mouse
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Greetings to everyone,
My name is Tim and I am a student of Taijiquan under Sifu Nicholas Karram of the Heaven Man Earth Tai Ji school.
I have some training in other schools of kung fu but have found this style to be the most fulfilling physically mentally and spiritually.
My goal at present is to train diligently and correctly at the instruction of my Sifu and at some time in the distant future I hope I will be found worthy of sharing this art with others in my own branch school.
I have a wife and son and a very hectic work life, as do most of us.
Looking forward to the day when I can hang up my work boots and train full time
Becoming increasingly interested in bhuddism thanks to being able to observe how uncomplicated peaceful and serene my teachers lives are.
enough for now look forward to chatting with all of you.
Hi Tim,
Welcome to Taobums. Sifu Adam and Sidu Andy (Melbourne) are also on this website. Mal and Stigwaerd on the forums are also from QLD.
You have a great teacher to train under! Please send my kind regards to Sifu Nic and also Adam Dobson. I heard he has been recovering very quickly over the past year.
mouse
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Thank you Mouse, wonderfully put.
mat black,
No problem. Glad you enjoyed it.
I find the Terevadan teachings resounding best with me as they do not require blind faith and can all be proven and found within the heart.
Enjoy your practice.
mouse
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To be totally honest, I have no idea what the actual definition of Chi is... all I can experience is different energy/vibration from subtle to course in nature in which the very definition encompasses the whole myraid of experiences of what people deem Chi to be.
Tension in the body is energy locking up. Diffusing it is just a process of active relaxation. Emotions ranging from happines, anger, jealousy etc, all are just vibration to me. It can be guided, released, stored, manifested etc.
Even the floating of your body in the sea or the light from the sun is all energy. Gravitational forces of attracting and repelling. Magnetism, heat, cold.
The more I train the less I understand what I think the actual meaning of chi actually is...maybe that is why my teacher doesn't even teach using the word chi.
Just my humble opinions on this subject from my experiences.
Enjoy your practice,
mouse
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Going deeper into the layers of reality, sound is just a vibration.
It is the mind that attaches meaning to them.
If someone says something of a course nature, by the time it hits the ear, the mind interprets it as abusive, the heart rouses in anger the vibration had already ceased to exist. Why then is the heart still clinging onto the memory of a sound and repeating it over and over again as if it exists?
This understanding as shared by Ajahn Sumedho (a western student of Ajahn Chah) has been a great practice method for my own development. Thought I'd share it as it is relevant to the topic discussed.
Enjoy your practice,
mouse
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Ape....you really confuse me.
Scotty,
Thanks for speaking up. You're not the only one...
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Mouse,
He has clips all over youtube showing his skills against strikers and all sorts so its open to discussion!
Fighting is to totally destroy your opponents mind, body, soul be it competition or street!
Im not knocking his art or him as a player of taiji he is ok actually, im just discussing bouncing which i dont think is real! The Toi Sau they are doing are common playing movements and not free style for a start!!
Ape
Sorry to sound rude not trying to just discussing what i see and sharing my opinion!
Spirit Ape,
Again fighting is not relevant to the article presented.
"Totally destroying" has a place in liberation though... and that is with regards to defilements in our minds.
You are right about the push hands being playing movements. Those currently online are set push hand sets. Free push comes after learning set push. Same as from no stepping to stepping to old-man stepping.
Bouncing the opponent in push hands happens when you issue and the opponent is uprooted. Is just a game to test your taiji.
Think I've said enough on this as I've repeated a few points before.
Enjoy your practice.
mouse
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Mal,
Im not saying Taiji is bad or doesnt work im saying that bouncing people has nothing to do with reality fighting or even MMA . Im sure Adam is a fine teacher if bouncing people is what you are after and of course his taiji!
All arts should teach centering and structure and testing structure im sure your Mantis does somewhere, i know i test my students but bouncing people isnt a concern when talking fighting.
Adam,
Maybe go and test your Taiji in Lampeedee stadium against the Thai Boxers? If you win using your bouncing Jing i would be hugly impressed and take back any negative comments of bouncing people around.
Take care
Ape
Spirit Ape,
How do you define winning?
Regarding talking fighting, I think the only person talking about it from the beginning is you...
The article clearly is about Taiji and Liberation and not fighting.
mouse
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Well mouse if he has been cross training with BJJ people i like to see these clips and what teachers he has been beating using push hands? I know some very good BJJ people and im not saying push hands is crap just that if you can bridge you can be hit and if you can bridge you can be taken down and submitted.
Yes, i teach Hakka arts!
Ape
Ape,
Haven't got any videos of these encounters. We will post them up once we have some though. Push hands is just a training method. Without push hands, it is hard to train sensitivity, the yielding, neutralising skills as well as testing the quality of your taiji form. You can apply the techniques refined in push hands to combat situations, to trap the opponent's center etc.
I'm always interested to see what other disciplines have to offer. Fujian White crane also follows some similar principles in Taiji such as 'sung' and 'yi'. Do you have any of your own clips demonstrating Hakka arts?
Enjoy your practice,
mouse
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Untill he can use his taiji fajing in MMA i would give him credibilty or in BJJ/JUDO competitions!
Easy to do what he does against a student pushing or being used as a dummy, that isnt sparring or even close to fighting.
Just my ranting sorry Mal to spoil the thread but its like saying do push hands against hakka mantis and you will get creamed with Gau Choi's hahahah! You Feel me??
Ape
Spirit Ape,
Perhaps you didn't read the portion about push hands training. Actually Sifu has had lots of experience with BBJ folks and has even taken opponents fighting on his knees...but no one has been able to take him to the ground yet.
He is planning to do some videos of _____ vs Taiji to post up. If you would like to have a friendly go, I am sure he wouldn't mind filming it for youtube regardless of the result.
Are you a hakka mantis practitioner?
mouse
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His opponents are all floppy... all over the place and over extended for every movement.
Are there clips of better opponents? I've heard many good things about this teacher and he seems to have written quite a number of books from what I read on the forum.
Would be interesting to watch if anyone has any clips to share. Bagua is an interesting internal martial art.
Enjoy your practice,
mouse
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Hi Mouse,
Thanks for posting the 4 of these. Could be worthwhile dropping a copy into the articles section. It would be a shame to see these slide off the board.
Mal,
Feel free to post it on the article section. Hope it was of help to your practice.
mouse
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Final part of article.
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I have read and heard about some famous teachers that state when issuing or practicing fa jing one needs to lose control momentarily, the body shakes almost like a spasm and you have to tap into some primitive mind state. What is your view on this?
Yes, I know of the method which you speak of, it is not fitting to criticize other teachers or their methods. At some level they may be giving there students what they need and want and hopefully not bringing any damage to them internally or externally. However for those interested in the path of taiji training which is in harmony with the laws of reality I will give a few words on the subject.
To fa jing simply means to issue energy or to issue force, so when a martial artist releases power through a strike he is in turn issuing force or fa jing. So to say that fa jing is a singular technique is not really correct. From the point of view of a genuine practitioner of taiji, issuing force must be done through relaxation, letting go and through the mind and energy bodies. One can issue energy in many ways from the gentle to the destructive. Such as firing the jing into an organ or into the spine of your opponent so as to kill them, naturally such actions bear only negative results in this present life and the next and are extremely unskillful. For this reason the best way to train in fa jing is to train in long energy, when I say long energy I am referring to the bouncing energy of taiji where your opponent is projected many meters away by the internal force. This is not to be confused with an external push or shove and anyone with some discernment will be able to see the difference. As I have mentioned the main energy that we train in taiji is awareness or listening energy, this awareness must be present throughout the issuing phase and it is actually this awareness that creates the issue rather that some storing up of power. It is this awareness which gives us our martial skills as well as our spiritual heritage, to lose awareness is in direct contrast to listening energy and therefore is the opposite of taiji. The idea of taping into some primitive or animal mind state could maybe work in a basic combat situation but is on the level of reverting to an animal awareness and the outcome of that awareness would be a disaster for ones spiritual growth.
Who would you say has been the most influential for you development as a martial artist?
Great kindness has been shown to me by a number of teachers, Roger Cotgreave and otheres openly shared with me the huang style forms and push hands sets. My biggest influence without any doubt has been sifu Mark Rasmus, he has been and continues to be a great friend and guide to me. Many martial artists talk about living the martial arts as a spiritual path but you almost never meet one who does it. Mark opened my mind to the true nature of internal power and taught me how to live as a martial meditator through example and teachings, he has put me on the right path and kept me on it, Marks kindness to me is something that I can never repay. More recently sifu Lau has guided me in refining my push hands skills, he is a very talented martial artist that I am grateful to train with.
As you have now moved away from Australia and only return to run seminars, what are your plans for teaching in the future?
I am now based in Thailand. My priority is teaching elite taiji and the cultivation of the mind. I am running in-depth private training in taiji form, push hands and martial applications. Coupled with meditation and chi gong training the focus is always on the development of true internal power. These personal training retreats are open to martial artists from all styles. We also offer instructor training for people of an appropriate skill level that wish to open a branch school for the Heaven Man Earth taiji international.
-end Part 4-
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Seriously though . . . If you're going for 3 weeks, and aren't looking for specific instruction - I'de pack a bag and just get on a plane, take a bus to Inthanon national park or something and just parlay with the forest for a few weeks.
Some photos of inthanon
![Thailand%20National%20Park2_thumb[1].jpg](https://lh6.ggpht.com/mooyong0.1/SHZCCGqrxMI/AAAAAAAAG1w/7JU8B2N27BU/Thailand%20National%20Park2_thumb%5B1%5D.jpg)
wudangquan,
That is the king and queen building isn't it? There should be another one exactly like it just 200m next to it. Is a beautiful spot right up at the peak. Air is a little bit thinner and much cooler than in Chiang Mai and a whole lot less polluted than the city. I think it took me 2-3 hours of riding to get up to the peak when I was last there.
A lot closer to Chiang Mai would be Doi Suthep which can be pretty remote if you stay off the tracks. There are quite a few waterfalls and hills you can wander about in if you are up for it.
Enjoy your practice,
mouse
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wudangquan,
Could you ask for me the following:
How does internal alchemy, in transmuting Jing to Chi to Shen, help with liberation of the mind? What practices does he employ to uproot the defilements of the mind/heart?
Cheers.
Enjoy your practice.
mouse
Hi everyone,
As I mentioned (or maybe didn't) I'm about finished here in Wudang/Shiyan and am going to go back to Kunming in a few weeks.
Before I leave I'm going to film some video on internal martial arts, Taoist cultivation, neijia/neigong/neidan, etc.
Mostly it will be in the form of the priest that I know presenting the material, and maybe me translating.
So here's the thing.
If you could sit down and ask any question related to Taoism, IMA, Cultivation, Alchemy, Sorcery (and there is plenty here), etc. of a (non-commercial) priest who (IMO) understands things at a pretty high level, what would your questions be?
It can be yes/no.
It can be be "tell me how . . . "
It can even be "Show me how" with physical demonstrations, etc.
Please post them here.
I'll choose some to use if I can.
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One of the people I learned some medical qigong from is this guy:
http://www.geocities.com/qgmaster/
wudangquan,
His calligraphy is decisive and spot on. It is said you can tell a lot about a person's character from his writing. I think it is true in some aspects.
To all,
My take on fees is that a master must eat as well and charging fair fees is no big deal for his/her time.
Anyone charging high fees in the thousands are normally opportunists. Donations with no fixed limits are common too.
No need to get dissapointed or shocked nor saddened. Is a good opportunity to examine the heart. No one is insisting you learn from them anyway.
Enjoy your practice,
mouse
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what do you think is the most direct and the most effective method for dealing with the energy of fear?
Pranaman,
I just heard a Dhamma talk a couple days back directly dealing with topic on fear.
Many forest monks train their minds in the forest and often have tigers prowling around their spot with only an umbrella between themselves and the tiger.
The thing about the kilesas is that they do not like to be looked at. So watch where the fear arises from in your mind (citta). More often or not you will realise that the fear arises from an attachment to your body which is a fear of death.
Not sure if you do meditation but sitting in samadhi and entering jhana will give rise to sukkha which counters fear. It does provide the calm needed to examine the fear which is anata (not self).
The story goes that there was a bikkhu who heard a tiger growl, feared for his life and then realised it was very unbecoming of a monk. So he sat there and examined his heart. In the end, he saw through the kilesas and even went searching for the tiger.
For a layperson, with physical danger as in the case of the tiger you should probably avoid it. However, with fear arising from visions etc, it is said that they cannot harm you. They are only mental fabrications that are also subject to the cycle of birth and decay.
Hence the most effective method of dealing with fear or any other emotion is to go to the source. It all stems from mind. Observe it, and see through its nature. Sights and sounds are just vibration. It is the mind that attaches meaning to it.
Enjoy your practice,
mouse
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Its a work in progress
Lin,
Looks great. Big open spaces once you fold up that table for training.
I notice what looks like an ancestral tablet on the floor there. However, it isn't the custom to put it on the floor. Is it a local diety or the like?
And who are the three people in the painting above it?
Enjoy your practice,
mouse
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I have to agree that Taiji has been watered down to an extent where most people claiming to teach genuine Taiji are only peforming bad kung fu.
Applications are forced into the Taiji shapes and done without an understanding of true yielding, neutralising and issuing.
Wushu and Taiji are two different paths in terms of internal mechanics and structure. Yet many do not have the eye or discernment to differentiate the two. But as the teacher in the clip mentioned, he believes wushu supplements the external aspects of muscle conditioning, speed and hand-eye coordination which is not wrong.
Personally, I find that Taiji when trained right is comprehensive in these aspects.
Enjoy your practice,
mouse
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I deeply appreciate the information.
I'll be in Phuket for 3-4 months using it as a base to travel throughout Asia. Will be
there in Jan 09.
Thank you kindly,
takeiteasydo,
Phuket is a good spot as Sifu Adam is usually based there. Plenty of good spots to train. Good luck with your travels.
Enjoy your practice.
mouse
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takeiteasydo,
You may wish to look up Sifu Adam Mizner if you are in Thailand.
If internal aspects are the focus of your training, he'll be able to lead you in the right direction.
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Chigung is also taught depending on what you are seeking, ie, rooting, sticking, triangulating energy, healing etc.
How long and when will you be in Thailand for?
mouse
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This is Yu Yong Nian in Yiquan's "Dragon Stance".
I like it alot.
How do I learn the effects of specific postures, the ins and outs of the chi body's anatomy and how zhan zhuang, and every taiji posture affects it?
Pranaman,
Suggest you don't get caught upin channels or meridians etc.
To drive a car you do not need to know how the ignition happens, or how what the brake fluids do etc.
Is good to know but doesn't affect the ability to drive.
Some may disagree but just my thoughts.
Enjoy your practice.
mouse
Bruce Lee - Nokia
in General Discussion
Posted
Just a bit of fun.
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