Episode 172 - Purple Cattleya - In Bud

I further divided the purple cattleya into two pots last year. This is one of them (using the old flower pot).

The flower shoot has only one (but large) bud this time. It will blossom in the next few days. I will post the full flowering position.

The cattleya appears to have settled down well after the partition. I now have 3 pots of purple cattleyas - all develop from the mother plant I purchased in 2004.

Episode 171 - Bun Festival - tradition and change

This is a training ground for the Bun Snatching participants. As you can see from the photo, people were climbing up to the top of a tower.

The Bun Festival is an important event in Cheung Chau. It is associated with the religious tradition of the Pak Tai Temple. In the past, three bamboo bun towers - the towers were covered with edible buns and were commonly known as the Buns Mountains - would be erected in the front of the Pak Tai Temple. On the festival night, young people climbed up the towers to snatch the buns and took them home. It was said that the buns could bring good fortune to the family.

The traditional Bun Snatching event was abolished following a serious accident in the 1970's. One of the bun mountain collapsed that night and many people were injured.

The event has been rejuvenated recently - this time as a festival and a sport event which provides an excellent opportunity for the climbers to test their skills. On the festival night, the bamboo (reinforced by steel) tower will be covered with plastic buns (instead of the traditional edible buns). A participant is required to take down as much buns as he / she can. As the buns at the top of the tower carry the highest marks, the participants will try to climb to the top to snatch the buns there.

Episode 170 - Physical Strength - Do we need it in Taiji?

Some taiji practitioners always claim that their art does not require any physical strength and what is most important is "Fajing".

This view probably arises from the belief that pure softness can overcome pure hardness. Taking this view in their heart, the "soft" practitioners focus their training purely on the taijiquan forms and non-contentious pushhand exercises.

This is however not the position taken in the Taiji Classics. "On the Art of Taiji", talks about "Jing" and "Lik". "Jing" - internal force is generated through tendons. "Lik" - physical strength is generated through bones. It does not downgrade physical strength. "Jing" and "Lik" complement each other.

To overcome pure hardness by pure softness requires a good understanding and mastering of the yin yan conversion principle.

The "Softness" approach originates from the Artisticalisation of the Martial Art - the art is practised as soft physical exercise. The stress in the exercise is on the spiritual aspect and the will power. Artisticalisation of the art at its highest level may enable a practitioner to act more "skillfully" than a man with great physical strength. The achiever should have a thorough understanding of the fundamental principles of the art plus the support of training in fighting. However, this is only one of the achievements of the Three Levels. In Martialisation of the art, the "Lik" aspect is stressed. Again, this is another achievements of the Three Levels. Don't forget that we also have the harmonization of the artistic and the martial in another level.

Not knowing the fundamental principles of the art, the beginners (in terms of knowledge - not seniority) focus blindly on pure softness only, believing that such is what taiji is all about, reducing the art to one kind of morning exercises.

Episode 169 - Scarecrows

These photos were taken during our recent visit to the KFBG. The boys were happy to see these beautiful and well dressed scarecrows.

These scarecrows were set up more for educational purpose than to frighten birds away.

Episode 168 - Honey Bee

This photo was taken during my visit to the KFBG.

The flowers were blossoming, and there were a large number of honey bees.

This was the first time I tried to take a close-up photo of a bee. It was not easy to capture the motion of a bee as it would not stay on a spot for a long time. I took a number of photos but most of them were not satisfactory. It would have been a wastage if I were still using a traditional film camera. Thanks to the digital camera, an amateur like me can take a large number of photos at any time without the need to consider the issue of costs.