Cossacks… RCM: enduring cultures of the Caucasus – Adyghe and Kabardian 29 Oct 2014 In my last post, I started to think about characteristics which help cultures to endure. In this post, I'll begin to look at this in more detail, in what will…
Beliefs and mental models… RCM: Renegade Welsh 29 Oct 2014 There was a storm in a teacup recently when the UK's Prime Minister, David Cameron, used the verb "to Welsh", meaning "to renege on an agreement", leading to outrage…
Andrey Karimov… RCM: form and function of dance in a resilient community 12 Oct 2014 Practice In Cossack culture, we see several different types of dance. Each has the potential to involve the whole community. For convenience, I am separating them into two main…
Andrey Karimov… Systema and the zombie apocalypse (giving you what you need) 24 Sep 20144 May 2017 I mentioned in my last post that I was hoping to get to Andrey Romanov's Systema Ryabko school. Well, nope, didn't happen. The company where I'm working on those evenings…
Andrey Karimov… Palace and yacht club 14 Sep 2014 Autumn's my favourite time of year. I really missed it in Singapore, and in Beijing it was always far too brief. St. Petersburg is having a good, mellow time…
Acting… Arts and crafts 29 Jan 2012 Recently, I've been putting my tui na skills to use, treating a relative for sciatica and chronic lumbago. Of course, after only a couple of sessions it's too soon to…
Beijing… On moral and martial virtue 15 Feb 2011 Right then, back to the nominal topics of this blog. It's Monday night and I have a long list of things that I should be doing, but frankly I'm too…
Acting… Feel the weight 30 Dec 2010 I was at a bit of a loose end yesterday. This period between Christmas and New Year is a bit of a dead time, especially when you're newly-arrived in a…