Michael Sternbach

Thanks for the Chuo Jiao video - for my taste, too much sloppiness and hopping, though. Erle Montaigue was doing mostly Old Yang style Taiji with all the components of an internal style or Nei Jia (including Qigong) - it has nothing to do with Wai Jia. Nice Fa Jin demonstration by his son Eli

I was undergoing the kind of training you are describing in my Kyokushinkai and Shotokan years. Yes, it contributed to my overall fitness. But it was not before I took doing weight training that my techniques really started to rock. If scientific weight training would slow one's reflexes down, why would top athletes in virtually all sports do it? Most of all, why would top martial artists like Bruce Lee join them? This kind of training should be augmented with exercises for speed, flexibility, endurance, no doubt. If you experience that it makes you slower then you are doing something wrong, imho. You may be overtraining, or simply neglecting your MA training. Talking specifically about weight training benefits for internal martial artists, I think that depends on your goals. If you are doing Taiji as a health exercise/meditation/movement art (which most practitioners seem to be satisfied with), then maybe you don't need anything else. If you are interested in the martial aspects as well, training with weights and other exercises would be recommendable. Probably the most comprehensive book on the topic I have ever seen is Xtreme Training: The Fighter's Ultimate Fitness Manual by Randy Couture. Lots of great flexibility, speed, endurance, and strength exercises (with and without weights) to be found there. I also recommend Lilly Chou's books The Martial Artist's Book of Yoga, and The Anatomy of Martial Arts. Dwai, btw, I have just found my copy of the Taiji Classics! I will probably post some comments on the Fa Jin thread shortly. Michael

Personally, I find reasonable weight training to be a good supplement to my Taiji training. Surely, it's a little heavier on the physical side but I don't think it's detrimental to my Chi. Overall fitness will actually enhance your Chi. I like to visualize Chi flowing through my limbs and body when lifting weights. According to Jwing Ming Yang, it could be called Hard Qigong. If you like to think of yourself as a powerful martial artist but you have muscles like Mickey Mouse, you are probably fooling yourself. However, build up slowly when endeavouring to regain (supersede?) your old form. If you are in your 40s and rush back to the same heavy weights you were lifting in your 20s years, it probably won't do you any good. Body weight exercises are useful, too. They won't increase muscle strength as much as weight training but they are good for your overall fitness in several ways. It might be best to intermix the two. Kettlebells are interesting, too; I haven't worked out with them so far but I am planning to try them out.

Regarding Adama-senior, I don't quite agree. He convinced me as an extremely confident Commander. I think he really climaxed when he defied Admiral Caine and launched his Vipers to get two of his men out who were imprisoned on the Pegasus and sentenced to death because they had killed one of her officers in defence of a Cylon girl. The two fleets squaring off, with totally confused Starbuck bumping into the scene... That was awesome! Ok, his temper could be a nuisance at times. "I'm so human - it's okay - for me to - feel this way..." (Song by Lady Souvereign) Loved the astrological touch, too. The "map" of the twelve constellations showing them the way to Earth... A nice spin-off from the twelve colonies idea that was already in the original series. Where the frak did I leave those DVD boxes?! I think I will look for them now...

From my perspective, the Earth is an Alchemical experiment. In fact, the entire Universe is. What will be the result? I don't know exactly. But I know that we are a vital part of that process. In fact, we are Alchemists helping to upgrade it All.

In BG, I found the chemistry between Number Six and Gaius Baltar amazing. I particularly liked the part where Baltar helps Number Six (or one of her "clones") to get out of Admiral Caine's torture chamber. I could understand the buddy all too well! Even though by giving her an atom bomb for blowing herself and numerous innocent people on board of one of the ships into stardust, he arguably took things a little far... The cord phones on board of the Galactica and the jingling toasters are hilarious.

To call him a schmuck is a bit unfair. In the new series, he is more of an idealist thinker than case-hardened daddy but he does stand his ground. Starbuck became a woman! Attractive but hardly less egocentric than in her previous incarnation. There are loads of hot and devious chicks in this series, btw... All in all, I strongly agree with Silent Thunder's thoughts on BG. I, too, would highlight the complexity of the characters. The series treats many a real-world problem in thought provoking ways... Just when you think you know who the good guys and who the bad guys are, you find that things aren't nearly as simple as they seemed. Little zebra thinking here! Plus, action that takes your breath away. And yes, the series does have spiritual aspects. Highly recommended to sci fi aficionados, especially of the New Age or Taoist variety.

Yes, there is an analogy between planets, humans, cells, atoms etc. They are all monads of some sort and share structural similarities - albeit expressed in various ways. I'm not sure why some people think that we could not destroy our planet? True, we are hardly in a position to blow this massive ball of rock out of the universe, thanks God. But isn't Earth much more than a huge rock? Isn't her biosphere perhaps what Earth is really all about? I maintain: It is the most vital part of her existence! Our planet was destined to develop life right from the beginning... even life in the form of humans! Yes, we do make a big difference for the Earth, and potentially for the Universe at large.

I'm not sure why it should be one or the other? We're not talking about competing soccer teams here. Personally, I like Star Wars, Star Trek, Battlestar Galactica and all the others that have been named here as well as Dr. Who for TV series, and Titan A.E. for movies. And many others more.

It was not before I had trained in a JKA dojo a number of years that I found out that "Traditional Shotokan Karate" is quite far removed from what Gichin Funakoshi and the Okinawans were doing. It's all right, if you want to do it as a sport. There are only a handful of maverick schools trying their best to reintegrate all the knowledge left behind when Okinawan Karate was introduced to the Japanese mainland. But I observe this movement "back to the roots" in other martial arts as well, including Chinese styles. I think it's an interesting trend.

I agree, both perspectives are valid. We are pearls in Indra's net reflecting each other. We are receivers as much as we are transmitters.

Truly mysterious it sounds. Your path choose well you must. Yoda

Setting up a computer simulation with some carefully chosen hypothetical parameters doesn't prove a thing. At best it's good for a working hypothesis. If not in outright opposition to Ockham's razor, sometimes.

I didn't say that Black Holes and human energy centres would be congruent, only that they may both be interdimensional gates or nexūs of some kind. For that matter, they could arguably both be seen as singularities. For a hint, look up "Bindu (symbol)" in Wikipedia.

As magic becomes more scientific, science becomes more magical.

Well, I would agree that arguing can be quite an energy drain - even though it can't always be helped. But I do have a problem seeing male ejaculation in the same category like arguing. Yes, I am aware of the Chinese theory about Chi loss in this regard. Maybe it's an issue for some males? True, we generally don't use our potential to the full as far as longevity (and quite everything else!) is concerned. This has a number of reasons. Mostly, our inappropriate thinking and blocked emotions are hindering us, along with the mental and physical environment that we have to exist in. Unhealthy life habits, environmental toxins, background radiation, all this will be detrimental to your life expectancy more than ejaculating too often. As modern research shows, an active sex life actually helps keeping you in good shape! Um, actually, Black Holes are losing the energy they have stored too, as they slowly evaporate over an admittedly long period of time - at the end of which they simply *pop*. At least that's the current mainstream theory upheld by physicists like Roger Penrose. But we are talking about a number of years expressed by a one with many zeroes here, so you may want to consider long-term investment in Black Holes. Your energy will be locked away really safely indefinitely, for all intents and purposes! But frankly, what's the use of storing Chi (or money, or anything else) indefinitely, anyway. These things need to be released sometimes, and yes, they can be regenerated. Interesting questions, 4bsolute! It always struck me as odd that according to certain esoteric teachings there is a Central Sun right in the middle of our galaxy, a veritable Fountain Of Creation, the Origin Of All. Whereas modern science has it quite the opposite view: there is a monstrous Black Hole with four million times the mass of the Sun sitting there, lurking to swallow up the pitiful remainders of what once was shining stars... However... It's well known that there are light-years long jets of matter getting ejaculated, um, excuse me, ejected from Black Holes. The explanation being that a lot of the highly accelerated matter that is approaching the BH actually never makes it to the Event Horizon but takes off before (I would!) at mind-boggling velocities at right angles to the accretion disk along magnetic field lines. O.k., so far not much more than physics as usual. But two very recent observations leave this simple model questionable, IMHO: The jets are leaving the BH with about three times the amount of energy that was contained in the accumulated matter to begin with. According to the 2nd law of thermodynamics no energy or matter can be created out of nowhere. So where does all the extra energy come from? Some Black Holes have been observed to occasionally spit out not only electrons (as was hitherto believed) but also ionized atomic nuclei of iron and nickel. Hey, that's building blocks for planets! Of course, orthodox scientists think that those atoms must have been already in the matter that accelerated toward the BH before, but again, that doesn't resolve the question where the energy for those sudden eruptions comes from. Some stuff for you to ponder. References available on demand (study German, folks!). Well, yes, this could explain the unexplained disappearence of some spiritual seekers! But seriously, your idea brings to mind another BH theory (currently a little less en vogue) according to which rotating BHs could be interdimensional gateways. And so are, in a way, our energy centres, to be sure. They can absorb, store, transform, and emit all kinds of subtle energies.

Only sciences which we don't understand.

Thanks, Dwai. Actually, I have that book somewhere. I will look for it! Meanwhile, could you also comment if your master's method of generating Fa jin is the same as what Erle Montaigue demonstrates in my last post's video? I would really appreciate it. Best, Michael

That's an interesting observation. Do you see the parallels with the mathematical use of these terms? A negative number multiplied with another negative number results in a positive number. And a double positive is also still a positive. My own concise definitions in the contexts of physics, biology, and metaphysics: Negative: Entropy - going from a state of higher to a state of lower order - decay - energy being spent Positive: Ectropy - going from a state of lower to a state of higher order - build-up - energy being gained Obviously, both forces are needed as there would be no room for new developments without it ever getting cleared by the force of decay. In this sense, positive and negative are both neutral or even "good". But to thus assume that everything is somehow "equally desirable" (as some spiritual seekers are prone to do) is a non sequitur and often serves as a cover-up for indifference, cowardliness, resignation etc. This should eliminate all unambiguities. Cheers, Michael

Great, now we're really talking Fa Jin! Hi Vitalii, Thanks. Fu Qing Quan's performance closely resembles Earle Montaigue's Fa Jin which can also be watched on this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pJ04lJGLmrE Please check if in your school you are doing it the same way. In particular, I am curious if most schools use that forth-and-back turning of the waist the same way Erle demonstrates a little before 2:00. Especially in regard to punches to the body where it would seem you want to have an appreciable degree of penetration. Best, Michael

In my opinion, the videos by Joanna Zorya mentioned above by Zerostao (as well as her others that relate to Taiji and Xingyiquan) are very recommendable for their in-depth explanations of principles. Ted Mancuso's Bagua videos are well produced and excellent in content as well - and the man is certainly most dynamic! I also enjoyed the 2012 DVD Ba Gua Zhang (Pa Kua Chang) - Fighting Secrets of the Internal Arts by Richard E Clear JR. I would suggest this as well as Clear's other videos if you are looking for ideas how internal martial arts might be used in a context of realistic self-defence. In this regard, don't overlook Erle Montaigue who made dozens of interesting videos on Bagua and many more on related topics.

Stosh, During the dream state your brain wave frequencies will be mostly in the alpha range, in fact not that far removed from waking consciousness. However, as we all know, dreams are typically rather chaotic - this is because they are not bound by the logic of the rational mind but reflect subconscious non-linear, associative processes. Certainly your awareness is moving in a psychological zone closer to the subconscious during dreams. Conscious awareness doesn't necessarily stand in contradiction to instinctive behavior; nature wisely looked to it that when we happen to touch a turned-on hotplate we withdraw our hand reflexively rather quickly! The linear functioning of the conscious mind is just too time-consuming to handle such situations. But this doesn't deprive the conscious mind from its real purpose. Without a doubt, the latter does make us a very successful species in many ways. Indeed, the expansion of awareness seems to be what all of existence is longing for. Which ties in with your final question: Could direct awareness of the subconscious ever happen? This is a tricky one! The conscious personality or ego emerges from the subconscious but needs to shut out lots of internal and external data in order to maintain its stand. A lack of "linear boundaries" is synonymous with confusion, even psychosis. Certainly the conscious mind can learn to tolerate more such data input, in a step-by-step process, most of all if it sees the meaningfulness of this information. This is the aim of many meditative practices. Ideally, the conscious and the unconscious mind, the Yang and the Yin, the Sun and the Moon will exist in a balanced state of unison at the end of a process of inner Alchemy.

Hi Dwai, Thanks. Your comment is very interesting. May I ask, what style of internal martial art do you practice? Do you know of any published explanations of its various ways of generating power?

Hi (fellow) Alchemist! That surely sounds interesting what the Wikipedia article has to say about your system. I found the following quote particularly intriguing: "A distinctive trait of the school is its postulated identity of Taoist principles with those of early Chan Buddhism." This is reminiscent of certain writings by Alan Watts - even though he tended to look at early Eastern philosophies from the Zen perspective of spontaneous awakening and was not so interested in the more Taoist/Alchemical/Qigong approach that your school seems to follow. That said, I think that such distinctions are somewhat artificial and that the different outlooks are in truth rather complementing than contradicting each other. Hey, doesn't this sound quite Taoist? Be that as it may, I am looking forward to further exchange. Cheers, Michael

This is what the art and science of astrology is based on.