本周六(9月4日)上午08：30～11：00在台中市忠信國小舉辦「太極饗宴」。

台中市太極拳委員會所屬各場共表演13個節目，內容精彩並有摸彩活動，推廣太極拳讓社會大眾對太極拳有更深入的瞭解。

※歡迎各界邀集同好一起參與這個太極拳的饗宴！
       

       

I love to use Google Earth to find the destination of my next hiking or biking trip. It's not that there are not enough places to go without having to resort to the Internet, but quickly jumping there to see whether the view is good and what the road or path looks like can filter out the disappointing ones and save the precious weekends. :-)

A few weeks ago I was trying to find a good spot that had a view of Taipei but was still easily reachable by public transportation. 陽明山國家公園 (Yang Ming Shan National Park) has plenty of nice hills and mountains but most of them are poorly connected to bus or metro.

One of the closer ones immediately stood out: 中正山 (Zhong zheng shan). It promised to have a good view of the whole city, all the way down to Taipei 101:

So, we did a little research, found how to go there and off we went, armed with my trusted GPS logger, the camera, and way too little water.

Just so you get an idea where our hike took us, here's the bird's eye view:

The yellow arrow is 中正山 (Zhong zheng shan), our main destination. The red one is 大屯西峰 (Da tun shan west peak), the place we figured we could go if we had enough energy left (which we did).

The green arrow is hovering over 七星山 (Qi xing shan), the highest mountain in Taipei. And, finally, the blue arrow is pointing at 大屯山 (Da tun shan), which is said to have one of the nicest sunsets in Northern Taiwan, something we had been able to confirm on a previous trip.

There you go, so much for the maps. Lean back and enjoy the photos. (But don't lean back too far, otherwise you won't be able to reach your mouse. ;-)

Every so often I remember that I forgot to post a bunch of photos on my website only to forget it again two minutes later. This is _not_ one of those times. This time I actually posted them.

On our three-day Paris trip last year I got a little bored of stereotype Paris. It's really just like you know it from TV with one big exception; the tourists and their side effects are mostly missing in TV Paris. Real Paris, however, is teeming with tourists, street vendors and other ripper-offers - pretty much everything that takes the fun out of traveling.

Armed with my new toy I started observing the people instead and the little things that no one normally pays attention to. Suddenly the city became much more entertaining!

I give you Paris through Martin's eyes ...

Last weekend a combination of a friend's request for chocolate cake and the desire to take on fresh baking challenges recently led us to try one of my family's favorite recipes.

I wasn't exactly optimistic about the outcome given that it involves a few steps that my traditional mix-it-all-and-bake cakes don't require. There's separating eggs (who likes to touch eggs?!), melting chocolate in a water bath, glaze-proofing the cake with warm jam, and finally pouring a cup of thick chocolate glazing on top of it, hoping that it covers the cake's surface equally.

Well, despite a few mishaps such as yolk in the egg whites, burn marks on my arms, an overzealous oven, and poor garnishing timing (and, apparently, lack of talent) it turned out quite delicious!

And just to show you how delicious it is, let's take a look at what's inside ...

You've got to love the chocolate part. :-)

今天早上練習老架二路時，發現有幾位學員總是「心中未能放鬆」，造成四肢呆滯現象，這已經不是「放鬆肌肉」四個字能說明的，只好從「靜中有動，動中有靜，動靜合一」來練習。

先是閉目站樁，自觀全身鬆透，然後靜極而動，由腦中觀想的「全砲捶」動作展現到實際動作，然後再閉目站樁，觀想「動作是鬆柔的、發勁是冷脆的」，待全身統合為一的腦中影像清晰後，再次練習「全砲捶」運動。這個練習的重點是要把「腦中影像成形」，然後把這「影像程式」實際做出來。如此反覆練習，達到「身心一致、動靜如一」的目標。

肌肉的放鬆達不到「鬆透」，須從心的境界去「鬆透」，「由無到有、將有化無」就必須站樁、動作反覆練習，令人想到《秋日偶成》這首詩，正是「動靜合一」練習的最好註解：

    閒來無事不從容，睡覺東窗日已紅。
        萬物靜觀皆自得，四時佳興與人同。
        道通天地有形外，思入風雲變態中。
        富貴不淫貧賤樂，男兒到此是豪雄。【註一】

這首詩從「閒」字引到「從容」的放鬆狀態，「心裡有事」的情緒狀態時，「心」就會專注在肌肉上，顯現出緊張現象，很難做到「放鬆」。打從心裡「閒」下來，而又不「散漫、昏沉」的清醒著，才能使四肢肌肉真正鬆下來。

「靜觀」是重要條件，靜觀萬物( 四肢百骸 )都是客體，這個閒下來的從容之「心」是主體，那麼不論身體是「閃展騰挪、縮小軟綿巧」的如何動作( 四時佳興 )，都和這個安靜、從容的心是一致的。

接下來「道通天地有形外，思入風雲變態中」，就是在形容這種「外動內靜」的練拳狀態，也是「無形轉化有形」狀態。

至於「富貴不淫貧賤樂，男兒到此是豪雄」是深一層的形容。如《岳陽樓記》所說：「不以物喜、不以己悲。」【註二】可以把持內心境界，進而改變外境變化。如：「隨緣不變，不變隨緣」以平常心相應外物，管他外界亂七八糟，心境都是從容安靜的。

太極拳是人生境界的修練，從套路練習中體悟：「身隨心轉則樂，心隨境轉則憂」，可化解人生種種煩惱，包括身體鍛鍊和提升心靈境界，是「身心靈」合一的功夫。

【註一】《秋日偶成》作者程顥，字伯淳，世稱明道先生，人格光明磊落、溫和純淨，學生稱與他接近有「如沐春風之感」。洛陽人（今河南省），生於宋仁宗明道元(1032)年，卒於神宗元豐八(1085)年，享年五十四歲。弟弟程頤，世稱伊川先生，兩人都是北宋重要的理學家，並稱二程。

【註二】《岳陽樓記》作者范仲淹，生於西元989年，死於西元1052年，字希文，吳縣人。《岳陽樓記》是因為本文思想境界崇高而出名。《岳陽樓記》所說「先天下之憂而憂，後天下之樂而樂」，是范仲淹思想行為的準則。孟子說：「達則兼善天下，窮則獨善其身」這是多士大夫的信條。范仲淹寫這篇文章的時候正貶官在外，「處江湖之遠」，本可採取獨善其身態度，落得清閒快樂。可是他不肯這樣，仍然以天下為己任，用「先天下之憂而憂，後天下之樂而樂」來勉勵自己，這是作者性格的特點。

This weekend we once again found ourselves with no particular plan and surprisingly good weather - the forecast had predicted rain for two days -, so we tried to find a short hiking trail in the same area as our dinner and shopping plans.

We quickly found something on what by now is one of our favorite hiking blogs. The family who writes it has been to so many places in Hsinchu County that you can always find a good suggestion or directions to a hard-to-find trail.

So, we settled for a rather short but nice little hiking trail near 新豐 (Xin feng), just north of 竹北 (Zhu bei), called 鳳崎落日登山步道 (Feng qi luo ri hiking trail). It's only about 3.3 kilometers one way but that coincided well with our habit of getting up (too) late.

The GPSies map ...

... and our photos. Have fun!

Instead of racing a dragon boat or eating rice dumplings we used the recent Dragon boat festival holiday for a hike to the nearby "training mountain", Jia li shan (加里山).

Dragon boat festival also marks the end of the rainy season. This year the sky was right on time and after a few days of relatively heavy rain we had a (mostly) dry day to enjoy our hike.

After seeing a few blog articles and Panoramio photos I had got the impression that it must be a fairly easy hike with maybe one or two short segments that involve pulling yourself up on a rope. Far from it! On the last quarter of the trail your hands are just as busy as your legs.

An elevation of 800 meters on about 4 km length makes it an interesting day hike. Below are the trail record on GPSies and the photos from my gallery. Enjoy!

以拳會友，一起健身，太極拳生活化！
【世貿場】
地點：台中工業區世貿中心，南邊( 過馬路 )大停車場。
時間：每週一 ∼ 六，早上06：00∼07：00( 週六至08：00 )
每週二、六，安老師到場教學，平日有輪班教練指導。
※ 週六與東海場合併練習，場地單數月在東海，雙數月在世貿。
連絡人：張華敏 教練  0937-219616
【東海場】
地點：東海大學第二教學區管理學院，地下一樓東庭院廣場。
時間：每週一 ∼ 六，早上06：00∼07：00( 週六至08：00 )
每週一、六，安老師到場教學，平日有輪班教練指導。
※ 週六與世貿場合併練習，場地單數月在東海，雙數月在世貿。
連絡人：趙瓊瓊 教練  0921-333171  e-mail：ag214@hotmail.com

【崑崙太極學苑】
地點：豐原市圓環東路南村里活動中心。
時間：每週三，上午08：30∼09：30，每週五由初級班林瑞芬教練指導。
連絡人：林瑞芬 教練  0916-856167

教學內容：
(1)陳氏太極拳基本功操。
(2)養生氣功：呼吸、吐納、導引、站樁。( 氣功、內功、道功 )
(3)老架一路、新架一路、陳氏卅八式、九九式競賽套路、鄭子三十七式。
(4)陳氏單劍、單刀、雙刀、24棍、陳氏太極扇、陳氏太極槍等。

2010台灣武術節in高雄-中華傳統武術交流大賽

 活動名稱與緣由
「中華傳統武術文化」乃共屬全球華人之重要文化資產，本會積極推動兩岸對於「中華傳統武術文化」的全面性交流。於2009年在台北小巨蛋舉辦「2009年台北武術節~華人傳統武術交流大賽」活動，受到兩岸武術研究團體之一致肯定，並希望可以將「學術性」與「文化性」等「非競技性」交流列入爾後「武術節」的正式機制當中，而使「武術節」成為兩岸武術交流的「年度最大武術活動」，同時也是交流主題涵蓋面向最廣（競技、學術、文化）的「年度武術文化交流最大平台」。

一、時間、地點
比賽時間：2010年10月23日—10月24日(六、日)
比賽地點：高雄市雄中體育館(高雄市三民區建國三路50號)
二、指導單位：
行政院體育委員會、教育部、外交部、行政院大陸委員會
三、主辦單位：
高雄市政府、高雄市政府文化局
四、承辦單位
臺灣武藝文化研究協會、社團法人臺灣光彩促進會
五、協辦單位
不一武藝團、中華民國螳螂拳協會、中華民國尹式八卦掌協會、中國文化大學國術系、中華民國食鶴拳協會、中觀陳氏太極拳協會、中華太極形意八卦養炁協會、中華武道研究發展協會、太極禪武學社、天橙工作室、正修科技大學、世界陳氏太極拳台灣會館、台南市太極拳協會、台中市國術委員會、台南後旦宋江陣、台南羅漢鶴拳研究會、台南二甲太祖拳頭會、台南縣七甲永春拳會、台南市億載太極拳社、台中縣二高白鶴拳協會、台中市上安武術團、台中市武術散打搏擊協會、永成木偶工作室、念塵武學研究會、南投縣宇涵太極拳協會、高雄市中華武術研究會、高雄市陳氏太極拳協會、高雄市陳氏太極拳協會、高雄市體育會國武術委員會、高雄縣李派太極拳研究會、新竹縣錦園八卦掌研究會、雲林縣太極拳協會、雲林縣體育會國術委員會、雲林縣西螺勤習堂、嶺南弘武館、雲林縣太極拳協會、彰化縣威震武館、豫勝木偶精品店、臺灣拳頭會、臺灣傳統導引養生功法協會、臺灣獅頭旺民俗技藝發展協會…等。(以上依筆劃順序排列)

活動資訊及競賽規程請至www.twwy.org查詢。

台灣武藝文化研究協會
聯絡住址：40761台中市西屯區中康三街7號15樓之ㄧ
聯絡電話：04-2425-9343 ； 04-24259343；24257672
傳真：04-24251932 ； 04-24251932
聯絡人：丁淑勳、陳文雅、詹錦容 
活動網址：www.twwy.org

敬請協助張貼訊息 謝謝。

2010年第三屆世界盃太極拳錦標賽

大會日期：民國99年10月2日、3日（星期六、日），計兩天。
大會地點：臺中港區綜合體育館（臺中縣梧棲鎮文昌路350號）
報名地點：中華民國太極拳總會(http://www.cttaichi.org)
                     台北市朱崙街廿號(點選地圖)  全國體育大樓六樓六○八室
電話：（02）2778-3887     傳真：（02）2778-3890
報名日期：自即日起99年7月28日止（凡逾期者恕不接受補辦手續）。
劃撥帳號：00140221戶名：中華民國太極拳總會 
抽籤日期：99年8月19日（星期四）下午二時，在太極拳總會舉辦。
報到時間：99年10月2日上午08:00至09:00報到（含國外選手）。
裁判會議：99年10月2日上午08:30於比賽會場舉行。
領隊會議：99年10月2日上午09:00於比賽會場舉行。

詳細競賽規程及報名表請到：http://www.cttaichi.org/news_2.php?search=425

Butchering European culture has developed into an innocent tradition here in Taiwan. Most noticeably this has to do with food, one of my "favorites" (to tell, not to eat!) being pasta with ketchup instead of actual tomatoes.

Today I'd like to present something that takes the cake in so many ways. There's a bakery chain called 提拉米蘇 (the Chinese transliteration of 'Tiramisu') that is hugely popular, to the extent where people line up outside the shop or wait for several weeks to receive their online cake order.

Here's what the object of people's desire looks like - the Tiramisu cake:

They even have a diagram explaining the cake's structure: a base of digestive biscuit, two layers of mousse, a layer of chocolate cake, and to top it off cocoa powder imported from Malaysia.

Let's attribute the fact that half the ingredients don't show up in traditional tiramisu recipes to artistic interpretation.

What really takes the cake is how they bend the largely unknown and unspectactular history of tiramisu into a deeply "meaningful" story based on a mistranslation and an awful lot of imagination (a.k.a. 唬濫 - Taiwanese for "bullshit"):

Can you feel the Tiramisu coming back up yet?

I realize I haven't posted anything on my blog for weeks (months?), partly because living in the US is more "conventional" than Taiwan, and partly because I now spend more time on Facebook than updating my blog. During the week I'm also spending a lot of time kitesurfing on 3rd Avenue, which is very exciting because I can practice during the week. It's not too far from the office: I need to cross the Dumbarton bridge, take the 101 North and exit @ San Mateo. Tomorrow (Monday) is Labor Day and I will go try another kitesurfing spot: Sherman Island. I'll take my camera in case there's some nice scenery! 3rd Av is not really nice, here are a few pictures:

Here is the San Mateo bridge, just next to the kitesurfing spot:

The goal of these pictures was actually to test the field of view of my new 20mm lens. I bought it to the office the other day and passed it around (there are lots of photo-amateurs in our department), here is a picture of myself in the office:

(I hope my mom notices the fruits on my desk: No doughnuts!)

I've started building a map of kitesurfing spots but I found a very powerful website, localkitespots.com, that is extremely complete and will become my new reference in the future.

I took quite a few pictures at the San Carlos "Vertical Challenge" air show last weekend! Posted them over there:

San Carlos Hiller Museum Vertical Challenge

On Sunday I went to Ikea in Emeryville and then I was glad to serve as a tourguide for my roommate in Berkley - She's from San Diego and hadn't been to Berkley yet! Telegraph street, coffee on Euclid street, University avenue, the campus, the Campanile, and Treasure Island on the way back. One more proof that I'm ready to welcome people visiting me in the Bay Area! By the way, my first Taiwanese visitor is coming soon...