Deus Misereatur

Research of Martial Arts by Jonathan Bluestein My rating: 4 of 5 stars “Research of Martial Arts” is compiled by Jonathan Bluestein, author, martial arts teacher and founder of the Tianjin Martial Arts Academy where he teaches the traditional Chinese martial arts of Xing Yi Quan and Pigua Zhang. This 418 page monograph is a massive manual clearly composed over several years. It is ideally suited for martial artists looking for detailed and technical background information on external and internal martial arts. “Research of Martial Arts” has three sections, one that is highly didactic, a second that is reflective and the final which is a record of six in-depth interviews with master martial artists. Bluestein meticulously weighs the pros and cons of the external and internal styles. Though it is clear that the author’s own preference is for the internal arts, yet he gives due consideration to the external and acknowledges “that there is no right or wrong in different approaches to tr...

Jesus told us, “You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you.” (John 15.16). Let us pray: Holy Father, you who are the benchmark, the high water mark of all true fathering: we are grateful for our fathers, especially when their firm love and care reverberated harmoniously with the melody of your own fatherhood. Help us to rightly honor our fathers and their memories. For those fathers in our lives who missed the mark – or worse – grant them to find you a true Father in Jesus Christ; repair that which they scarred or marred or broke, and heal the wounds. For the fathers in our fellowship we ask you to guide us by your fatherly hand that we will be – more and more – a noble and wholesome reflection of you to our children, whether they are still at home or out on their own. Lord God of Hosts, the whole earth is filled with your ...