based on actual events:
The lights in the theater dimmed as the opening credits began to roll. She leaned over and snaked her arm between mine and the arm rest. She nuzzled into me and let her head rest on me. I wondered if she was going to fall asleep before we met the leading man’s goofy best-friend or we found out the delightful character flaws of the leading lady. She had a long day at work and assisted in two surgeries - I wouldn’t have been surprised if she dozed off before they showed a make-out montage.
I exhaled slow and tried to recall the last time I held anyone’s hand in a movie theater. Two years? Maybe three?
She embraced my arm tight as she readjusted herself. I could tell she was about to whisper something in my ear. Her breath is warm and soothing on my neck and I can feel her lips just millimeters from my ear.
“Your shoulder is boney.”
"What?"
Saturday, August 13, 2011
Friday, April 29, 2011
Courting Josephine, Warrior Princess of the Philippines
There are several stories surrounding Princess Josephine/Josephina going around the FMA world and the Philippines. As most oral stories go the details get blurred, exaggerated, meshed together with other stories, etc.
The following is my transcription of a portion of a lecture by Gura Rosie Abriam during the "Filipino Martial Arts: From Kali and Eskrima to Boxing" seminar at The Smithsonian Museum on October 27, 2010:
So a long, long time ago, in the southern islands, which is now known as the Philippines...there was a chief and he was so joyous because his wife just had a baby. And all the towns people they rejoiced with him because he was a very kind chief…He had waited for such a long time to have children that of course it was natural that he would surround his daughter with attendants who were warriors and scholars so that they could protect her and also to teach her.
And while she was growing up it wasn’t unusual to see her walking around the town with these scholars and with these warriors and going outside the region to check the land and to learn about the land [and] to learn about the people. And she too became well loved because she could smell and she could taste which family made this dish just by knowing, “Well you know, this family they prefer this type of spice,” and “That family, they prefer salting it a little bit.” And she also knew - she could tell, “Oh this mango came from the grove down by the river because they’re a little sweeter there and a little rounder.” And she was loved because she learned how to make medicines from herbs and plants. And as a result, when she heard somebody in the town coughing or she heard a hoarseness in their voice, she would mix them up a remedy and send it to them to help them. And this brought her closer and dearer to the townsfolk.
When the time came for her to marry, the townsfolk knew that it would have to be someone very special, but they were dismayed when the chief declared that the person who would marry Princess Josephine would be the person who could best their most fierce warrior. And they knew, they knew then, that this person would have to come from outside the region because their best warrior had beat everybody in town. And so they were kind of worried to have an outsider to come into their town and they weren’t sure how that would play out. Soon they found, as the years wore on, and nobody was able to beat their best warrior, then they came to say “Ok, we really do want Princess Josephine to marry,” and so they opened up their hearts to whoever came in.
So the story goes, that this one young man, came up and he was very good in whatever region he come from, but what he really came for is because he wanted to provide for his parents and for his siblings and he knew that if he married Princess Josephine, that would be a way for him to do that. So he came up to the chief and he said, “You know, I would like to fight with your best warrior because I want to marry Princess Josephine.”
And the chief, recognizing the sincerity of this man’s heart, said, “Well you realize, if you fail you have to stay here in the town and you are committed to serve Princess Josephine for the rest of your life.”
So the young man took it in and he said, “Yes, I will do that,” because he was confident that he could beat the warrior.
So as the day wore on, he was told that he needed to go down to the river where the women wash their clothes and there the warrior would meet him. So he was a smart guy, and so what he did was go, “I’m going to check the place out first and maybe I’ll catch a glimpse of the warrior and maybe learn some of his secrets.” And so he went there a little earlier and he crouched down and he was hiding and all he saw was women. Women coming in to wash and then they left. And more women came in to wash and then they left. And he was getting tired and the sun was coming up [over head]…– he cursed himself for not bringing any food or water with him.
And then when he was going to get up and leave he saw Princess Josephine coming with her attendants. And he thought, “Oh, she’s coming to watch the match!” so he didn’t want to get up. So he stayed there until the time for the match came and still the warrior didn’t come.
So he was still standing there…getting cramped and tired and finally he was a little bit enraged that he was treated so disrespectfully. So he jumped down and said, “Where is this warrior that I am to fight?”
And instead of people being surprised, instead, what happened was the women and the entourage formed a circle around him and Princess Josephine. And he was a little bit confused by that and very much surprised. And then he heard, “Hit me!” And he felt a tap on his shoulder. And he realized Princess Josephine had hit him with her walking stick. And he was a little surprised by that, so he turned to face her and once again she said, “Hit me!”
And as she walked by she hit him harder on his shoulder and he realized, “Is this the warrior I’m to fight?”
So for a third time, he was still surprised, he heard her say, “Hit me!” And this time he saw her come up and he parried her stroke as she came down and as he parried, she changed up and hit him on the legs so that he kind of fell.
The story goes that the battle waged for about an hour until, finally, princess Josephine hearing his ragged breath she went ahead and she disarmed him and then she hit him on the side so that he fell to his knees. And he tapped himself out saying, “Ok, yeah, the battle is over.” So as he looked up at Princess Josephine, once again he was surprised because he saw that she was blind.
____________________________________________________________
http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/10460574
26:44 - 32:22
This was just a small portion of Gura Rosie Abriam's lecture and I encourage you to check out the rest of it as well as the other lectures in the video link.
- Terr
The following is my transcription of a portion of a lecture by Gura Rosie Abriam during the "Filipino Martial Arts: From Kali and Eskrima to Boxing" seminar at The Smithsonian Museum on October 27, 2010:
So a long, long time ago, in the southern islands, which is now known as the Philippines...there was a chief and he was so joyous because his wife just had a baby. And all the towns people they rejoiced with him because he was a very kind chief…He had waited for such a long time to have children that of course it was natural that he would surround his daughter with attendants who were warriors and scholars so that they could protect her and also to teach her.
And while she was growing up it wasn’t unusual to see her walking around the town with these scholars and with these warriors and going outside the region to check the land and to learn about the land [and] to learn about the people. And she too became well loved because she could smell and she could taste which family made this dish just by knowing, “Well you know, this family they prefer this type of spice,” and “That family, they prefer salting it a little bit.” And she also knew - she could tell, “Oh this mango came from the grove down by the river because they’re a little sweeter there and a little rounder.” And she was loved because she learned how to make medicines from herbs and plants. And as a result, when she heard somebody in the town coughing or she heard a hoarseness in their voice, she would mix them up a remedy and send it to them to help them. And this brought her closer and dearer to the townsfolk.
When the time came for her to marry, the townsfolk knew that it would have to be someone very special, but they were dismayed when the chief declared that the person who would marry Princess Josephine would be the person who could best their most fierce warrior. And they knew, they knew then, that this person would have to come from outside the region because their best warrior had beat everybody in town. And so they were kind of worried to have an outsider to come into their town and they weren’t sure how that would play out. Soon they found, as the years wore on, and nobody was able to beat their best warrior, then they came to say “Ok, we really do want Princess Josephine to marry,” and so they opened up their hearts to whoever came in.
So the story goes, that this one young man, came up and he was very good in whatever region he come from, but what he really came for is because he wanted to provide for his parents and for his siblings and he knew that if he married Princess Josephine, that would be a way for him to do that. So he came up to the chief and he said, “You know, I would like to fight with your best warrior because I want to marry Princess Josephine.”
And the chief, recognizing the sincerity of this man’s heart, said, “Well you realize, if you fail you have to stay here in the town and you are committed to serve Princess Josephine for the rest of your life.”
So the young man took it in and he said, “Yes, I will do that,” because he was confident that he could beat the warrior.
So as the day wore on, he was told that he needed to go down to the river where the women wash their clothes and there the warrior would meet him. So he was a smart guy, and so what he did was go, “I’m going to check the place out first and maybe I’ll catch a glimpse of the warrior and maybe learn some of his secrets.” And so he went there a little earlier and he crouched down and he was hiding and all he saw was women. Women coming in to wash and then they left. And more women came in to wash and then they left. And he was getting tired and the sun was coming up [over head]…– he cursed himself for not bringing any food or water with him.
And then when he was going to get up and leave he saw Princess Josephine coming with her attendants. And he thought, “Oh, she’s coming to watch the match!” so he didn’t want to get up. So he stayed there until the time for the match came and still the warrior didn’t come.
So he was still standing there…getting cramped and tired and finally he was a little bit enraged that he was treated so disrespectfully. So he jumped down and said, “Where is this warrior that I am to fight?”
And instead of people being surprised, instead, what happened was the women and the entourage formed a circle around him and Princess Josephine. And he was a little bit confused by that and very much surprised. And then he heard, “Hit me!” And he felt a tap on his shoulder. And he realized Princess Josephine had hit him with her walking stick. And he was a little surprised by that, so he turned to face her and once again she said, “Hit me!”
And as she walked by she hit him harder on his shoulder and he realized, “Is this the warrior I’m to fight?”
So for a third time, he was still surprised, he heard her say, “Hit me!” And this time he saw her come up and he parried her stroke as she came down and as he parried, she changed up and hit him on the legs so that he kind of fell.
The story goes that the battle waged for about an hour until, finally, princess Josephine hearing his ragged breath she went ahead and she disarmed him and then she hit him on the side so that he fell to his knees. And he tapped himself out saying, “Ok, yeah, the battle is over.” So as he looked up at Princess Josephine, once again he was surprised because he saw that she was blind.
____________________________________________________________
http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/10460574
26:44 - 32:22
This was just a small portion of Gura Rosie Abriam's lecture and I encourage you to check out the rest of it as well as the other lectures in the video link.
- Terr
Monday, March 7, 2011
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