Well, I finally got around to reading some theory so I'm officially not a :LIB: anymore, and I know Mao's essay on physical education is something I could knock out very quickly. The Crux of the essay goes:

  1. Being mentally and physically excellent are not mutually exclusive

  2. We are doing the younger generation a disservice by not emphasizing the body, something that will aid tremendously in both mental and ethical growth, among other things.

  3. Exercise can be done with just 30 minutes (although for my preferences, I would prefer a gym and I usually go for an hour as a total beginner, but I take 30 minutes per cardio session).

  4. Although most things should be polite, exercise is the one thing that should be "savage and rude".

Mao goes into a good amount in the last paragraph of the essay, stating...

" The superior man's deportment is cultivated and agreeable, but one cannot say this about exercise. Exercise should be savage and rude. To be able to leap on horseback and to shoot at the same time; to go from battle to battle; to shake the mountains by one' s cries, and the colours of the sky by one's roars of anger; to have the strength to uproot mountains like Hsiang Yu and the audacity to pierce the mark like Yu Chi — all this is savage and rude and has nothing to do with delicacy. In order to progress in exercise, one must be savage. If one is savage, one will have great vigour and strong muscles and bones. The method of exercise should be rude; then one can apply oneself seriously and it will be easy to exercise. These two things are especially important for beginners.

There are three things to which we must pay attention in exercise: (1) perseverance, (2) concentration of all our strength, and (3) that it be savage and rude. There are many other things that require attention. Here I have merely indicated the most important ones..... "

What exactly is meant by "savage and rude", and how can I apply this to my fitness goals?

  • UnicodeHamSic [he/him]
    ·
    2 years ago

    You know those videos about being tough like our ancestors? He hadn't seen enought of those to get tired of them. Cause while we all know they are tedious the first few we see look rad as hell.

    Per his way of thinking every exercise routine should include some form of exercise that strengthens the mind as well as the body. Which sounds quite a lot like what you hear people say about kung fu.

    Or I don't know the context and he saw a bunch of war so he wanted soldiers who were tough mentally to suvive the harship required to win the revolution.