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La metafisica del ping-pong. Un'introduzione alla filosofia perenne
"Un buon viaggiatore non sa dove va; un perfetto viaggiatore non sa da dove viene". Questo aforisma di uno scrittore cinese è il più perfetto compendio della "Metafisica del ping-pong". Perché quando s'impugna per la prima volta la racchetta non si sa dove può portare la passione per questo sport - magari addirittura in Cina, a sfidare i campioni locali - ma soprattutto non si sa di aver intrapreso una sorta di percorso iniziatico alla scoperta di sé e dei principi primi che governano la realtà. Lungo questo viaggio di perfezionamento sportivo, individuale e metafisico allo stesso tempo, Guido Mina di Sospiro non ha solo affrontato avversari di ogni tipo, affinato tecnica, tattica e strategia e appreso l'importanza di lasciarsi guidare da un maestro: grazie al ping-pong ha incontrato e visto in azione, nel vivo del gioco, la geometria non euclidea, la logica non lineare, la strategia da von Clausewitz a Sun Tzu; ha riscoperto Carl Gustav Jung e interrogato l'IChing, colto la potenza del mito platonico della caverna e dei principi della filosofia taoista. E naturalmente, inseguendo il suo "stato di grazia" mistico-sportivo, si è anche divertito, e continua a divertirsi moltissimo.
- GenresNonfiction
238 pages, Paperback
First published September 5, 2013
4 people are currently reading
38 people want to read
About the author
Guido Mina di Sospiro
12 books4 followersGuido Mina de Sospiro is an award-winning, internationally published novelist born in Argentina, raised in Italy, and educated in the United States. A graduate of the University of Southern California, he lives in the Washington, DC, area with his wife and their three sons.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
February 19, 2022
This book may or may not be good by common standards. I don't know. I don't care. Having played and loved table tennis since I was 12, more than 20 years now, this is one of the best things I have ever read.
August 5, 2020
Il ping pong ci avvicina al mondo delle forme, se giocato nel suo elemento centrale: lo spin.
December 19, 2022
philosophy is usually a little over my head. thought the book was fine but gave it away before I was finished.
December 16, 2016
Sport as a metaphor for life. Glad for that one session of TT in the SRC before exams which allowed me to appreciate the sport references. Also didn't realise TT was popular all over the world. Which would make sense on further thought, since it IS an Olympic sport.
_______
Table-tennis is, first and foremost, a game about spin.
The more power is available, the more control it takes to master them. In TT, as in anything, control is essential.
I've since begun to suspect that sport becomes useful and indeed necessary once you are past forty. That's when the body needs to be kept in shape t o fight off the tendency to put on weight and its attendant dangers: high cholesterol, high blood pressure, high blood sugar levels and so on. Before that, young men and women, in a recurring rapture of physical exuberance, can tend to overdo it, and will pay for that later on in their life.
In the Western world, and the US in particular, there is the myth of self-reliance, which may have been valuable for pioneers, trappers and frontiersmen, but overrated in the civilised world. In fact, we rely on perfect strangers for the most vital things, like fixing car brakes, or surgery.
A teacher's judgement must be unclouded by affection. Even though affection may develop over time as he makes progress, the teacher must remain objective and free to criticise and correct as needed. A true teacher dislikes compromises. If the pupil is ultimately not worthy of his efforts, he will be dismissed; there will be others.
Self-confidence is a necessary attribute, but will not take one beyond the confines of one's self. Relying exclusively on self-confidence is anti-evolutionary, but rather suitable for maintaining a stage of ineptness.
The first thing you must do is reach the ball in time to execute the proper movement, rather than adjusting the stroke because you haven't moved, or moved enough. Avoid the titanic struggle of adjusting shots all the time. They're much more difficult and never as effective.
Often what seems a shortcut, both in table tennis and life, is in fact a longcut.
Purists create academies; academies create dogmas; dogmas create fossils. Techniques, materials, ideas are in constant flux. Purity is as limiting as consistency.
The whole point of standardising one's playing, possessing oneself of all the conventional strokes, and practising them over and over till they reach a very high percentage of consistency simply means arriving at a threshold beyond which table tennis can become art.
If your theory doesn't agree with reality, reality isn't broken. Your theory is. In a court of law, denying evidence is a crime. In western philosophy, it seems perfectly permissible.
_______
Table-tennis is, first and foremost, a game about spin.
The more power is available, the more control it takes to master them. In TT, as in anything, control is essential.
I've since begun to suspect that sport becomes useful and indeed necessary once you are past forty. That's when the body needs to be kept in shape t o fight off the tendency to put on weight and its attendant dangers: high cholesterol, high blood pressure, high blood sugar levels and so on. Before that, young men and women, in a recurring rapture of physical exuberance, can tend to overdo it, and will pay for that later on in their life.
In the Western world, and the US in particular, there is the myth of self-reliance, which may have been valuable for pioneers, trappers and frontiersmen, but overrated in the civilised world. In fact, we rely on perfect strangers for the most vital things, like fixing car brakes, or surgery.
A teacher's judgement must be unclouded by affection. Even though affection may develop over time as he makes progress, the teacher must remain objective and free to criticise and correct as needed. A true teacher dislikes compromises. If the pupil is ultimately not worthy of his efforts, he will be dismissed; there will be others.
Self-confidence is a necessary attribute, but will not take one beyond the confines of one's self. Relying exclusively on self-confidence is anti-evolutionary, but rather suitable for maintaining a stage of ineptness.
The first thing you must do is reach the ball in time to execute the proper movement, rather than adjusting the stroke because you haven't moved, or moved enough. Avoid the titanic struggle of adjusting shots all the time. They're much more difficult and never as effective.
Often what seems a shortcut, both in table tennis and life, is in fact a longcut.
Purists create academies; academies create dogmas; dogmas create fossils. Techniques, materials, ideas are in constant flux. Purity is as limiting as consistency.
The whole point of standardising one's playing, possessing oneself of all the conventional strokes, and practising them over and over till they reach a very high percentage of consistency simply means arriving at a threshold beyond which table tennis can become art.
If your theory doesn't agree with reality, reality isn't broken. Your theory is. In a court of law, denying evidence is a crime. In western philosophy, it seems perfectly permissible.
March 9, 2016
Review:
It has often been stated that sport is a reflection of life. While that seems to be a well-worn cliché, but this book by Guido Mina di Sospiro proves that sometimes clichés are correct. In his case, the sport of ping-pong, or table tennis, was an accurate reflection of his life.
His writing about the sport waxes poetic and philosophical, pop culture and religion. Drawing inspiration and information from sources as varied as Plato, Taoism, Sheryl Crow and Carl Jung, Mina di Sospiro takes the reader on an adventure through the world of ping-pong as he competes against players all over the world – from his local club to facing some of the best players in China.
While the main attraction of the book is certainly his adventure, his writing about the sport itself was what I found very interesting. His discovery of the spin on the ball being the key to winning or losing makes for some of the best reading for me in the book. The spin is how metaphysics plays an important role in the sport.
How the player has to strike the ball to put this spin on the shot, what rubber and padding should be on the paddle to maximize this effect is explained in great detail as Mina di Sospiro is working his way through the competition. Even the glue is important as he explains that many players will rib the rubber padding off and re-glue it onto the paddle just before a match (allowing 20-30 minutes for drying) to expand the rubber which allows for greater speed and spin.
This book should be read at one sitting with minimal interruptions to get a true feel for the game and also for the spirituality of the writing. By doing this, I was able to enjoy the stories and ended up becoming a fan of the author and the sport by the time I finished. This book is highly recommended for readers who want to either learn something about an off-beat sport, to be inspired or just enjoy a good book with a different spin.
I wish to thank Quest Books for providing a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.
http://sportsbookguy.blogspot.com/201...
It has often been stated that sport is a reflection of life. While that seems to be a well-worn cliché, but this book by Guido Mina di Sospiro proves that sometimes clichés are correct. In his case, the sport of ping-pong, or table tennis, was an accurate reflection of his life.
His writing about the sport waxes poetic and philosophical, pop culture and religion. Drawing inspiration and information from sources as varied as Plato, Taoism, Sheryl Crow and Carl Jung, Mina di Sospiro takes the reader on an adventure through the world of ping-pong as he competes against players all over the world – from his local club to facing some of the best players in China.
While the main attraction of the book is certainly his adventure, his writing about the sport itself was what I found very interesting. His discovery of the spin on the ball being the key to winning or losing makes for some of the best reading for me in the book. The spin is how metaphysics plays an important role in the sport.
How the player has to strike the ball to put this spin on the shot, what rubber and padding should be on the paddle to maximize this effect is explained in great detail as Mina di Sospiro is working his way through the competition. Even the glue is important as he explains that many players will rib the rubber padding off and re-glue it onto the paddle just before a match (allowing 20-30 minutes for drying) to expand the rubber which allows for greater speed and spin.
This book should be read at one sitting with minimal interruptions to get a true feel for the game and also for the spirituality of the writing. By doing this, I was able to enjoy the stories and ended up becoming a fan of the author and the sport by the time I finished. This book is highly recommended for readers who want to either learn something about an off-beat sport, to be inspired or just enjoy a good book with a different spin.
I wish to thank Quest Books for providing a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.
http://sportsbookguy.blogspot.com/201...
January 2, 2024
Un pavo que habla de cómo vivió su experiencia mejorando en el camino del ping-pong. Desarrollándolo a partir de historias personales acompañadas de pensamientos y a veces reflexiones de pensadores. Para mi gusto más narrativa que pensamiento. Pero es entretenido si piensas mientras lees en cuanto a cómo pensamos en el proceso de las cosas que hacemos y cómo las afrontamos.
November 17, 2016
"It was finally clear to me that in China and in the rest of Eastern Asia both calligraphers and table-tennis players are on the same quest for pure form."
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews