Download or read book The Ancient Art of Life and Death written by A. Flane Walker and published by . This book was released on 2002 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Contrary to popular myth, the original purpose of dim mak was not the training of assassins. It was an intensive study of the medical arts that incorporated the martial arts, and its ultimate goal was to heal, not to destroy. True to the intent of the ancient Chinese masters, here is an undiluted, holistic study of dim mak as both a martial and a healing art. Included are a historical overview of dim mak and Traditional Chinese Medicine, discussions of the physiological mechanism and medical risks of acupoint strikes, an indepth introduction to the classical 36 Chamber training program traditionally used to teach dim mak; detailed analyses of the medical and martial applications of each of the acupoints on the 12 main meridians, complete with detailed diagrams outlining each meridian system and its acupoint locations; and an introduction to herbal pharmacology, which was an integral part of traditional dim mak training. Appendices serve as quick reference guides to the activation method and results of selected point strikes. For academic study only.
Download or read book Art of Life and Death written by Daniel Fletcher and published by Tuttle Publishing. This book was released on 2012-11-10 with total page 211 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This masterfully crafted guide to ninjitsu or budo explores in depth the history, culture and philosophy of this fascinating and enduring Japanese martial art. Budo is one of the least understood forms of art in the world. Even more than skills or techniques, the teachings of budo require faith to learn and courage to understand. One of the fundamental teachings of budo is ninjutsu, the art of perseverance that forms the basis of the Japanese martial arts. The lessons in this book come directly from experiencing the living vitality of the world's foremost master of the ninja arts, Masaaki Hatsumi. Through the use of stories, poetry, art, and earned wisdom, the authors move beyond the common image of the martial arts and reveal the nature of the unexpected changes in themselves as they struggled to come to terms with what being a martial artist in the ninja tradition meant. The Art of Life and Death is a reflection of the discipline, the aesthetics, and the philosophy that lies hidden within the martial way. It is a glimpse at the hidden potential of the martial arts, one where the practitioner can embrace transcendence and transformation in order to face all the fears that litter life and also life's most fearsome opponent: Death.
Download or read book The Life and Death of Ancient Cities written by Greg Woolf and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2020-04-08 with total page 512 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The dramatic story of the rise and collapse of Europe's first great urban experiment The growth of cities around the world in the last two centuries is the greatest episode in our urban history, but it is not the first. Three thousand years ago most of the Mediterranean basin was a world of villages; a world without money or writing, without temples for the gods or palaces for the mighty. Over the centuries that followed, however, cities appeared in many places around the Inland Sea, built by Greeks and Romans, and also by Etruscans and Phoenicians, Tartessians and Lycians, and many others. Most were tiny by modern standards, but they were the building blocks of all the states and empires of antiquity. The greatest--Athens and Corinth, Syracuse and Marseilles, Alexandria and Ephesus, Persepolis and Carthage, Rome and Byzantium--became the powerhouses of successive ancient societies, not just political centers but also the places where ancient art and literatures were created and accumulated. And then, half way through the first millennium, most withered away, leaving behind ruins that have fascinated so many who came after. Based on the most recent historical and archaeological evidence, The Life and Death of Ancient Cities provides a sweeping narrative of one of the world's first great urban experiments, from Bronze Age origins to the demise of cities in late antiquity. Greg Woolf chronicles the history of the ancient Mediterranean city, against the background of wider patterns of human evolution, and of the unforgiving environment in which they were built. Richly illustrated, the book vividly brings to life the abandoned remains of our ancient urban ancestors and serves as a stark reminder of the fragility of even the mightiest of cities.
Download or read book Life Myth and Art in Ancient Rome written by Tony Allan and published by Getty Publications. This book was released on 2005 with total page 144 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Inspired by the achievements of the ancient Greeks, the Romans made their city the center of an empire unsurpassed in size and influence for more than a thousand years. Its rich legacy shaped the medieval world and continues to amaze us today. Life, Myth, and Art in Ancient Rome celebrates the many achievements of Roman culture and delves into its fascinating dark side. Romans erected structures so well-built and engineered that they still stand millennia later, yet these same buildings also showcased blood sports as public entertainment. The Romans instituted just government, impartial legal and political institutions, and concepts of citizenship, yet its population included slaves as well as patricians and plebeians, and was often riven by intrigue, superstition, and savagery. This volume is a richly illustrated introduction to a fascinating, at times paradoxical, civilization and its art and architecture, ranging from magnificent temples and aqueducts, to exquisite mosaics and jewelry. Placing the art in its cultural context, the author covers themes that have long inspired the Western imagination, including the rise and fall of emperors, the life and death of the gladiator, the belief in omens and prophecy, and, ultimately, the establishment of Christianity.
Download or read book Life and Death on the Nile written by George J. Armelagos and published by University Press of Florida. This book was released on 2017-09-20 with total page 267 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "A gem. Armelagos and Van Gerven’s research on the skeletal biology of one region of the Nile Valley offers an engaging history of science as told through physical anthropology."--Alan C. Swedlund, coeditor of Plagues and Epidemics: Infected Spaces Past and Present "Captures the essence of the biocultural approach to anthropology and Nubian life in the past."--Margaret A. Judd, University of Pittsburgh "This truly enjoyable book and excellent research is a wonderful example of the collaborative investigations and advanced methodologies that characterize scholarship elucidating the lives of ancient Nubians."--Michele R. Buzon, Purdue University A monumental synthesis of a half century of research, this book investigates human remains from three communities from the ancient Nubian civilization of the Nile River Valley: Meinarti, Kulubnarti, and an unnamed shantytown of underclass laborers. The analyses of these surveys chart the evolution of the field of physical anthropology. During the first archaeological expeditions to Nubia in the early nineteenth century, anthropologists set out to identify the races of Nubian peoples during the rise and fall of their civilization, while the second wave of expeditions to Nubia in the 1930s caused a backlash against this racial determinism. The analyses at Wadi Halfa, part of the third-wave expeditions to Nubia sponsored by UNESCO in the 1960s, helped inspire the "biocultural approach" to human biology now used by anthropologists worldwide. Life and Death on the Nile, the life’s work of two highly accomplished anthropologists, exemplifies the very best of this perspective. George Armelagos and Dennis Van Gerven present studies of cranial morphology and evolution in Nubian populations. They look at patterns of physiological stress and disease, as well as growth and development, in infants and children. They study bone fractures and age-related bone loss in adults, and they discuss case studies of diseases such as cancers and congenital defects. Focusing on the link between human biology and the cultural and natural environment, they provide a holistic view of the lives of ancient Nubian peoples. George J. Armelagos (1936-2014) was the Goodrich C. White Professor of Anthropology at Emory University. One of the founders of the field of bioarchaeology, he was coeditor of Paleopathology at the Origins of Agriculture. Dennis P. Van Gerven is professor emeritus of anthropology at the University of Colorado Boulder.
Download or read book The Lost Art of Dying written by L.S. Dugdale and published by HarperCollins. This book was released on 2020-07-07 with total page 272 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A Columbia University physician comes across a popular medieval text on dying well written after the horror of the Black Plague and discovers ancient wisdom for rethinking death and gaining insight today on how we can learn the lost art of dying well in this wise, clear-eyed book that is as compelling and soulful as Being Mortal, When Breath Becomes Air, and Smoke Gets in Your Eyes. As a specialist in both medical ethics and the treatment of older patients, Dr. L. S. Dugdale knows a great deal about the end of life. Far too many of us die poorly, she argues. Our culture has overly medicalized death: dying is often institutional and sterile, prolonged by unnecessary resuscitations and other intrusive interventions. We are not going gently into that good night—our reliance on modern medicine can actually prolong suffering and strip us of our dignity. Yet our lives do not have to end this way. Centuries ago, in the wake of the Black Plague, a text was published offering advice to help the living prepare for a good death. Written during the late Middle Ages, ars moriendi—The Art of Dying—made clear that to die well, one first had to live well and described what practices best help us prepare. When Dugdale discovered this Medieval book, it was a revelation. Inspired by its holistic approach to the final stage we must all one day face, she draws from this forgotten work, combining its wisdom with the knowledge she has gleaned from her long medical career. The Lost Art of Dying is a twenty-first century ars moriendi, filled with much-needed insight and thoughtful guidance that will change our perceptions. By recovering our sense of finitude, confronting our fears, accepting how our bodies age, developing meaningful rituals, and involving our communities in end-of-life care, we can discover what it means to both live and die well. And like the original ars moriendi, The Lost Art of Dying includes nine black-and-white drawings from artist Michael W. Dugger. Dr. Dugdale offers a hopeful perspective on death and dying as she shows us how to adapt the wisdom from the past to our lives today. The Lost Art of Dying is a vital, affecting book that reconsiders death, death culture, and how we can transform how we live each day, including our last.
Download or read book The American Book of Living and Dying written by Richard F. Groves and published by Celestial Arts. This book was released on 2015-12-16 with total page 306 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: For most people, the thought of dying or caring for a terminally ill friend or family member raises fears and questions as old as humanity: What is a “good death”? What appropriate preparations should be made? How do we best support our loved ones as life draws to its close? In this nondenominational handbook, Richard F. Groves and Henriette Anne Klauser provide comfort, direction, and hope to the dying and their caregivers through nine archetypal stories that illustrate the most common end-of-life concerns. Drawing from personal experiences, the authors offer invaluable guidance on easing emotional pain and navigating this difficult final passage. With a compelling new preface, this edition also features an overview of the hospice movement; a survey of Celtic, Tibetan, Egyptian, and other historic perspectives on the sacred art of dying; as well as various therapies, techniques, and rituals to alleviate suffering, stimulate reflection, and strengthen interpersonal bonds. The American Book of Living and Dying gives us courage to trust our deepest instincts, and reminds us that by telling the stories of those who have passed, we remember, honor, and continue to learn from them.
Download or read book Art and Spiritual Transformation written by Finley Eversole and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2009-05-26 with total page 394 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The primal role of art in awakening and liberating the soul of humanity • Presents a seven-stage journey of transformation moving from the darkened soul to the light of spiritual illumination • Provides a meditation practice to experience the spiritual energy embedded within art • Includes artists Alex Grey, Jackson Pollock, Mark Rothko, Walter Gaudnek, and others Art and Spiritual Transformation presents a seven-stage journey from the darkened soul to the light of spiritual illumination that is possible through the world of art. Finley Eversole introduces a meditation practice that moves beyond the visual content of an art form in order to connect with its embedded spiritual energy, allowing the viewer to tap in to the deeper consciousness inherent in the artwork and awaken dormant powers in the depths of the viewer’s soul. Examining modern and postmodern artwork from 1945 onward, Eversole reveals the influences of ancient Egypt, India, China, and alchemy on this art. He draws extensively on philosophy, myth and symbolism, literature, and metaphysics to explain the seven stages of spiritual death and rebirth of the soul possible through art: the experience of self-loss, the journey into the underworld, the experience of the dark night of the soul, the conflict with and triumph over evil, the awakening of new life in the depths of being, and the return and reintegration of consciousness on a higher plane of being, resulting finally in ecstasy, transfiguration, illumination, and liberation. To illustrate these stages, Eversole includes works by abstract expressionists Jackson Pollock, Willem de Kooning, and Mark Rothko and modern visionary artists Alex Grey and Ernst Fuchs, among others, to reveal the powerful and liberating forces art contributes to the transformation and evolution of human consciousness.
Download or read book The Sight of Death written by T. J. Clark and published by Yale University Press. This book was released on 2006-01-01 with total page 282 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Why do we keep returning to certain pictures? What is it we are looking for? How does our understanding of an image change over time? This investigates the nature of visual complexity, the capacity of certain images to sustain repeated attention, and how pictures respond and resist their viewers' wishes.
Download or read book Kindred written by Rebecca Wragg Sykes and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2020-08-20 with total page 417 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: ** WINNER OF THE PEN HESSELL-TILTMAN PRIZE 2021 ** 'Beautiful, evocative, authoritative.' Professor Brian Cox 'Important reading not just for anyone interested in these ancient cousins of ours, but also for anyone interested in humanity.' Yuval Noah Harari Kindred is the definitive guide to the Neanderthals. Since their discovery more than 160 years ago, Neanderthals have metamorphosed from the losers of the human family tree to A-list hominins. Rebecca Wragg Sykes uses her experience at the cutting edge of Palaeolithic research to share our new understanding of Neanderthals, shoving aside clichés of rag-clad brutes in an icy wasteland. She reveals them to be curious, clever connoisseurs of their world, technologically inventive and ecologically adaptable. Above all, they were successful survivors for more than 300,000 years, during times of massive climatic upheaval. Much of what defines us was also in Neanderthals, and their DNA is still inside us. Planning, co-operation, altruism, craftsmanship, aesthetic sense, imagination, perhaps even a desire for transcendence beyond mortality. Kindred does for Neanderthals what Sapiens did for us, revealing a deeper, more nuanced story where humanity itself is our ancient, shared inheritance.
Download or read book How to Die written by Seneca and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2018-02-27 with total page 253 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Timeless wisdom on death and dying from the celebrated Stoic philosopher Seneca "It takes an entire lifetime to learn how to die," wrote the Roman Stoic philosopher Seneca (c. 4 BC–65 AD). He counseled readers to "study death always," and took his own advice, returning to the subject again and again in all his writings, yet he never treated it in a complete work. How to Die gathers in one volume, for the first time, Seneca's remarkable meditations on death and dying. Edited and translated by James S. Romm, How to Die reveals a provocative thinker and dazzling writer who speaks with a startling frankness about the need to accept death or even, under certain conditions, to seek it out. Seneca believed that life is only a journey toward death and that one must rehearse for death throughout life. Here, he tells us how to practice for death, how to die well, and how to understand the role of a good death in a good life. He stresses the universality of death, its importance as life's final rite of passage, and its ability to liberate us from pain, slavery, or political oppression. Featuring beautifully rendered new translations, How to Die also includes an enlightening introduction, notes, the original Latin texts, and an epilogue presenting Tacitus's description of Seneca's grim suicide.
Download or read book Martyrdom and Memory written by Elizabeth Anne Castelli and published by Columbia University Press. This book was released on 2004 with total page 376 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Utilising a wide range of early sources, this title identifies the roots of the concept of Christian martyrdom, as lloking at how it has been expressed in events such as the shootings at Columbine High School in 1999.
Download or read book The Modern Art of Dying written by Shai J. Lavi and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2009-01-10 with total page 239 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: How we die reveals much about how we live. In this provocative book, Shai Lavi traces the history of euthanasia in the United States to show how changing attitudes toward death reflect new and troubling ways of experiencing pain, hope, and freedom. Lavi begins with the historical meaning of euthanasia as signifying an "easeful death." Over time, he shows, the term came to mean a death blessed by the grace of God, and later, medical hastening of death. Lavi illustrates these changes with compelling accounts of changes at the deathbed. He takes us from early nineteenth-century deathbeds governed by religion through the medicalization of death with the physician presiding over the deathbed, to the legalization of physician-assisted suicide. Unlike previous books, which have focused on law and technique as explanations for the rise of euthanasia, this book asks why law and technique have come to play such a central role in the way we die. What is at stake in the modern way of dying is not human progress, but rather a fundamental change in the way we experience life in the face of death, Lavi argues. In attempting to gain control over death, he maintains, we may unintentionally have ceded control to policy makers and bio-scientific enterprises.
Download or read book The Mystic Arts of Erasing All Signs of Death written by Charlie Huston and published by Ballantine Books. This book was released on 2009-12-29 with total page 354 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: With his teaching career derailed by tragedy and his slacker days numbered, Webster Fillmore Goodhue makes an unlikely move and joins Clean Team, charged with tidying up L.A.'s grisly crime scenes. For Web, it's a steady gig, and he soon finds himself sponging a Malibu suicide's brains from a bathroom mirror and flirting with the man's bereaved and beautiful daughter. Then things get weird: The dead man's daughter asks a favor. Every cell in Web's brain tells him to turn her down, but something makes him hit the Harbor Freeway at midnight to help her however he can. Soon enough it's Web who needs the help when gun-toting California cowboys start showing up on his doorstep. What's the deal? Is it something to do with what he cleaned up in that motel room in Carson? Or is it all about the brewing war between rival trauma cleaners? Web doesn't have a clue, but he'll need to get one if he's going to keep from getting his face kicked in. Again. And again. And again.
Download or read book Classical Art written by Caroline Vout and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2018-05-29 with total page 375 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: How did the statues of ancient Greece wind up dictating art history in the West? How did the material culture of the Greeks and Romans come to be seen as "classical" and as "art"? What does "classical art" mean across time and place? In this ambitious, richly illustrated book, art historian and classicist Caroline Vout provides an original history of how classical art has been continuously redefined over the millennia as it has found itself in new contexts and cultures. All of this raises the question of classical art's future. What we call classical art did not simply appear in ancient Rome, or in the Renaissance, or in the eighteenth-century Academy. Endlessly repackaged and revered or rebuked, Greek and Roman artifacts have gathered an amazing array of values, both positive and negative, in each new historical period, even as these objects themselves have reshaped their surroundings. Vout shows how this process began in antiquity, as Greeks of the Hellenistic period transformed the art of fifth-century Greece, and continued through the Roman empire, Constantinople, European court societies, the neoclassical English country house, and the nineteenth century, up to the modern museum. A unique exploration of how each period of Western culture has transformed Greek and Roman antiquities and in turn been transformed by them, this book revolutionizes our understanding of what classical art has meant and continues to mean.
Download or read book The Trojan War in Ancient Art written by Susan Woodford and published by Cornell University Press. This book was released on 1993 with total page 140 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The legendary characters of the Trojan War captured the imaginations not only of Greek and Roman writers, but of countless visual artists as well. A vibrant retelling of the Trojan myths, this handsomely illustrated book brings to life for today's...
Download or read book Life and Death in Ancient Egypt written by Sigrid Hodel-Hoenes and published by Cornell University Press. This book was released on 2000 with total page 356 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "The book provides details of the location, layout, structure, and decoration of the tombs. Hodel-Hoenes addresses subjects such as the two-dimensional art of the Kingdom of New Thebes, the contents of the tombs, the pigments used in the artists' paints, and the symbolism of the colors and the scenes depicted in the tomb paintings and reliefs."--BOOK JACKET.
