May+June 2013

[GeneChing]

In honor of our Shaolin Special 2013, we are running a series of Shaolin-themed ezine articles. Read Rebuilding the True Northern Shaolin Temple - Part VI: Chinese New Year's at Shaolin Branch: Baitasi Temple by Greg Brundage, as well as The Shaolin Temple You've Never Heard Of by Daniel Chase, and The Universal Attraction of Kung Fu by Marijke van der Linde.

[Taijiren]

On page 40, in "The Soft Fist", you have the phrase "筋絡通暢". Was that supposed to be "經絡通暢"? Normally, I'd just assume it was a typo, but since in the translation, you use the phrase "muscle web", it seems you did intend "筋".

Just curious, because to me, the two phrases have some very different implications...

[GeneChing]

It wasn't a typo. We understood that he was discussing the muscles and not the meridians. That's what they wrote down for us. Yanxu did proofread the Chinese for this article, but you'll have to ask Yanxu himself to be sure.

[Taijiren]

It wasn't a typo. We understood that he was discussing the muscles and not the meridians. That's what they wrote down for us.

Interesting - since in the article, you comment that this "refers to circulating power through the meridians for health". I would have thought (solely based on the terms) that Yanxu was breaking out the stages as:

1) physical co-ordination
2) getting power expressed smoothly through the body (referring to not just external physical form, but a deeper muscle/tendon layer of the body)
3) cultivation of the mind

I.e. based solely on the term, it doesn't seem to refer to meridians or health, but rather the 'muscle web' (as you translated earlier). That seems to make more sense in terms of stages (to me anyway).

Of course, I wasn't there, so what do I know?

[GeneChing]

Like I said, Yanxu wrote it down and double checked the Chinese for accuracy. The following descriptive sentence is mine, but based upon what he said in Mandarin. Perhaps something got muddled in translation. Also worth considering is that some Shaoliners are more literate than others (one of my favorite Tamo shirts used the wrong characters for 'Tamo'), so there might have been an error in the Chinese. Our publisher, Gigi Oh, oversees the Chinese and she stands behind what we printed.

If you really want clarification, ask him directly. We published his contact information at the end of the story. All we can do as publishers is open the door.

For reference, here's the cover story, which just went live: The Soft Fist

[Taijiren]

Thanks for the verification! To me,

1) 協調
2）經絡通暢
3）無我

is a typical qigong progression, but

1) 協調
2）筋絡通暢
3）無我

is something new, showing an interesting emphasis on the physical (which you'd expect from a martial form).

BTW, I think I mentioned it before, but thanks for going through all the trouble of printing chinese characters in the magazine. It often brings out nuances that are hard (or impossible) to catch without them (this being a perfect example).

[GeneChing]

And thanks for your comments too. Your point is spot on. I hadn't really considered the martial versus qigong implication, but that does feel in line with Yanxu's general take on that form.

We're doing our final proofreading of the next issue right now, and as a direct result of your comments here, Gigi is triple-checking all of the Chinese.

[Vash]

just want email notifications on any more updates like this. Cool convo.

[GeneChing]

Here's our first meme card for this issue:

[GeneChing]

Yan Fei's Shaolin Qixing Tanglangquan accompanies Seven Star Praying Mantis: A Holy Bug in the Temple By Gene Ching