Year: 2026

Notes on the Mystery of Healing:   

Every so often I would receive a Thank You note, a hearty handshake or a simple smile from people I have treated. One time, a group of doctors from the US went on a medical mission to an island in Southern Philippines. One morning there was a man who I was told had not walked or was unable to walk for 10 years. He came assisted by two men to the school where the western doctors were treating patients from the villages, teenagers who needed circumcision, women who had large uterine tumors and children who required surgery for harelip. I do not know how this disabled man became my patient but I think it was probably because nobody thought they could do anything for him. Besides I was the only acupuncturist in the group and I guess I needed something to do with my hands.

Continue reading “Diary7/21/26: A Note on the Mystery of Healing” →

The Journey Continues: The Dragon at 85 

I wrote a bit about my own journey in my book “Of Fire and Water: Alchemy and Transformation” (Tambuli Media: 2023) and one essay “The Dragon at 75” summed up the years before. I do not know how many people who bought the book sit down to reflect on what I have said about life or even martial arts. The essays and videos in my website are possibly glossed over or ignored too. It’s the nature of the culture, the modern barrage of information overload and our busy lives. At least I have not heard anything much from the readers.  As Philippine national hero Jose Rizal said, We plant a tree not knowing if we are going to sit under its shade. Just the same, we do our work, we sow the seeds, hoping they will land on fertile ground.  I do not know if I will still be around to hear what people will say about my impact, if any, on their lives or at least their practices.  

Continue reading “Diary 7/18/26: The Journey Continues” →

When Yang Lushan/Losim was supposed to be eavesdropping in on the secret classes of Chen Chanxing, what did he see? The records, true or false, indicate he saw fist forms and Push Hands. There is no indication that weapons – long or short – were practiced. When Zhang Sanfeng developed his own version of Tai chi chuan, it was a fist form that he choreographed. No mention of weapons at all. How many fist forms were there? When were the weapons forms developed and included in the curriculum? We’ll probably not know for sure.  

Continue reading “Diary 4/19/26: The Yang Family Tai Ji Quan Curriculum and Yang Sau-Chaung “ →

Here are links to three articles in the latest issue of the Halo Halo Review by or about Rene :

AT AGE 85, RENE J. NAVARRO LOOKS BACK AT HIS POETRY:
https://halohaloreview.blogspot.com/2025/11/at-age-84-rene-j-navarro-looks-back-
at.html

RENE J. NAVARRO CREATES A NEW FUTURE FOR HIS EXTENSIVE LIBRARY
https://halohaloreview.blogspot.com/2025/11/rene-j-navarro-creates-new-future-for.html

“EARLY CHILDHOOD IN BAMBAN” 
https://halohaloreview.blogspot.com/2025/11/early-childhood-in-bamban-by-rene-j.html

A quote from the preface of my book “Of Fire and Water: Alchemy and Transformation”
(Tambuli Media: 2023):

A last cautionary tale. The Western Procrustean Bed. The Eastern paradigm of the human being and the world includes not just the physical and material but also the energetic, mystical, intellectual, emotional as well as the spiritual. But much of Eastern culture is often perceived and practiced through the framework of the materialistic West. Yoga has been reduced to an exercise for physical fitness and flexibility, meditation as a mode of relaxation, and nothing more. Martial art, a temple discipline among monks, has become just a system of fighting, sans philosophy, compassion, and virtues. Sunzi’s Art of War, the classic of warfare, is just a manual for capitalist business and gamesmanship. Eastern disciplines often pass through the procrustean bed of the West. We have a long way to go to reach the heart of authentic Eastern culture. 

Continue reading “Diary 1/10/26: A De-Colonized Taijiquan?” →