我在一网站上读到一首诗，名为《滚滚红尘》，作者不详。诗句写得优美也很有意思，让我不禁联想到一个朋友。现在我把诗转载过来送给他，附加一首名为《滚滚红尘》的曲子。
《滚滚红尘》
荡漾青丝掩世仇，深眸寄路几春秋。
红尘滚滚沧桑锁，赤胆悠悠禁锢囚。
道路崎岖无应策，身心寂落不堪筹。
来人莫问归何处，此去天涯有浪收。
January 17, 2008
January 16, 2008
January 13, 2008
On A Rough Track
I love running. So long as my legs are functioning, I will not quit from running. That’s a lifetime passion.
I’m a little bit unlucky, my running track is pretty rough and rocky. Sometimes I stumbled over some stones and fell down on the track out of balance. I bled and I was upset. I sat there staring at my wound, the more I stared the more I felt painful and lousy. Whenever I looked up, my partner would stand far ahead me, waving to me. A simple act but gives great support and encouragement. Each time I stood up from the place I fell and moved on, I learned to bear the pain better and be able to avoid more obstacles. Those are what you can hardly learn when you’re on a smooth track, it’s easy but lack challenges.
Now, I’ve learned not to care about the ranking anymore, it’s just a title to acknowledge my achievement, nothing else. Which race I’m in is no longer important to me, to reach the finish line I still have to make my own effort. I just want to run, keep running…
I enjoy the moment I’m running. I listen to every step I make. I can feel my performance is progressing, slow and steady. I become stronger each time, physically and mentally. And I’m glad I’ve found an excellent partner, who guides me on the track and motivates me to achieve higher from time to time.
Those are what simply satisfy me on the track.
January 7, 2008
December 8, 2007
November 17, 2007
November 14, 2007
Eager for Improvement!
Since the new Dōkōkai has been established, my training spirits is lifted again. Previously I was stuck in sedentary life for more than a month while preparing for final exams followed by 3 weeks holidays away from Melaka (away from training with Adrian Senpai). My fitness level has dropped noticeably, sadly my weight rises noticeably on the contrary. 
Luckily I received a lecture from Senpai regarding my discipline. It seriously wakes me up. Guilt and worries have become the restart elements of my training.
The dōkōkai is very near to my house, a bicycle ride takes less than 3 minutes to reach there. Training is conducted on weekdays 7 to 9pm, usually I’m there before 7 to do some warm-ups and stretching. I enjoy the way to be taught and corrected by Senpai individually as it makes me more aware of mistakes under his full attention. I expect feedback from him each time after I perform a kata. Sometimes it’s a positive one, sometimes neutral and sometimes negative. Like a small kid, a “very good!” from him is like being rewarded a candy after you’ve done something good; but sometimes corrections will upset me, especially when I’m still repeating the same mistake and I thought I’ve corrected it.
For that I really appreciate Senpai’s dedication in guiding me (and also others) to improve time to time, though sometimes he’s kinda impatient. In Zankai training 2 claps are done before training starts to indicate you come to the dojo/dōkōkai to “give and take”, meaning to teach and learn. I used to take over Senpai’s classes when he was away for 1 month sabbatical training in Okinawa, I understand being a teacher/instructor is never an easy job. Other than great responsibility, selflessness is a must. Technically, a teacher/instructor has to give more than to take during the training. This isn’t everyone’s cup of tea after all, as lots of time and effort are committed.
Now I’ve got new assignment from Senpai. If everything goes smoothly it will be started next January. For the sake of Zankai’s development and image, as well as for my personal growth, I must train harder than before, but Senpai told me for women they have to train FIVE times harder in order to keep up the standard with men. Umm… a bit daunting…
I want to become stronger than I was yesterday, than I was half a day ago, than I was a minute ago! – Rock Lee in Naruto Shippuuden 28.
October 22, 2007
The Wolff’s Law
I’ve been studying biomechanics these few days, and learned another interesting topic about the bone response to stress.
Wolff’s Law, a widely known bone adaptation theory in the orthopedics, was developed by the German anatomist Julius Wolff in 1892:
The form of a bone being given, the bone elements place or displace themselves in the direction of functional forces and increase or decrease their mass to reflect the amount of the functional forces.
According to Wolff’s Law, bone grows in proportion to mechanical stress. A healthy living bone models and remodels in response to the mechanical stress it experiences so as to produce a minimal weight structure that is adapted to the stresses acted on it.
The changes in bone density, size and shape are the work of two specialized bone cells called osteoblasts and osteoclasts, which respectively form and resorb bone tissue. The bone remodeling occurs throughout life. During the process, resorption precedes formation, so as old bone tissue is replaced by new bone tissue. Remodeling can be in either “conservation mode” with no change in bone mass, or “disuse mode” with a net loss of bone mass characterized by an enlarged marrow cavity and thin cortex. The latter leads to osteoporosis, results from either excessive resorption or inadequate formation. The bone modeling occurs during growth and healing. Unlike remodeling, the osteoblasts predominate the activity (formation) with a net gain in bone mass.
Dynamic mechanical loading causes bones to deform or strain; the larger the loads, the greater the strain. When strain exceeds the remodeling threshold, bone remodeling occurs in conservation mode with balanced resorption and formation. When strain exceeds the higher modeling threshold, the bone modeling occurs, with bone density and mass increased. Disuse mode remodeling is triggered when strain stays below the remodeling threshold, induces a slow loss of bone.
A physically active individual tends to develop denser and more mineralized bones, particularly at the stressed sites. For example, a tennis player has a stronger and denser radius at the racquet-holding arm than the other arm due to the repetitive high stresses exerted on it. Likewise, a trained runner has an increased bone density at the lower extremity due to the high-impact of the running motion. Interesting to note that a competitive swimmer who spends a lot of time in the water however may have less dense bones than a sedentary individual as the buoyant force exerted on the body has counteracted the body weight (gravity).
The law also explains why astronauts suffer from a kind of bone-loss similar to osteoporosis after a long stay in space. Due to the microgravity, the floating human body undergoes a weightless and almost immobile condition. Since no weight is acted on the skeleton and the body do not have to fight the gravity to move about, the bone mass diminishes, hence the strength and the bone mineral density decrease. Bedridden patients and individuals who lead a sedentary or inactive lifestyle tend to have a decrease in bone mass too as a result of reduced mechanical stress and weightbearing activity. The bones become more susceptible to fractures.
In many traditional Okinawan karate-do and Chinese martial arts, body conditioning is crucial as part of the training routine to strengthen muscles and bones, as well as to elevate the pain threshold. Uechi-ryu karate-do emphasizes conditioning on knuckles, forearms, abdomen, tips of toes, dorsal feet, shins, thighs and calves by repetitively blocking and striking the areas to produce slight trauma to them. Other practices like rubbing, knuckle push-ups, rolling a stick on the shin are formulated for conditioning purpose as well. The principle founded by the ancient Chinese masters is the same as the Wolff’s law theory: the bones become denser and stronger after bearing a long period of dynamic mechanical loadings provided by the body conditioning, thus minimize the possible injuries caused by training and sparring.
However, if the applied mechanical loadings are beyond the power of (re)modeling, it leads to fatigue or stress fractures. This problem is very common to athletes who run and jump on the hard surfaces such as distance runners, basketball players, and ballet dancers. The most common affected bones are femur, tibia, navicular and metatarsals. Similarly, martial artists who overtrain themselves may encounter the same problem, when the stresses applied to the bone exceed the bone’s ability to adapt. Therefore it is important for martial artists to ensure the training is done within safe bounds.
October 15, 2007
Corpus Luteum
While responding to a sparring injuries topic in a martial art forum, I learn about this corpus luteum and I find it an interesting knowledge, so I decide to blog it for better memory, and maybe can share with some readers?
In the menstrual cycle of humans and great apes, the corpus luteum (yellow body in Latin), a temporary endocrine structure, is formed by the remainder of the follicle after the ovulation. Its main function is to secrete the progesterone to maintain the pregnancy if fertilization occurs.
Basically a menstrual cycle of a female human (estrous cycle of animals) can be divided into 4 main phases, which are the menstruation, the follicular phase, the ovulation and the luteal phase. During the follicular phase (preovulation), the secretion of FSH (follicle-stimulating hormone) stimulates the development of several follicles in the ovary. Each follicle contains a oocyte or ovum but normally only one ovum is mature enough to be released during the ovulation. The luteal phase is the second phase of the menstrual cycle and is also known as the post-ovulation. Averagely it starts on the 14th day of a normal 28-days menstrual cycle and lasts for 10 to 14 days. During this phase, the progesterone produced helps to thicken the lining of the uterus or endometrium for implantation and is essential to support a healthy pregnancy.
When the egg is not fertilized, the corpus luteum starts to decay and eventually the production of progesterone stops. The lining of the uterus is then shed off the uterus wall due to the drop of the progesterone level and expelled through vagina during the menstruation.
When the egg is fertilized, the embryo secretes the HCG (human chorionic gonadotropin) to signal the corpus luteum to continue producing the progesterone for maintaining the thick lining of the uterus. The progesterone production by corpus luteum lasts for 10 weeks after ovulation, and eventually the placenta takes over the job to produce progesterone through the end of the pregnancy.
The decay of the corpus luteum leads to the formation of corpus albicans (white body in Latin), which remain as the fibrous scar tissues in the ovary.
Most females know the harms caused by the intense exercise during menstruation but only a little of them are aware of this luteal phase. During the luteal phase, intense exercises such as running, weight-lifting, and other abdominal exercises should be avoided as they instantly rise the abdominal pressure. High abdominal pressure is likely to cause the rupture of the mature corpus luteum. Occasionally, the ruptured site may bleed, resulting in abdominal pain or some signs of hemorrhage. If the ruptured site is capillary-rich, it may lead to massive internal hemorrhage, and cause the hemorrhagic shock or even death; anyway, this kind of case rarely happens.
In my opinion, this is also a potential injury for the female karate-do practitioners, who train for jiyu kumite (free sparring) but so many of them are not aware of it. The impact of a forceful punch or kick in the abdomen instantly rises the abdominal pressure, leading to the rupture of the corpus luteum.
I hope more female sports and martial art enthusiasts will realize the fact and take necessary precautions. After all, prevention is better than cure.
You may find out more here about other potential injuries obtained from the karate kumite training. 
