SinoAmerican Books
It sets for us a marvellous ideal, that of the Chüntzû [Jûnzĭ] or Superior Man—one
who is perfectly self-controlled and self-sufficient, wholly free from self-seeking
and able to stand firmly and serenely among forces which toss lesser men to and fro
like shuttlecocks, despite their tears and screams. [John Blofeld]
“...Who, father, am I suppose to protect, old Chinese ladies in Chinatown? Poor little white boys who don’t know how to fight? Just our family? Who, father, if not my friends and a vulnerable people? Did you forget them? Despite what you say now, I know in my heart that you didn’t. I know that because, unwittingly or not, you taught me that way.
“If I had done nothing, I would be neither a doctor nor a martial artist. I would be nothing because they have been my whole life.” [Chapter 4]
“...Here is a paradox or a piece of irony that sounds like self-pity but I don’t
mean it to be. My great passion for elegant women has always interfered with my
relationships with such women. Oh, my young friend, no man has ever lived who has
had the elegance of a healthy, beautiful, and intelligent young woman. If you find
one, never let her go.”
Dorton knew the name of one such woman, a name that floated permanently in his ambient air but was concentrated in his wine. He took another drink of wine and name. [Chapter 2]
Yes, he had beaten the crap out of a boy who was three years older and much bigger. What he enjoyed remembering more than the victory was the clinical precision of his strikes, blocks, and evasions in a dangerous situation. At the time, the incident was both a satisfying and learning experience. Years later, it became something different and more important: it marked the beginning of an appreciation of the precision demanded by his father in martial arts practice, and that appreciation more than anything had led him to medicine and science. [Chapter 9]
With Robert, Shamema’s ignorance and desire collided with a shock. Love-inspired
sex was a brilliant new world where the stroking of breasts was erogenous and oral
sex between healthy, hygienic couples enhanced lovemaking. New too were the endearments
of “Honey” and that little girls were made of sugar and spice and everything nice—that
a woman could be so sweet to a man, so deliciously desirable, to make him as insanely
in love as a woman could be. The sight of a man, her lover, showing great love was
a bewildering ecstasy. [Chapter 6]
To tempt the agent into a strike, Robert lowered his open hands to the front of his groin and moved towards the man. The agent bit. He darted forward and tried a straight punch to Robert’s head with his right fist while the left was prepared for a second punch to the chest. Robert blocked the first strike with a move from bô shŏu (pushing aside hand) in which he raised his left hand upwards and inside the punching arm, grabbed it, and pulled it down to his left. While pulling the arm downwards, Robert made two simultaneous moves from gôu quán rèn jìn (hooking fist knife advance): a hard kick to the agent’s shin just above the ankle with his right foot and a upward punch up to the man’s chin. To be effective, both movements had to be synchronized and exceptionally fast. They were. Robert’s right foot landed on top of the agent’s left foot and pinned it to the ground. The force of the chin strike caused the man’s body to lurch backwards but not far because Robert still held his right forearm and pinned his left foot. Robert’s right fist rose above the man’s head and came down, elbow first, into the man’s upper chest. At the same time, the agent punched Robert in the lower right side of his chest, but the strike had little power because of their closeness and the man’s lack of balance. [Chapter 10]
The Vengeance of Superior Men
J.J. Counsilman
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