is an essential member of their training team. His successful work with the athletes as a tai chi instructor last spring at their annual strength and conditioning camp led him to continue on as “Mindfulness and Recovery Specialist” for the team.

Here he is on Friday in a photo sent to Al Wood, our St. Andrew’s Director of Athletics. Cheng wrote, “Ready to jump into a long day of work here with US Speedskating on the Gangneung coast for the Pyeongchang Olympics. Repping SAS all the way!”

Good luck, Team USA… The Saints are on your side!

For more of his story, read this article in the New York Times: https://www.nytimes.com/…/speedskating-pyeongchang-games.ht…

Since then, both U.S. Speedskating and Under Armour have been working together to turn things around. In addition to spending $240,000 a year in gear and cash, the clothing company has brought on an eclectic group of advisers, including a fitness guru, a Tour de France cycling veteran, a Navy Seal, a sleep expert and Delaware-native tai chi master, Mark Cheng.

Cheng's successful work with the athletes as a tai chi instructor last spring at their annual strength and conditioning camp led him to continue on as “Mindfulness and Recovery Specialist” for the team. Tai chi helps reduce stress and relax athletes, as well as helping with breathing. Cheng has also been teaching the athletes to meditate.


drmarkcheng (https://www.instagram.com/p/BfPv28eAuKT/?utm_source=ig_embed)
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drmarkchengMy iPhone X camera can’t even come close to capturing the speed that these dudes manifest on this ice. Watching them floor it when they train inspires me in ways you can’t even imagine! So honored to be part of the @usspeedskating staff here at the @pyeongchang2018 @olympics!
#winterolympics2018 #gangneung #pyeongchang2018 #speedskating #iceicebaby #korea #highperformance #speed #uatraining #wewill #passionconnected

One speedskater, Aaron Tran, even gave Cheng a shoutout on Twitter this week. Tran did not make it past the qualifications of the 500 meters Tuesday and will leave South Korea without an individual medal.

Cheng has been tweeting at him and other Olympic athletes and praising for them for their work ethic and resilience, even in the face of huge disappointment.



20 Feb

Dr. Mark Cheng
@DrMarkCheng
Your attitude is what makes you so awesome & so much fun to work with. I’ll gladly have your back anytime! #respect https://twitter.com/aaronvaughntran/status/965909264656199680 …


Aaron Tran
✔
@AaronVaughnTran
Thanks man! But you're the real man 😆 You have so much knowledge and understanding, and have a good way to apply those in an effective way. It's an honor to work with you! #TeamUSA

4:46 AM - Feb 20, 2018
1
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Tran told Cheng he's helped him develop that mindset.

'You have so much knowledge and understanding and have a good way to apply those in an effective way," Tran told Cheng. "It's an honor to work with you! #TeamUSA"

Cheng said he is representing St. Andrew's School in Middletown at the games in South Korea. He graduated from the Episcopal, co-educational boarding school in 1990.

“Ready to jump into a long day of work here with U.S. Speedskating on the Gangneung coast for the Pyeongchang Olympics," he told the school's athletic director Al Wood in an email last week. "Repping SAS all the way!”


drmarkcheng (https://www.instagram.com/p/BfS3EzKAMNs/?utm_source=ig_embed)
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drmarkchengUp in the house with @celskeet & @thomasishong to cheer on @usspeedskating teammates @thejessicakooreman, @biney.biney, & @lagehring1 for the Ladies’ 1500m Short Tracks heats here in Gangneung for the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics!
#winterolympics #speedskating #korea #squad #pyeongchang2018

Cheng, who has a private practice in Santa Monica, California, and works with patients recovering from surgery or in rehabilitation, grew up and went to school in Delaware. His parents are immigrants who still live in Delaware, and his father, Cheng Yu-Nien, started teaching him Chinese martial arts when he was 4 years old.

Find more pictures of Cheng at the Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang at https://www.instagram.com/DrMarkCheng/.

Contact Jessica Bies at (302) 324-2881 or jbies@delawareonline.com. Follow her on Twitter @jessicajbies.


I'm going to copy this Winter Olympics (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?70589-Winter-Olympics) post to the Olympic T'ai ji quan form (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?24095-Olympic-T-ai-ji-quan-form), which I'm hijacking for this particular topic (that decade & a half old thread is way off base anyway :p ).

[Jimbo]

Take it easy. I was only pointing out a defect of character, dismissive condescension, that you used on me and that I saw you use on Wolfen. You told Wolfen that he takes up a lot of space writing too much, taking up too much bandwidth, and being off-topic. I invite anyone to read your posts which are long, winded, and are frequently off topic. If you honestly disagree with somebody, have an honest discussion. It looks rather silly to accuse someone of that which you are doing. I find Wolfens posts refreshing and he does cite sources. Something most martial artists seem to be incapable of or unwilling to do, preferring rather to pretend they invented every idea they propose.

Your last post reveals another defect of character. You are always trying to be right; to be dominate. You claim to be an excellent martial artist, in past posts, with over 30 years of training and experience. If so, then work on letting that reflect in your words. Fewer words if possible.

There is a core of about 12 of you on this forum that dominate the entire forum. The moderators and their buddies are the in-group here. You use this forum as a digital dojo. I suggest you spend more time in the physical dojo and sweat until you cannot stand up, then your authentic truths will reveal themselves and you might have something profound to share.

There are a lot of people on this forum. Rather than the same dozen people constantly posting, let's hear from the new people. Quit intimidating them into remaining lurkers. Are you up for that? And before you say you and others do not do that, yes you do. Be honest with yourself. This forum has turned from a potential gold mine clearing house of martial information into a celebrity and movie site. Personally, when I want to read that stuff I can go to looper.com. You helped create this situation.

If you do not like what Wolfen says to you, complain and the moderators can expunge his posts, then this forum can join twitter, Facebook, and google in their quest for censorship. Would that make you and the in-group comfortable? I doubt it.

I have nothing against you personally. I am only pointing out the patterns I see you do. Change your patterns, the way you treat people; start asking questions rather than telling people what their opinion is, have open, equilateral discussion, and watch the magic. It is a great opportunity for you to upgrade yourself. So relax. It's all good, man.

No problem, SKM. I actually never thought we had a problem. To be clear, I've never referred to myself as an excellent MAist, only that I've been around the block a few times over the years and occasionally try to share some insights on that. I don't like online bullying and never have done it, but if that's the impression I'm giving anyone, I'll look into that. I've always said, I always try to remain civil online, and write as I would actually speak to someone in person. But I also feel I must correct someone if they are misinterpreting what I'm saying (whether purposefully or not). And to be fair, on any forum only a relatively small number of members actually post regularly. And I suspect that participation in martial arts-related forums has fallen over the years.

I have nothing against wolfen or his posts, except maybe the tone of some of them, and I've never yet complained about someone or tried to get them banned.

As far as this becoming a movie site, I only post that stuff in the martial media forum, with the exception of the Hollywood Secret thread in this forum, because I didn't feel a thread exposing sexual abuse was appropriate in the entertainment-related forum.

Anyway, it's all good.

[GeneChing]

For the record, we have had some unofficial complaints about Wolfen's posts recently. A few have threatened to leave on his account. If enough leave, well, despite this forum being open to the public, it is privately run and membership is a privilege that can be revoked at any point. And at it's heart, our forum is a capitalist venture, so when the numbers fall, heads must roll. We offer this as forum as a public service, however our take is we get eyeballs, and our web platforms thrive on those. But this is not an 'official' warning really, just a side note, because those complaints aren't official yet.

As for the dozen or so that 'dominate' this forum, anyone can post here. Even Wolfen at this point. This forum is what you make of it. Relevance is relevant I suppose, especially here in the off topic sub forum. :rolleyes:

[GeneChing]

There are some embedded vids behind the link.

I'll also plug my article from last week here because it's relevant to Jack Ma & the Olympics: Natasha Liu Bordizzo on Gong Shou Dao (The Art of Attack and Defense)
(http://www.kungfumagazine.com/ezine/article.php?article=1402)

2018 Olympics
Alibaba bets on Olympics to make it a household name (http://money.cnn.com/2018/02/20/news/companies/alibaba-olympics-brand/index.html)
by Sherisse Pham @Sherisse
February 20, 2018: 10:36 PM ET

Alibaba is ready to compete on the world stage.

China's biggest e-commerce company just made its debut as an Olympic sponsor at the Winter Games in Pyeongchang. Its massive pavilion at the event is a stone's throw from those of Coca-Cola (KO), McDonald's (MCD) and Samsung (SSNLF).

Those brands have instant global recognition, something that remains elusive for Alibaba (BABA) -- for now.

The Chinese company made a big splash when it went public on the New York Stock Exchange in 2014 with the world's largest IPO. Chairman Jack Ma frequently pops up at major international events like Davos, and he drew attention with a photo op with President Trump last year.

But Alibaba's "brand awareness outside China is not commensurate with its size," said Junhong Chu, a marketing professor at the National University of Singapore.

The company, whose market value is bigger than that of Walmart (WMT), is banking on its Olympic sponsorship to help change the situation.

Brands pay millions of dollars to snag the highest level of Olympic sponsorship. To join that elite club, they must commit to a minimum four-year contract and fork over some serious cash. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) predicts it will make $1 billion from the program for the 2013-2016 period.

The companies that sign on to become top sponsors are typically household names, such as Toyota (TM), GE (GE) and Visa (V).

Alibaba joined them in 2017. Financial terms of Olympic sponsorships are not made public, but it is reported to have spent $800 million for a deal lasting through 2028.

http://i2.cdn.turner.com/money/dam/assets/180216144304-alibaba-pyeongchang-olympics-780x439.jpg
Alibaba's pavilion in Gangneung Olympic Park is near those of Coca-Cola, Samsung and McDonald's.

The Chinese company's big Olympic debut comes as one top American brand is leaving the party. McDonald's announced in June that it would end its decades-long deal with the Olympics three years early.

Alibaba is stepping in "at a very critical time," the company's chief marketing officer, Chris Tung, said in an email to CNNMoney. It will use its technology to help make the Olympics "more efficient, secure and engaging," he added.

So while sports fans won't be catching any Big Mac commercials during the Pyeongchang Games, they will see Alibaba's ad campaign.

"This is Alibaba's global coming-out party," said John Gutteridge, Asia Pacific CEO of advertising firm J. Walter Thompson Company.

Its commercials feature stories of underdog athletes or small acts of kindness that took place at past Olympics.

"To the greatness of small" is the campaign's tag line. And all the commercials end with the following phrase written in white on a black screen: "Alibaba empowers small businesses and young people around the world."

The company is also sponsoring some Olympics-related content on CNN Digital during the Games.

For someone who has never heard of Alibaba, its Olympic commercials do little to clarify what the company does. But it might prompt them to find out, according to Chu.

Research suggests that people often respond to ads with online searches, she said, suggesting that if consumers hear about Alibaba during the Olympics, and their interest is piqued, they will do their own research into the company.

Wooing U.S. businesses

Alibaba is often called the Amazon (AMZN) of China, and much like its U.S. rival, the company has expanded well beyond its original e-commerce business. It has a growing cloud computing business, operates a major video site and is affiliated with a massive digital payments platform. It's even expanding into brick-and-mortar stores in China.

It is also trying build up its business in the U.S., holding a big conference in Detroit in June to encourage American small businesses and farmers to sell their products to Chinese consumers through Alibaba platforms.

Expanding internationally has so far proved tough for Alibaba because its e-commerce sites and other main services are tailored to the Chinese market.

As part of its Olympics sponsorship, Alibaba became the official cloud services provider and e-commerce platform for the Games, as well as a founding partner of the Olympic Channel.

But raising its profile significantly in the U.S. through Olympic marketing campaigns may be a challenge.

Alibaba is signing on as a sponsor at a time when fewer people are watching the Games on NBC, the official U.S. broadcaster of the Olympics.

The network pulled in an average of 22.2 million prime-time viewers in the first week of Olympic coverage, down more than 6% from the first week of the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi, according to NBC Universal.

CNNMoney (Gangneung, South Korea)
First published February 20, 2018: 10:36 PM ET


Thread: Winter Olympics (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?70589-Winter-Olympics)
Thread: Jack Ma & Alibaba (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?69642-Jack-Ma-amp-Alibaba)

[GeneChing]

This guy

redefines stud



https://stillmed.olympic.org/media/Images/OlympicOrg/News/2018/02/09/2018-02-09-Tongas-Taufatofua-thumbnail.jpg
2016 GETTY IMAGES
DATE 09 FEB 2018
PYEONGCHANG 2018
TONGA’S TAUFATOFUA COMPLETES SWITCH FROM TAEKWONDO TO CROSS-COUNTRY SKIING (https://www.olympic.org/news/tonga-s-taufatofua-completes-switch-from-taekwondo-to-cross-country-skiing)

ONLY THE SECOND WINTER OLYMPIAN IN TONGA’S HISTORY, PITA TAUFATOFUA IS SET TO JOIN AN ELITE CLUB OF ATHLETES TO COMPETE AT THE SUMMER AND WINTER GAMES, HAVING REPRESENTED HIS COUNTRY IN TAEKWONDO AT RIO 2016.

In a reinvention worthy of a Hollywood script, the Tongan taekwondo athlete will compete as a cross-country skier at PyeongChang 2018.

Having rejected movie offers and modelling contracts after his eye-catching displays in Rio, the Australia-born 34-year-old – who had never seen snow until two years ago – becomes just the second athlete from the Pacific nation to qualify for a Winter Games.

Taufatofua had to battle through four Olympic cycles before becoming Tonga's first Olympic taekwondo competitor at Rio 2016, so making it to “PyeongChang was simple by comparison.”

“It still feels quite strange actually being here, because it took me 20 years to get to Rio, and just one year to get here,” the former youth worker said. "It’s just an honour. I mean, how many countries in the Pacific get to go to a Winter Games?”

https://stillmed.olympic.org/media/Images/OlympicOrg/News/2018/02/09/2018-02-09-Tongas-Taufatofua-inside-01.jpg
GETTY IMAGES
FLYING THE FLAG FOR TONGA

As he did in Rio, Taufatofua will carry Tonga's flag at the Opening Ceremony as the country's sole athlete at the Games. But he will certainly be opting for warmer clothing at the PyeongChang Olympic Stadium than he did in Rio.

After the Opening Ceremony in Rio, images of Taufatofua – oiled up, shirtless and wearing a traditional Tongan skirt at the head of the country's tiny delegation – went viral on social media, thrusting him into minor celebrity.

Eighteen months on, Taufatofua presents a much leaner figure than the muscular martial artist who competed in the 80kg division. After Rio, he rejected various offers of modelling gigs and film roles, choosing instead to ponder his next big challenge.

He opted for the gruelling discipline of cross-country skiing because it was the “hardest” thing he could think of doing.

TRAINING ON SAND

With no snow in Tonga or near his Brisbane base in Australia, Taufatofua's training regimen began with running on sand dunes with wooden planks strapped to his feet.

“We had to mimic being on snow while not being on snow,” he said. “We’d strap pieces of wood to our feet and run on the sand just to get the balance and some sort of glide.”

Taufatofua's cross-country skiing adventure may only be a brief interlude before he refocuses on taekwondo, a sport that has given him six broken bones, three torn ligaments and hundreds of hours of rehabilitation.

Indeed, he is already thinking about the possibility of a third successive Olympic appearance at Tokyo 2020.

“Taekwondo and skiing, now they’re all in my blood,” he said. “I may go for the magic three [in Tokyo]. It’s never been done [by a Tongan] before.”


Thread: hTae Kwon Do (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?42906-Tae-Kwon-Do)
Thread: Winter Olympics (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?70589-Winter-Olympics)

[GeneChing]

Chinese sports authorities recruit Shaolin monks, teach them snow and ice disciplines to boost Beijing Winter Olympics squads (https://www.firstpost.com/sports/chinese-sports-authorities-recruit-shaolin-monks-teach-them-snow-and-ice-disciplines-to-boost-beijing-winter-olympics-squads-4859671.html)
Sports Agence France-Presse Jul 31, 2018 18:58:10 IST

Shanghai: A Chinese kung-fu monk rockets down the halfpipe, his robe fluttering behind him, bald head glistening in the sun, to claim snowboard Olympic gold.

https://images.firstpost.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/Monks-in-snow-380-Reuters.jpg
Representational image. Reuters

It may sound like a sequel to hit comedy film "Cool Runnings", but for Beijing 2022 hosts China this is no joke. China is so worried about its lack of winter Olympians and losing face on home soil that it is plundering the martial arts schools of Buddhist monasteries in the search for a star.

Frantic sports chiefs have plucked 125 teenage students from the renowned Songshan Shaolin Temple in the central province of Henan in the hope their martial arts prowess can translate into medal-winning performances on the snow.

The latest batch of 23 students left for Beijing on Monday for initial training in freestyle skiing and other Olympic disciplines, the Henan Daily newspaper said. The best among them will then venture to New Zealand to hone their skills.

Medal-hungry China is turning to martial arts training schools as part of what it is calling "cross-discipline candidate selection" for Beijing 2022. More than 600 prospective Olympians — boys and girls — have been hand-picked so far in Henan alone, the Xinhua news agency said.

China's General Administration of Sport, the government's top sports body, said the nationwide search was designed to "enrich the talent pool for ice and snow disciplines". Officials are also considering asking talented skateboarders, acrobats and trampolinists to switch disciplines as part of the ramped-up recruitment drive.

It is easy to see why they came up with the idea, seeing as at the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics in February, China won just nine medals, only one of them gold.


Updated Date: Jul 31, 2018 18:58 PM

THREADS
Winter Olympics 2022 (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?68201-Winter-Olympics-2022)
Winter Olympics (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?70589-Winter-Olympics)
Shaolin and the Olympics (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?48436-Shaolin-and-the-Olympics)