by JULIET WATERS

There’s a really nasty move in tai chi that’s well disguised by its bland English translation.

Needle at the Bottom of the Sea sounds like needle in a haystack, so it evokes the image of a lost cause. In fact, the “bottom of the sea” is the perineum. Taoists believe that life energy can be drained from this point between the genitals and the anus. In the Wu form, Needle at the Bottom of the Sea follows Creeping Low Like a Snake. First you sink, gathering energy like a snake, then you rise jabbing your opponent in the perineum. Ideally this would be done in such a way that will not disable him immediately, but cause his death days, weeks or months later.

Frankly, I was a little disappointed that there was nothing about this in Stephen Legault’s Carry Tiger to Mountain: The Tao of Activism and Leadership. Legault, a long-time B.C environmental activist and tai chi student, devotes a whole chapter to Creeping Low Like a Snake. He sees the move as a metaphor for the humility activists need to overcome ego so they don’t waste energy nitpicking at each other or becoming overly aggressive with their opponents.

I’m not against humility, just as I’m not for surreptitious assassination. But, as Lao Tzu puts it, “The way that can be spoken is not the only way.” Creeping Low can be about learning humility. It can also be about acting humble as a way of disarming your opponent, right before you really fuck him up. Ideally, it’s probably about benefiting from the kind of deep humility that develops when you know that you have the power to disable your opponent permanently, but that this is rarely, if ever, the best way.

Today’s activist needs humility and all the power, weapons and guidance he or she can get. Some causes seem bigger and more complex than they ever have—global warming, AIDS in Africa. Others that are the bread and butter of a just society—maintaining universal daycare, healthcare or rent control—seem more at risk all the time.

Carry Tiger to Mountain is one of two recently published guides for activists on how to build authentic power and strength. Skipping the needle notwithstanding, Legault has crafted a solid spiritual guide on how to maintain one’s sanity in a lifestyle that has few financial rewards and a long history of burnout. This is both a wise meditation and a good source of strategies for activism, one of the most important being how to step back and get a grip.

He’s right to stress humility, but it never hurts to have a needle, especially if it’s a metaphoric one. How to Save the World in Your Spare Time by Elizabeth May is probably a more practical primer on how to narrow your focus, resources and energy to best use. May, former executive director of the Sierra Club, is the new leader of Canada’s Green Party. Anyone who has ever joined and quit a cause bogged down by confusion, arrogance and naïveté will appreciate some of the fundamentals she sets out for keeping activism simple, fun and effective. There’s also smart advice on how to build and work from credible research, how to use and not be abused by the media, how to protect whistleblowers and what the Internet can and can’t accomplish.

The title is misleading, since activism is always work and will inevitably involve more than your spare time. But at the core of both books is the idea that preserving your spare time is a right and a need in itself. As the famous activist Edward Abbey once wrote: “Do not burn yourselves out. Be as I am. A reluctant enthusiast and part-time crusader. A half-hearted fanatic. Save the other half of yourselves for pleasure and adventure.”

Carry Tiger to Mountain by Stephen Legault, Arsenal Pulp Press, pb, 295pp, $24.95. How to Save the World in Your Spare Time by Elizabeth May, Key Porter, pb, 207pp, $21.95