Location via proxy:   [ UP ]  
[Report a bug]   [Manage cookies]                
Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    From $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    Pick Up the Pearl
    Pick Up the Pearl
    Pick Up the Pearl
    Ebook75 pages35 minutes

    Pick Up the Pearl

    By Patrick McGowan

    ()

    Read preview

    About this ebook

    Pick up the Pearl is a collection of martial arts poems by a long term tai chi enthusiast. Noticing that those with a passion for tai chi and related self defence arts are so deeply involved in their subject, so immersed in their study, so in love with where their art is beckoning them, they often forget that others on the outside know little of what they are doing, of how rich it all is, so Pat McGowan decided to capture a few of these moments and experiences in verse form.

    You don’t have to love poetry and books to appreciate the mystery of how a character and story can be sketched in a mere one or two hundred words and convey such timeless moments and experiences in new and surprising ways. And why not not use our language, put it to work and communicate better with those around us, not just information, but lovely thoughts, ideas, concepts and spaces. So this is a book for the lifetime tai chi and martial arts enthusiast, and also the idly curious. it examines a range of martial art applications and exponents, including karate, boxing, street fighting, kung fu, ai ki do, judo and ba gua quan.

    Pat McGowan is a tai chi enthusiast. He began his tai chi study in Sydney in 1980 under the renowned teacher, Simon Lim. With Simon’s encouragement, he completed an honours thesis of 'Tai Chi and the Best of All Possible Worlds' at the University of Sydney in 1983. He has continued with his tai chi to the present day. He also enjoys writing poetry and prose fiction as you may have seen in the front of the book. Tai chi is a physical expression of tao philosophy, it is all about connecting to the great source of all things which is our natural birthright and our natural way of being. Alas, many people disconnect themselves from source through resistance as if it’s some sort of virtue which they strive to impress on others. The fact is we only need to stop resisting, allow more, and our wondrous birthright will show itself to us as having been here all the time.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherPatrick McGowan
    Release dateDec 2, 2016
    ISBN9780992581251
    Pick Up the Pearl
    Author

    Patrick McGowan

    I completed a Master of Creative Arts (Prose) at the University of Wollongong in 2011 and have been writing pretty much full time since then. Previously I have worked as metallurgist, health food retailer, government bureaucrat, diplomat and entrepreneur.While my work overseas for the Australian government took me on postings to many places including Europe, Asia and Africa, I like to write about the contemporary Australian experience. I began short story fiction writing in the nineties, had some short stories published, then put my writing on hold as I gave full attention to my diplomatic career.I'm a taiji health exercise enthusiast, an avid jade collector, and I'm also a keen follower of William Gass and his theory of sentence writing, that each sentence has a soul, and that all good literature comes from the well-constructed sentence.I live in Loftus, a suburb of Sydney, and am a member of the South Coast Writers Centre.

    Read more from Patrick Mc Gowan

    Related to Pick Up the Pearl

    Related ebooks

    Poetry For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • UNLIMITED

      Spotlight on COLD THERAPY!

      Dec 19, 2021

      Spotlight on COLD THERAPY!
      1 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      When Cranes Fly

      Jul 20, 2021

      When Cranes Fly
      6 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Get Your Kicks

      Jan 20, 2021

      Get Your Kicks
      3 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Pumped Up

      Oct 7, 2019

      Pumped Up
      8 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Tale of Tim Tackett PART 1

      Sep 19, 2018

      Tale of Tim Tackett PART 1
      12 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      8 Reasons Why Speed Trumps Power

      Jan 15, 2019

      8 Reasons Why Speed Trumps Power
      5 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      5 Fight Fallacies

      May 18, 2021

      5 Fight Fallacies
      7 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Path Of Fierce Questioning

      Nov 17, 2020

      Path Of Fierce Questioning
      5 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Tale of Tim Tackett PART 2

      Nov 4, 2018

      Tale of Tim Tackett PART 2
      10 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Kali

      Sep 19, 2018

      Biceps, chamber, hip, point. Thrust, slash, cover. The rhythmic shouts come from a kali master instructor, and they’re echoed by hundreds of students who are mimicking his every move. It’s part of the training that’s taking place at the 2018 Martial

      8 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Featured Product

      Mar 15, 2022

      Featured Product
      2 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      The Soft Strength

      Dec 31, 2020

      Upon receiving the news that Taijiquan was decorated with a world intangible cultural heritage accolade on December 17, 2020, Chen Ziqiang was teaching a Taijiquan class in his hometown. The 43-year-old Taijiquan coach’s phone was soon buzzing with c

      4 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Prime PRINCIPLES Part 1

      Jul 21, 2020

      Prime PRINCIPLES Part 1
      7 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Us Too

      Sep 24, 2019

      THE BUDDHA’S TEACHING is crystal clear: of the three foundations that support the whole path of practice, the foremost is sila—ethical living, goodness. The other two, samadhi and prajna, meditation and wisdom, follow. Given this clarity, it’s troubl

      4 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Inside Shaolin Temple

      Jan 15, 2019

      Inside Shaolin Temple
      4 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Archery: The Martial Art?

      Jan 20, 2022

      Archery: The Martial Art?
      5 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Self-defense Readiness Test

      Nov 24, 2020

      Self-defense Readiness Test
      4 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for Pick Up the Pearl

    0 ratings

    0 ratings0 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

      Book preview

      Pick Up the Pearl - Patrick McGowan

      pick up the pearl

      a suite of tai chi & martial art poems,

      the wudang sonnet series,

      & set of haikus on the yi jing.

      by

      patrick mcgowan

      ∞Ω

      © copyright patrick mcgowan

      typeset by patrick mcgowan

      Inquiries: maigaowen@gmail.com

      twitter @_pjmcgowan

      isbn 978-0-9925812-4-4

      visit blog at pjmcgowan.com

      ∞Ω

      thanks dorothy cui for cover photo taken on zhongqiu festival 2016

      ∞Ω

      to my tai chi friends

      where ever you are

      ∞Ω

      Table of Contents

      introduction

      fu xi

      sonnet to simon

      beginner

      david carradine

      boxer rebel 1

      boxer rebel 2

      lou reed

      yang the invincible

      uncle lu

      bruce lee

      a fighter

      dragon slayer

      the pa kua teacher

      elizabeth

      the judoist

      the tycoon

      kakek

      yang wu dui

      tai chi hermit

      online master (junbao)-found poem

      gu ruzhang (1893-1952)

      luke

      the cabbie

      brandon

      incognito

      hello ms dolley (found poem)

      the one and only

      over his head

      the pastiche goes on

      that mancunian humour

      thank you, champion volanko

      what do you do?

      wudang journey

      question

      mountain walking

      zhang san feng

      tian zhu peak 1

      tian zhu peak 2

      tai chi

      to the mountain

      haiku homage to the yi jing

      introduction to prose works of pat mcgowan

      ∞Ω

      Introduction

      This collection has grown organically over years. Many poems are the result of my creative writing study at the University of Wollongong in 2008-2010. The big exception is the haiku collection I wrote in 1999 while living in Moscow & whose inclusion makes this themed collection more complete.

      When it comes to the Asian martial arts thing, I am a product of the 60s and 70s. I remember how, in the 60s, we were captivated by the Japanese TV series, Samurai, and The Phantom Agents. My father even took me to the Sydney Stadium to see the Samurai stars on stage. But it was the 70s show Kung Fu that lifted my interest to another level. This series was written by Ed Spielman who also wrote The Mighty Atom: The Life and Times of Joseph Greenstein, an exceptional book. All these shows spoke of a special personal power and skill that resonated with so many of us at that time.

      It was a few years after the Kung Fu series that I went to a tai chi class. It had a dramatic impact on me and I found it easy to include the daily regime of tai chi into my lifestyle. In a way, it’s a bit like the empty cup that Lao Zi writes about: we make a cup from pottery but it’s the empty space inside the cup that we actually use. In the same way, the tai chi I explore every day is an empty cup but, over time, it can deliver so much in the way of

      Enjoying the preview?
      Page 1 of 1