dust

So...I'm very interested in the Daobum take on this. As there are a lot of traditional martial arts practitioners here -- as well as the qigong / internal stuff and a few who lift weights, run, etc -- I'm curious to know how flexible we are and what our current preferred methods of increasing flexibility and mobility are. I know of various methods, and have tried all I've learnt of, but I'd be interested to know if there are others, or better ways of performing them, and what has worked for you. As for me: I've been working on my flexibility for a while now. I was incredibly inflexible to begin with, unable to touch my toes with straight legs by about 30cm; unable to think about getting into the splits; unable to do a back bridge; terrible scapular mobility, etc. Now, I can not only touch my toes but grab my foot; getting closer to the splits; decent back bridge (spinal mobility needs a lot of work); vastly improved scapular mobility; etc. In the last 12-18 months I've tried various stretching methods -- static, dynamic, ballistic, loaded, sinew -- and have decided that, though different people and different muscles require different approaches, ballistic stretching has an undeservedly bad reputation. It has gotten me as far in the last 2-3 months as all the other methods did in almost a year. One has to be careful, to be sure, and I'm sure it's not for everyone, nor for every muscle, but for my hamstring and hip adductor muscles it has helped enormously. I'll share more if anyone's interested but really I'd like to hear your experience, so... please...

Tree Appreciation. Appreciation of trees. Like 'Cloud Appreciation', but for trees.. To begin, here's a cornucopia of beautiful and extraordinary-looking trees https://brightside.me/article/ten-strikingly-beautiful-trees-that-seem-to-have-come-from-another-world-69505/ ..and I'm sure we can find a lot more. Would love to see what's in your area. Would love to gradually learn more about trees, species recognition, etc. One from my phone from a few months ago. Autumn morning sunlight. It's a beech.

I think some of you will appreciate this, and maybe enjoy his other videos. He's not a Taoist or anything, but does have a background in various martial arts and parkour and etc, and I've found some of his more recent instructional videos entertaining and useful. Disclaimer: Now, I'm not a big fan of the word 'natural', because in the widest sense of the word, everything is natural (even artificial things are made by human desire or instinct, which is itself 'natural'..); and at the same time, we can use the word 'unnatural' to describe things we simply don't like, which is rarely helpful ("___ is unnatural, so we should fight against it!") or vice versa ("___ is totally natural, so it's completely safe!"). But Rafe likes to use the term 'natural movement', and we can see why. He's referring to a more ancient/primal/wild lifestyle pattern. I think the points he makes are valid either way. Perhaps this could turn into a new discussion about general human movement.

This MovNat playlist is pretty cool. Lots of short videos with isolated movement patterns, which could serve as suggestions for extra 'workout' accessories or be used as a basis for building a fuller movement practice.

Yeah. Gymnastics is one of the things I wish I'd pursued as a kid. Been thinking about going to classes now as an adult -- the idea of foam pits and trampolines is hard to ignore... Makes me wonder, though, about the idea of 'natural' movement. Pretty confident that gymnastics isn't something our ancient ancestors practiced on the plains or in the trees (planching, backflips, handstands, parallel bars..?) so wouldn't call it 'natural' in that sense, but it's obviously a set of very fun tools to have, and most of it can be applied to other scenarios and activities.

It's nice to hear positive words about modern playgrounds. A few articles and online comments I've read recently have just looked back with nostalgia to the massive (dangerous!) structures of the early 1900s and asked why everything is so safe these days. Interesting also to note your parkour background. What about gymnastics?

Oh.. with regard to playgrounds, https://www.aaastateofplay.com/history-of-playgrounds/ The history is quite interesting. It's not something I'd considered until recently.. but of course, they started somewhere! and the modern versions are something we probably want to look at with regard to inspiring play and promoting more primal human movement patterns, especially in city-dwelling kids. Are they good enough these days? Too safe? Too small? Too few?

Yah. I am not much of a 'traceur', but I have always enjoyed watching parkour, and the most beautiful examples are from the old videos of the Yamakasi (imo, especially David Belle..) Wow I remember playing in the woods, though not quite like that. I was always too afraid to play quite like you describe.. bad with heights. Where I grew up (as with many of us in the 20th Century) parks and playgrounds were more accessible. England has some beautiful country, but your American expanses are something to envy, I think. The woods near where I grew up total only a few acres, not continuous; and any large forests here are generally National Parks, which means few live in them and get to experience them so well. 65% of land here is farms, and only about 10% woodland (more in Wales and Scotland). Perhaps someone has different experience, but as I see it, the majority of English kids just don't have the opportunity to get out right into the wild every day and play.. On the other hand, like I said, we do have parks and playgrounds, and there is woodland if you go look for it. I had some good times playing here and there as a kid. And though I do see kids in the parks now too, I saw a very notable increase in kids outside when Pokemon Go was released...

I'd love to live in a tree. Have you seen that show with the professional treehouse builders? I saw one where they put a music recording studio up in a tree.. very impressive.. Anyway, I know you're joking, but in all seriousness.. I don't think going back to more primal human movement patterns requires living in the trees.. it's more about striking a balance between modern and primal lifestyles..

UK election 2017. French election 2017. Elections elections. Let's try to keep it civil (I'm talking to myself as much as anyone). As for me... I haven't been paying much attention so far this year, Trump's just so... well, you know.. So I've started with this: http://uk.isidewith.com/political-quiz edit in blue

Hi. Search for these terms ('philosophical taoism', 'religious taoism', etc) in the Daoism subsection of the forum and you'll surely find a few topics that revolve around the subject. Or start your own topic, but I would suggest that this Welcome section isn't the best place for it.

I am sorry to hear that. It wasn't my intention to bring up an issue that has affected you in any direct manner. Well I agree, mostly (I think the word "expect" is a little far-fetched.. you can't believe it possible to completely remove violence and perversion from the face of the Earth..?) I am. We can talk about any horrifying crime, this isn't some non-sequitur crusade against human trafficking. I just picked the things I picked because they are particularly horrifying to me. The thing I was aiming to get at is that there are many horrifying things going on, and that whenever a terrorist attack happens, we hear calls for Islam to be banned, and immigration to stop... and I get it, but where are the calls for having a licence to use the internet? For all men to be checked for child porn? For drone forces patrolling the streets, peeking through windows to make sure nobody's being violent? Additionally, 1. Disallowing any group of people to stand up and speak is exactly the kind of nonsense you should be fighting against if you disagree with a religion like Islam; we need as much opinion as possible in the open, from all sides, not hidden away, not forcibly removing power from those with whom we disagree (remove their power democratically, peacefully, by being clever and having truth on your side) 2. To continue your house metaphor: you've got all sorts of people in your house, and you're raising people in your house who are undoubtedly going to commit atrocious crimes.. is the Muslim the only one to worry about? Why so selective with this metaphor?

I make no defense of Islam. Strict Islam is a problem; 'liberal' Islam is a gateway to the strict stuff. No defending it. As far as your argument, though... What do you do about paedophilia? Human trafficking? Rape? Murder? When it's committed by anyone, Muslim or otherwise? https://www.globalslaveryindex.org/findings/ World: 48,500,000 estimated enslaved https://www.globalslaveryindex.org/region/europe/ Europe: 1,243,400 estimated enslaved; most from Europe, Nigeria, China, Brazil What are you doing about slavery? About the trafficking of children, women, men? People forced into lives of sex or abuse or hard labour? When the dark web haunt of a group of tens of thousands of paedophiles is found and shut down, and you're horrified at the extent of the problem, what do you do about it? What do you expect to be done about it? I don't expect you to be able to find a solution, about these things or about Islamism. All of these things are unacceptable, and they are all incredibly difficult to fight (and we do have security forces working on all these fights). All must be battled against with constant vigilance. If any one of us can do our part in that battle, we should. So why are you particularly angry about terrorism? Why single out one particular case? Why aren't you berating us all for allowing trafficking and paedophilia to continue? Why are you so vocal about those cases involving Islam, but appear to ignore the fact that the majority of human traffickers in the world, for example, are not Muslim? I, for one, find the slavery/trafficking/paedophilia/abuse stuff, in general, much worse than the issue of Islamism. And yet for some, it's only something to really shout about when Hillary Clinton is accused of being involved in it, or when Muslims are doing it... why is that?

Is inconsiderateness unintentional by definition? Because it's not been considered... If it's intentional, it's more like maliciousness, and deserves worse than a wet sponge.. Inconsiderateness is a tricky one. Everyone is inconsiderate sometimes, it's just the nature of things. We're having a bad day and accidentally forget to consider something, or we ignore things that we don't consider to be important (but others do).. and we don't realize we're making someone else's life difficult. On the other hand, some things seem to me to be black and white: leaving a door open on a cold day is something only a very self-absorbed person will do. It shouldn't happen. I think the thing to do, if one has the energy, is to follow and politely inform them of their mistake in the hope that they are less inconsiderate the next time. Or make sure your coffee spot has self-closing doors. (My problem with that kind of thing is that I only have 2 speeds in public: quiet & calm, or stirred up & angry. So I tend to avoid politely informing people of things unless they're really important and deserve true ire, like someone leaving dog shit in the middle of the pavement.)

This seems to fit the description: “The sciences, each straining in its own direction, have hitherto harmed us little; but some day the piecing together of dissociated knowledge will open up such terrifying vistas of reality, and of our frightful position therein, that we shall either go mad from the revelation or flee from the deadly light into the peace and safety of a new dark age. ” ― H.P. Lovecraft https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/95316-the-sciences-each-straining-in-its-own-direction-have-hitherto

Sorry I can't give you a straight answer but... I flit around between Legge and Watson, and more recently Mair. I've read through parts of Nina Correa's and Brook Ziporyn's too, though not much. It depends on what you want out of it. If you want a thorough reading, one isn't enough. Use at least 3! And use Legge, because he was wordy. Sometimes that's helpful. If you want a leisurely read.. any of the above except for Legge's, probably. Watson's is not 'perfect' by any means but generally does the trick for me.

Simple question? What is a 1. 'human' 2. 'woman' 3. 'man' ? I've had this topic lying in a tab, waiting to be posted, for a week or so, and a recent topic on the board made me decide to go ahead and post it. Wei Wu Wei moderation 'guidelines' (rules): A definition, as opposed to an encyclopaedia entry, should be short, and as simple as possible. If you feel that you can offer a sensible and concise definition of 'human', and then 'woman' and/or 'man', please try. A 'definition post' should consist of no more than two reasonably short sentences, and we're not looking for truisms (for example, "a woman is a female human" -- yes, sure, but what makes her female?). Fellow members may question, and attempt to invalidate, any definitions offered if they so wish; or of course agree, if they agree. Any post attempting to define the concept/word 'human' or 'man' or 'woman' in anything more than two reasonably short sentences (i.e. not much longer than the length of this sentence) will be removed! Any post not contributing to the actual discussion of definition of these terms will be removed! Obviously, posts containing misogyny or misandry will be removed!

I like clouds. In the last year or two, especially, I've really begun to notice them, getting quite excited now and then by a particularly grand or unusual or colourful formation... and people around me have apparently noticed. Today, I was given a book called The Cloudspotter's Guide. So far I have read the introduction and 'manifesto' (of the Cloud Appreciation Society), and was moved to share it here before settling down to learn a little more about clouds. From cloudappreciationsociety.org/manifesto/: WE BELIEVE that clouds are unjustly maligned and that life would be immeasurably poorer without them. We think that they are Nature’s poetry, and the most egalitarian of her displays, since everyone can have a fantastic view of them. We pledge to fight ‘blue-sky thinking’ wherever we find it. Life would be dull if we had to look up at cloudless monotony day after day. We seek to remind people that clouds are expressions of the atmosphere’s moods, and can be read like those of a person’s countenance. We believe that clouds are for dreamers and their contemplation benefits the soul. Indeed, all who consider the shapes they see in them will save money on psychoanalysis bills. And so we say to all who’ll listen: Look up, marvel at the ephemeral beauty, and live life with your head in the clouds! I would end with a cloud photo but I don't really have any. Perhaps others will be kind enough to share some photos. Your own, if you please, no copy-paste from Google etc. Wei Wu Wei rules: Cloud appreciation only. No blue-sky thinkers please. That is all.

A topic for the celebration of introversion.

MH is right, it's more about ego than 'risk'.. I had recently been reading about risk-taking and emotional states and was too quick to apply it to the chapter. However.. it might still be worth some comment. Research (and our own experience, I think) suggests that excitement, and in some cases anger, makes people more likely to take risks. In this context a risk is to knowingly go further than is necessary in an attempt to achieve a 'better' outcome. Perhaps there's a certain point at which an experienced archer feels that the bow is taught enough: the arrow will hit its mark. But in a state of heightened excitement, or anger, or other aroused frame of mind, she might pull too far and snap the bow. Or perhaps an inexperienced archer doesn't know what the perfect resistance is for the bow: then he might pull to the fullest extent, further, eventually too tight, out of fear that a lighter pull wouldn't be successful. In each case, the bow snaps. In each case, it would have been better to remain calm and not take the risk. The experienced archer should wash away intense emotions and focus on her experience, in the moment; the inexperienced archer should calm himself, be content with practice, gaining experience, rather than hitting a strong shot straight away. It requires dispassion. Though the action & outcome might be important, the best way to ensure success is with calm detachment in the moment. It's important to know when a project is finished -- an essay or presentation or painting or whatever. To know when it's time to "call it a day" before one goes too far and ruins good work, one must "take a step back" and look at it with cold eyes. There will often be a little voice saying "Just go back and tweak this, add to that, remove the other.." but this is the same ego/risk-taker that told the archer to pull the bow just a little tighter. Time to stop. Just say, "This is done," and move on to the next thing. Like I should do with this post.....

True that the wild world is not something we can 'destroy' in the full sense of the word... But I like the world as it is and has been for the last few million years: abundant lifeforms, large and small, roving the air, land, and sea.. algae, trees, birds, bears, bees, bacteria... it's the most amazing and ludicrous network of feeling and movement. And regardless of the fundamental durability of the wild, and especially the smallest lifeforms, we are limiting its variety and making it all more likely that near-future generations of humans (who will, in all likelihood, exist in some scenario or other) and other animals will grow into a world of ash and acid water... There are things... https://www.theoceancleanup.com/technology/

Who got to you?

Yes. Certain groups of Muslims are trying to do that, and it is scary. But again... a certain group of Buddhists were doing something very similar, and going pretty far, only a few decades ago. Before this comes up: yes, I do realize the differences in Buddhist vs Islamic scripture! No, Buddhism was not created by a fanatical warlord; yes, Islam does offer scripture that positively glorifies dying in battle in the name of Allah. And the scripture itself should be taken into account, and on that level Buddhism is clearly superior in every aspect. But when it comes to human implementation of a belief system, the fail can be pretty bad either way. And so can the win. We should be offering Muslims the way to win (i.e. find a better way of life), not telling them they're all scum because they haven't apostatized yet.

Thanks for that post. Yes, the first time I read and grasped chapter 11 was... a moment. One of those moments of childlike realization, after which I smack myself on the head and say "Of course!" And at risk of going completely off-topic... yes, being artistic and spending time looking at scenes/life has opened up a world of observation. Seeing the wider scene/"big picture", using negative space, grasping the relationships between light, colour, form, distance, absence... and generally paying more attention to what's around me. As far as spiritual training goes, art is right up there I think.

Some are suggesting that the self inhabits the body; nobody is suggesting that the idea of tiger 'inhabits' the idea of cat or vice versa. The comparison of self/body with tiger/cat is not directly equivalent. And ignoring the idea of 'false equivalence'... I just don't see how your comparison works. But indeed it is your prerogative to believe that it does. As I said previously, this is the result of insufficient language. You call it "my body" even though it is you. The language perpetuates a cognitive disconnection. But without "your body" you would not be anything.