With a dash of the unexpected.
Unique Hudiedao Swords
- Dated: 19th century
- Culture: Southern China/Burma
- Measurements: 56cms overall in the scabbard and are 49cms overall out of the scabbard
At close viewing of these blades, it is clear they have been made for an individual of great wealth or status. The timber and bone hilt slabs have been expertly carved and are pinned through the tang with brass pins that have been finished off with circle motifs. These pins not only help secure the slabs to the hilt but also hold 3 silver “menuki” style emblems and the hilt also has 2 Taoist coin inserts pierced to the outer wood slab between these.
The knuckle guard is iron that has a lanyard ring to the base, flowers and vines to the outside of the guard and the quillon is filed and chiseled to the end and is what appears to be a stylized dragon. The tang apart from being pinned through the hilt, is also peened to the base and shaped expertly around the lanyard ring. The blades are needle pointed and razor sharp, double fullered to both sides and the fullers are surrounded by circle and half circle symbolism.
The blades are fully pierced at both ends of the fullers and have Taoist coin symbols inserted into there piercings. The spines of both blades show expert filing patterns of almost every conceivable pattern and starts in a domed cross section and changes to a beveled cross section as it approaches the tip. Both are housed in a wonderfully crafted timber sheath that is decorated in eleven sheets of silver and four silver rings, all of varying design not typical by Hudiedao standards at all.
hey yo
be nice to people
bc most people are already sad so like
why be mean
(via k-a-a-a-t-y)
Wushu 6/18
Not many people in class today… which was good because it meant more individual instruction, but bad because we got NO breaks. It was a soaked-shirt kind of workout. I did broadsword today - my technique has improved, now that I’m concentrating on my basics. I like how it’s coming along. One of the other students was reviewing bajiquan, so I reviewed along with him. Then the teacher started teaching him fanzi, so now I’m learning fanzi as well! It was a very productive session.
Notes:
- Front stretch kick: raise my arms higher, and keep my legs straight.
- Outside: kick out wider.
- Inside: when I bring my foot down, aim for the outside of my other foot - not back to the original position. I think this applies more for jump inside kick.
- Snap kick/punch: turn my shoulders (extend my arms), but keep my hips square forward.
- Double body turn: my body should go through different levels, especially at the end, where it rises up and then drops into bow stance.
- Hammer fist: at the peak, my body should be facing forward, not to the side.
- Overhead hammer: use my body to pull my right arm around - don’t just put it out there. Reach forward so that my right arm and leg make one straight line. Switch from right bow stance to left bow stance.
- Jump front: when my foot comes down, lean forward so that my momentum doesn’t die in midair. Also, try to pull my leg down faster. When kicking in series, each kick should be faster than the one before.
- Jump inside: after the kick, straighten my body and pull my leg down. Should be kind of the same feeling as the jump front. Coach said I should try keeping my left knee up.
- Jump outside: jump higher, but maintain good technique.
- Broadsword: in the initial bow stance pose, hold my left arm out further. Four steps for the jump front kick. After the jump outside, cloud right above my head before crouching. Work on that flower to front sweep. In the combo after the butterfly, it’s a front snap kick, then just bring the sword around and back (no twirl). Two hip blocks, not one. In the final empty stance pose, the sword should be to the right and closer to my body.
Coach was kind of impatient today. It might have been because of this one kid who doesn’t really seem to take it seriously. I don’t know if that’s really the case though; maybe he just doesn’t understand how to correct what the teacher is trying to point out to him. Do you guys have people like that in your classes? How do you deal with them?
Lumigrids » 2012 [Source]
“Lumigrids is an LED projector for bicycles, which aims to improve safety during night riding. It projects square grids onto the ground. By observing changes in the grids, the rider can easily comprehend the landforms ahead.”
Need
(via cosmiccage)
(via martial-arts-addict)
Seriously, if we believe a 14 year old is too immature to know how to take a pill, do we really think she’s adult enough to handle an unwanted pregnancy?
The truth is that the age restriction is completely arbitrary, tied only to our puritanical comfort levels. And listen, I get it; I think it’s fair to say that most people are uncomfortable with the idea of a 14 year old having sex. But here’s the thing - access to Plan B isn’t about keeping a 14 year old from having sex - by the time she gets to the pharmacy, that ship has sailed - it’s about keeping a 14 year old who has already had sex from getting pregnant. And despite what urban legend (or past embarrassing FDA memos) may tell you, making emergency contraception more available is not more likely to make young teens have sex - it will just make them less likely to end up pregnant.
We can’t let our discomfort with teen sex trump young people’s right to sexual and reproductive health and we can’t continue to let politics trump science. If we care about young women’s health and bodily autonomy and integrity, we’ll drop all age restrictions from emergency contraception. Anything less isn’t just illogical - it’s immoral.
— “Hey, FDA: Drop the Plan B Age Restriction,” my latest at The Nation (via jessicavalenti)(via sleephatesbobo)
