Cobie

Not at all.

This I see as the conundrum of the mystic, it’s not easy to maintain openness & harmony and at the same time to be completely in line with one's own mind.

To reach the ‘middle way’, some need to ascent, some need to descend.

Great. Welcome to the inside! Looking forward to your posts. What’s your area of interest?

Lol, that did make me laugh. But actually there are further categories.

True, in my experience.

They will try to provoke you, for as long as you try to convert them. Let them be.

Yes.

Exactly.

Yes, I know that.

I watched the start of the video. Lei Lei (traditional) down in less than 20 seconds against Xu Xiaodong (modern fighting techniques). Lei Lei says it’s because he can’t employ his secret powers because they are lethal. Master Ding a draw. His excuse, he didn’t eat enough. From the video, “The 4 courses of Chinese martial arts: speaking, learning, amusing, singing.” Yes, I read before that the roots of Chinese martial arts lie in rural society’s superstitious beliefs, ritual practices and opera. Practitioners believed in their own invulnerability to swords and rifle fire. The Boxer Rebellion ended this believe in the supernatural power of martial arts. Modern martial arts films have their root in reporting (by the new medium of film) about the Boxer Rebellion. https://chinesemartialstudies.com/2017/03/24/the-boxer-rebellion-and-stories-we-tell-about-chinese-martial-arts/

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I highly appreciate the posts of Awaken. @awaken thank you very much for your posts.

Nice to meet you too. Sounds like you are very knowledgeable on the subject. Welcome to the forum. Enjoy.

Yes, I too tried out various things and found them not to be for me. I am glad you found the right method for you. Welcome to the the forum. Enjoy.

Removed, posted in the wrong thread.

Much better.

Objection

What you resist will persist. (Carl Jung)

Joy!

Exactly. Kudos to you for helping. Wishing you well.

What would you have liked different in the picture?

The meaning of classical Chinese characters depends on the context. With 八卦 ba1 gua4 / 氣 qi4: 先 xian1 - pre / first. 後 hou4 - post / latter. 天 tian1 - innate / season.