Joaquin Cortes

靚仔弗蘭明高世界舞王，really靚到癲！

Straps_trap

On the train to home the other day, I got a call from my acup-good friend who had lately visited my blog and read my article on straps. She commented on the straps she saw on the pictures, calling for a cool-minded-ness that I should better take and said, “Why would they be helpful or beneficial? The straps wouldn’t get you anything, only to tighten the muscles and slow down the flow of blood and energy around that acup-point. Those who designed these straps actually knew nothing about acupuncture and it is just a scam for money.”

I trust my friend and I trust my insight after her opinions. When holding those acu-straps, my attention was put onto the plastic pins only and forgot the straps themselves which are for stabilizing the “effect”. In yoga, as in any other relaxation exercise, what we look for is mainly the relaxation of the muscles, which in the end brings forth the total relaxation of the mind and body. As such, if anything tightens our bodies, relaxation would never be achieved.

I don’t have any knowledge on Chinese acupuncture yet. Being innocent may not be dangerous, but when someone is smart enough, when he or she is willing to keep learning and pursuit for a better life, he or she will definitely save a lot more time (and money) to make a better shopper.

Straps

These 2 are no ordinary straps. They are made use of Chinese acupuncture (中醫針灸), a topic I fall head-over-feet-ly these days. When worn on specific parts of the body, it is said that certain discomfort or symptoms of disease could be relieved without any side effects as we used to face during medication.

I bought these little things out of curiosity a few years ago. They were highly recommended by a friend of mine who used to have special interest in alternative healings, and who, by twist of fate, became my latest working partner in the magazine.

Time has changed. We are no longer partner now because to our disappointment the magazine has been folded lately. Losing a job may not be a bad thing, losing an opportunity to work closely with a talented and beautiful person, however, is surely a pain waiting for one to heal.

Pain. It is something we tend to avoid or run away from. However, pain is part of life, part of being human, as are office politics, relationships, love and hate; those make up life and make it whole.

I still remember they were not a bargain. Each cost more than $100, and they were rare stuff- not easy to be found in common dispensary. The light-brown strap, which is for PMS & menstrual problem, was a gift from my friend. After trying on it, I then bought the green strap. They look very similar, but are different in the degree of treating the specific symptoms they separately target. The green one, looking surprisingly stylish when wearing on the palm, is for curing/lessening the pain and irritation caused by headache. It is also said to be able to lift one’s spirit.

The 2 straps look like fashion, and fashion doesn’t last, and so my fancy for them soon diminished and they ended up idling in my corset for years.

Though they are comfortable, they will definitely leave you dark spots after removing it from your skin, as if someone had hit and punched you in your face! It is a good idea that I take a snap shot next time to show you how it looks like (I am not wearing it right now).

Acupuncture and amazement (奇妙的中醫針灸)

These 2 photos were taken last night at my middle-school-classmate’s new home in Tin Shui Wai, the so-called “City of Sadness” which should actually be re-named as “City of Windiness”,in my opinion.

We were house-warming. We were sitting in the living room. Next to me was another middle-school-classmate. I cropped the photo into half because I am not sure if she would be willing to have her face appeared on this blog.

But it is not the point here, not so much as I want to have everyone’s attention on my shiny-freaky left leg with a needle on it. Inserted by another middle-school-classmate of mine who has just finished an acup-course, this is an acup-point called the “足三里”said to have involved and controlled the well-being of ones health (plus beauty benefits).

After 10 minutes sitting with a needle on my leg, something strange inside started happening- I felt more energetic, alive and focused. The energy level was going up and all the tiredness and boredom after the windy move earlier that day seemed to have gone in an instant. When I took to the washroom, I saw my eyes were rounder and my face brightened. I told my classmate how amazing the effect was then she replied it was because needling that point is what the Chinese physicians usually prescribe to improve chi and blood flow, i.e. 大補氣血! (So, this is the “point” and I can’t help poking it over and over again right now.)

Upon hearing this benefit (that neither any yoga asana nor massage can achieve this), as always a health enthusiast, I was interested and excited immediately, hoping to take a course as soon as possible to learn more about acupuncture and how it relates to other healing systems.

I just hope my friends would join me- even if they are not interested to learn, they would be willing to be my guinea pigs to have needles on their bodies …

先多休息，才運動

前陣子買了生平第一部單車（自行車），自此開始，每天/平日運動的場地，就直載了當由室內健身室轉到室外充滿鳥語花香的單車徑上進行。

近日無論是情緒、精神和精力都很欠佳。因生氣、沮喪和偶而的一種孤寂感，人彷彿縮水了似的，變得十分不可愛，連帶在體適能上，也彷彿變了另一個人。

近這三次踏單車，都因為體力和專注力欠佳而頻生撞車意外。第一次擦傷了手掌，掉了一小片外皮、流了一張小手帕的血、撞瘀青了左右小腿的肌肉；第二次，較輕微，只撞損了左手姆指；第三次，可能最嚴重，整個人倒在車的一旁，膝蓋瘀青了，兩個坐骨直墜地上，不但痛，還震動了骨盆一帶，現在該部分暗「痛」處處，有點可怕——怕震傷了腰椎不自知。

人體最脆弱的地方，未必是心靈，但腰椎，一定可以被列入「應小心呵護」的部分。因為它活動幅度大，因為它活動幅度大所以也特別易受傷。意外、退化、勞損、姿勢不當，它最容易成為第一受害人，甚至叫你痛不欲生。

無論是誰，平日都該多做伸展和一些強化肌肉的運動，才能在各大小意外跌跌撞撞間懂得協調，利用強與韌，把意外的損害減至最低。

當然，運動還是要在精神和集中力不太差的時候進行才安全。否則就會像我般，意外接踵而來。