Taekwondo

I was familiar with the name , but not with the nature of the sport  itself.  Now, that we have a Taekwondo gold medalist, I'm getting interested.

Asaf Yasur, 22 year old,  of Israel,  has defeated the Turkey  fighter in the category of under 58, at the Paralympics - sports for athletes with an impairement  (parallel games to the Olympics ). He competes with athletes who have lost both hands, one hand, or a toe.  Asaf, lost both his hands at age 13, after being electrocuted.

Taekwondo is a martial art like judo,  karate, boxing, capoeira, tai chi, jiu-jitsu ,  all of which teach  self-defence, improving at the same time physical and mental abilities.  

We live in a dangerous world with pretty agressive people. A  physical confrontation can happen at any time, so we'd better be ready for it. 

The training starts with learning basic kicks, and gradually progresses to light contact with the adversary before learning to kick and block him.

The Paralympics opened  in Paris on 28 August and will last till the 8 of September with a participation of over 4000 athletes from all over the world.  These games ar very popular , and attract thousands of ticket buyers.

                                                                           basic kicks (AI generated image)

Asaf  Yasur celebrating  winning of medal (web photo)

Strategy and Tactics

The two terms  'strategy' and 'tactics' are mostly used in the military context. However,  they are an integral part of every life domain.  Strategy - plan,  tactics - the steps that lead us to the achievement of the plan, whatever that is.  The two are closely related, both are necessary to achieve one's goal.

Here's a trivial example. That's quite a common thing with shoppers to forget some already paid item at the store. It sometimes happens to me too.  The plan is to get the item (s)  back smoothly and quickly, yet, that's not always easy.  It depends on  circumstances, time of  shopping, the vendor, details of the item in the receipt, etc..  So, I have to choose carefully  the 'tactics' to achieve the above goal .

Usually, and based on my past experience, I won't call the store in question beforehand asking if they've seen, noticed or found the forgotten item.  I'll just go back to the store, and assertively say in a few words:  'I've  forgotten  the X item. Here's the receipt, please bring it back to me'. 

The assertive tone is crucial, if you don't want them to start asking questions such as: perhaps you forgot it in another store, or on the bus, perhaps it fell off  the shopping cart , etc..

Sometimes, the threat of sending a complaint to management  or a threat of never again buying there , shortens the process and make your tactics work in no time.

Myth or Miracle ?

 

I thought it was eredicated, but lately, the polio virus, that terrible virus that caused paralysis and imobility in children , was mentioned in the news as being active again in certain areas. 

These  news took me back to a  period in my childhood when everyday was a day of panic for parents and tragedy for this or that kid who got the virus. Kids, like me, who were still fortunate not to have got it, were wearing garlic around their neck.

To this day, garlic (Allium satum), closely related to onion, is not just a matter of superstition and folklore, but considered as having high medicinal properties: anti- microbial, anti- viral, anti- inflammatory, warding off  chronic disease.

Over the years, some of the properties have been researched showing  good results, most of them, though, not scientifically based, have been passed on from generation to generation, from culture to culture bringing us relief and healing along the way.

We keep garlic  in our kichen to flavor with it our dishes. As it does miracles to our cooking, we believe it also does miracles to our health .

garlic - (web picture)

Re : The Librarian

 I spoke to her on the phone today. She's fine, both mentally and physically.

She claims being on good terms with her late husband's family, especially with his son.

She was in a hurry to a lecture, and invited me to pay her a visit at her protected facility.

I'm very glad of the conversation with her.

The Librarian

We had a small professional library at our working place. It was efficiently managed by the lady in charge of it ( a registered librarian). 

She was a Holocaust survivor, divorced without children.

I was on  good, correct daily terms with her as my room was adjacent to the small library.   After her second marriage,  I  started  to greatly appreciate her , for her genuine efforts  to integrate in her new  husband's family. She was very generous and kind with his two grown up children and their kids.

Despite her vast knowledge and skills, she was not always  popular among the library visitors . There was some toughness about her, probably acquired during her Holocaust days, that put people off ,   so much so that according to gossip she was afraid some won't even show up to her retirement party when the time comes. Well, she was wrong about that . Full attendance, great respect shown to her.

Anyway, she kind of organized her own party as she wasn't pleased with the standard  way done by the office .

Indeed, it was something different, and original , at the end of which everyone got a gift from her,  a reading book with her dedication. and signature.   

After retirement, she and her husband moved to another region, and I lost any contact with her.   A few years ago, I heard her husband had died,  and  that before his death, they had managed to move to a sort of protective facility unit in a proper senior village.

I was curious:  now that he was gone, would his children (son and daughter) and grandchildren be kind to her as she was to them? I had no one to ask about it as she sort of estranged herself from our mutual acquaintances.

Last week,  she had  appeared in my  dreams ,  so I decided  to make some inquiries. I tried  to contact her through the village phone number  and  submitted a  form filled with my personal details.  but, so far, was unsuccessful. I might try later,  (in case I don't get any reply from them) to contact her late husband's family to ask about her.

                 in the library (Ai generated image)