The Mayor DJ 7: George Parker Wins Gold!

Hey friends! Have you read about George Parker? He was featured on the blog, appearing from Siriburi in this post. At the time he was training day in and day out. What's he up to these days? He just won gold in an international tournament with other countries from his continental shelf. George is ecstatic about his victory and he would love to share his voice with you all. 

Hey everyone! This is George Parker from Siriburi, representing no flag but the pure white of peace. Siriburi takes part in international organizations under a flagless flag due its non-allegiance to a nation-state. I was very excited to come to this new town during its growth stages for two main reasons. I really wanted to meet the mayor, The Mayor DJ. We had all heard about his vision for the town which brings me to my next point. I love living in a place where the people are constantly inspiring you to do your best. My friends wouldn't even let me think negatively about myself here in this town. It's because we all live by the vision of expressing our ultimate dreams. Our conduct became one of unity and harmony. We all live to inspire one another and so we conspire altogether. 

The story of Siriburi is deep in my heart of experiences. Here I am reflecting on my own journey as a gold medalist athlete. Thank you to the mayor of our beloved town for giving me this great opportunity. I remember when I first came to town. He came out and greeted me with his awesome team. We went out for breakfast, walked around town, and participated in all kinds of spontaneous meditations. What a deep dive into the heart of nature. If the illustrious parks in this city weren't enough to bring in an ocean of nature, then the silent meditators playing games and running wild in the parks were more than enough.

Thank you to the people of Siriburi. Among you, I am a neighbour, a community teacher, an artist, a volunteer at the library, and a child. In many ways, I do feel like the new kid in town. People were always supportive ever since day one. They helped me find a good place to live in town. They brought me on their parkland adventures. Some became my students. I started giving my own gymnastics classes, many of which were inspired right on the spot and turned into a game among friends and whoever else passed by that corner of the park - more like an urban forest actually.

George refers to the town's vast stretch of parks as an urban forest.

In Siriburi, we practiced a culture of spontaneous development. When there is a collective need for development, various spontaneous games are designed and experienced first-hand by volunteers. In other words, you're encouraged by the people around you to test out your spontaneous game ideas, especially here in the park. Different iterations take place throughout daily life, and usually to a much lower degree, but the parks were hotspots of creative intelligence. It was our own open public forum. Much of Siriburi's big decisions were decided in the heart of the community. Our population gets together and synchs up. Then, we communicate to different people and different groups in our immediate sitting meditation centres.

It was thanks to these sacred centres that would lead me on a revolution around the parks, powered by the creativity and imagination of Siriburites, that I succeeded at this month's tournament. Focus is key. In everything we do, we must train our focus to recognize the forces. In my training as a gymnast, my body is one of my main forces. The spontaneous meditation helped me to become more aware of my body. This applied to life outside of physical training as well. Washing the dishes, making the bed, and brushing my teeth became meditations in which I became more aware of my body and its singals. I use these signals together with my body to have a clear communication between us. This kind of communication is more than integral when I'm vortexed in the middle of my game.

Speaking of games, The Mayor DJ and I would like to present the following story of the final event of the tournament. Every story has multiple perspectives, different angles, and diverse narratives. Not making assumptions or presumptions is imperative. These are minor judgments that get in the way and live in your mind. Who gives them time? Nothing but your mind. Let go of mind. 

This is the end frame of the game. This is when the opposing gymnast resigned.

My biggest opponent as a gymnast is myself. I find it tiring to compare myself to others. And so, I do my best to maintain a mindful focus. This can really turn into a full-time cycle. In the middle of a tournament, when I see an opponent who shows certain signs, I know what to do with them. My focus is on myself, not them. If I were too externally focused, I'd be slow and heavy. As an athlete, I need to be light and on my toes. I focus on my feelings, my body, and most importantly I stay focused on a thoughtless determination. I remain determined and don't let thoughts interfere in my game. 

I was always taught by those around me to never give up and never quit, especially on the path towards your ultimate dreams. How this lesson applies to my performances as a gymnast is that no matter how badly I might be doing, I'll still continue til the end. I won't give up. Even if I'm losing by a long shot, I'll still hang in there. Those moments of hanging in there can teach us some very insightful lessons. In this particular game that led me to receiving the gold medal, the other gymnast quit. To me, it felt like it was still only the beginning/early mid-game. To me, both of us still had a chance to win.

This is the beginning of the game at move 5.

Here is a picture of the game from move 5. By this point, I have expressed some of my moves and so has the opponent. We haven't exchanged anything yet. It's a somewhat standard opening with nothing too crazy happening just yet. 

By move 7 in the game, the opponent is threatening another exchange of points at c3.

By move 7, I have exchanged some points with the opposing gymnast. After doing so, the opponent started playing a bit aggressively. However, his aggressive moves didn't put me in a hard spot.  Instead, it was a series of exchanges in which we gained and lost more or less the same number of points. In fact, all of this hardline attacking left me in a rather good position in the end. 

My response to the opponent's presence at b4 is to advance in my a-file, as if to ask "Yes?"

I found the opponent's direct-attack style a bit bland. The exchanges didn't really serve his position on the board. If he was hoping to mangle up my defences, we can't say he got what he wanted either. My defences were enough to have a strong base. I was also open to develop my own advances.

Let's look at the 11th move from the opponent's perspective. 

By this point, the exchange on c3 happened already and so did another exchange at f3.  I took the opportunity to dominate the g-corridor. The opponent reacted to my move by advancing along the g-file himself. I understood his reasons to do so but this last move told me something about my opponent. He had been playing a reactionary game all along. He was reacting to my positions to whole time. It wasn't clear in the beginning because it looked like he was leading the rhythm of the game. However, this last move showed me that this was the case. Not only that, but by reacting to me along the g-file, he set himself up for an exchange in which I would have the advantage.

Here we are, back at the last frame of the game.

This is the position that made the opponent quit prematurely. Yes, he was going to be a few points down after this position. By moving up along the d-file, I created a unique double-attack threat for the opponent. If he chose to go one way, I would gain points from the other way and vice versa. He had an opportunity to either save his position on h8 or on c6. Whatever he decided to save meant he would lose the other. 

If you ask me, he should have saved his position on the h-file by tucking in towards the centre. Being down a few points doesn't guarantee the victory of either side. However, I think it was the position he was escaping. After I captured a few more points, I would easily have the positional advantage and the opponent's game would turn 180 degrees around to become a defensive game, as opposed to the extremely offensive game he started with in the beginning. 

I don't believe in quitting. If you ask me, the opposing gymnast has much to learn from this position. One lesson he can learn from this position is how to not get into it in the first place. He can still learn that even though he resigned here. However, had he kept playing and pushing forward, he could've learned the lesson of how to turn things around, defend carefully, and chip away at my defences over time. There have been games where I was a few points down but still managed to come out victorious on top. It's never too late to learn this integral lesson: Don't give up.

I thank you all for your support and your well-wishes. I hope to inform you all about my victories in the future. I'm on my way to Olympic Gold and I feel excited to be representing Siriburi under a flagless flag. Let's make dreams come true baby, all in together now. This is George Parker signing off and leaving it to The Mayor DJ to have the final word. Peace.

George really steals the show with his impressive moves and quiet strategy. For the most of the beginning of the game, George just made quiet and simple moves until the opponent gave him an opportunity to win.  The reality of our opponent is exactly how George is not. The opponent reacted throughout the game. He made easy moves and didn't demonstrate elaborate strategies. He quit in the face of a shadowy miscalculation. The opposing gymnast could have just continued but decided to resign at the sight of the first setback. The opponent beat himself. 

Siriburi is honoured to have George Parker among us. Thank you to George for all your contributions to the town and for helping make this town a better place to live. Best wishes in your future and be sure to keep us updated on your results. Siriburi cheers you on!