(no subject)
Sifu David travels a great deal. He visits family in Hong Kong. And, often he teaches seminars in Europe, Asia, and throughout the United States. With Sifu’s immense talent for martial arts comes a passion for the literature in the filed field. His travel naturally affords him great opportunity to visit the many local bookshops around the world to search for new material.
Once, on a trip to Thailand Taiwan, Sifu David visited a small shop in the city of ________. The shop was small, the only lighting from a wide, gapping door facing a busy street. The Shopkeeper directed him to the back of the shop, there was but a single bookcase, and that only about half full with perhaps 300 martial arts books.
Sifu David thanked the Shopkeeper, and thus began his search. Sifu slowly and deliberately began to go thru each book. Occasionally he would mutter to himself, sometimes with delight, sometimes with derision. Still, Sifu methodically went book by book down the shelf, occasionally skipping back to some earlier book for comparison.
It was noted by the Shopkeeper, an older gentleman who had obviously seen many customers come and go, that Sifu had been looking at this particular set of books for some time. The Shopkeeper’s curiosity was roused. Some of the more eccentric tourists sometimes spent perhaps twenty minutes in a section. But this…
After 3 hours or so, Sifu suddenly paused and stood, unmoving, contemplating the bookcase. The Shopkeeper took notice and began inching towards Sifu.
Then, suddenly and without warning, Sifu started moving books forward, seemingly at random across the shelves. When he was done there were perhaps 40 of the 300 books moved forward on the shelves. Again Sifu paused and contemplated, and then he pushed one of the books back, and another a moment later.
A thought occurred to the Shopkeeper that with every book pushed back he was loosing a sale! He needed to say something. He was now at Sifu’s side and asked, “Are these the books you want?”
“No,” Sifu said slowly, “these are the books I don’t want.”
(Sifu David related this story to me orally on his last visit to San Jose. Yes, that is Sifu David doing push-hands with me in the UserPic.)
Once, on a trip to Thailand Taiwan, Sifu David visited a small shop in the city of ________. The shop was small, the only lighting from a wide, gapping door facing a busy street. The Shopkeeper directed him to the back of the shop, there was but a single bookcase, and that only about half full with perhaps 300 martial arts books.
Sifu David thanked the Shopkeeper, and thus began his search. Sifu slowly and deliberately began to go thru each book. Occasionally he would mutter to himself, sometimes with delight, sometimes with derision. Still, Sifu methodically went book by book down the shelf, occasionally skipping back to some earlier book for comparison.
It was noted by the Shopkeeper, an older gentleman who had obviously seen many customers come and go, that Sifu had been looking at this particular set of books for some time. The Shopkeeper’s curiosity was roused. Some of the more eccentric tourists sometimes spent perhaps twenty minutes in a section. But this…
After 3 hours or so, Sifu suddenly paused and stood, unmoving, contemplating the bookcase. The Shopkeeper took notice and began inching towards Sifu.
Then, suddenly and without warning, Sifu started moving books forward, seemingly at random across the shelves. When he was done there were perhaps 40 of the 300 books moved forward on the shelves. Again Sifu paused and contemplated, and then he pushed one of the books back, and another a moment later.
A thought occurred to the Shopkeeper that with every book pushed back he was loosing a sale! He needed to say something. He was now at Sifu’s side and asked, “Are these the books you want?”
“No,” Sifu said slowly, “these are the books I don’t want.”
(Sifu David related this story to me orally on his last visit to San Jose. Yes, that is Sifu David doing push-hands with me in the UserPic.)