Shannon Number in Chess
The Shannon number, named after the American mathematician Claude Shannon, is a conservative lower bound of the game-tree complexity of chess of 10120, based on…
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Instructions From Master Funakoshi
The word “bu” of budo (martial arts) is written with the Chinese character for “stop” within a character signifying two crossed halberds meaning to stop…
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Training Precepts from Master Funakoshi
FIRST, since karate is a martial art, you must practice with the utmost seriousness from the very beginning. This means going beyond being simply diligent…
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The Twenty Principles of Karate
Master Gichin Funakoshi, the founder of Shotokan karate, laid out the Twenty Precepts of Karate (Niju kun), which are there as a guide for all…
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Gichin Funakoshi
Founder of Shotokan Karate-Do Gichin Funakoshi was born in Shuri, Okinawa, in 1868. As a boy, he was trained by two famous masters. Each trained…
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Manners in the Zendo
Manners in the zendo aren’t about being “proper.” They’re about making the room safe for practice—yours and everyone else’s. A zendo is one of the…
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Understanding the Four Nutriments
One of the Buddha’s more quietly radical teachings is that we are always being fed. Not only by what we put on a plate, but…
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How Understanding the History of Tai Chi Can Help You Learn and Practice Your Tai Chi Chuan Style Better
The only way for you to truly understand Tai Chi Chuan is to understand its history and its development through the generations. Each style, and…
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Origins and Meaning of the Kung Fu Salute
The Kung Fu salute or bow is known in Chinese as wushu baoquan li 武术抱拳礼 which roughly translates to the “Kungfu courtesy of covering one’s…
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Some Thoughts on Polygamy
I want to share some thoughts on polygamy from a non-religious/secular perspective. But I want to begin by defining and separating it a bit from…
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