Vajra Fist

I don't think it's fair to say 'they don't get it because they're not as good as me'. On the FB group you mentioned, there are some fairly respected teachers (some of whom I know) who are sceptics, who have many more years on you. Dare I say, they might even be better practitioners than you. It's just they don't use the same concepts as you to explain what is happening in their bodies. You might explain it as jin, they might describe it as the transfer of force through the fascia. To me, understanding that its not a magical energy, but rather a natural physiological process, doesn't make it more complicated, but rather less so.

I mean, they could have not hired Morgan Freeman (or half of the sports stars) and instead used the budget on a proper director, screenwriter as well as perhaps funded some experiments under laboratory conditions, and produced a more well-rounded and interesting documentary, that could have better achieved their stated aims of validated the art of taiji. Instead we've got a badly put-together, glossy advert for a questionable online course.

To the extent there is anything supernormal about taiji application, it is here. The ability of a master to be able to soak the awareness through not only their own bodies, but also to an extent the body of an opponent, is beyond what is normally thought possible. That warrants further research and study. Unfortunately the film used language like: "Some 3,000 years ago, the Chinese discovered how to unleash the force," and elsewhere referenced Jedis and Star Wars. That sort of language shuts down enquiry. I want to know what is really going on - how much force is being generated and through what mechanisms in the body, how is it he is able to sense so accurately structural imbalances of another person by just putting a hand on their arm? Nowadays people like Shinzen Young are doing so much good for meditation disciplines by opening them up to neuroscience. Brain imaging is able to map consistently what jhanas look like and detect clearly what it looks like when someone moves to up and down through the jhanas. It's time we did the same thing for taiji. There's truly something special, perhaps even miraculous about what people like Mizner can do. Let's study it, and understand it. Not use the concepts of the past and effectively say its the power of the holy spirit that is moving people.

Unfortunately, the weird culty vibe of this film, and attempts to dress up good, teachable technique in vague and mystical language, really put me off. In fact I would go so far as to say that it made me into a sceptic, whereas before I would have considered myself a believer.

Because, I think sensing and affecting someone's structure, pushing them off balance, does indeed work. It's perfectly good tai chi, and it requires real skill to do as well as Mizner does it. But I don't believe that what's happening is down to a mystical 'qi force', but rather careful and sophisticated use of the internal structure to control an opponent. That said, I do believe in qigong, and the therapeutic effect of such exercises. I just feel that internal arts applications are better described within the context of biomechanics. Edit - I will add that I'm willing to be wrong on this

No idea! According to a reddit post it's a guy called Doug, who is a student of someone called Master Zhu. Beyond that I'm not sure. There's an interesting video here, that offers one possible explanation for what's happening. Enjoyable watch, even if you disagree - I think someone likened it to a magician revealing stage secrets.

For what it's worth, Mizner said that he's not affiliated with them, and some of his students are upset that they're using his demonstrations to sell their own course.

I've been involved with, and have since extricated myself from, a group that I now believe to have been a cult. I've been seeing some troubling parallels between my own experience and some popular teachers today. I just wanted to reflect on the difference between practicing within a tradition, and being a follower of a charismatic teacher. I've developed a mental checklist of warning signs when assessing a teacher, which I feel might be worth sharing. * Does a teacher publicly demean other paths as a way to boost the prestige of their own method? For instance, they might cultivate the impression among their followers that the mainstream way of practicing something is generally wrong, and they're one of the very few that are actually practicing correctly. Followers generally then get a sense of superiority, thinking they're the only ones who truly know what they're doing. This ego trip can be intoxicating. I remember when I was in the cult, and seeing experienced monks from other traditions and pitying them because I genuinely believed that what they were practicing was inferior. * Do other masters teach the exact same thing publicly, and in a very similar if not identical way? If you practice within a major tradition, you can go to multiple different teachers and learn the same syllabus. But if you learn from a charismatic teacher, they are the sole source of the practice. You only have the teacher's word that what they're teaching is legitimate. If they turn out to be fraudulent, then you've wasted years of your life. For instance, if you practice Thai forest buddhism, you can choose from hundreds if not thousands of teachers around the world who have genuine realisation and are willing to teach you. You have a lineage dating back two thousand years that has produced millions of enlightened masters. If you learn from a charismatic teacher, you're relying on what they claim about their own realisation, as proof that the practice leads anywhere at all. You're also relying on their willingness to teach you. Some charismatic masters might offer you incomplete teaching, so you won't get as far as them. You won't ever know though, because you can't go to another master from the same lineage to compare what they're teaching to what you've been taught. This also applies if a teacher says they're from a lineage which is closed to outsiders, or else very difficult to access. * are your opinions your own, or your teacher's? This is perhaps the hardest to detect. My own experience was of reading every day a book from the teacher, as well as other teachings. People were judged on how well they'd practiced by how close their thoughts or behaviour were to the core teachings of the master. I've seen this sort of behaviour among followers of some qigong teachers. They parrot what they've been told as their own opinions. Before stating a position on something, they check what their teacher has said on it before. When you follow a tradition you'll realise there's healthy disagreement and debate among teachers. This creates the useful feeling that one's own direct experience is the most reliable gauge of truth. If you follow a tradition with a single teacher, what they say becomes gospel. Those who disagree are heretics. Conclusion I'm not saying that all qigong masters who are effectively heads of their own spiritual traditions are cult leaders, nor that those who follow them are deluded. I'm just saying be cautious. Don't blindly follow a teacher because they claim to offer superior results. Don't put all your eggs in one basket. I've wasted years of my life on this, and I've learned my lessons too late.

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I've come to like Mizner a lot. I've always thought he came across as smarmy, but from my few interactions with him online, I've found him to be sincere and humble. He doesn't put other systems down and say his is the best - he lets his art speak on his behalf. I also like how thick skinned he is. Other internal arts teachers constantly say how they're above pettiness, but then get triggered by comments online, and end up in long arguments. I think that's the thing I find most impressive about him, above his clear martial skill. Despite the amount of crap that gets thrown at him, he's still able to take a step back from it. That said, this whole thing film felt a bit cringe - like an early noughties docu-series, in the same vein as 'Mind, Body and Kickass Moves'. For an hour it was mostly just Mizner demonstrating his skill against various athletes and sportsmen. I'm still not sure if it was an extended advertorial, but it certainly felt that way at times. I'm still not all the way through it, having to watch it in short sections. To my mind, it played too much as 'chi' being a mystical substance. I'm not a sceptic in this regards, but I'm 99% of what Mizner does is due to a highly refined technique, rather than any magical force.

Actually this reminds me a lot of what is called 'ba' in zen, which refers to an enlightened field of a teacher. Often a teacher will blast it around a room in zazen as a sort of empowerment, to aid practice. I remember the first time I saw it in a teacher, it felt like I was looking at a vast, thundering mountain encapsulated in a human form. And yes, it was difficult to make eye contact. There's a sort of a relaxed intensity in the eyes when someone is awake.

Just for clarification, this isn't an actual post, but rather it's my attempt at satire. Apologies for not stating that clearer.

Much obliged!

Example post: "One of the highest levels is when hu reaches jintao. When this happens, deng xiaoping occurs. Many times, some people get jiang, which is really another name for xiannan. Most people haven't reached this level, especially people on this forum, who are very low level. They haven't even achieved rabbit foot yet, let alone black mamba."

This might help

In Buddhism, most teachers will tell you not to move in sitting practice. That's the same in Theravada or Zen. I've always found that if I have a compulsion to move, instead of responding to it, I'm better able to enter stillness by first relaxing, observing the thought as it arises and disappears. I find that these are like little tests for the mind. If you relax into the compulsion, don't respond, your mind is more stable when the thought disappears. Of course, that's just my understanding from my practice. If you have a teacher, they'll probably be able to give you a better reason. I'm not sure how it is within daoism, but I've never heard it said before that you should move around, shift weight, scratch an itch etc, whenever you feel like the need.

I generally find that I can sit for an hour without pain. If I want to sit for longer, I get up and do walking meditation for 10 mins, trying to stay with the meditation object during ghat time. Then I go back and sit for longer. One teacher recommended that the walking meditation be fairly vigorous - at least as much as possible while retaining the object of meditation. In that way, the blood circulation gets going again.

We had an interesting discussion a while back here about whether you can separate the teachings from the teacher. I'm of the belief that you have to look at a teacher as the sum product of what they teach. The way they are, their conduct and personality, is the lifetime result of practicing this art. It's not like you take guitar lessons from a virtuoso, who is a bit of an arsehole to people around him. You might learn a lot, but what you learn doesn't mould you as a person into resembling your teacher. Your musical skill is a technical accomplishment, but doesn't affect who you are at a fundamental level. These arts different, in that they are life shaping. A lifetime of meditation practice should ideally result in equanimity, kindness and generosity, as the natural external reflection of an inner attainment. If someone displays the opposite traits, then something is wrong - either with the method itself, or the level of practice they've put in. Maybe they've just not attained a fundamental realisation yet. Even in that case, they're most likely not in a position to effectively guide you, as you say, when things get weird.

What are your opinions on Wu Zhongxian's daixinyi dvds? I've always been curious on whether the exercises are legitimate and whether there's any benefit im practicing them outside the context of the wider system of daixinyi.

Baldness is largely genetic. A better barometer is whether they display humility or kindness.

I didn't practice the neigong, so I can't really speak to how it helped in that regard. But I found it excellent for loosening and releasing the kind of tension that builds up in your body after sitting meditation for an extended period. This type of taiji specifically has the greatest emphasis on fang song, making it excellent in this regard. I've been dabbling with Chen style recently though, as I have a decent teacher nearby.

I learned the entire short form from his academy. His form has a few differences to what you'd traditionally see in the Huang Sheng Shyan 37 form, and that could make it difficult to take what you've learned to school that isn't directly affiliated with Lotus Neigong. I've also done the first bit of Adam Mizner's Discover Taiji, which teaches a more standard version of the HSS form. Generally speaking, I prefer Damo as a teacher. He is a stickler for teaching important details early on - moving from the kua rather than the waist, releasing the feet, and moving jing. As far as I can tell those details come later on in Mizner's course. Also for Damo you have access to neigong and bagua with your subscription. Because of that, I'd recommend Damo's course over Mizner's for taiji - although there's not much in it. That said, if you pause a subscription with Mizner's online academy, you can still watch older videos that you've unlocked. If you pause a sub on Damo's academy, then you're locked out of all content until you resubscribe. But whichever you choose, you'll still need to visit a teacher at some point down the road. It's worth seeing what schools you have around you, or whether you're able to travel to workshops held by either teacher. For instance, Mizner is holding a training week in Prague next month. That sort of thing is hugely important to get feedback on the form and correct errors, as well as developing push hands skill, which helps in developing jing.

Interesting article on the dantien within the Rinzai Zen tradition https://zenembodiment.com/2018/06/08/breathing-from-the-belly-tanden-a-great-rolling-ball/

What you describe is very similar to my experience practicing Xiang Gong. I'm a journalist, and I found my writing became 100 times more lucid. I can at times agonise how to start a story, but while I was practicing this qigong, ideas would just flow. Writing was neither tiring nor a chore, and I enjoyed it so much I even dabbled with a bit of fiction outside work Are there any drawbacks to this type of qigong? For instance, without building a foundation of jing-qi-shen, are you effectively burning jing to fuel greater mental acuity?

Deleted. No point opening old wounds.