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)