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  <link rel="self" href="https://www.earthli.com/news/view_user_rss.php?content=text&amp;format=atom&amp;name=kavorka"/>
  <updated>2004-08-25T10:05:30+02:00</updated>
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  <entry>
      <title type="text" xml:lang="en-us">
    <![CDATA[Funeral Procession]]>
  </title>
    <id>https://www.earthli.com/news/view_article.php?id=1003</id>
    <link href="https://www.earthli.com/news/view_article.php?id=1003"/>
    <updated>2004-08-25T10:05:30+02:00</updated>
    <author>
        <name type="text" xml:lang="en-us">
    <![CDATA[Hum Dum]]>
  </name>
    </author>
      <summary type="text" xml:lang="en-us">
    <![CDATA[ A man was leaving a cafe with his morning coffee when he noticed a most

 unusual funeral procession approaching the nearby cemetery. A funeral 
 coffin  was followed by a second one about 50 feet behind the first. 
 Behind the  second coffin was a solitary man walking with a black dog. 
 Behind...
]]>
  </summary>
      <content type="text" xml:lang="en-us">
    <![CDATA[Published by kavorka on 25. Aug 2004 10:05:30
------------------------------------------------------------------------

 A man was leaving a cafe with his morning coffee when he noticed a most 
 unusual funeral procession approaching the nearby cemetery. A funeral 
 coffin  was followed by a second one about 50 feet behind the first. 
 Behind the  second coffin was a solitary man walking with a black dog. 
 Behind him  was  a  queue of 200 men walking in single file. The man 
 couldn't stand his curiosity .. 
   
 He respectfully approached the man walking the dog, "I am so sorry for 
 your loss, and I know now is a bad time to disturb you, but I've never 
 seen a funeral like this with so many of you walking in single file. Whose 
 funeral is it?" 
   
 The man replied, "Well, that first coffin is for my wife." 
   
 What happened to her?" 
   
 The man replied, "My dog attacked and killed her." 
   
 He inquired further, "Well, who is in the second coffin?" 
   
 The man answered, "My mother-in-law. She was trying to help my wife when the
dog attacked and killed her also." 
  
  
 A poignant and thoughtful moment of silence passes between the two men. 
  
  
 Then the first one asks in excitement "Can I borrow the dog?" 
  
  
 The man replied "Join the queue."

]]>
  </content>
  </entry>
  <entry>
      <title type="text" xml:lang="en-us">
    <![CDATA[Class on Monday September 2nd, 2002]]>
  </title>
    <id>https://www.earthli.com/news/view_article.php?id=654</id>
    <link href="https://www.earthli.com/news/view_article.php?id=654"/>
    <updated>2003-12-17T23:38:10+01:00</updated>
    <author>
        <name type="text" xml:lang="en-us">
    <![CDATA[Marco von Ballmoos]]>
  </name>
      <uri>https://earthli.com/users/marco</uri>
    </author>
      <summary type="text" xml:lang="en-us">
    <![CDATA[This was a private, only two participants and the second one showing up
late. No bowing in was necessary.

As a private lesson, student requests determined what was practiced, and
here is what your correspondent retained as lessons:

hook kicks

   practiced next to the wall, just hitting the thigh of

...
]]>
  </summary>
      <content type="text" xml:lang="en-us">
    <![CDATA[Published by marco on 17. Dec 2003 23:38:10
------------------------------------------------------------------------

This was a private, only two participants and the second one showing up late. No
bowing in was necessary.

As a private lesson, student requests determined what was practiced, and here is
what your correspondent retained as lessons:

hook kicks

   practiced next to the wall, just hitting the thigh of the partner. Due to the
   wall, the leg has to come up straight, but when veering into the target, the
   trajectory is nearly parrallel to the floor. It is important to twist the
   hips before the rear foot lands, this is what creates the correct trajectory
   at the end of the kick.

rear leg round house kicks

   to practive pivoting and rotating on the front leg, the kicking shield as
   held at about 45 degrees to the left of the regular position, plus a few
   steps to the left as well. to hit the pad, the kick has to be exaggerated in
   its rotation. After practicing this, the regular kick was done. A small tip
   was to rotate the right arm in a slight circle to improve rotation

side kick

   worked on the water and whip principle. The water principle involves kicking
   through and with power. The whip principle makes you barely touch the shield
   and retract. Retraction has to be horizontal and in a snap. Then it was a
   combination of the two in the actual kick. Retraction has to be very swift
   inorder to snap the kick and make it more of hit rather than the push which
   is the water principle.

worked on the straight lead, I asked to work on the twist of the hips. Sifu said
that the twist has to happen in mid air, before the lead foot lands. At the
point of hitting, the shoulders and lead arm all have to be in a straight line.

Sifu stressed that body movements have to be quick inorder to get power,
pointing to the fact that force is mass multiplied by acceleration. Acceleration
is increased with those quick movements. He suggested skipping rope very fast as
an exercise for this.

]]>
  </content>
  </entry>
  <entry>
      <title type="text" xml:lang="en-us">
    <![CDATA[Class on Thursday, Dec 5th]]>
  </title>
    <id>https://www.earthli.com/news/view_article.php?id=742</id>
    <link href="https://www.earthli.com/news/view_article.php?id=742"/>
    <updated>2002-12-07T05:40:43+01:00</updated>
    <author>
        <name type="text" xml:lang="en-us">
    <![CDATA[Hum Dum]]>
  </name>
    </author>
      <summary type="text" xml:lang="en-us">
    <![CDATA[
Warm ups:
20 regular pushups
20 wide pushups
10 reverse negative pushups. go down and dont touch floor, go up half
way and hold there till told to come down
35 crunches legs up
35 bicycles
1 minute legs raised 6 inches. after 20 sec, go from straight legs to
legs wide apart
70 jumping jacks
95...
]]>
  </summary>
      <content type="text" xml:lang="en-us">
    <![CDATA[Published by kavorka on 7. Dec 2002 05:40:43
------------------------------------------------------------------------


Warm ups:
20 regular pushups
20 wide pushups
10 reverse negative pushups. go down and dont touch floor, go up half way and
hold there till told to come down
35 crunches legs up
35 bicycles
1 minute legs raised 6 inches. after 20 sec, go from straight legs to legs wide
apart
70 jumping jacks
95 squats
20 squat thrusts

some footwork exercises, usual combinations.

Exercises with gloves on:

avoidance drill: partner comes with a jab, avoid by snap away, catch, slip, cork
screw

drill to practive bob and weave: partner stands with arms stretched out and at
your ear level, just bob and weave between the arms, taking care to do the
footwork correctly and to come back to stance. Partner remains standing.

avoidance drill with bob and weave and partner coming with left or right hooks.
Sifu noted that the footwork with bob and weave allows one to get out of the way
of the punch, and if stepping out, at the same time get a positional advantage
over opponent since now we are out of the line of attach and in a good position
to attack.

avoidance drill + attack: bob and weave a left hook then back fist + cross; slip
the jab and go high hook to cross

interception drill: partner comes with hook, this time take the opening and
straight lee punch to the face, keep left hand up in case the hook comes through



New 7 for 7  --  without gloves
Hook Kick
HK + Straight Lee
HK + SL + Cross
HK + SL + C + Hook
HK + SL + C + H + Back Fist
HK + SL + C + H + BF + Cross
HK + SL + C + H + BF + C + Hook

7 times. Sifu Derek emphasized getting the body mechanics correct instead of the
speed. I found the transition from Hook to Back Fist difficult, since I was
doing the cross and stepping forward a little bit.

]]>
  </content>
  </entry>
  <entry>
      <title type="text" xml:lang="en-us">
    <![CDATA[Class Monday Sept 16]]>
  </title>
    <id>https://www.earthli.com/news/view_article.php?id=660</id>
    <link href="https://www.earthli.com/news/view_article.php?id=660"/>
    <updated>2002-09-20T16:16:25+02:00</updated>
    <author>
        <name type="text" xml:lang="en-us">
    <![CDATA[Hum Dum]]>
  </name>
    </author>
      <summary type="text" xml:lang="en-us">
    <![CDATA[90 J Jacks
20 Reg push ups
20 wide
20 diamond
30 crunches legs raised
30 L over R
30 R over L
90 Knee bends

live round:
straight lead, back fist, low straight lead, hook

combinations:
2 sl, bf sl, sl hk, lsl sl

avoidance drills, switch with partner
slip on jab
catch jab parry cross (can also...
]]>
  </summary>
      <content type="text" xml:lang="en-us">
    <![CDATA[Published by kavorka on 20. Sep 2002 16:16:25
------------------------------------------------------------------------

90 J Jacks
20 Reg push ups
20 wide
20 diamond
30 crunches legs raised
30 L over R
30 R over L
90 Knee bends

live round:
straight lead, back fist, low straight lead, hook

combinations:
2 sl, bf sl, sl hk, lsl sl

avoidance drills, switch with partner
slip on jab
catch jab parry cross (can also snap away)
catch parry cover

10 hk (hook kick)
10 hk + sl
10 fk (front kick)
10 fk + sl
20 rear leg roundhouse

]]>
  </content>
  </entry>
  <entry>
      <title type="text" xml:lang="en-us">
    <![CDATA[Class on Wednesday, Sept 18th]]>
  </title>
    <id>https://www.earthli.com/news/view_article.php?id=659</id>
    <link href="https://www.earthli.com/news/view_article.php?id=659"/>
    <updated>2002-09-20T00:17:36+02:00</updated>
    <author>
        <name type="text" xml:lang="en-us">
    <![CDATA[Hum Dum]]>
  </name>
    </author>
      <summary type="text" xml:lang="en-us">
    <![CDATA[10 squat thrusts with 3 pushups
30 crunches legs up
30 bicycles
25 leg raises
80 or so jumping jacks
80 or so knee bends
20 regular pushups
20 diamond pushups
20 wide push ups
25 squat jumps !

 -- -

footwork drills

slide forward, slide back
slide back, slide forward
slide back, push shovel

(2 or...
]]>
  </summary>
      <content type="text" xml:lang="en-us">
    <![CDATA[Published by kavorka on 20. Sep 2002 00:17:36
------------------------------------------------------------------------

10 squat thrusts with 3 pushups
30 crunches legs up
30 bicycles
25 leg raises
80 or so jumping jacks
80 or so knee bends
20 regular pushups
20 diamond pushups
20 wide push ups
25 squat jumps !

 -- -

footwork drills

slide forward, slide back
slide back, slide forward
slide back, push shovel

(2 or 3 more, cant remember)

 -- -

single straight lead standing, count of 20 (?)
 -- be careful not to jam the hand, should connect with vertical fist and
straight elbow
straight lead with a push shovel
opp comes in with hook kick, slide back and push shovel in with straight lead
opp comes steps forward with hook kick hand position, standing hook kick
opp comes in with hook kick, slide back and come back with hook kick
opp comes in with hook kick, slide back and hook kick and push shovel straight
lead

(each of above on 15 count, I think)

 --  -- -

regular pak sao drill
pak sao, opp crosses center line, retract quickly and straight lead in, making
sure that the opp arm from the trap is kept down

 --  -- -

straight blasts, 5 punches, wrist over wrist, count of ten

straight blasts with partner step and sliding back, three lengths of the room

]]>
  </content>
  </entry>
  <entry>
      <title type="text" xml:lang="en-us">
    <![CDATA[Sex Aid: Porn to Save the Third World]]>
  </title>
    <id>https://www.earthli.com/news/view_article.php?id=593</id>
    <link href="https://www.earthli.com/news/view_article.php?id=593"/>
    <updated>2002-07-26T17:21:33+02:00</updated>
    <author>
        <name type="text" xml:lang="en-us">
    <![CDATA[Hum Dum]]>
  </name>
    </author>
      <summary type="text" xml:lang="en-us">
    <![CDATA[Here is some fun reading:

http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=13650

This is the story of a company started by two men who wanted to sell
condoms via catalog in the US. When they began in the 1970's, sending
condoms via mail was illegal since condoms were classified as obscene
under the...
]]>
  </summary>
      <content type="text" xml:lang="en-us">
    <![CDATA[Published by kavorka on 26. Jul 2002 17:21:33
------------------------------------------------------------------------

Here is some fun reading:

http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=13650

This is the story of a company started by two men who wanted to sell condoms via
catalog in the US. When they began in the 1970's, sending condoms via mail was
illegal since condoms were classified as obscene under the Comstock Law. As a
result, business boomed. As it turned out,

"
"We tried to get our customers to buy leisure wear, shipbuilding kits, belt
buckles, model airplanes," Harvey recalls. "But they just yawned at that stuff.
Every time we put something with erotic appeal in the catalog, the bells would
ring." 
"

Their intent remains to send free contraception to the third world from the
company's profits, and the contributions are plentiful: nearly 350 million odd
condoms and over 23 million pills were generated from the profits of Adam & Eve,
the nation's largest adult-oriented mail-order company.

]]>
  </content>
  </entry>
  <entry>
      <title type="text" xml:lang="en-us">
    <![CDATA[Food Aid and Famines]]>
  </title>
    <id>https://www.earthli.com/news/view_article.php?id=532</id>
    <link href="https://www.earthli.com/news/view_article.php?id=532"/>
    <updated>2002-07-12T02:17:26+02:00</updated>
    <author>
        <name type="text" xml:lang="en-us">
    <![CDATA[Hum Dum]]>
  </name>
    </author>
      <summary type="text" xml:lang="en-us">
    <![CDATA[I just read "True Cause of World Hunger", an interview with Anuradha
Mittal of Food First.
http://www.foodfirst.org/media/interviews/2002/amittalsun.html

Why do people go hungry? Because they don't have food. Why don't they
have food? Because they cant afford it. "Hunger is a social disease
linked...
]]>
  </summary>
      <content type="text" xml:lang="en-us">
    <![CDATA[Published by kavorka on 12. Jul 2002 02:17:26
------------------------------------------------------------------------

I just read "True Cause of World Hunger", an interview with Anuradha Mittal of
Food First. http://www.foodfirst.org/media/interviews/2002/amittalsun.html

Why do people go hungry? Because they don't have food. Why don't they have food?
Because they cant afford it. "Hunger is a social disease linked to poverty, and
thus any discussion of hunger is incomplete without a discussion of economics."
It is estimated that 830 million go hungry. Yet, the world food supply produces
an adundant and more than sufficient 4.3 pounds of food per person per day.

Famines are commonly blamed on extended droughts or bad harvests. Parched rivers
and shifting global weather are prominent in media explanations. Historically,
there have been periods of drastically reduced production of food, but rarely
did this result in a famine. This is because surpluses from previous harvests
were stored and allowed communities to more than survive the odd bad year. Mass
hunger began with the advent of colonization, when subsistence crops were
replaced with cash crops. When the colonizers showed up, and claimed the country
for their respective Empire, they told the natives that as subjects they owed
taxes. Since the natives had no money for the taxes, they were told to raise
cash crops which were then sold in foreign markets. In addition, money earned
from the sale was then cycled back as taxes. The colonized farmer was left with
no subsistence crops to feed himself and nor was there any money to buy food.
Droughts are just the final, killer blow and they are not even required when the
world market price fluctuates.

Development aid meted out so generously in contemporary times follows a similar
cycle in the transfer of wealth and the flow of capital. Huge projects such as
dams financed by the World Bank produce business for Western consultants and
companies. Arguably they have value for the recipient country, but that country
basically gets a massive amount of debt to be serviced. Mittal mentions the
state of affairs in India, which illustrates these factors:

"Of the 830 million hungry people worldwide, a third of them live in India. Yet
in 1999, the Indian government had 10 million tons of surplus food grains: rice,
wheat, and so on. In the year 2000, that surplus increased to almost 60 million
tons - most of it left in the granaries to rot. Instead of giving the surplus
food to the hungry, the Indian government was hoping to export the grain to make
money. It also stopped buying grain from its own farmers, leaving them
destitute. The farmers, who had gone into debt to purchase expensive chemical
fertilizers and pesticides on the advice of the government, were now forced to
burn their crops in their fields. 

At the same time, the government of India was buying grain from Cargill and
other American corporations, because the aid India receives from the World Bank
stipulates that the government must do so. This means that today India is the
largest importer of the same grain it exports. It doesn't make sense - economic
or otherwise. " (from the interview quoted above)

A sad irony in the excerpt above is that the very people who produce the food,
the farmers, are the ones who go hungry. This has plenty of precedence, for
example during the Irish famine of late 19th century, when 2 million Irish
perished, Ireland was exporting food to Britain. During the Ethiopian famine of
1980s, green beans were exported.

Farmers in the West, particulary in the US, enjoy huge food subsidies. Mostly
this is thinly disguised protectionism in global trade. Here is an excerpt from
the Economist:

"Rich countries protect their farmers with subsidies, high tariffs, import
quotas and a tangle of other barriers masquerading as health and safety
standards. This makes it hard for farmers in poor countries to sell their
produce in rich countries. The World Bank says that ending northern protection
would boost poor countries' annual GDP by $30 billion, which would buy quite a
few lunches. Unlike aid, freer trade does not foster dependence. And whereas aid
costs money, cutting farm subsidies would save rich-country taxpayers a billion
dollars a day, as well as letting those who eat do so more cheaply. Some
northern farmers might suffer, but supporting them while they look for other
work would be far cheaper than the current system. Besides, most of the rich
world's subsidies go to the richest farmers, many of them millionaires. They
certainly won't starve." (Economist, June 15 2002)

Browsing through the various literature, land reform, better governance, less
war (particularly in woeful Africa) are all placed central to any lasting
solution to tackle hunger in the stricken Third World. These solutions place the
burden squarely on the bewitched countries to sort out their mess. To be sure if
defense budgets in the sub continent are realigned with the actual needs of the
people, it would make a tremendous difference. So would giving the landless
property. However, as some of the discussion on the causes of hunger above
should suggest, efforts in developing countries to sort out their mess are
largely peripheral to lasting solutions. The real changes need to happen
elsewhere.

Some references:

Food for Beginners (available at amazon)
This well illustrated comic format book is very clear in its explanations. It is
a little old (1982 edition), but highly recommended.

12 Myths about World Hunger
http://www.foodfirst.org/pubs/backgrdrs/1998/s98v5n3.html

http://www.wfp.org
http://www.foodfirst.org/
http://www.foodfirst.org/media/interviews/2002/amittalsun.html
http://www.oxfam.org

]]>
  </content>
  </entry>
  <entry>
      <title type="text" xml:lang="en-us">
    <![CDATA[The ABCs of Jihad]]>
  </title>
    <id>https://www.earthli.com/news/view_article.php?id=447</id>
    <link href="https://www.earthli.com/news/view_article.php?id=447"/>
    <updated>2002-03-26T00:10:34+01:00</updated>
    <author>
        <name type="text" xml:lang="en-us">
    <![CDATA[Hum Dum]]>
  </name>
    </author>
      <summary type="text" xml:lang="en-us">
    <![CDATA["The Washington Post reports on the problems related to retracting
textbook lessons long in circulation in Afghanistan."
<http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A5339-2002Mar22.html>

While the stated policy (ie. the constitution) is to keep religion and
education separated, this is of course not applied to propoganda
material. Textbooks which taught counting...
]]>
  </summary>
      <content type="text" xml:lang="en-us">
    <![CDATA[Published by kavorka on 26. Mar 2002 00:10:34
------------------------------------------------------------------------

"The Washington Post reports on the problems related to retracting textbook
lessons long in circulation in Afghanistan."
<http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A5339-2002Mar22.html>

While the stated policy (ie. the constitution) is to keep religion and education
separated, this is of course not applied to propoganda material. Textbooks which
taught counting with tanks and bullets and were filled with Islamic tenets
extolling the glory of holy war against the Soviet invaders, were specially made
in the US at the University of Omaha. While the aid package is being used to get
rid of these, the militarized books are being replaced by researched material
from the same university that made them in the first place. The article fails to
point out this irony. 

Apparently, these revised editions will teach how to be a good Muslim  --  and
more than likely they will skip fomenting action against invaders.

]]>
  </content>
  </entry>
</feed>
