Tuttavia anche essendo in possesso di questi requisiti, raggiungere il "Gong fu" (traducibile pressapoco con "abilità") non è una strada rettilinea, ma tortuosa, lunga e piena di imprevisti.

"Non esiste in aria un posto
per l'ultima pietra del muro,
se già non hai collocato la prima
e le altre sotto di essa"

La via del Taijiquan non è quindi facile e rettilinea, e va affrontata un passo dopo l'altro. Un problema...una soluzione e così via. Soltanto il sacrificio e la dedizione portano al "Gong fu". Chi non è disposto a fare ciò non potrà acquisire una buona conoscenza.

Per capire a quale punto del cammino si è arrivati si può ricorrere alla "teoria delle 5 abilità", che sono tuttavia delle tappe non definite in maniera assoluta e in ognuna delle quali la permanenza dipende esclusivamente dall'impegno e dallo studio del praticante.

In realtà il 5° livello di abilità non è l'ultimo, perchè è possibile continuare a studiare e a scoprire nuove abilità all'infinito. In realtà però, l'unico limite di un praticante è la fine della propria vita.

• Il punto di intersezione mediano tra la base e l'altezza indica l'inizio della pratica
• La linea con andamento oscillante segna l'andamento del percorso attraverso i vari livelli di "Gong fu"
• Dal primo al terzo livello i controni delle aree sono trattegiati. Ciò significa che il praticante può anche finire fuori strada (all'esterno della piramide, .ndt) se non seguito da un buon maestro.
• Dal terzo livello in poi i lati della piramide sono continui e ciò sottolinea, anche in relazione al punto precedente, come da qui in poi il praticante è in grado di proseguire il proprio percorso da solo.
• Le frecce indicano, quei momenti in cui è possibile smarrire la via del "Gong fu".

The exhibit will be at the Asian through September 21.

cheapthrills: $5 Thursdays after 5 p.m.; free first Sunday of the month -- July 6th.

Sunday hours: 10:00am. -5:00 pm.

Ma chi era il generale Qi? Sembra che durante la dinastina Ming (1368-1644 D.C.), il generale Qi scrisse il libro "Ji Xiao Jin Shu", che tradotto significa "Il nuovo libro di registrazione delle tecniche efficaci". Come si deduce dal titolo stesso, in esso venivano descritte varie tecniche di guerra relative al combattimento a mani nude, combattimento con le armi, strategie e altro. Il generale Qi si limitò, nel suo scritto, a prendere nota dei nomi di 16 posizioni marziali esistenti e 32 posizioni di boxe, e a spiegare cosa le rendesse efficaci. Per molti anni, e anche grazie alle fonti accreditate da cui proveniva, queste versione delle origini del Taijiquan fu accettata come verità.

Nel 1918 venne pubblicato il libro "Quan Jing", ossia "Canone di Boxe", che era per il periodo uno dei libri più completi sulle arti marziali in circolazione. Il "Quan Jing" includeva le descrizioni e i disegni delle 32 posizioni del Sung Tai Zhu Chang Quan (guarda il video), che il generale Qi aveva incluso nel suo libro.

Le 32 posizioni del generale Qi e le 32 posizioni del Sung Tai Zhu Chang Quan erano, tranne per qualche differenza di pronuncia e traduzione, praticamente uguali. La comparazione delle liste delle posizioni lo conferma:

Chen Zhi Ming era un membro della famiglia Chen che scrisse sul Taijiquan. In alcuni suoi lavori descrisse l'arte del Sung Tai Zhu Quan così:

"Le posizioni di Tai Zhu sono le più forti, i movimenti per far cadere e quelli diagonali, rendono difficile persino ai fantasmi liberarsene’" 

oppure ancora

"Il pugno delle sette stelle e le mani si prendono cura l’una dell’altra, il Pugno dell’Accarezzare il Cavallo vengono da Tai Zhu'".

Sono queste le più antiche fonti documentate sul Taijiquan della famiglia Chen. Questo significa che le basi per la creazione del Taijiquan furono gettate dal Tai Zu Quan e non dal generale Qi, che si limitò a prenderne nota nel suo libro.

Il Sung Tai Zhu Quan era un'arte marziale (che prendeva il nome dal suo fondatore, .ndt) sviluppatasi nel Sud della Cina, ed era molto dura ed esterna. Il Sung Tai Zhu Quan era caratterizzato da movimenti e colpi molto potenti, scuotimenti del corpo, postura allineata, coordinamento in alcune posizioni del movimento di mani e piedi, stabile e fermo e tante prese di Qinna. Tutto quello appena elencato è presente nell'odierno Taijiquan stile Chen.

Il Sung Tai Zhu Quan, comunque non era l'unica arte marziale praticata dalla famiglia Chen. Sempre dagli scritti di Chen Zhi Ming si apprende che veniva praticato anche il "Pugno Rosso Shaolin".

Il pugno rosso Shaolin

Viene riportato (da Liang Yi Tang Ben) che nel villaggio Chen venivano praticate 4 tipi di forme del "Piccolo pugno rosso Shaolin", un tipo di boxe particato, appunto, presso il tempio Shaolin. Ciò può dirsi più che probabile, vista la vicinanza tra il villaggio Chen e il tempio Shaolin. Il pugno rosso Shaolin viene praticato oggi anche nello Shanxi, dove si trova in tante differenti varianti. Una di queste è il Tai Zhu Quan! Nel Pugno rosso Shaolin vengono enfatizzate le posizioni basse, l'uso "dolce" dei muscoli, la mente invece della forza, i "fa jing" (emissioni di forza), la guardia nelle quattro direzioni, la circolazione del Qi e l'uso dell' "adesione" all'avversario. Tutte caratteristiche ampiamente presenti nella pratica del Taijiquan!

Pugno Del Cannone Shaolin (Pao Chuan) E Colpo Del Cannone (Pao Chui)

Il Pao Chuan e il Pao Chui consistono in 3 serie: 2 serie del cannone piccolo e 1 del cannone grande. In tutte viene enfatizzato l'attacco (come un cannone appunto, .ndt). Tutt'ora il Pao Chuan e il Pao Chui vengono praticati nel tempio Shaolin.

La similitudine con Il Taijiquan Chen è evidente, sopratutto nelle posizioni "Calcio del tornado" (Xuen Fung Jiao) e "Cannoni In serie" (Lien Huan Pao). Il Sang Hao Pao Chui, che deriva dall'arte Shaolin contiene anche le posizioni "Sfrecciare a Sinistra" (Zhuo Chong) e "Sfrecciare a Destra" (Yu Chong). Da questo possono dedursi, quindi, delle correlazioni con l'antico Pao Chui della famiglia Chen (Pao Chui Chen Jia) per il quale la famiglia Chen fu, per molte generazioni, fu famosa (video).

La tecnica Shaolin del bastone

Oltre che per le tecniche a mani nude, il tempio Shaolin è famoso anche per le sue tecniche di sciabola (Dao) e Bastone (Gun), 2 delle armi tradizionali delle arti marziali cinesi. L'arte del bastone è forse la più famosa tra quelle praticate al tempio Shaolin. Il bastone era l'arma preferita dai monaci i quali raramente, al di fuori del tempio, se ne separavano.

Chen Zhi Ming asserisce che le tecniche di bastone della famiglia Chen derivano da quelle Shaolin. Comparando le 2 forme (almeno quelle antiche) si notano alcune somiglianze, la stessa teoria e e le stesse posture di corpo mani e piedi. Data la vicinanza, già citata, tra il tempio Shaolin e il villaggio Chen, tutto questo non stupisce.

I 24 Germogli di fiore della famiglia Yang

L'arte dei germogli di fiore della famiglia Yang (non quella di Yang Luchan, anche se egli stesso si dice fosse un campione di tale arte) era inclusa nel libro del generale Qi Jiguang. Anch'essa era correntemente praticata dalla famiglia Chen.

La pratica con il bastone corto (Pang)

Uno dei tanti metodi di pratica dello stile Chen è quello di impugnare con ambedue le mani un bastone corto e usarlo con movimenti di torsione per allenarsi. Lo stesso si fa nell'allenamento del Kang Feng Chi. Lo stesso viene fatto nella boxe interna Wudang. Da questo si può dedurre che almeno nei metodi di allenamento vi sono delle correlazioni tra il Taijiquan stile Chen e la boxe Wudang (a mio avviso le correlazioni sono più evidenti verso lo stile Yang e la boxe Wudang che altro, .ndt).

Informazioni tratte dall'articolo "Le Arti Marziali Praticate Nel Villaggio Della Famiglia Chen". Eventuali modifiche e/o correzioni sulle fonti e sulle teorie sono ben accetti, vista l'attuale difficolta di reperibilità di fonti certe. 

Ming is a great cartoonist who publishes comic strips every day in the South China Morning Post, on the "Back Page" of the Business Section. His drawings are very much in sync with recent business or political developments.

Today, his "Bottom Line" goes as follows:

- Mr X: "China has begun an anti-monopoly probe into Microsoft"

- Mr X: "But what about all those oil, telecom and power companies that enjoy near monopolies?"

- Mr Y: "They're different. They're under state control and can run at a loss."

Mr Ming doesn't mince his words ;)

Setelah Kublai Khan dari Mongol menaklukkan kerajaan Nanchao, sejarah Yunnan menjadi bagian dari seluruh sejarah Cina.

Untuk memahami sejarah Yunnan sebagai sejarah Cina pada umumnya, sangat penting untuk mengetahui sejarah Cina dari awalnya.

Orang-orang menuntut bahwa sejarah mereka dimulai dari dinasti Xia periode 500 tahun abad tahun 2200 sampai 1700 sebelum masehi. Hal itu diikuti oleh Dinasti Shang dari abad 1700 sampai 1100 sebelum masehi. Walaupun tidak ada catatan sejarah dan penemuan arkeologi, tokoh mitologi tetap menuntut tentang dua dinasti itu.

Dinasti ketiga yang dikenal di dinasti Cina bernama dinasti Zhou sampai abad 221 sebelum masehi. Dinasti Zhou menyumbangkan dua filosofi dan kepercayaan penting. Khong Hu Chu dan Tao. Khong Hu Chu berdiri dari abad 551 sampai 479 sebelum masehi, ia membangun standar kehidupan sosial bagi orang-orang Cina sampai tahun1911 ketika kaisar Cina jatuh dan muncul perdebatan, Khong Hu Chu memberikan sumbangan pada kehidupan social Cina hingga kini, walaupun Cina menjadi negara komunis sampai 1949.

Pendiri ajaran Tao adalah pendeta Budha Cina bernama Laozi. Berbeda dengan Tao Khong Hu Chu bukanlah agama yang berhubungan dengan dewa ataupun dewi, dan bukan juga ajaran supranatural, ajaran Tao lebih mengacu pada hal mistik.

Ketika Dinasti Zhao akan masuk pada wilayah utama, orang-orang China pertama kalinya bersatu di bawah Dinasti Qin. Dinasti Qin hanya bertahan selama 14 tahun, di masa pemerintahan kaisar Qin Shihuang. Walaupun Qin Shihuang memerintah dengan kejam, tapi ia memperkenalkan sistem administrasi yang dipakai di berbagai tempat lebih dari 2000 tahun. Prinsip dari bentuk sistem administrasi sangat kuat berlaku di pemerintahan yang ditentukan oleh administrator serta disetujui oleh pusat. Walaupun model Komunis Cina masih berpengaruh pada sistem ini.

Setelah Qin Shihuang wafat, putranya Liu menjadi kaisar, walaupun Kaisar Liu tidak memiliki kemampuan sebagai Pemimpin. Kemudian komandan Liu Bang bergerak ke Ibukota kekaisaran dan menjatuhkan dinasti Qin.

Liu Bang kemudian mengumumkan dirinya sebagai kaisar yang baru dan mendirikan Dinasti Han. Keturunan Liu Bang memiliki kemampuan untuk memimpin, dan dinasti Han berdiri selama 400 tahun dari tahun 206 sebelum masehi sampai 220 masehi. Dinasti Han tidak terorganisir dengan baik seperti Dinasti Qin. Dinasti Han terlibat kasus korupsi dan perpecahan. Setelah kaisar Han berakhir, abad 220 setelah masehi, Cina dibagi menjadi tiga kerajaan, kerajaan Wu, Wei dan Shu Han. Periode tiga kerajaan itu berakhir sampai abad 589 setelah masehi. Pada saat itu bukan hanya abad untuk tiga kerajaan, tapi juga era dari kerusuhan internal, dengan masa kejayaan dinasti yang singkat dan pergantian pusat kekuasaan.

Cina bersatu kembali, dan diperintah oleh dinasti tunggal, Jenderal Wi Barat, Sui, menaklukan hina Selatan bukan untuk kepentingan kemenangan dinasti Wi Barat tapi untuk untuk mengangkat dirinya sebagai kaisar Cina.

Dinasti Sui berakhir pada tahun 618 sebelum masehi tapi menimbulkan dampak yang dalam bagi pembangunan masyarakat China. Keahlian mayor dari dinasti Sui adalah pembentukan resmi dalam hal pembangunan Grand Canal, dimana sungai mengalir dari utara ke selatan melalui Cina, dan ketika sungai mengalir dari arah timur ke barat.

Walaupun tidak sukses, dinasti Sui melakukan tiga perjalanan militer ke semenanjung Korea, menjalankan pemerintahan putra Sui, Yangdi. Ketika tentara Yangdi kalah untuk ketiga kalinya, kaisar dibunuh oleh penasehatnya. Jenderal Yangdi, Li Yuan, yang bermarkas di perbatasan garnisun Taiyuan, mengambil kesempatan untuk merebut tahta dan mendirikan dinasti Tang.

Dinasti Tang berdiri dari tahun 618 sampai 907 sebelum masehi dan merupakan dinasti yang memiliki masa kejayaan dalam sejarah Cina. Selama berlangsungnya dinasti Tang, sistem administrasi Cina kemudian didirikan. Propinsi diperintah dengan persetujuan administrator, yang selanjutnya dibagi dalam 300 administratif dan 1500 kabupaten.

Kemudian Dinasti Tang memperlihatkan perkembangan di bidang budaya, seni, ilmu dan agama yang sebelumnya tidak dikenal dalam proses internasionalisasi Cina, melalui pedagang asing yang tidak hanya membawa barang dagangan tetapi juga mendirikan sekolah baru untuk belajar.

Secara politik Dinasti Tang jatuh. Di barat, tentara Tibet menggedor garnisun Tang, dan di Yunnan, kerajaan Thai, Nanchao mencoba melakukan ekspansi ke Sichuan. Ketika sistem politik dan militer dari dinasti Tang dikikis, tanah Cina menjadi di bawah kepemimpinan kelompok bandit. Akhirnya pada tahun 907 setelah masehi, perlindungan hukum di bawah pimpinan Huang Zhao direbut oleh modal dinasti Tang dan selanjutnya berakhir.

Selama seperempat abad berikutnya, Komando militer saling bertempur di wilayah yang dominan, untuk memperluas kekuatan militer. Mereka percaya bahwa kabupaten yang memiliki sejarah yang kaya dan panjang dapat memperbanyak sistem legitimasi kekuatan politik, hal ini merupakan hal yang biasa terjadi di Cina.

Di Eropa tengah, kekuatan politik harus dilegitimasi oleh aturan turunan yang terperinci , juga oleh perjanjian hirarki agama. Untuk naik tahta, salah seorang harus mewarisinya. Dengan begitu, sejarah akan menganggap pemerintah sebagai perebut kekuasaan.

Di Cina, seperti juga di beberapa negara di Asia, legitimasi kekuatan politik terletak pada pemiliknya. Petani bahkan bandit dapat menjadi tentara, menaklukan Ibukota, mengangkat dirinya sebagai raja atau kaisar, dan mengharapkan persoalannya dapat menerima ketentuan tanpa mendiskusikan apakah raja atau kaisar baru dapat duduk di tahtanya.

Dalam pemikiran Cina tradisional, jika pemerintah baru bertahan dalam kekuatannya, ia harus dapat membuktikan amanat dari surga untuk menjadi kaisar baru. Jika pemerintah atau dinasti jatuh, hal itu membuktikan bahwa amanat dari surga tidak berjalan dengan baik.

Ketika sistem Cina terlihat praktis, konsekuensinya pasti mengikuti, diikuti oleh sekelompok individu yang besar untuk mencobanya. Sebagai jenderal tidak pernah merasa kuatir walaupun penduduk Cina akan menerima mereka sebagai pemerintahan legitimasi dimana mereka mempunyai kekuatan, sejarah Cina banyak mempunyai contoh dimana jenderal menaklukan raja-raja dan kaisar-kaisar. Pemimpin dari pemberontakan yang terkenal biasanya tidak berhubungan dengan pertempuran melawan ketidakadilan sosial, tapi jika pemberontakan itu berhasil mereka mempunyai tujuan untuk kekuatan politik sosial dan mendirikan dinasti mereka. Penyerbuan asing dapat merebut pengadilan Cina dan mengangkat diri mereka sebagai kaisar. Dua dinasti mayor Cina secara etnis bukan orang Cina, dua dinasti itu adalah dinasti Mongol Yuan dan dinasti Manchu Qing.

Setelah runtuhnya dinasti Tang pada abad 907 setelah masehi, pemerintah regional, jenderal yang tidak setia, pejabat tinggi kerajaan bahkan Pemimpin kelompok bandit terlibat perang atara satu dengan yang lainnya.

Pada 959, Zhao Kuangyin, Pemimpin penjaga kerajaan di masa dinasti regional, meraih kekuatan dari Pemimpin negara bagian yang sudah berumur 7 tahun. Tahun berikutnya Zhao Kuangyin, menaklukan kerajaan regional dan berhasil menyatakan seluruh Cina di bawah pemerintahannya. Akibat dari Dinasti Song, yang mengadakan perjanjian pada saat itu, Zhao Kuangyin merebut kekuasaan dari anaknya yang menjadi raja pada tahun 959 sebelum masehi. Hal itu berakhir sampai 1279 masehi, ketika Kublai Khan mendirikan Dinasti Yuan.

Dinasti Song membawa pada Cina apa yang disebut sebagai revolusi perdagangan. Salah satunya adalah memperkenalkan uang kertas, yang digunakan dalam perdagangan.Kota berkembang sangat cepat, ke arah yang lebih besar seperti keadaan yang juga sedang terjadi di Eropa pada saat yang sama. Revolusi perdagangan meluas ke daerah luar kota dimana teknik pertanian diperkenalkan.

Tidak seperti dinasti Cina sebelumnya, Dinasti Song tidak runtuh karena penyakit tapi karena pembunuhan yang dilakukan oleh pasukan dari luar yang tidak mempunyai pengaruh. Pasukan dari luar itu berasal dari sekelompok orang-orang Mongol, bencana itu terjadi di bagian Asia dan Eropa timur. Mongol disatukan tahun 1206 oleh Genghis Khan dan mengacau bangsa-bangsa di sekitarnya. Genghis Khan merebut Beijing (bukan Ibukota China) di tahun 1215, perlakuannya mengalihkan bagian lainnya ke kekaisaran yang lebih luas, dinasti Song yang menjalankannya untuk beberapa dekade. Cucu Genghis Khan, Kublai Khan yang pada akhirnya menaklukkan Cina di tahun 1279, termasuk kerajaan Yunnan Thai di Nanchao. Meskipun Kublai Khan menaklukan China di tahun 1279, Dinasti Yuan didirikan Kublai Khan tahun 1271 sampai 1368.

Dibawah kekuasaannya, Kublai Khan memperluas daerah jajahan ke wilayah barat, tepatnya sampai ke Moskow dan Baghdad.

Orang-orang Mongol menyusun kembali pemerintahan Cina dengan cara memiliterisasikannya. Sebelum serangan gencar Mongol, secara luar biasa orang-orang Mandarin yang berpendidikan telah menjadi pilar dari system administrasi Cina, mereka dibawah kekuasaan orang-orang Mongol, digantikan oleh orang-orang yang telah naik jabatannya di militer.

Ketika orang-orang Mongol mengambil keputusan mengenai semua hal penting dari kebudayaan Cina sehingga menjadi tidak dapat dibedakan dari hal-hal pokok orang-orang Cina yang sebenarnya, perbedaannya dibuat secara politik, yaitu: semua etnik Mongol dibebaskan dari membayar pajak sedangkan orang-orang Cina diwajibkankan membayar semua pajak yang ada. Ketidakadilan ini, adalah fakta yang berlaku pada dinasti yang secara etnik adalah orang asing, dan kemungkinannya ini adalah alasan utama mengapa Dinasti Yuan bertahan selama lebih dari 100 tahun.

Orang Cina asli, sama dengan orang Tao, dulunya dinasti terakhir ini hanya dapat dibuktikan jika memiliki "mandat dari surga", dan juga dipercaya dimana mandat dari dinasti tertentu telah dikeluarkan, hal tersebut akan mengalah pada pemberontak atau pemberontak istana. Di dalam pemikiran tradisional orang-orang Cina, kerajaan yang sesungguhnya hanya ada di surga, tetapi tetap yang melaksananakannya adalah orang-orang di dunia. Efek dari filosofi politik orang-orang Tao adalah sederhana dan praktis: setiap orang boleh mencoba keberuntungannya dengan pemberontakan jika dia sangat mengharapkannya. Apabila pemberontakannya gagal, kemudian yang membuat suatu percobaan dengan jelas tidak memiliki "mandat dari surga" dan biasanya mereka dieksekusi. Bagaimanapun, seorang pemberontak yang berhasil diambil sebagai bukti bahwa mandat dari surga benar-benar ada. Hal ini semata-mata hanyalah nyanyian kesuksesan saja. Setiap orang dapat menjadi seorang kaisar sepanjang ia dapat mengumpulkan kekuatannya.

Sesungguhnya, sejarah orang-orang Cina kebanyakan adalah sebuah teka-teki dengan pemberontakan, namun tentunya tidak berhasil dalam membangun sebuah dinasti baru di semua orang-orang Cina, pada tingkat pemerintahan. Meskipun demikian, kelompok pemberontak memiliki aturan yang berlaku di area perbatasan untuk beberapa dekade, biasanya selama pemimpin yang karismatik masih memegang kendali kekuasaan.

Biasanya pemimpin yang berhasil adalah pemimpin yang sangat kejam, menyingkirkan kompetisi yang potensial dengan kedudukan mereka tanpa mengeluarkan airmata, dan membuang para musuhnya mereka dapatkan dengan cara yang efisien, yaitu dengan membunuhnya.

Secara praktis para penemu dinasti baru Cina, walaupun mereka adalah penjahat, jenderal yang tidak loyal atau para pegawai pemerintahan, ditampilkan pada tingkat yang tinggi dan secara kejam, serta di tingkat yang tinggi tanpa rasa hormat pada ahli waris mereka. Seringkali, kaisar terakhir dari dinasti tersebut telah memiliki sedikit toleransi, dan lebih tertarik pada seni, begitu pula para selir mereka, daripada menekan pokok permasalahan mereka.

Mekanisme dari sejarah Cina ini telah menjadi jelas sampai saat ini. Mao Zedong kemungkinan telah sangat terpengaruh karena membaca sejarah Cina ini, seperti ia telah membaca Marx, Engels dan Lenin. Secara sungguh-sungguh ia menyamakan dirinya sebagai penemu dari dinasti baru Cina. Mao Zedong boleh percaya bahwa kekejaman yang ia tunjukan selama Great Leap Forward dan Revolusi Kebudayaan, serta pengulangan pembersihannya terhadap Pesta Komunis, tidak terlalu penting bagi alas an ideology namun lebih kepada menstabilkan dinasti baru tersebut, aturan ini dibuat sendiri olehnya, begitu pula pada Pesta Komunis. Kegagalan ekonomi dari Great Leap Forward, sepertinya tidak menjadi masalah besar baginya.

Seluruh konsep dari pemberontakan yang dilakukan oleh kelas terendah dari lingkungan social lebih berakar pada pemikiran social orang-orang Cina daripada pemikiran orang-orang Eropa. Ada beberapa peristiwa di dalam sejarah Eropa dimana terdapat pemberontakan petani, atau pemberontak hukum, adalah yayasan dari dinasti yang baru. Beberapa kasus di Eropa, selalu memiliki kekurangan legitimasi, dan setelahbeberapa waktu kekuasaan lama dinormalkan kembali.

Dalam sejarah orang-orang Cina, mereka tidak pernah kembali. Dinasti tersebut telah diatur sedemikian rupa untuk kebaikan. Pemimpin dari pemberontak kelas bawah dapat membangun diri mereka sendiri sebagai kaisar yang baru, dan selama sisa-sisa dinasti masih berkuasa, kaisar baru tersebut adalah suatu masalah legitimasi.

Kemudian hubungan yang lain antara Revolusi Komunis dari abad ke-20 dan pemberontakan petani di awal periode ini. Mereka sering mengikuti ideologi dari negara Utopia.

Hal tersebut seperti pemberotakan petani di pertengahan abad 14 yang mengalahkan Dinasti Yuan. Pemimpin dari pemberontakan itu adalah Zhu Yuanzhang, anak yatim-piatu yang diadopsi di kuil Budha sebelum ia menjadi pemimpin dari salah satu kelompok pemberontakan yang ia persatukan. Ia mengakhiri Dinasti Yuan pada tahun 1368 dan menjadikan dirinya sebagai kaisar yang baru, hingga didirikankanlah Dinasti Ming.

Ketika mendeklarasikan dirinya sebagai kaisar uang baru, Zhu Yuanzhang mengganti namanya menjadi Hongwu. Selama masa pemerintahannya, ia memimpin perluasan pengusiran tersebut, terutama antara yang berpendidikan. Lebih dari 10.000 laki-laki yang terpelajar dan anggota keluarga mereka dieksekusi.

Pada awal tahun pemerintahan Dinasti Ming, sistem pemerintahan Ganda di Cina didirikan, dengan Beijing dibagian utara dan Nanjing dibagian selatan. Sebenarnya Beijing, secara harfiah tidak berati apa-apa kecuali "Ibukota bagian Utara", dan Nanjing adalah "Ibukota bagian Selatan", Jing berasal dari kata Mandarin untuk kata "ibukota", Bei untuk "utara", dan Nan untuk "selatan".

______________________

It is not easy being a die-hard Jazz fanatic who has to prepare for and travel over the waters to a festival on Virgin Gorda.  As close as VG is to Tortola and as short as the ferry ride is, the stress of getting there over two days and recording the proceedings is exceedingly high.

One of the biggest stress factors is the ferry itself.  One cannot afford to be late for the 06:00 o’clock because there is no alternative means of travel.  A J-Fan like me must, therefore, be well on time.  But when he has to work till 04:30 then rush off to the suburbs to change into his signature shorts and tees, then rush back to town for the 06:00 o'clock, timing is of the essence.  As a result, it is a mad rush into town ahead of the ferry departure time.

I boarded Speedy’s ferry boat with no more than a minute or two to spare before the regularly scheduled time, only to find out that I was in fact twenty minutes early.  For some reason, the ferry did not pull away from the Road Town Ferry Terminal until 06:20 p.m.

The evening’s proceedings at Jazz on the Hill was late in getting starting too, a whole hour late in fact.  That was the undoing of Night 1 on May 16, 2008.  Based on how the festival was run last year, it should have ended no later than 11:30 p.m. to give the commuters time to catch the return.  However, the show ran past midnight and ran straight into bad weather.  The rains came down in torrents at approximately 12:15 a.m. and cut out the final act - the North Carolina Central University Jazz Ensemble - after three renditions.

It was a pity that the NC Central University Jazz Ensemble could not finish its set.  And to think that when that orchestra struck the first note, it was clear that this majestic big band had finally put some hard swing into the Jazz on the Hill.  The festival had arrived.

Sherry Winston and Friends 

This is not to say that there was no real Jazz on Night 1.  Flautist Sherry Winston and Friends had entertained beforehand with a warm set of Smooth Jazz covers and originals backed by a cohesive unit comprising of piano, bass and drums.

Winston, ever the performer would not be confined to the stage.  On two occasions, she walked through the audience, half way up the hill, serenading her friends who had camped out on blankets, lawn chairs and the like on the grass and on boulders scattered all over.  (VG is home to huge boulders, some several stories high.)  All the while, the band chugged on, propelling the leader like they were on jet fuel or something. 

A Jazz band for me must have a strong rhythm section of bass and drums at least (no sequencers for me, thank you) for these two can carry a song even without a melodic instrument that the piano is.  If the bass and drums cannot lock horns, the song dies.  No question.  Well, Winston’s bassist Steve Clarke and United States Virgin Islands drummer Michael Thompson found some common ground on the hill and made some magic while they were there.

I am afraid that the MD’s did not live up to the standard they set at the second edition of Jazz on the Hill last year when they were fronted by saxophonist Drexel Glasgow.  As hard as MD’s drummer Natimba Turnbull worked on Night 1 this year, he could not carry the band on his own.  Had bass player Mussa Muhammad been half as energised as Natimba was, their outing tonight would have been much more satisfying.

MD Jazz 

MD’s does classic vocal Jazz.  It would follow then that the singer has to be at the top of his game.  This goes without saying.  David Gee, who doubles on guitar, was nowhere near the top of his game.  His singing was flat and uninspiring, which brings me to my recommendations for the band.

The MD’s cannot progress on the festival circuit without revamping its personnel for such dates.  Constituted as they are now, they do not have much of a problem in small settings.  But for the big stage, the band has to attract number one, a pianist with decent chops for comping and "rhythmning" to support Gee and two, a strong vocalist with decent Jazz pipes, an attitude and a personality to front the band.  The MD’s cannot present themselves again at Jazz on the Hill in the same vein as they did on Night 1.

I will go even further to suggest that the MD’s go outside of the British Virgin Islands for a guest pianist and singer if it is at all impossible to draw these talents from within the territory.  (I know what I am saying because this is what the musicians themselves would say.)  In short, the MD's have to raise the level of their performance drastically to avoid the risk of being shut out to make room for fresh faces in the future.

Night 2, May 17, 2008 

Catching the ferry boat on Saturday evening for Jazz on the Hill, Night 2 was no less stressful than yesterday.   

The ferry pushed off for Virgin Gorda fifteen minutes earlier than was the case yesterday.

Unlike Night 1, Jazz on the Hill got started only half an hour late on Night 2.  Still for all, the programme overshot the midnight hour and caused me to board the ferry for the return sail to Road Town before the headline act was through playing.

And guess which of the bands I had to leave behind?  Élan Parlé.  As much as I was eager to see Dave Samuels and the Caribbean Jazz Project, it was Élan Parlé that had my attention.  Unfortunately, the ferry operators could not wait till the end of the show as promised.  I had to go, leaving behind a proper introduction to the members of the band and a possible interview for this blog.  But what could I do?

Night 2 was nonetheless the pick of the two night affair, by far.  Just think about it, the NCCU Jazz and Vocal Jazz Ensembles put forth their full sets of immaculate orchestration, outstanding soloing by ladies on baritone, tenor and alto saxophones and gents on trumpets, saxophones, guitars, electric and upright basses and a drummer with a beat in a bottle.

In another world, the Big Band Jazz set would have been enough mental stimulation for one person.  But the NCCU Vocal Jazz Ensemble was still to come.

Their vocalise was so refreshing to my ears.  I had not listened to much vocalise lately and had not been privileged to watch it done live in some time.  Coincidentally, I had spun New York Voices in the background at the office just the day before, without realising what the NCCU had in store for me.  And I had to explain the nonesense syllables of "scatting" to my colleague across the divide.  As for live vocalise, the NCCU referenced Jon Hendricks whom I had seen in concert years ago.

Dave Samuels and the Caribbean Jazz Project 

Dave Samuels and the Caribbean Jazz Project changed the beat around with their Latin Jazz inflections replete with a suite of four conga drums and the Cajon, a wooden box that the percussionist plays by sitting atop it and beating the face off it.

CJP took the liberty to reinterpret some Classic Jazz, Oliver Nelson’s "Stolen Moments"; material composed from a Latin Jazz sensibility, Dizzy Gillespie’s "A Night in Tunisia"; and the easily malleable Brazilian Jazz piece "One for Tom" of Antonio Carlos Jobim.

Élan Parlé 

Then it was time for Élan Parlé to come to the stage to cap Night 2 with their blend of Calypso-Jazz.  Calypso-Jazz is not contextually configured to swing as Jazz is supposed to.  But then Jazz is no longer definable - and has not been since the first few decades after Ragtime and Dixieland morphed into the formative Jazz of Louis Armstrong and progressed through to the 'Swing Era' of the forties and fifties and the 'Bop Era' of the following two decades.  Thereafter, the fusions with rock, R&B, Latin, Brazilian and, yes, Calypso took hold. 

Élan Parlé has, like a number of other exponents of the Calypso-Jazz, has succeeded in formulating a method of syncopation that demands a facility with Jazz improvisation for no other reason but the fact that this is what Jazz is essentially about.

Band leader Michael Low Chew Tung, affectionately called ‘Ming,’ uncannily stood down on the piano, preferring to let flautist David Bertrand and pannist Mikhail Salcedo take the spotlight, which they did with remarkable flair.  Trust a pan man to whip those thin sticks all over and around the face of the pan while playing the contortionist.  But do not expect – in fact be totally surprised as I was - to see a recorder being used as a solo instrument in a band of any kind, let alone a Jazz band.  For heaven’s sake, David Bertrand pulled out a recorder and made me fancy seeing more of this unlikely instrument on display again.  

Bassist Sean Friday got one chance to steal the spotlight.  He came to stage front, thumped the hell out of that blue axe for a minute or two before retreating to the back to hold down the low end of the rhythm section.

Without attracting too much attention, drummer Richard Joseph kept metronomic time in between the fills while Ming played the Zen and calmly tickled the ivory to set the tone.

For the uninitiated, do not equate Calypso-Jazz with bacchanal music, which it might be if you were listening to the work of Andy Narell for instance.  Élan Parlé for its part rode the waves of authentic Jazz composition at Jazz on the Hill 2008.  While anchored on the smooth calypso beat, the music of Élan Parlé lends well to deep instrumental structures and is a moving vehicle for extensive extemporaneous expression.  This is what we got from them on the Hill.  You can’t get any Jazzier than that.

______________________ 

This was a bird's eye look at Jazz on the Hill 2008.  Detailed reviews with photos of the band repertoires to come...  

My shot is at the top left, the 'Bicycles in Beijing' :) I found this image with images.devilfinder.com which I'd never used before but someone had found my blog with it so I gave it a go and did a bit of searching for myself. Its nice to see myself, my photography, in print :) I'd be unsure which agency it was purchased from so here's the list of places you can buy my shot:

www.istockphoto.com/file_closeup.php?id=1428098
www.istockphoto.com/file_closeup.php?id=1579898
www.canstockphoto.com/Beijing-China---Bike-0248905.php
www.canstockphoto.com/Beijing-China---Bike-0248878.php
www.bigstockphoto.com/photo/view/432162
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www.fotolia.com/id/439726/
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www.dreamstime.com/beijing-china---portrait-view-of-bicycles-rimage585212
www.shutterstock.com/pic.mhtml?id=1415610
www.stockxpert.com/browse.phtml?f=view&id=111143
www.stockxpert.com/browse.phtml?f=view&id=111122
www.123rf.com/photo_510860.html
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Description:
Stock Photo In Beijing, China, Tiananmen Square / Beihai Park, Forbidden City...

Keywords:
bicycle, bike, pavement, walkway, sidewalk, ancient, architecture, beihai, beijing, bowuguan, building, chairman, china, chinese, city, clear, communism, communist, communists, courtyard, cultural, dynasty, emperor, flag, forbidden, gate, gugon, heavenly, historic, history, imperial, landmark, mandarin, mao, ming, monument, ornate, pagoda, palace, park, pavilion, peace, peking, peoples, prc, qing, red, republic, revolution, roof, shang, shrine, sky, square, summer, temple, tianamen, tiananmen, tree, zedong,

Here's the Dreamstime referral image: :)

© Photographer: Pdtnc | Agency: Dreamstime.com

updated May 15, 2008

St. Mary's School, producers of Jazz on the Hill inaugurated this seminal two-day Jazz Festival two Mays ago to raise funds for the education of their students.  Ably supported by the VG business community, a strong cast of Jazz characters led by Barbadian saxophonist Arturo Tappin was flown in for the last one in 2007 - quite out of the blue.  I never saw it coming.

All of sudden, there was Jazz on Tortola's sister island and this J-Fan was riding the turquoise waters that separate the islands headed for the Hill.

The blow out session last year was undoubtedly Tappin's set.  He wreaked havoc on the tenor saxophone in front of a band of all-stars peopled by the likes of ace Barbadian bassist Nicholas Brancker, emerging Trinidadian Jazz trumpeter Etienne Charles and his compatriots, pan showman Dane Gulston, guitarist Scott Galt (Galt was raised in Barbados), keyboardist Miles Robertson, son of elder Jazz statesman Raf Robertson and the technician on skins, Bajan James Lovell.

The rest of the itinerary was fair to good, but for me it was a good enough start for a fledgling festival.

The second edition this weekend promises to be even bigger still I suspect.  Coming to town will be (check this out) Élan Parlé from Trinidad, the current Jazz capital of the Caribbean, if you ask me.    Élan Parlé, led by Michael Low Chew Tung (Ming) is Sean Friday (bass), Richard Joseph (drums), David Bertrand (flute, wind controller) and Mikhail Salcedo (steelpans).

           Ming                              Sean

Élan Parlé describes itself as a "music ensemble that blends Caribbean rhythms with global music influences to create Caribbean/World fusion."  More particularly, the band anchors its contemporary Jazz styling with Jazz improvisations that lend a fresh perspective on "the musical and cultural traditions of Trinidad and Tobago."

In fulfilling that quest, Élan Parlé has so far released five recordings on CD since banding together in 2000.  Under their belts is Tribal Voices, Caribbean Renaissance, Songs for Wayne, "5" The Ming -Toy Project and most recently Wejouvaynation (2007 Parlemusic).

This award-winning group has been on the festival circuit for years, having appeared at Jazz and music festivals in Grenada, St. Kitts, St. Vincent and at home in Trinidad and Tobago where they also produce other artists under their banner production company Parlemusic. 

The British Virgin Islands eagerly awaits Élan Parlé on Saturday, May 17, 2008. 

Also on the bill for Jazz on the Hill is saxophonist James Smith of St. Thomas.  James Z as he is affectionately known, moves easily between Smooth and Contemporary Jazz, R&B, Funk and Quelbe/Scratch, the folk music of the United States Virgin Islands.  James Z has been performing for 30 years both as a solo artist and as backup for international stars across divergent genres from reggae to several shades of Jazz. 

He learnt to play the saxophone at age 7.  Maintaining an interest in the instrument, he continued to work at his craft through junior and senior high school before gravitating to the Jazz club circuit in New York and various stages in Atlanta (Georgia), South Beach (Florida), St. Thomas (Virgin Islands) and Tortola, British Virgin Islands. 

James Z can now boast of having performed with the great organist Brother Jack McDuff and having shared the stage with George Benson and Earth Wind and Fire. 

Back in the U.S. Virgin Islands, James Z can be heard normally at the Marriot French Man's Reef.  However, at this time, he is taking a break from that kind of work to concentrate on his first solo album to be released within the next year.

Saxophonist James Z. Smith will strut his stuff and display his chops at Jazz on the Hill on Friday, May 16, 2008.

Also down to appear at Jazz on the Hill is Dave Samuels and the Caribbean Jazz Project featuring Martinique percussionist Nicol Bernard on Saturday, May 17, Sherry Winston Band of New York on Friday, May 16 and the North Carolina Central University Vocal & Jazz Ensemble on both nights.

The Caribbean Jazz Project is Samuels, Massimo Biolcati, Arturo Stable, Bill O'Connell, Bertram Lehman and Bernard.

[googlevideo=http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-1531555474218166863]

You must be wondering why I have created this account...site whatever you want to call it...

Well...this site is actually for my fanfics...as the URL and header says it all...

This is to keep track for me and for everybody out there who read my fanfics!

You'll know my latest fanfics by coming here!

I have already putted up all the fanfics that I have written or am working on.

Well...thats about all I have to say...

Ahnyong!!!

                                                                                                        ~*~Ming Ming~*~

I wasn't confused because I have known that Tibet is a separate nation on the basis of everything that`s different between Chinese and Tibetans. And that would basically be everything, the whole culture, tradition, behavior, belief, religion...down to dresses. The challenging part IS not convincing westerners of this stark difference because they are open minded and they are ready to listen to both side but to convince a Chinese who had been brought up and taught that "Tibet has always been a part of China since 13th Century." That made me think, why stop at 13th Century, why not trace back to the beginning?

So I did my research because I know Chinese and Tibetans could never be of same blood. It just can't be...the inherent behavior doesn't lie or mislead.

If Tibet today decides to succumb to China`s power and say "we will remain a part of China if Tibet is given a genuine autonomy", I will understand the reasons and the rationale behind it but that doesn't mean it has forever been part of China. It is by occupation that Tibet is under China. With no world super power actually taking interests in giving concrete support except random " we condemn China`s human rights record and blah blah" speeches, it doesn't leave Tibetans with much choice but to say "Give us basic human rights that a citizen of this world enjoys" and that it will remain part of China.

Love or hate it, for Chinese people, unity of Motherland comes before anything else, even before basic rights and that`s where the strength of Chinese people as well as weakness lies. It unifies the country but minorities who do not consider themselves Chinese but are living under China will obviously revolt against this totalitarian regime. It may last for a century, but how long can you put a country before yourself ?

Anyways, the reason why I am writing this blog is to educate myself as well as everyone else about the geographical boundaries of Tibet, China, Manchu, Turkestan and Mongol.

Below is a link of all the maps of China and it`s neighboring countries.

http://www.paulnoll.com/China/Dynasty/history-maps-dynasty-2.html[gallery]

...And daughters Ming and Aoki,too.Kimora Lee Simmons and her two daughters were photographed at the Hello Kitty Sweet Suite on March 29th. Hello Kitty is dear to Ms. Kimora's heart:.CLICK HERE TO FIND OUT WHY

Criticism of the previous interpretations:

• Too Eurocentric: they assume that the West was the epicentre of a crisis due to the rise of capitalism and of the modern state (Marx and Weber). Significantly, the crisis seems to have had more consequences in the East than in the West. The simultaneity of the English revolution, the Anatolian turmoil and the end of the Ming is not either merely casual: “behind all of these events lay a common causal framework rooted in a wide-ranging ecological crisis” (104). The author intends to “note certain cogent similarities that make comparative analysis possible” (105).
• Early modern states faced common constraints; they needed: 1) sufficient revenue for their army and their administration, 2) sufficient allegiance from the elite, 3) sufficient stability for production to occur. Demographic growth and inflation endangered the equilibrium reached during the 16th century.

The end of a virtuous cycle started in the late 14th century

During the 16th century, population growth had accelerated (less diseases, better climate).

• +70% for rural Asia Minor and +200% in urban areas in 1500-70; +700% for Istanbul 1520-1600.
• Chinese population from 65m late 14th century to 150m late 16th century.
• England from 2m in 1520 to 5m in 1640; London from 50k in 1500 to 400k in 1650.

But agricultural productivity didn’t follow that quick pace.

• In Anatolia, cultivated acreage increased by 20% in 1500-1570 (decline of productivity per capita).
• In China the amount of land under cultivation rose of 50% from the late 14th to the mid-17th century (average acreage per head tilled by 33% from 1480 to 1600).

The result of this hiatus was emigration, changes in diet (lower standard of living) and change in landholding structure (which in turn fed proto-industry). After 1650, these trends reversed population declined and agriculture expanded (England even managed to export grain).

A price revolution, the 1500-1650 great inflation

Braudel’s vision is that import of silver from the Americas in the 16th century depreciated currencies. But:

“The equation that relates money supply and prices is MV = PQ, where M is the money supply, V the velocity of circulation of money, P, the price level, and Q the quantity of goods and services marketed. A direct relationship between the money supply and the price level occurs therefore only when the velocity of circulation and the quantity of goods marketed are either constant or change in the same proportion. But in the sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries monetary velocity changed rapidly relative to economic output" (108).

• And, monetary velocity did increase during the period; urbanization, multiplication of rural markets and deepening of division of labour induced a faster turnover of species. The extensive use of credit by merchants and governments and the debasement of money had the same effect.
• Demographic growth increased demand, while supply grew modestly creating an import pressure on the prices; from 1500 to 1650, there was 500% inflation, in the mean time, the stock of silver in England only rose of 33%. There was a monetary famine (development of copper coinage).
• If inflation had been caused by American silver imports, the governments would have re-valuated their currency they debased them instead. Besides, inflation stopped after 1650, but not precious metals’ flows.

Fiscal decay

Due to inflation, the fiscal systems and the military systems linked to it were destroyed:

• Collapse of the timar system in Turkey, the central army takes more importance (burden of cash payment, rebellion if salary doesn’t cope with inflation, budget deficit), and lands and tax-collecting become private. Contrarily to what has been argued before, trade with the west doesn’t seem to be the reason for the Ottoman fiscal crisis. Extraordinary taxes became ordinary revenue, but the unfairness of the tax-farmers and the ability of large landowners to escape taxes fuelled rebellion.
• In China, the lija system, also collapsed. Unable to pay their equipment, the wei-so military families lose their strategic importance. Early Ming taxes were paid in goods, but were converted in silver (ex. Chang Chu-cheng 1572-82). There too central government was enable to enforce taxation. As government’s deficit rose, the provinces’ gentry had to rely on its own means to survive and became semi-independent, preventing the state to increase its revenues. The author refuses to consider the import of European silver as a cause of the Ming’s decline. Rice shortage were much more important for inflation (116). “The critical problem was that rising military costs collided with a decreasingly effective tax system.”
• The English Revolution too started by a financial crisis, after the government had exhausted its asset and credit (no loan guaranteed on taxes since 1620s). The king depended on an alienated Parliament for new taxes. The king had to resort to hidden taxation (monopolies, special levies, sell of offices). In the 1630, the crown was living on credit during peacetime and couldn’t afford a single war. The Scottish rebellion was only the last stroke (119): “the inflation eroded their [the Stuarts’] the value of their revenues, while the growing wealth of landlords remained beyond their grasp.”

The elite’s increasing social frustration

Population growth (more surviving offspring dispersing the elite’s wealth) and rising prices (more burden for the conservatives, more incomes for the entrepreneurs) led to an increased social mobility. Overall, there was an “emergence of additional claimants” (120).

• In the Ottoman Empire, the alliance between the mighty janissaries and the local elite created a new class: the ayans. The repaid turnover of the government official made the administrative efficiency decline. The rising number of gentry members created a fierce competition for the official position; this led to the emergence of factions defying the sultan occasionally.
• Inflation forced the Chinese magnates to concern themselves more with profit-making than with administration. Class divisions became blurred as some commoners got gentrified. Alienated elite became semi-autonomous and often supported peasants’ rebellion against the taxman. The bureaucratic chaos was general.
• In England, as the Crown sold its lands, newcomers accessed to elite statute. They grew bitter against a government unable to give them jobs.

The student population (coming from nouveau riches families) skyrocketed, but the impoverished palace couldn’t possibly employ them all.

Education

• In Turkey and in China the traditional education system was burst to pieces by the increasing number of students, the quality declined. Connection and wealth became more important than merit to build a career. Often, futureless students and low-ranking official joined bandits or peasants rebellions.
• The expansion of Oxbridge marked the decline of traditional elite household education. The embittered elite drifted to political radicalism.

Frustrated and literate masses welcomed heterodox religious movements. Predicators “carried the intellectual torch to the masses” (129). These highly politic currents endangered the ideological bases of the governments.

Religion

• Radical Puritanism, T’ai-chou neo-Confucianism and to a lesser extend Sufi dervishes stressed men’s “intrinsic worth” and intended to purify religious practice and public and private morals. Elites were seduced by these ideas which offered a framework to understand the disordered society.
• The Tung-li and Fu She academies (reformist and equalitarian Confucians) and Puritans alike lost instantly their political influence as soon as the social peace returned with the Manchu and the Stuarts restoration.

No popular uprising

Weak central government and disaffected elite paved the way for the impoverished landless peasants. But these rebellions were generally led and structured by semi-autonomous gentry, unpaid deserters and futureless students.

• The 1590s-1650s rebellions known as the celali revolts were in general backed by ex-soldiers turned bandits and local magnates seeking independence from Istanbul.
• The English Revolution is paradigmatic of a elitist and urban rebellion.
• The Yang-tze bond-servants revolts are maybe the main counter-example of this trend as it was both anti-Ming and anti-gentry.

Conclusions:

1. “The seventeenth-century crisis are not autonomous causal factors, but aspects of an integrated; multifaced process” (131).
2. “The ideological differences governing state reconstruction after the seventeenth-century crises profoundly influenced the later divergence of East and West” (132). As England, heir of the Puritan messianic ideology, adopted a dynamic culture to reach its imperial destiny. By contrast, China and Turkey adopted a cyclical point of view; orthodox and conservative institutions were to be recreated to return to the Golden Age. As a result they “turned inward and eschewed novelty” (133).

Lost Odyssey Xbox 360 Review

(This review was done in collaboration with a buddy of mine. He has finished the game, while I am still halfway through disc 2. A number of people have been requesting this review, so we teamed up to combine our thoughts on this game. While I believe this to be a fair and honest review, I also believe that in good faith the above should be mentioned. A combined gaming time of over 60 hours between us should be plenty enough to accurately and fairly review Lost Odyssey. That is more than can be said of certain other larger review websites.)

What We Liked:

1. Great graphics and visual style. Cut scenes are especially nicely done. I love the cut scene that starts out focused on Seth's breasts and lingers there for several seconds. Awesome.

2. Fantastic music by the same guy who did some scores for Final Fantasy games.

3. Well done story and fantastic dreams. While lots of games have done the whole "amnesia" thing, no one has done them in quite this way. The dreams are an excellent insight into the highs and lows of being a 1000 year old immortal.

4. Combat is turn-based and not overly difficult or complex.

5. I like the way Immortals learn new skills by equipping certain items and skill linking with humans. It reminded me of the old "Espers" in Final Fantasy 6.

6. The game is designed for you to be able to play through it without having to level grind. Of course grinding is still helpful and necessary if you're trying to get your immortals to learn every skill available to them.

7. Lost Odyssey in my opinion is actually better than some of the recent Final Fantasy titles.

8. The game can be very touching and bittersweet. If you don't find some of the dreams and storylines at least a little emotional, why are you even playing an RPG? Having said that, it still might even be a bit TOO much for some people.

What We Didn't Like:

1. The bosses can be very hard to beat if you didn't already know the proper strategy to use going into the fight.

2. Some stealth sequences take away from the overall enjoyment.

3. The story loses some of its edge once it reaches the "hunt down and kill the end boss stage".

4. Some dialog and voice acting is crap, or more suitable for a bad anime. Also the frame rate drops noticeably during some cutscenes.

Yay: Currently the best traditional Japanese Style RPG available for current gen consoles. +1

Gay: The male characters tend to look effeminate. -1

Final BS Rating: +4 TOTALLY AWESOME

Using these simple on-the-fly modifications, any 1st edition AD&D module can be played using a streamlined 'd20-like' system.

Armour class

The Armour class in SD&D is the reciprocal of the armour class in AD&D.

To generate the SD&D armour class subtract the AD&D armour class from 20.

Examples:
AD&D armour class 3 becomes SD&D armour class 17.
AD&D armour class -2 becomes SD&D armour class 22.

Bonuses to dice rolls based on characteristics

There are two types of characteristic bonus that can be applied to d20 dice rolls.
1) Primary bonus.
2) Unusual score penalty/bonus.

1) Every character is defined by a numerical score against six characteristics: Strength, Dexterity, Intelligence, Wisdom, Consitution and Charisma.
You can specify any three of these characteristics as being Primary. That is: the particular characteristics that more especially personalise the character over and above their class/profession.
Every class specifies at least one of these allocations. The Fighter class, for example, always requires Strength to be specified as Primary.
When performing an action and where the activity would draw on a Primary characteristic, you may add 6 to the roll.

2) Very high or very low characteristics attract penalties or bonues to any and all d20 rolls.
The penalties/bonuses are as follows:

Saving throws

The categories of saving throws are the same in SD&D as in AD&D. However, each category is tied to a specific Characteristic, rather than being independantly generated.

When the character must make a save, the DM specifies (but is not required to reveal to the player) the intensity of the threat, expressed as a number greater than 1 and typically less than 20.

To save against the threat, roll higher than the intensity identified by the DM on a d20.

Bonuses for the characteristic being tested are applied to the roll. That is: if the characteristic is Primary, you may add 6. If the characterteristic is unusually high or low, add or subtract that amount.

The category of save and the characteristic that it is based up on are:

Performing class-related activities

Every class has a list of activities, or skills, that we allow the character has some expertise in.

Fighters, for example, are skilled at combat, though any fool can give it a go.

In 1st edition AD&D the annoying mechanism of a percentage roll existed to cater for such things as thieving skills (Thief class activities).

In SD&D any such class-listed skill is resolved the same as combat. The DM assigns a level of difficulty and the character must beat it on the roll of a d20.

The advantage that the character who is class-skilled in the task has is the automatic primary attribute bonus of +6 on the roll.

Casting spells

The magic model is simple. If you know how to cast a spell, then only being interupted will prevent you from successfully casting it.

If the spell is directed against an object or entity that is due a saving roll then the effects might be reduced, altered or nullified. But under all circumstances the spell has still been cast.

Having said all that, there is still plenty of opportunity for the DM to interfere to make things interesting...

 I am no scholar of these languages, though I have an interest. So please excuse any howling words that I have inadvertantly created. Since this is a translation of the Greyhawk map, I had to work with the existing words. For the names that used general real-world objects I tried to use Kanji that seemed to be close in meaning. Where there are several words together, however, it may well have come out to be something else. Oops.

When it came to the words that were just fantasy made-up names I decided to translate them phonetically. Originally I did this in Hiragana (ひらがな) because it is a beautiful looking script. Trouble is, in this script the words might be taken to actually mean something, and the lord only knows what I might be saying accidentally. So then I changed to Katakana (かたかな), the script that is predominantly used in Japanese to denote loan or imported words. In this way the words "translated" into Japanese are identified as rubbish, foreign words that are meant to be pronounced and not to be interpreted as anything meaningful, or offensive. I hope.

This area, identified in Greyhawk was the Grand Duchy of Geoff, is in fact an administrative prefecture of the distant central government. The more correct pronunciation is Jiwa. Each hex is 50 miles from side to side.

The monk's decision was welcomed on Tuesday by Health Minister Khaw Boon Wan, who called it 'a professional response.'

Mr Khaw brought in investigators from the police's Commercial Affairs Department (CAD) on Monday to investigate several million dollars in questionable loans made by Ren Ci.

Some of the firms that received money had strong links to the Venerable Ming Yi, also an abbot at a Geylang Monastery.

His decision to step aside should 'facilitate the CAD investigation', Mr Khaw said. (story)

El sábado se realizó el concurso de clavadas, que desde hace algunos años ha dejado de ser una competencia seria y se ha convertido en un concurso de alardes. Este año el ganador fue Dwight Howard, que finalizó con una clavada en la que el principal atractivo era que lucía un traje de Superman... muy gringo.

De acuerdo al sitio de Yahoo! las estadísticas del partido fueron las siguientes:

El domingo se jugó el partido entre las conferencias este y oeste de la NBA. Los ganadores fueron los representantes del Este, que vencieron por 134 a 128 a los representantes del Oeste que eran los favoritos.

El jugador más valioso del encuentro fue la super estrella Lebron James de los Cavs de Cleveland, quien además es considerado el mejor jugador de la NBA.

Este martes se reanuda la actividad normal con encuentros de temporada regular. Hay que recordar que anteriormente el juego de estrellas se hacía a la mitad de la temporada, pero esta temporada se llevó a cabo ya pasada la mitad de la campaña. Esto servía como referencia para medir el rendimiento de los equipos como un antes y después: los que empiezan de tal forma y los que acaban la campaña de tal otra.

Al juego de estrellas las mejores marcas de la liga las tienen los Celtics de Boston, los Pistons de Detroit y lo Suns de Phoenix, en lo que parece ser un año de cambio en la jerarquía de los equipos pues entre los tres mejores no aparecen equipos que típicamente han estado entre los mejores en los últimos años como Dallas y San Antonio.