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Q: Walking backwards and yelling in the park
I've seen this in both north and south China on fairly frequent occasions.
Presumably this is some kind of superstition.
What's it all about?
Walking backwards is to compensate for all the energy spent walking forward. It makes a lot of sense !!! And the yelling, is to compensate for all the time you shut-up while enduring bullshit. It all makes sense.
Walking backwards is supposed to enhance one's sense of balance especially amongst the old. But I don't know about the yelling, perhaps it's to let people know he's walking backwards and to keep out of his way?
laowaigentleman:
Is that it...?
Disappointing. I thought there'd be some crazy myth in there somewhere.
All of the people I've seen doing it average the same age as the dancing women you see in the evenings in the park. Middle aged rather than old.
Moving body in opposite direction is an exercise of stretching the muscles, which doesn't move in usual, straight walk.
Same practice is in many Martial arts as 'anticipation/defense of attack from behind', when/where you can't see. Also 'balance', as Luis said.
Yelling is exercising/releasing ones 'qi', and it gives additional power/strength to the body. Many 'final' moves in Martial arts are accompanied with loud yell, 'kiai' in Japanese.
Now, do some ......backward moves.
icnif77:
There's a guy walking by my house on large campus, and yelling every morning around 6 am.
I didn't check his way of walking yet, buTT...I always make turn in my bed, when he passes by with 'OK' as 'my whisper'. We're all exercising here.
Scandinavian:
be that as it may, this activity is rarely done by people who look like Bruce Lee, more those who look like Jacki Chan in a fatsuit
Scandinavian:
be that as it may, this activity is rarely done by people who look like Bruce Lee, more those who look like Jacki Chan in a fatsuit
icnif77:
@Bob: Yahoo-gle 'Uechi-ryu' for more on 'mushrooms' from Okinawa, I mean 'mussels' from Okinawa
Wiki:Kanbun Uechi studied Pangai-noon (half-hard, half-soft) under Shu Shiwa (ja:周子和) in the Fujian (also romanized as Fukien) province of mainland China in the late 19th century and early 20th century. After studying 10 years under Shushiwa, Kanbun Uechi opened his own school in Nanjing. Three years later, Kanbun Uechi returned to Okinawa, determined never to teach again because one of his Chinese students had killed a neighbor with an open-hand technique in a dispute over land irrigation.
icnif77:
I wrote 'mussels' instead 'muscles' in my reply. I apologize to all Native English readers, who didn't understand whole meaning of my post, because of misspelling.
I'm sure, your Martial Arts understanding is on the same level as your correct English is.
I hope, you don't feel shallow with your English (non) understanding!
Walking backwards is to compensate for all the energy spent walking forward. It makes a lot of sense !!! And the yelling, is to compensate for all the time you shut-up while enduring bullshit. It all makes sense.
Yelling? I'm sure they're just talking with each other.
laowaigentleman:
Actually there were two occasions which occurred in a close time period in both the north and the south of the country when it was an individual walking on her own.
The Solitary Shrieker, to paraphrase Wordsworth.
I didn't find it offensive, it was just strange and I've got a feeling that it must be some kind of cleansing ritual.
The dr's diagnose sounds pretty accurate. It must be purgation
dongbeiren:
Laowai, I just laughed out loud in a crowded room after reading that comment :)
laowaigentleman:
@dongbeiren
Thank god for the net! If it wasn't for this thing, the few witty things I ever come up with would never get out.
But maybe I'm barking up the wrong Bush.
Happy new year, by the way. All the best for the year of the yang.
The yelling is to let people know they are walking backwards so they can get out of the way .
laowaigentleman:
And to think how much breath she could have saved by walking forwards.
I have a business idea. Do you think it's possible to design some kind of periscope which allows people who walk backwards to see where they're going?
You could get a series of mirrors rising up the base of it gradually turning to the point where they can reflect what's 180 degrees behind you. It must be possible although the periscope would be enormous.
Chinese families could get a lot of face from gifting them to each other and the manufacture of these things will give a few nine year old Cambodians an economic opportunity to lift their families out of poverty.
icnif77:
Walking backward is an exercise, which 'strengthen one's zen-ability to see/anticipate hurdles and opponents with closed eyes'
Periscope/telescope in your business plan is miniscule for one in deep zen-meditation, IMHO.
Walking backwards in the park? Heh, I've literally seen people (all were around middle aged) walking backwards on treadmills at the gym. Yes... at a gym, on a treadmill, walking backwards. Chinese cahracterisitcs.
laowaigentleman:
I've seen that too.
They put their toddlers on it as well.
You haven't lived until you've seen a sixty year old guy do sit ups on the weights bench with a fag hanging from his mouth. 
Walk backwards to reverse the short term memory loss of pot smoking, but we don't know why, Thanks for the update.
icnif77:
Pot has tonne of health 
-ty ... benes.
Higher income from tax for the Gov-ernur, too. I read somewhere, they collected some US$ 5B only in tax for 2018. That's a lot of 'Smoke on the Water'.
