Nungali

Nungali's proper grammar; Did you know that a sink is only called a sink while you are using it ? After you stop using it, it becomes a sunk .

Cool , The plane experience reminds me of a story, it became the subject of a short film, cant remember its name . But goes something like ; A new administrator arrives in a remote outback area , virtually all desert. He has old school racist attitudes. His contact has sent a message that she cannot meet him at the airport but will send 'Billy'. The small plane lands on a desert strip with a small shed / airport. The man gets off the plane and is complaining and nearly faints at the heat. An old Aboriginal meets him at the plane and introduces himself as Billy. During the long walk to the shed he is complaining about everything and his attitudes are apparent . But then he gets a dizzy spell and nearly collapses. Billy helps him up and helps him walk ; 'Dont worry , not far, we will be in the shade soon .... ' But the walk gets longer and longer and the man notices there is no airport or shed any more. he turns and there is no plane or airstrip. The story and his journey go on, thru the desert, the man lost, various things happen with Billy, the man seems caught in some type of nightmare. At times Billy seems his helper and others his tormentor . Eventually the man comes to some level of realisation, but although now in awe of Billy's power, he fears him. But by now he has been lost and wandering for days. he doesnt know if Billy is helping him or slowly torturing him. Then a man appears from now where. It is the pilot, he helps the man along and he realises Billy is on the other side helping him. The shed is ahead, he turns , the plane and airstrip are behind him . The pilot says ; Are you okay, you nearly collapsed there for a moment .: "Dizzy spell, not used to the heat.' Billy tells him. He looks at the man and winks at him .

Amon Duul ??? WOW ... I only know of two people who know of them (including me ) I think it must have been a wild night before the morning of this photo of them I am curious about the 'Shamanic trait' of feeling like 'not belonging anywhere' as in my Shamanic tradition, that is a central part of it. One just doesnt 'belong' to a place ... one is actually a part of it . Recently an indigenous artist here won a self portrait competition , it was a picture of her 'country' . people said , "No thats a landscape, She said, " No, thats me ! " And since , here anyway, that is an accepted tradition, it was allowed, and she won the comp. But my tradition is a VERY old one , perhaps the oldest still extant on the planet ? here is my teacher with some of the nephs ( his nephews)

The Oxus civilisation was developed, in part, from PIE influence from the north Steppe country, - Andronovo people the top trade route into China and guess what https://www.newscientist.com/article/2096440-founders-of-western-civilisation-were-prehistoric-dope-dealers/ They where mobile people, from Russian Steppe, heavily tattooed and pierced, dealt and took drugs, burned round on the first ever light chariots, raided and plundered, drank a lot, lived in interconnected 'gangs' and where supported by a central authority ...... hmmmmm ? From shady dictators to shadowy Ukrainian separatists, Russian President Vladimir Putin has attracted some unusual allies. The Night Wolves, a Kremlin-funded, leather-clad, heavily tattooed... Scythian tattoos

He goes into the area of the maps above. Its a multi series that follows the path of Alexander the Great into this area. Supposedly Alexander travelled through this area and established numerous cities ... 'established' .... more like conquered what was there and had been there for a long time. In any case. one of those series in Badakhsan/ Pamir area, he goes through how this area matches with the ancient descriptions, but he cant find the river that supposedly encircles the central area. Well, he can find the river, but it doesnt encircle like tge descriptions said. So he assumes he is in the wrong place or its all myth. But then he meets a a local who tells him that the river used to do that but there was a massive landslide that blocked the rivers path and caused a diversion into another valley system a long time ago. It used to travel in the path described . Anyway, thats it. Make of it what you will . One day, if the wars and fundamentalist maniacs in that region calm down, we might get better access and some very interesting archaeology might turn up . It is possible, some of the people in the area ( Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan ) say they are sick of it, its going no where, no resolve. They blame Islam and say its not even their religion and some talk of going back to Zoroastrianism and claiming their anceint heritage . I suppose they want 'good governance ' Tajikistan

According to the Buddhist Kalachakra, Shambhala, presently hidden to the rest of the world, is a paradise of peace, tranquility, honesty and wisdom. It is home of the primordial and highest spiritual teachings, a tantra of the cycle of time now hidden from us but one that will eventually save the world from evil. Before it adopted Buddhism, the people were followers of the Mlechha, a Yavana or western, religion, some of whom worshiped the sun. Emulating the time periods in Zoroastrian eschatology which uses a cycle of time, as well as emulating the Zoroastrian concept of a final struggle between good against evil. All these concepts passed into western religions, including a personalised coming 'saviour' o ' Saoshyant' , "one who brings benefit", and is a saviour figure who bring about Frashokereti, the final renovation of the world in which evil is finally destroyed. So, the proposal is that since Shambhala, the land surrounding Mount Meru, is identified as the Vedic Arya Varta, and since the Vedic Arya Varta in turn corresponds to the Avestan Airyana Vaeja (which contains Mount Hara), that the land surrounding Shambhala, Mount Meru and Airyana Vaeja are intimately linked if not the same land. If theassociation is correct, what all four traditions, Zoroastrian, Hindu, Bon and Buddhist, have preserved, is the topography of ancient Airyana Vaeja - a land of fertile valleys and alpine meadows ringed by high snow-capped high mountains. These observations point to a location for Airyana Vaeja, the ancient Aryan homeland, in the general vicinity of Tajikistan, southern Uzbekistan, northern Afghanistan, and south-western Turkmenistan - the approximate area in the map below. More specifically, the observations point to the strong candidacy of the Pamir-Badakhshan region (the areas neighbouring Balkh to the east and north: the upper Amu Darya basin and the Wakhan Valley of eastern Tajikistan and northern Afghanistan), the Hindu Kush to its eastern extremity south of Balkh and bordering the Murgab and Harirud valleys, the Yagnobi , Zerafshan and Fergana valleys, as well as the Alai mountain environs in Western Kyrgyzstan. The full extent of the Badakhshan region extends beyond the borders of Tajikistan to the east, south and south-west. To the east, Badakhshan extends into land that is today part of China. To the south and south-west, Badakhshan extends into modern-day Afghanistan . China's acquisition of eastern Badakhshan came about through centuries of westward expansion beyond ancient Chin and the borders of Chin marked by the Great Wall of China. The division of Badakhshan between Tajikistan and Afghanistan, was a result of the Anglo-Russian agreement of 1873 that created a buffer strip between the Russian and Britis The Pamir-Badakhshan region is home to very old Zoroastrian historical sites and most of the Zoroastrian historical sites we have identified so far in Tajikistan, are in the Badakhshan-Pamir region. There are also enigmatic hand and feet symbols carved into the rock of the Pamir mountains. The Pamiri consider the rocks holy, saying that holy men have stepped on these rocks in the remote past. A strong candidate for the location of Airyana Vaeja is the general area around Tajikistan and more specifically, the Pamir-Badakhshan region.historic Greater Badakhshan divided between Tajikistan, Afghanistan, and China. The border between Tajikistan and Afghanistan is the Panj river where it forms the Wakhan valley. The border between Tajikistan and China is the Sarykol Range, one of the Kunlun mountain ranges. The Pamiri-Badakhshani people claim to be an Iranian group related to, but distinct from, the Tajiks and other Afghans. They speak dialects of the Pamiri language, an eastern Iranian language indigenous to the region. Map of the Pamir-Badakhshan region in Tajikistan, Eastern China and N. E. Afghanistan By Marcus Hauser. (Click for a larger map) Hmmmmmm ..... 'Shamballa' is supposed to be in a range of internal mountains enclosed by mountain ranges at all four directions and surrounded by a circular river . here is another view of the above area ; It seems a pretty good match . Then I encountered this guy ... what an adventurer !

( having difficulty posting - post boxes keep doing weird things, and new ones will not except text ??? so I have to keep breaking things up, going off site, re opening etc ) So, as well as having beautiful nature and resources, a wise king and good governance - a good place to live - The heavenly nature of Airyana Vaeja during the Jamshidi era reached mythic proportions in Yasht 19.33, the Zamyad Yasht. Then, the weather was neither cold nor hot. But things where soon to change . It appears climate change was the cause . In the Avestas it warns about a great cold coming, snow being deep on the ground. winter lasting for a very long period and animal and human population being drastically reduced ( 'not a hoof or footprint on the snow ) . The people are instructed to create safe havens, a new type of farm setup with housing for animals and people, close together and/or underground to protect against the long harsh winters that are coming . Let's jump to 'Shangri - la' for a bit . Tibetan Buddhism's book of Kala-Chakra, the Time-Cycle, and Tibetan Buddhism's predecessor religion, Bon, built on and popularized this concept of a lost and hidden paradise on earth, now known to the world as Shangri-La. [The founding of the Bon religion is ascribed to Tonpa Shenrab Miwoche who was born - by some estimates 18,000 years ago - in the land of Tagzig Olmo Lung Ring. Tagzig, is believed to be a form of the name Tajik. (The name Shenrab sounds Iranian as well.) The doctrine taught by Tonpa Shenrab was spread by his disciples and their student-translators to adjacent countries such as Zhang-Zhung (also Zhangzhung, Shang Shung or Xang Xung - a land north of the Himalayas, which contained Mount Kailash in today's Western Tibet), India (northern Indus valley), Kashmir, China and eventually Greater Tibet. Tonpa Shenrab is reputed to have visited present-day western Tibet once. On that visit he found the people unprepared to receive the entire body of his teachings, but he prophesied that his teachings would flourish in Tibet in the coming ages. The students of his disciples continued his mission and Tibetan Bon scriptures were translated from texts in the language of Zhang-Zhung. [Bon claims to have spread south to the Indian subcontinent and to have influenced the development of Vedic Hinduism. Perhaps pre-Tibetan Bon was a form of the primordial religion before Zoroastrianism and Vedic Hinduism. Buddhism in turn evolved out of Vedic Hinduism (c. 400 BCE). Completing a full circle, today's Bon is so heavily influenced by Buddhism that it sounds like a Buddhist sect. Perhaps some scholars may take it upon themselves to try and isolate the precepts of the pre-Buddhism Bon. In regard to the clinate change of this era; pollen and tree ring analysis indicates the Chang Tang plateau in Northern Tibet had a far more liveable environment than it has today - one that supported a primordial civilization - until the climate become colder and drier starting around 1500 BCE, a climate change that caused the population to migrate out of the northern plateau. The ancient and later Zoroastrian link to western Tibet is further exemplified by the common tradition of exposing the dead to birds. At the centre of the land of Tagzig (called Shambhala in the Kalachakra) was Olmo Lungring which had at its centre, Yungdrung Gutsek, a four-sided mountain similar to Mount Meru / Sumeru (see above). The mountain is surrounded by temples, cities and parks. To the mountain's south is the Barpo Sogye palace, where Tonpa Shenrab was born. The complex of palaces, rivers and parks with Mount Yungdrung Gutseg in the centre constitutes the inner region (Nang-gling) of Olmo Lungring. The intermediate region (Bar-gling) consists of twelve cities, four of which lie in the four cardinal directions. The third region includes the outer land (mTha'-gling). These three regions are encircled by snow-capped mountains and an ocean.

Vendid , faragad 1. Ahura Mazda spake unto Spitama Zarathushtra, saying: I have made every land dear (to its people), even though it had no charms whatever in it: had I not made every land dear (to its people), even though it had no charms whatever in it, then the whole living world would have invaded the Airyana Vaeja3. 2,The first of the good lands and countries which I, Ahura Mazda, created, was the Airyana Vaeja5, by the Vanguhi Daitya Looking at the commentaries ; Airyanem Vaeja, Iran-Vej, is the holy land of Zoroastrianism: Zarathushtra was born and founded his religion there (Bund. 20.32; 32.3): the first animal couple appeared there (Bund. 14.4; Zadspram, 9.8). From its name, 'the Iranian seed,' it seems to have been considered as the original seat of the Iranian race. It has been generally supposed to belong to Eastern Iran, like the provinces which are enumerated after it, chiefly on account of the name of its river, the Vanguhi Daitya, which was in the Sassanian times (as Veh) the name of the Oxus. http://www.avesta.org/vendidad/vd1sbe.htm This some contention about the number of lands , different aged texts list different numbers, but they all have info on Airyanum Vaeja More descriptions of Airyanum Vaeja ; Verses 10.13-14 of the Meher Yasht state that the Aryan land had many mountains, valleys, and pastures (pouru vastraongho) that supported cattle (gave). It was rich in waters (afento), deep lakes (jafra varayo) and wide rivers. The land, while mountainous had alpine meadows and fertile, well-watered vales. The Mehr Yasht at 10.13 and 14 states that the Aryan abode (airyo-shayanem) was "where the high mountains (garayo berezanto), rich in pastures and waters, yield plenty to the cattle". Reading the Zamyad Yasht at (19.1) we are given the impression that the Hara was one of two concentric rings of mountains, or at least ones that "lie all around" . , Zoroastrian texts describe Airyana Vaeja as being mountainous with fertile meadows and valleys. In addition, the opening words of the Avestan Vendidad's chapter listing the sixteen nations, states that if God had not made other countries beautiful in some manner, all the world would have swarmed into Airyana Vaeja on account of its great beauty and - as mentioned elsewhere in the Avesta - because of its wise king and good government, law and order, noble people and serenity. Airyana Vaeja was a paradise on earth - a land of peace and serenity, the best place to live and raise a family. [ Ths seems , either a new or a vestige form of governance know as wise kingship - it utilised a different form of rule and power and seemed more based on liberty than oppression. It seems to have ruled their civilisation at times, but then at other times they or the leaders 'fell from grace' and failed. Although hard to find evidence of a personal religion (ie. Zoroastrianism ) of Cyrus the Great, his form of Good Kingship was evident, and seems part of the old tradition ; eg. he allowed and helped build people's temples to other God's, he advocated multi culturalism, their societies where gender balanced with many wise rulers, famous warriors and a navy admiral being women (Artemisia) http://www.persepolis.nu/queens.htm he released the Jews from captivity and sent them home in a procession with goods and treasure and helped them re build their temple, etc . ]

It was a friends mate, I forgot he was coming to pick up my old wood burning heater I am giving him. It weighs a ton ! So. We have a forgotten , semi mythical 'Pishdadian Era' that has been equated with a newly found ancient civilisation; the old Oxus area/ Oxus civilisation / BMAC. They seem to have held important centres along the south Central Asian oasis route - the green patches , near Gonur, the Murgab river delta, Gonur, the headwaters of the Oxus and its tributary valleys to the east going up into the Pamirs. Gonur-Tepe's southern complex Merv / Margiana Looking at the old Avestan texts, they talk about a series of lands , that they at least knew about. Archaeology shows they where connected, at least by trade. Most info comes from the Vendidad : ( ttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vendidad ) I will try to make it painless and present a tabulated summary ... the scripture goes on and on and is very repetitive AVESTAN NAME. OLD PERSIAN. GREEK MODERN NAME. Sughdha (2) Suguda Sogdianh Soghd (Samarkand) Mouru (3) Margu Margianh Marv Bakhdhi (4) Bâkhtri Baktra Balkh Haroyu (6) Haraiva `Areia Harê(rud) Vehrkana (9) Varkâna 'Urkania Gurgân, Jorgân Harahvaiti (10) Harauvati `Aracwsia Av-rokhaj, Arghand-(âb) Haetumant (11) `EtumandoV Helmend Ragha (12) Ragâ 'Ragai Raî Hapta hindu (15) Hindava `Indoi Hind (Punjab) Vaekereta (7) Kâpûl Kabul Urva (8) Mêshan Mesene Varena (14) Patashkhvârgar or Dailam Tabaristân or Gîlân Rangha (16) Arvastâni Rûm Eastern Mesopotamia Note that number 1 is missing . I will quote that section specifically

... more later - a truck just drove up trough my garden and parked outside the window ! WTF!

Yes. be patient folks, we will get there. I am setting the background info and history. Remember, this is the early Bronze Age . This is way before even the Persians arose. In this era, it comes to a close, an abrupt holt, the 'record' stops. Then after a long gap of nothing much - at a similar time to the 'Bronze Age Collapse' https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Late_Bronze_Age_collapse the next we hear of things from this area ( actually 'this areas' western extremity ... perhaps with the exception of Anatolia ) is in the beginning of history when the Assyrians first recorded the emergence of 'Parsa' (Persians) emerging down from the Zargos Mountains and joining in with other Iranian tribes to the east of Mesopotamia (eg Medes) and on the Iranian Plateau to counter the constant raiding of the Assyians moving eastwards. ( Later successes and the 'takeover' by the Parsa formed the first Persian Empire, which then re-established the original network back to the east and in Central Asia all the way over to the Oxus (Later ; 'Bactria' ) region. So, between the end of the 'mythical period' of pre history ('Pishdadian Era' ) and the beginning of ancient history (the first Assyrian accounts ) there is a vast gap of info and missing years . This is termed as 'the missing years' or 'the gap in the record' we dont really know what happened then . Anyway, this post was mainly going to address the nature of the landscape presented in these maps . When I first started looking into this, I used google earth a lot to examine landform (more of this later ). The are looks remarkable hostile to human habitation . No way. But as you 'zoom in' these little cracks (valleys) appear in the vast icy expanse . And when you get down into them ! WOW. No wonder they where termed paradise ! And they look like just the descriptions in the ancient texts and stories . overall view showing Pamirs conection to Tien Shan Good grazing land for horse and cattle as well;

Aha The 'endless cycle . Potatoes are yin . You eat a lot of them, you might feel a need to eat something else yang, to balance it. (This usually happens unconsciously ) sugar is very yang, (so is chocolate and coffee ..... its starting to all fit together now, eh ? ) . Hooch is 500 times more yin than potatoes ! No matter how many little yang hits you take after it .... they just won't do ! You need concentrated yang .... some sickly sugar loaded sticky super chocko something .... ANYTHING ! - otherwise known as the dreaded .... MUNCHIES! Or eat chocolate all night and .... excuse me .... 'get forced to eat' chocolate all night , you gonna need a 'morning balance' - or conversely, smoke all night and in the morning ....

I'm getting there ..... 'Shamballa' was part of this civilisation and was said to be its first established centre or 'Homeland' .

Okay , here is A THEORY (all please note this part ) Firstly its all 'pre history' and, as usual, knowledge from pre history is collated form a variety of sources; anecdotal, myth, religious texts, oral traditions, archaeology , linguistics, etc . I will mostly focus on the 'western knowledge' about it as most of the eastern stuff is known and is easy to find on the internet . But from those sources, some indicate a direction west of the Himalayan plateau . While in the west the source of wisdom and enlightenment is to the east . The 'western' knowledge is actually sourced in Central Asia and from that evolved western religions ( from Zoroastrianism, the earliest ,and then Judaism, Christianity, Islam and Baha'i . All hold key principles inherited from an earlier time. So I will be focusing on Zoroastrianism as a route source. But the idea passed on in all the other religions as either 1) an original homeland - 'Garden of Eden' or 2) a return to that place and way of life 'Para-diz' ) originally linguistically relating to 'beautiful garden' , where we got our word and concept of 'Paradise' from - which can be two things - 'heaven', after death, or the idea of a regeneration, second coming , 'New Jerusalem' on earth etc Also in Central Asia where the origins of 'Hinduism' and Vedanta and it is postulated ( due to similarities in religious texts and genetic markers in present populations ) that both religions formed out of a 'Proto-Indo-Europen' core, or possibly more correctly, a Proto-Indo-Iranian core . So the earliest Vedas and Avestas are sourced . But aside from this , Iranian pre history is also formed from 'mythical accounts' ( Bundahisn , Shahnameh, etc . ) and what is known as the 'Pishdadian Era' - generally considered .mythical. It talks about an ancient empire stretching from the Iranian Plateau, with links to the east to Mesoptamia, crossing the deserts of central Asia via the Southern Oasis route and across to the east into the Pamir mountains, where 'back door' routes went further to the east, towards the Tarim basin. Also there where connections down into the Indus Valley and its civilisations and up to the north, east of the Oxus River ( an area later termed Bactria) joining into the northern Silk Route. Thats how the ancient Egyptians got Lapis Lazuli all the way from 'Afghanistan' . Also, remember the 'Tarim Basin Caucasian mummies'. Like i said, all this was inferred from semi-mythical accounts. Until .... first Pumperly ( I think his name was ) then the Soviet backed Sarianidi did the first archaeological digs in the area. This was as recent as the 1970s and due to bad relations with Soviets, the research was little known. After the collapse of Soviet Union, access was better for a while, but then war set in. making it hard to access, The area is hard to access in the best of times anyway . recently better collaborations between USA, French and Australian scientists and those of these, now, non Soviet countries have revealed a lot more ... a lot of the research is still untranslated and in Russian . Anyway, here is what turned up ; http://discovermagazine.com/2006/nov/ancient-towns-excavated-turkmenistan So, that is the background, for what might fit the 'stories' myth and elements of the 'Pishdadians ' . Next I will look at the founding 'myths' of these people and look at their concept of 'Shamballa' .

Nope . More like peeps here with no background study on the subject, those that BELIEVE in magic and astral travel and etc becasue they like the idea of it and dont have anything to do with psychology or science are the ones that have convinced themselves they know about it . Its a subject I have looked into and studied. Also I have extensively dealt personally with it, being a Tarot reader for over 25 years, including at a come one come all public market stall and at other places, and I have taught tarot reading and given workshops on it . I could post links to the scientific experiments and results on intuition studies but what good would that do? becasue here ... if your 'spiritual' and have read some internet opinioned crap about it and it panders to your prejudice and 'is cool; ... well, that trumps everything . HO-hum , .... I mean it was suggested to look stuff up ongoogle about astral projection ... lets give this a go for intuition ..... a 4 sec search ! Thats what it took ! first line on the page ; " Intuition draws from that deep memory well to inform your decisions going forward. In other words, intuitive decisions are based on data, in a way. When we subconsciously spot patterns, the body starts firing neurochemicals in both the brain and gut .... " and its not just one hit ... https://qz.com/work/1227997/the-science-of-intuition-can-help-you-understand-how-to-use-it/ https://bigthink.com/21st-century-spirituality/how-does-intuition-work https://www.livescience.com/54825-scientists-measure-intuition.html https://www.psychologicalscience.org/news/minds-business/intuition-its-more-than-a-feeling.html

A flounce ! I havent seen a flounce around here for ages ! Well done .

Oh , much older than Buddhism ! It goes back to the early to mid bronze age .

That is one of his Atlantis threads, yes. I was talking about making a Shambllla thread . A lot of old myth and pre-history fluctuates between the physical and mythical . Take the ancient city of Troy and related tales. It was considered myth for years but then archaeology turned up the ruins . Also a real place and a situation can be the basis of a story and over time it becomes more myth like . But yes, part of the Shamballa story is about it being in another dimension - a 'spiritual place ', or a hidden place , Then again, in another way, that whole area in Tajikistan ; 'he Roof of the World' seems like another dimension ! Also Tian Shan (mountains ) also known as the Tengri Tagh, meaning the Mountains of Heaven or the Heavenly Mountain. That suggests another dimension even by title .

Good idea ! Try anything ... except trying to box them !

I'm not confusing it . I know exactly what it is .

No, what I said there, was regarding intuition not 'soul type healing' . Dont take my word for it , read some research on intuition. What I said about it doesnt come from only one source. I am not claiming to be guiding anyone, just sharing my experience because of the questions asked. Nope. Never did that , What I said was that intuition works best in areas we are most familiar with. And I also explained that in magical practice there are certain set ways to go about identifying spirits etc and their nature and intent . And again this is also common sense . If you where going to fix the electrical wiring in your house, would you not learn some basic skills and rules ... or would you just go by your intuition ? On the other hand, an experienced electrician might intuitively know where the problem lies. Good for you !

Well, I dont set the rules. As I said, numerous studies have shown one's intuition works best in areas one has the most experience in. To understand this, one has to know what intuition actually is and how it works . A nurse may have a brilliant intuitive diagnosis of a condition that stumps a team of doctors .... but would anyone listen to the intuitive medical advice of the cleaner that was cleaning the patient's floor ? If one thinks it through and eliminates fantasies about intuition, its rather common sense Now to the second part, about knowing who to trust without using intuition ( and I am not advocating NOT using it , just ... well, what I already wrote all that . ) That is rather common sense too . Surely you yourself have some ways of knowing who to trust for help guidance and assistance as well as your intuition ?

Oh man ! I be organising that for next Easter ! and they all be chanting not ... " Conga congaconga con - ga! " But " Dead guy on-a-stick , yeah ! " and be handing out .....

Cross traditions . Do ju-jitsu ? Go and do some boxing, that sort of stuff. In the park by the river - a great spot for training - where I have been doing some most Saturdays for about the last 8 years, now other people are venturing out to do it too ... Yay! We joined in with a guy that was practising a Chinese style long staff form and we compared our long staff forms with his. The aikido instructor usually turns up . My 'instructor' was not coming ( he will not cross train, point blank, nope, wont do it. And it shows ! ... if you know what I mean ). Some of the best sword workshops I ever went to, the guy giving them ( Dave Brown, now passed on unfortunately ) constantly cross trained and put his hand and sword up against all other types, schools and traditions ... man was he good! And it was because of that. You know what Bruce said about that .. about getting rid of things and adopting things .....