Body Redux

Abstract

Markus Schiesser, a Swiss visual anthropologist and martial arts practitioner, had this story to tell about his search for a martial arts teacher in Shanghai:¹

The first time I went to China. In the streets of Shanghai one evening I saw an old man, healthy energetic expression, erect body, walking into Renmin Gongyuan [People’s Park]. I was sure that he was going to play taijiquan so I followed him, eager to see and learn. Maybe he is a real master. [For a] long time I did not find out what he was doing. But finally I realized that he was just peeping on intimate kissing pairs. This was the first time I thought there might be something wrong about my views on China, especially the martial arts. [Correspondence with Markus Schiesser, August 4, 2002].

XIII

It was evening all afternoon.

It was snowing

And it was going to snow.

The blackbird sat

In the cedar-limbs.

—Wallace Stevens, “Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird”