*From the “Devotional Poems of Mirabai” by J. Alston:
I care neither for the Ganges nor Janmu.
I am on my way to the sea.
#24
*After she told the interviewer on TV that since she was a child she had been dreaming about playing her tennis idol Serena Williams in the finals of the US Open, Naomi Osaka was asked what the result was. She said: “I never dream to lose.”
It was just one of the mature – and wise – statements of this young biracial (her father is Haitian, her mother Japanese) woman. She was not only focused and masterly, she was classy as well. When asked if she was aware of what was going on, what with all the booing and the noise, she said she did not know, that when she was young she was told that she should turn her back when her opponent exhibits emotional outbursts.
One of the things that hasn’t been commented on is while certain people consider blatant assertiveness as a virtue, in certain cultures showing loud and aggressive behavior in public is frowned upon and distemper is a sign of lack of character, respect, class and self-control. It’s probably because of it and her own training that Ms Osaka (like self-Kei Nishikori, another Japanese tennis player) has never been seen exhibiting tantrums or screaming or breaking a racket. She sometimes made faces, some of it funny, but never did she show anger when she lost a point or a game. She was always gracious even when she lost. I hope that when she fulfills her potential and wins several majors (and perhaps becomes a legend herself), she won’t feel entitled to humiliating and bullying linespersons and umpires who are only doing their job.
*If you are interested in learning about that “mock battle of Manila” that happened on August 13, 1898, go to google. It was the war that was faked by the Americans and the Spaniards so that the Spaniards would not have to surrender to the Filipinos during the Philippine Revolution. This was the prelude to the Philippine-American War and the bloody conquest of the Philippines by the United States. Amado Hernandez wrote the beautiful poem “Kung Tuyo Na Ang Luha Mo, Aking Bayan” to commemorate this day. I wrote a free translation of the poem into English in 1980. The original Tagalog poem is reprinted in the poetry section of the website. I am sorry I cannot find the owner of the copyright.
*September 28, 1902 was the day of the Balangiga encounter which became the pretext for the US under
General Smith to order his soldiers to “kill all males over 10 years old” in Samar, an island in Southern Philippines. I just got the book “The Balangiga Conflict Revisited” by Rolando O. Borinaga. It was first published in 2003. There are more details about Balangiga than anything else I have read.
*Another anniversary this month is the declaration of martial law by President Ferdinand Marcos on September 21, 1972. He also had a pretext, a faked “attempted assassination” of a government official. There’s a story – “February 1986” — in the Writings section about my experiences when I went home to the Philippines after 16 years in the US. There’s also a satire “The Marcos Coliseum” in the Writings section. It was reprinted in the book “The Conjugal Dictatorship” by Primitivo Mijares. Later I will include some of the pieces I wrote during the martial law years.
*My schedule in the Philippines was crowded although dampened by a couple of typhoons. The Traditional Yang Family Tai chi chuan residential retreat in late July at the ylang-ylang farm in Estipona, Pura, Tarlac went through as planned. I did not hold a public seminar this time around, only private classes for a core group who work out of INAM-Philippines (82A Malakas Street, BRGY Pinyahan, Diliman, QC). Aside from Tai chi chuan (solo fist, second section; jian/straight sword; dao/broadsword; and basic gan/staff), we covered Microcosmic Orbit Meditation, Yi Jin Jing and Xing Shen Zhuang Fa. Later in mid-August I also had a presentation at the Swiss Inn in Makati sponsored by the Alpha Phi Beta Fraternity of the University of the Philippines, with emphasis on health and wellness. Annie Sollestre, acupuncturist, gave a power point presentation on the mission of INAM Philippines and my work the last 21 years. I will show it in this website when it is finally completed and edited. Annie and Isabel Templo gave a demonstration of the first section of the Yang Family Tai chi chuan solo fist form. Annie also performed a part of the dao/broadsword form. The Alpha Phi Beta Fraternity, of which I am a member, has organized a project to study eastern healing culture and tradition with me as the teacher.
*There was nowhere to go because of the weather. Bangkok would have been a possibility, so was Batanes, but it was rainy season in the former while the latter was on the path of the typhoons. I decided to spend 5 days in Baguio City, a Hill Station of the US after the Philippine American War, in the picturesque mountains up north. I arranged for Luchie Maranan to pick me up one morning from Casa Vallejo and we went to the gravesite of her brother Ed Maranan, poet, writer, patriot and friend. Ed had won almost all the literary awards in the country, a Hall of Fame recipient. Luchie, a published poet, read one of her brother Ed’s Tagalog poems (below). I read a couple of mine. I lighted 3 incense sticks and rang a Tibetan Buddhist bell in the rain. Luchie and I spent the rest of the day at Frangeli, a B&B run by Lingling Maranan-Claver, another of Ed’s younger sisters. A wonderful time despite the typhoon that raged through the day. Ed and I met for the first time in London in 2003 when he asked me and Patrick Rosal, also from the US, to read poetry at the Center for Filipinos. He studied Tai chi chuan with me when I taught in the Philippines. He wrote an article about me in his column “Passage” in the Philippine Star. The piece is reprinted in the Writings Section of the Website. Ed received a Palanca literary award for the Tagalog poetry he wrote in prison during the Marcos era.
Here are a few lines that serve as an epitaph on his grave:
Mahalimuyak ang lahat, at lahat ng tula ko
Ngayong bumubuhos ang sariwang Mayo,
Mahalimuyak ngayon ang bawat tula ko
May singaw ng lupat’t samyo ng damo.
*I may have been marooned in the city for a couple of weeks but I was blessed with the time to see interesting people – friends from college, relatives, and strangers – and teach my core students the sword (dao/broadsword and jian/straight sword) forms. Thanks to the indefatigable Lou Fernandez and his lovely wife April my travel companion and I were able to visit some of the best restaurants in the city – Thai, Japanese, Filipino and, believe it or not, even Peruvian (at Shangrila).
*My last full day (Thursday) was exhausting but delightful. Annie came in the morning to finish the rest of the first Dao/broadsword set. It took her several hours but she did it. My friends Dr. Jopet Laraya and Ollie Jumao-Os, both dedicated martial artists, came after lunch. Later in the day Vivien Tan, who is a Tai chi chuan student and yoga practitioner, picked me and Annie for a gathering in her house. It was a pleasure to meet her family – Malaysian-Chinese father, Australian mother and Filipino daughter — and her women friends. I am sure I will see them again in the near future. I felt totally at home in the company of these people whom I was meeting for the first time.
*I have shipped 6 balikbayan boxes containing between 500-600 books to the Philippines. They did not arrive when I was in the Philippines. My brother Florante will take care of sorting them. The majority of the copies will go to the Carlos P. Romulo Memorial Library and Museum in Tarlac, my hometown. I visited the library last July and the librarians were there to welcome me and my Tai chi chuan students. Last January I donated some 600 books. They are now in circulation. Eventually, I intend to donate the bulk of my collection to the CPRMLM. Later I will also find a place for the artifacts, swords, paintings, silk scrolls, statues, and objects in my study. My brother Roland and I have talked about building a place for them at the ylang-ylang farm. I visited CPRMLM last January. In my conversation with Ms Edna Quiballo, the librarian, I explained to her that Carlos P. Romulo was the president of the University of the Philippines when I was studying at the college of law there, that I received the Carlos P. Romulo gold medal for winning the impromptu speech contest. The subject of my extemporaneous speech was Romulo and Nationalism in the university and it was a negative portrayal of the university president.
Here is a letter from a young man in Tarlac City, my hometown:
Hello good day Mr. Navarro.
I just visited the Carlos P. Romulo Library and Museum here in Tarlac and I saw a section that you have there. I am so happy that you donated a lot of books here. My favorite place here in our town is our little library. I am a product of a library and seeing all the books that you donated here are jaw dropping, my dream of seeing Y-A books section in our library. I have seen a lot of new books such as Twilight, Percy Jackson and some Paulo Coelho books.
I just cannot last this day without saying any thank you. Muchos gracias.
*My granddaughter Ava, 18, has left for Duke. Here are photos of her first days in the University where she is a member of the fencing team (epee).
For a piece about her on the Duke website, click on this link:
http://www.goduke.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_LANG=C&ATCLID=211685569&DB_OEM_ID=4200
For the prize-winning documentary film, here is the link:
http://www.georgeschool.org/two-students-win-top-prize-bridge-film-festival/
Here is a DVD of the convocation welcoming the new students:
Here is a video of the Duke Convocation service:
https://youtu.be/xzW6myAnlJE?t=2m
*I have been asked by friends, relatives and strangers to join them on Facebook. I have turned all of them down. Sorry, Chris, Letty, Bino, Jess. I know there are advantages to sharing information and keeping in touch, but I have no intention of becoming part of this mass movement exploited by a rising demagogue who tries to corral everybody to his cheap values, corrupts the meaning of the word “friend” and whose obsession with approval goes by the vague standard “like.” I cannot subscribe to the idea that everybody in this tech circle is my friend. I refuse to provide Facebook with a list of my likes and favorites and my shopping habits. I am not on any social network. No Twitter or Instagram for me. I have no time to look at photos of what people eat or drink. I am trying to find more moments doing nothing or sitting quietly, preferably alone. But in these frantic times it is getting more and more difficult. If people – whether stranger, friend or relative – want to get in touch, there’s my website, my e-mail and my cellphone (although I am averse to answering it unless I am familiar with the caller’s number). If anybody is not interested in receiving my e-mail, they can always tell me and I’ll take their names off my mailing list.
*One last thing: I will be taking a belated trip to Egypt in November to celebrate my 78th birthday.
Rene J. Navarro
The House of the Dreaming Dragon
Dragon Ridge
163 Willow Drive
Easton, Pa 18045