A Naturist in a Highly Conservative Society

I once met a traditional Confucian scholar who told me that he had seen a photo of me (he said it with a sneer) and how could I have no shame? 

The Confucian scholar went on to say that he was told by a mutual friend that I was a Shaolin Kung Fu practitioner. How a supposedly conservative person from such a hallowed school could move around naked in public was something he couldn't understand. 

Although I no longer practise Kung Fu, I do perform from time to time some of the steps for muscle development and more for my balance and stability. I know some naturists are totally opposed to violence and some have expressed concern when they see me posing in apparently violent poses. I'm a firm advocate against any form of physical violence. You can look at this as a form of dance. There is absolutely no violence here. If there is any violence, I'll be the first to flee.

I hope that Confucian scholar sees this photo below. Why can't I be a conservative naturist who performs the sacred art of Shaolin Kung Fu in the nude? 

For those who can't read my horrendous handwriting (it's very hard to write on the phone), the left words say "Shaolin quan" which is literally Shaolin Fist, i.e. Shaolin Kung Fu. On the bottom right is my name. In Chinese, the "lin" of "Shaolin" is exactly the same as my name. One can't get more conservative than that!  

To thine own self be true

In my society, it's very common for people to disguise themselves and appear to be what they are not. Women go for botox injections (some men do it too) and some go for more intrusive procedures. This is not so common for men but many men in my country dye their hair to conceal their age.

There's nothing wrong with that and I don't mean to be judgmental but personally, I have often wondered why people do that. I have never allowed a drop of dye to touch my hair and I never will.

You may think naturists are exempt from all this which stems from nothing less than vanity but that's not true. A few male naturists online have asked me why I posted photos which "did not do justice to one's virility". Apparently, many of them will ensure that their photos present themselves in the best possible light in this arena. But this is surely anathema for any real naturist? I usually reply quite rudely when I am asked such a question. I will tell them that naturists are not porn stars and if their attention is fixed on that part of the human body, they have totally misunderstood the meaning of naturism. 

I would like to think that I am unaffected by all this lure of vanity. I have done absolutely nothing to hide my age, or so I would like to believe. I told my wife that this morning and she very cleverly observed that in the recent photo of me reading a book in bed, I had taken off my reading glasses before snapping a photo. You can see that photo in this blog - the post just before this. 

But is it really vanity if one poses for a pic without one's glasses? All the same, my wife is right. The act of removing my glasses whenever I pose for a pic may not be as extreme as dying the hair but the intent is still the same; it's all about concealing something from my viewers.  

I have decided to remedy that. This morning I took this pic of me reading a book with my glasses on. That's how I normally read a book unless it's an ebook, the print of which can be enlarged. The day may come when I shall need a walking stick. I promise you I will post a pic of me with a walking stick in this blog when the time comes. I will to my own self be true.