Underneath my yellow skin

Category Archives: Taiji

Not knowing where and when to draw the line, part five

This is yet another post about limits, boundaries, and when to push it and when to rest. In the last post, I touched on not knowing when to do the former and when to do the latter. I will delve further into that concept in this post. Let’s start with Bagua. I’m much more comfortable… Continue Reading

When do you know you’ve reached your limits, part three

I have one more post in me to talk about limits, sunken cost fallacy, and American toxic exceptionalism. Yes, I know it’s American exceptionalism and toxic positivity, but they are one and the same to me. It’s not that I don’t think you shouldn’t strive to do well–wait. Let’s stop there a second. I have… Continue Reading

When something is truly too hard, part two

I want to talk more about where is the line between giving it your all and sunken cost fallacy. Here is my post from yesterday in which I was talking about my struggles with the Double Fan Form. I think back to when I laughingly assumed it would take me three months, tops, to teach… Continue Reading

When too hard is truly too hard

I’ve been thinking about American exceeptionalism and how damaging it is. In this specific case, I want to talk about the difference between confidence and arrogance. There have been studies that show that women (and AFAB, I presume) often underestimate their abilities. Or rather, they don’t apply to jobs that they consider out of their… Continue Reading

More about the anger inside, part five

Let’s talk one more time about anger. I had my private lesson today, and I mentioned the argument with my mother that I recently had to my teacher. I was still upset with myself for letting it get as far as it did, but I totally did not see the trap in time. That’s what… Continue Reading

More musing about martial arts

Let’s talk about martial arts some more. Why? Because I’ve been thinking about the obsessions I have in my life. I have the type of personality neuroatypical brain that latches onto something and won’t let go–for a given amount of time. It can be a few months like black “diamonds”, jigsaw puzzles, musical soundtracks (like… Continue Reading