Israel has committed war crimes

Israel's questionable tactics to root out Hezbollah militants came under fire today as another bombardment killed at least 54 civilians, including 37 children. This may be a strategic strike, but it was a crime nevertheless. Israel's callous disregard for the civilians of Lebanon shows that her politicians have learned nothing from the first Israel-Lebanon conflict.

I find Israel's strategy in this new conflict to be utterly useless and damaging to their objectives. I think they have subjected the Lebanese people to genocide. And that is criminal enough.

While Hezbollah are nothing but a bunch of murderers and cowards, Israel is doing more than "disproportionate" retaliation. It is slaughtering the Lebanese people and destroying the infrastructure of their country.

Badminton - Reflexes Workout

Today was the first day I played badminton in a year and I am very pleased that my form has not deteriorated. Badminton is a very easy sport to learn, but becoming a master at it is no easier than becoming a master at tennis or squash or any other sport. I found that badminton puts great emphasis on reflexes (to such an extent as table tennis I have yet to determine. Any ideas?). While every sport places emphasis on different favourable body conditions, like speed, balance, strength, and coordination, reflexes is one of the best attributes you can possess. At its highest level, reflexes become immersed into the mind, giving you a sharper awareness overall, including a calmer disposition during important tasks or crises.

Too bad the prices at the UQ Sports Centre are a huge ripoff, or I would go more often. Then again, unless you're a serious player, badminton is not the best game to play with only two people - you're better off going as a group, which is how I organized it.

Once you are competent at it, watch the minutes (or hours) fly past as you play. Badminton is a fast-paced, yet refined sport that is endless fun.

Karate - the Right Technique, at the Right Time

Today was the first day I returned to karate since my holiday in Hong Kong. As the lesson progressed I realized while my fitness had improved leaps and bounds with the weight training I had used to supplement my karate conditioning, my technique was still relatively shoddy, even for a beginner. I ruminated over the possibilities. Did I forget the basics? My cardio wasn't off; I would skip rope for 30 minutes straight, and when I ran or rode the exercycle my minimum time was 45 minutes. I thought my beginner's skills were dulled after a month overseas. Yet as I practiced, my stances were, for the most part, would pass for good form, and my punching seemed okay.

Then I realized my technique and my reflexes were responding appallingly to our sensei's instructions. An example: One of the drills was to execute a front kick with our front foot, attack with a jab and then a straight before kicking with our back foot. I would mix up the front kick and almost always stuff up the sequence of punches: straight then jab, jab, jab then straight; all manner of sequences except what we had been instructed to do. And my jab was horrible anyway.

I think the nature of such drills are not imprinted into my mind properly. I think if someone was actually watching me, it would look less like a drill and more like a freestyle combination attack (done poorly). How to rectify this? Well, certainly more practice. But karate has countless drills that require an alert and focused mind. How can one practice the drills that are suited for his or her level successfully? I think another method of training is required: Imprinting. I call it imprinting because in principle it is similar to calligraphy writing - one will repeat the technique over and over until it is "imprinted" into his or her mind. That is an ideal of near-perfection that takes many years to realize.

I will think more on the "Imprinting" method. Perhaps I can even devise a workout centered around this concept. Doubtless it will be among the hardest workouts I can do. ;-)

Core Training Tips (cont.)

In my previous post I listed four important methods of training the core: bodyweight, swiss ball, medicine ball, and cable/dumbbells. Within your core workout you should have exercises similar to any normal routine - a balanced repertoire of challenging yet doable exercises that will work all aspects of your core and trunk. Here are a few you may like to adopt into your routine, if you haven't already. Note that none of these were developed by me and have been used by many before me.

Side Pillar Bridge (Bodyweight): Lie on your left side with your forearm on the floor under your shoulder and your feet stacked together. Raise your hip off the floor, creating a straight line from ankle to shoulder and keeping your head in line with your spine. Hold for 1 to 2 seconds, then lower and repeat. After you've completed 15 reps, lie on your right side and repeat.

Swiss-Ball Pike (Swiss ball): Get into push-up position, but place your shins on a Swiss ball. Raise your hips as high as you can and roll the ball towards you. Pause, then lower yourself and roll the ball backwards. Do 12 - 15 reps.

Medicine Ball Punch (Medicine ball): Get a medicine ball and have a partner drop it on you while you are lying down. This is to simulate a punch. Remember to suck in your abs when the ball makes contact. Start with 3kg, then increase the weight when you feel comfortable. Experiment dropping distances - a ball dropped from your partner's shoulders will be more taxing than one dropped from knee height.

Leg Raise (Bodyweight): This is by far my favourite ab exercise, and it also strengthens your lower back. Lie down and raise your head slightly so you can see your feet. Keeping your legs and feet together, raise them slowly as high as you can, pause, then slowly lower them to slightly above an inch to the ground. Then repeat. Stay slow.

If you haven't, try a couple of these exercises in your next workout.

Core Training Tips

All martial artists will acknowledge that training your core is as essential as any technique. Bruce Lee was one of the most dedicated core trainers ever - his rationale that if one is to spar and fight properly, one needs to be able to take punches in the midsection.

This concept is not limited to modern fighters trying to toughen up their abs and stabilize their core. The basic theory in Tai Chi is that all movement is generated from the "dan tian", or a location around the waist. In karate, almost all movements require hip power to be effective. And in boxing, the rules will certainly require one to develop their stomach.

My abs are perhaps my favourite body part to develop. I strengthened my abs in a bit more than a semester via hard training, strict diet, and constant cardio. But I still found that my core was relatively weak, my stability mediocre. Clearly, strong ab muscles do not result in a powerful core. Internal martial arts like Tai Chi stress a lot on core balance and strength. External martial arts however, stress the strength of the abs to be able to generate explosive power as well as take punches. What if there is a workout that can help with both aspects of core development? Not only will one be able to generate power, one will also be balanced throughout sparring or fighting. This is an objective every serious fighter should be aiming for.

In the most recent issue of Men's Health there was an article that gave tips on training the trunk along with the shoulders and chest to form a tidy "pillar", where energy is distributed properly and posture is improved. This is a useful workout and certain exercises can be of vital use to fighters.

In brief before I elaborate in my next post, I will outline what I believe are the four most important ways of training the core:

Bodyweight
Swiss Ball
Medicine Ball
Cables/Dumbbells

Ancient History, Ancient Love

When it comes to reading and studying ancient history, my favourite civilizations are by far are the Mesopotamian empires, most famous among them the Sumerians, Akkadians, Babylonians, and Persians. As tenacious as the Chinese, as curious as the Greeks, as ingenious as the Indians, and sometimes as militaristic as the Romans, these Middle-Easterners would be the first to develop the wheel, pottery, and the first pessimistic philosophy and religion (I guess when all you see is desert everyday and getting invaded every other month, it's not easy to maintain a sparkling outlook on life). Nevertheless this would not stop them from building great cities like Ur, Babylon, Susa, and Persepolis (that bastard Alexander just had to burn down the palace of the Persian Kings).

I recall my high school with many fond memories, but the academic memory that truly awakens my nerd sentimentality is the Ancient History course, which would be the only lesson which I truly looked forward to. I miss those lessons as much as I miss the long-gone ancient civilizations of Mesopotamia.

Hellsing Ultimate

If there is something I desire more than world peace, it's getting the latest volume of the new anime Hellsing Ultimate by Kohta Hirano. The animation is not groundbreaking, nor is it the best in script writing (I save that for the Rurouni Kenshin manga), but it is one of the most innovative vampire stories I have ever watched. It follows the tragic life of Alucard, who in Hirano's twisted modern world, is Prince Vlad III who would later come to be known as the Dracula from Bram Stoker's novel. Alucard fights for the modern Hellsing family (descended from Abraham van Helsing) to destroy his own evil progeny. Alucard has lived for more than 500 years but now he must face vampire Nazis, a modern Catholic airborne Crusader army, and a host of other fantastic creatures and monstrosities that are Hirano's trademark creations.

For those who are interested, please check out the official website.

http://www.geneon-ent.co.jp/rondorobe/anime/hellsing/

I will recommend other good anime as time passes by.

Get a Workout from It!

Meditation is fantastic. Meditation to someone who hasn't done it before is like exercise to someone who has been sitting on his couch for the past few months - it's hard to start, but once you do, it's harder to stop. Being a beginner, my usual session is about 10 to 15 minutes of either lovingkindness or mindfulness meditation. I have found that both kinds of meditation help me greatly with getting through the day with energy and drive. It also helps with my karate lessons and weight training - I'm not particular about when I do my meditation, last night I tried it almost immediately after my workout, and the good result was the same. Think of it as a protein shake for the mind. =)

For more information on how to do lovingkindness meditation, try http://www.shantimayi.com/meditations/metta.html

What are you waiting for? Try meditation and get a (relaxed) workout for your mind!

The Minimalist Workout

I have been trying out a new workout (developed by sports scientist Alwyn Cosgrove) in the most recent August issue of Australian Men's Health Magazine, which is supposed to work all muscles with just five exercises - in essence, it is meant to be a highly effective, time-saving, and scientifically verified full-body workout.

Here are the exercises:

1. Wide-Grip Dead Lift
2A. Dumbbell Incline Press
2B. Cable Row
3A. Wide-Grip Lat Pulldown
3B. Swiss Ball Pike

The idea is to perform the Dead Lift in straight sets first, before doing alternating sets of 2A and 2B, before moving onto alternating sets of 3A and 3B. I have been trying out this workout, and it definetly saves time and is simple in its approach to working out. The Swiss Ball Pike is by far the most difficult - it challenges your balance, coordination and abs all at the same time. You're meant to do several sets of 15 reps, yet so far I could only manage 15 reps on the first set, and the rest were between 10 - 13 reps.

Interestingly, this workout utilizes the barbell only once - the Wide-Grip Dead Lift. Since barbells are extremely useful for building muscle mass, I would recommend this routine to be supplemented with other bodybuilding workouts (although this workout will stay with me for quite a while). Additionally, I have replaced the Cable Row and the Wide-Grip Lat Pulldown for the Bent-Over Row and Chin-Up respectively. These exercises I believe are superior to machines and will challenge the body better.

Give this workout a go; you may be surprised.

Compassionate Achievements

Many people believe that the significance of historical achievements is subjective, and that to try and list such achievements of people like Sun Zi, Isaac Newton, and Mahatma Ghandi are objectively futile. This was the case with Michael H. Hart and his book The 100: A Ranking of the Most Influential Persons in History. Undoubtedly many have disputed his ranking of Muhammed, the last Prophet of Islam, as the number one most influential person in human history. Some will be surprised at why Jesus is ranked below Isaac Newton, and some may perhaps argue that Augustus Caesar should either be ranked even lower than Shi Huang Ti, the first Emperor of the Chinese nation. The disagreements are endless (and rightly so). One who is a great advocate of science may have preferred Hart to have given Newton the privilege of number one. A lover of music will despair ar Hart lists Beethoven at number 45 – below men like Adolf Hitler and Ghenghis Khan. However, suppose someone were to modify the book slightly. Rather than ranking of the most influential people in history, he would write a book ranking the most influential musician in history (which has undoubtedly been done before). Doubtless men like Beethoven and Mozart would top the list. Muhammed, Isaac Newton, and Jesus would not even be on the list. Likewise, should one write a book about the most influential political military leaders throughout history. Shi Huang Ti would be amongst the top – and Muhammed may just slide to number 3 or 4.

Since it is the purpose of humans that give their lives and memory true significance, then we may assume the Buddha - a very compassionate enlightened being - would have been satisfied with what he achieved during his last rebirth. I sincerely believe that any philosophy or religion that does not bring long term happiness and peace to living beings is not truly worth it. In this respect, Buddhism as a global movement has perhaps been the most influential - relatively little wars have been waged in its name, and its leaders from various cultures have more or less set a good example as Buddhists. given its highly compassionate nature, Buddhism shall remain in the world for a long time.

As long as there is still suffering and anguish in the world, fragments of Buddhism will always remain. As long as there are still those who need care and compassion, a compassionate ethos will remain in the world to fulfil its mission. Buddhism was founded by the historical Sakyamuni Buddha for the sole purpose of alleviating suffering and ultimately transcending it – nothing more. Doubtless then much work remains to be done. Most of the world lives in poverty and war. The environment is undergoing major changes for the worse due to human interference and it is clear that we are paying a heavy price for our arrogance. Even in the so-called First World most of us are not as happy or contented as we would like to be. There is a significant moral vacuum in the cores of our hearts, and we attempt to replace it via consumerist and hedonistic values, but it will also prove to fail, in time. As a result of all these painful realities, many have despaired. And while there is despair, Buddhism will remain one of the forces that attempt to rectify such problems, and at the very least, give counsel, support and comfort to the afflicted and distressed. Only when the samsaric universe is free of suffering will Buddhism truly disappear, its purpose fulfilled. This is in line with the sacred Buddhist scriptures of Maitreya, the next Buddha who will manifest in the world when Gautama's message is completely extinct, and the role of the bodhisattvas, who have postponed Enlightenment until all sentient beings have been liberated from suffering.

Worldly Buddhism, like applied democracy, is not without its flaws. We must make an important distinction. Many believe the Buddha is a perfectly compassionate being, and go on to believe that Buddhists are also perfectly compassionate and aloof and never get worried, anxious, or angry. That is completely ridiculous. Buddhists are human too, while the Buddha is not. Buddhists are also caught up in the samsaric cosmos, with only the Dharma as their guide. However, for these people trying to navigate through life, the Dharma is what they have chosen to live by. Likewise, we can see today that the United States is an internationally disliked - often hated - country. How did the self-proclaimed moral guardian of the world turn out this way? It is not because of its political ideals - namely democracy, which is a noble enough notion - but because of those in power. This is straying into the realm of politics, however, so I shall leave it at this for now.

I think we can safely say should one write a book about the 100 most compassionate people of the world, the Buddha would most certainly be among the top five.