What is Tai Chi?

November 06, 2014  /  Chris Klaxton  /  Source

orangecountywingchun:

Tai Chi is a system of martial arts that incorporates an understanding of the subtle life force recognized in acupuncture theory referred to as Chi (or Ki). Other system of martial arts that incorporate Chi harnessing methods into their techniques include Wing Chun, Ba Gua, Hsing I, and Aikido, to…

A meeting of civilisations: The mystery of China's celtic mummies

October 17, 2014  /  Chris Klaxton  /  Source

historical-nonfiction:

Solid as a warrior of the Caledonii tribe, the man’s hair is reddish brown flecked with grey, framing high cheekbones, a long nose, full lips and a ginger beard. When he lived three thousand years ago, he stood six feet tall, and was buried wearing a red twill tunic and tartan leggings. He looks like a Bronze Age European. In fact, he’s every inch a Celt. Even his DNA says so. He lies near three women and a baby, all of Celtic origins. So what were they doing in the Taklamakan deser,t in the western Chinese region of Xinjiang — thousands of miles east of the Celtic civilisation in Europe?

THE BRONX

October 09, 2014  /  Chris Klaxton  /  Source

anthonybourdain:

I’ve lived in New York City since the mid ‘70s.
I was, for all of that time, aware of the Bronx. It was up there—and over there— a vast, unexplored land you drove through to get to Yankee Stadium. I had been to Arthur Avenue. Visited friends from time to time. I’d driven the Cross Bronx…

August 19, 2014  /  Chris Klaxton

“

When my husband [Carl Sagan] died, because he was so famous and known for not being a believer, many people would come up to me — it still sometimes happens — and ask me if Carl changed at the end and converted to a belief in an afterlife. They also frequently ask me if I think I will see him again.



Carl faced his death with unflagging courage and never sought refuge in illusions. The tragedy was that we knew we would never see each other again. I don’t ever expect to be reunited with Carl. But, the great thing is that when we were together, for nearly twenty years, we lived with a vivid appreciation of how brief and precious life is. We never trivialized the meaning of death by pretending it was anything other than a final parting. Every single moment that we were alive and we were together was miraculous — not miraculous in the sense of inexplicable or supernatural. We knew we were beneficiaries of chance… That pure chance could be so generous and so kind… That we could find each other, as Carl wrote so beautifully in Cosmos, you know, in the vastness of space and the immensity of time… That we could be together for twenty years. That is something which sustains me and it’s much more meaningful.



The way he treated me and the way I treated him, the way we took care of each other and our family, while he lived. That is so much more important than the idea I will see him someday. I don’t think I’ll ever see Carl again. But I saw him. We saw each other. We found each other in the cosmos, and that was wonderful.

”
— Ann Druyan (via whats-out-there)