gendao

It's a bit of a tongue-in-cheeky meme. I don't really mean absolutely only or all of Western civilization... But to a large degree, a lot of these Western "improvements" (slight deviations from Nature) do seductively offer more presently convenient, "aesthetic," or apparent improvements of quality of life - but at unseen prices (typically damaging longterm health and widespread environmental impacts). The Western vs Indigenous ways of simply taking a sh*t, are a great example of this difference!

Right, so you see how Western civilization is a steady, progressive, anti-natural, degeneration of both mankind & the entire planet? By sh*tting in pots, we no longer fertilize the ground and spread seeds of edible plants. By flushing it with clean potable freshwater - we are both wasting and contaminating that global resource. By sitting up instead of squatting, we are preventing complete elimination as well as weakening our glutes, etc. To restore sustainable health back to ourselves and the planet - we actually need to be reversing this whole "evolution!" Go back to sh*tting in the woods like bears! America doesn't need CrossFit... They just need to SquatSh*t, and at least start installing squat potties in their homes instead of sitting johns!

Well that's it, you nailed it! Build the pyramid from the base up, not top-down. Congrats on getting off on the right foot here...that will put you many steps ahead of most in this game!

Absolutely. Although, the foundational physical training has more to do with increasing flexibility than muscular strength. Natural athletic ability is a good sign that you are likely at least using your body properly (i.e. naturally) though, which will certainly help with Daoist spiritual cultivation.

Well, reproduction IS the primary evolutionary function of sex and is what defines "sexiness" on an instinctive subconscious level... Muscular glutes are more an indicator of proper posture, neural activation, and healthy biomechanics, though. And someone who has all of these will be more fit, athletic, and less prone to injury. Another comparison of the "primitive" Natural Man vs the literal collapse of Western civilization: Also note that the "primitive" Man regularly walks around barefoot - while the Western man is perpetually clod in shoes. Note that the "primitive" Man also regularly squats - while the Western man only sits. Etc, etc... Thing is, over decades, all these Westernized maladaptations cumulatively start taking their collective toll and you gradually end up with the denatured figure on your right (or often much worse), lol. The cure of which is of course to return back to our own innate Nature - exactly what Daoists continually strive for - on multiple levels!

Great article! I think the curvier, Westernized 'S' spine is due to prolapse and collapse. Collapsed foot arches and a collapsed spine, etc. Like the inevitable collapse of anti-Natural Westernized civilization, lol... Whereas similar to what Esther Gokhale sought by observing native, non-Westernized peoples - the ancient Daoists observed babies and their more natural traits/behavior. Babies and natural athletes tend to have high foot arches, prominent glutes, and straighter backs - like her pictures shown above. Whereas the modernized Westerner tends to have a curvier spine and flat feet & azz, lol!

Interesting... Could you elaborate on how exactly it improved your eyesight?

That seems to about sum up Master Chaio Chang Hung's "iron crotch" version: Essentially, this protocol goes progressively from physical to spiritual and outer to inner... After cleansing your muscles/sinews (yi jin jing), brush beating is then meant to detox your bones/marrow - and hanging weights on your junk to stimulate your jing to be able to sublimate it up to your brain in a nonsexual way. This makes sense in theory - although obviously this is a high risk/reward proposition. Beating yourself with a metal whisk and hanging weights on your unit plainly carries its own risks of injury.

Interesting, that is what Vajra Fist got too... The videos posted above seem to be seated stretches and some self-tuina with a staff. I don't really see how those would detox your bones? Yan Lei's version seems to involve beating yourself with a bamboo/wire brush while seated? That sounds like a more brutal version of Paida Lajin - that could actually penetrate to the bone? Anyone actually try some version of Xi Sui Jing?

Potent system? Well with MASSIVE information overload, the real challenge is separating the wheat from all the chaff and the needle from all the hay... "Coincidentally," Bodhidharma's 2 classic manuals were: 1. Yi Jin Jing (Muscle/Tendon Changing Classic) 2. Xi Sui Jing (Tendon Transformation and Marrow-Purification Classic) So, his references to the importance of deepening levels of the physical body were not only metaphorical, but quite literal too. Now just from a modern perspective, bone is piezoelectric and bone marrow contains blood stem cells. So, how important to health might it be to purify this region? Yet interestingly, this deeper Xi Sui Jing is now a "lost" art. You want a potent system? Try completing #1 and rediscovering #2, for starters? I dunno, at this point, a lot of these other "practices" just sound like fanning your farts in the wind, lol? I could be underestimating them and wrong, but I don't see a lot of potency anymore in your typical qigong styles, regardless of how fancy their names are?

I think that they are more common in the beginning of a powerful practice, where pressure + blockages = motion. But later on, pressure through clear channels = stillness.

I agree. Physical jibengong should be "mastered" before "qigong." Because if you don't have really good flexibility in most basic bends and can't get into full lotus without using your hands - then you are likely still too full of subconscious qi/emotional blockages to "relax," sit/stand still, or move slowly and "allow" qi to just flow ("qigong")... Qi is not going to just flow when you are full of blocks. And if you are stiff as a board...then you are likely full of blocks! All the visualizations, strained posture corrections, and conscious relaxation isn't going to get you anywhere at that point!

Well, esoteric 茶道 starts with the tea itself. For alchemical purposes, the best teas come from the oldest trees growing up on pristine mountaintops. Note that Camellia sinensis can grow THOUSANDS of years old, especially in SW China! Similar to wine...good terroir and spirit (靈) of the mountain = good tea. However, most Americanized tea drinkers are completely unaware of these such factors! But learning info like this was just from a casual afternoon in China, representing just a tip of the cultural iceberg there. Yet, is simply unavailable in the West. You could probably read all the tea books and even go to a few classes here - yet still not learn these deeper aspects. So no, the old Daoist knowledge is not all lost there, and your average armchair Daoist-American is still by comparison splashing in the baby pool here, lol. Believe it or not, a lot of tribal knowledge is oral, stored offline, and not in the English language, lol! (Which is not to say individuals here can't forge their own personal path with enough dedicated gongfu. At the end of the day, the guy who knows nothing but practices sincerely, will still surpass the guy who knows everything but puts little of it into practice! Not to mention, there can also be confusion from too much information overload, some of it even conflicting...)

Agreed. Anglosphere media pumps out a steady smear campaign ONLY FOCUSING ON NEGATIVE ASPECTS against China - which is like saying all of the US looks like Detroit, lol. Reality is that despite the modern additions of KFC & McDs, the streets are still flooded with authentic Chinese food (to make an analogy). Chinese health treatments (like cupping) are probably about 2-3X as extensive, but only 1/3-1/2 the price, as in the US. The mainstream culture is still permeated with "minor" traditionally healthy lifestyle customs like water being served hot/warm (NEVER ICED) with meals and squat toilets for better elimination, etc etc. And "qi" is not a LITERALLY FOREIGN concept! True masters are not likely to be found in temples, though - but just as private citizens wearing ordinary clothes just living in their ordinary homes. So, I guess if you're looking for John Chang conveniently teaching classes on levitation at White Cloud Temple - you would be disappointed, lol. But if you've never been to China, you really have no room to talk. If you have, then there's a lot more to discuss. One thing I found interesting was how open the topics of spirituality and health were for debate among loose groups there. It's a lot like Daobums or any community - a lot of different views & opinions from each person, with some conflicting. There is no absolute authority or dogma, really. A lot of the general thrust is agreed upon, but there's infinite room for interpretation, especially regarding different paths or details. That's probably why TCM or CCM get so complicated - because that would be like trying to compile all the varying opinions on Daobums into 1 coherent theory. But to get back to the OP, healers are usually drawn into the art from having to heal themselves, first. Which usually starts one out on the shallow end with actual personal experience (rather than just jumping in the deep end of theory). And which then tends to personally corroborate for them the starting point of Chinese medicine as the classic axiom from the Huang Di Nei Jing: 不通這痛, 痛則不通 (if not clear then pain, if clear then no pain). I feel this is the essence of Chinese medicine - clearing the blocks allows your body to naturally heal. And if you can just do the first part, your body can do the rest (that all the complicated theory describes). Of course, finding and clearing out the responsible blocks is not always so simple...and there lies the rub...lol.

I came to the same conclusion myself (after trying the top-down opposite) - your physical condition is your foundational base level for further energetic/emotional/spiritual development. That's why all this traditional jiben gong is basically entirely bodycentric. Sure, you may momentarily balance a precarious Jenga tower to briefly glimpse some greater "peak/ecstatic experience" heights... But for sustained, stable growth & consistent, repeatable results - you need to spend much more time upfront laying a wiiiddeeee, flat foundation for your pyramid first!

This description is pretty vague... Can someone summarize or point out some of the actual differences between TCM & CCM? In theory and/or practice?

LMFAO, not much point in responding to a troll- but who the h*ll BANNED weed worldwide to begin with??? Until TEAM AMURICA did in the 30s...it was legally used worldwide cross-culturally for millenia!!! And most definitely including China! And now they blow HALF A BILLION DOLLARS on some phony agitprop??? Aside from the complete lack of ethics (no surprise there), it's just obscene how they could spend $240 million MORE on some lame amateur productions than the MOST EXPENSIVE HOLLYWOOD MOVIE EVER MADE - Pirates of the Caribbean ($300 million), for example. To put things in perspective here - how do you vastly outspend a full-blown, major production complete with A-list actors and special effects???

This video was helpful in manually locating the psoas... But as I'm just starting on trying to reneutralize it myself, I have no real effective results to speak from yet...

Hmm, could you explain & elaborate on that difference? And what the proper position of the femur's lesser trochanter is then?

Congrats, I basically came to the same conclusion - physical bodywork is what sets the foundation for qigong and meditation. Or try "allowing" qi to flow (using "flowing" Taijiquan-like motions or not) or sit still comfortably enough in meditation to desegment your consciousness when you are tight and full of contracted blockages with a straining constipated look on your face! Cart before the horse? Instead of this...ahhhhhhh!

I think I realized this morning why that is? During these ecstatic or miraculous moments, we've somehow gotten a massive burst of high-frequency energy - which is able to squirt through all our blocks and resistance with enough pressure to deliver a high volume of energy. So during this temporary boost/power surge, we experience the same amount of flow rate that we would otherwise have if our channels were much clearer (but amperage much lower). This is like a flash flood cresting over dams in a river. We thus temporarily experience a heightened state. But once the high waters recede - most of the old dams are still left in place. And with regular water levels returned, the amount of energy that can flow past them is similarly reduced back to our old "normal." In the long run, we'd have to grind out all these blockages and resistances in order to boost energy volume passing through without increasing the water levels. IOW, reduce resistance to increase efficiency to reexperience the same higher performance with less power. This is where Chinese health practices, bodywork, yoga, etc etc all come into play. Building our alchemical foundations means clearing out all our inner resistances.

Anyone ever study this fluid bodywork? Don't know much about it - looks sort of like moving like a starfish or jellyfish? Emilie Conrad: Susan Harper: Cass Phelps:

Stretching the muscles & sinews (tendons & ligaments) is extremely important in Chinese culture for health (易筋经/Yi Jin Jing) and as the foundation for alchemy (洗髓经/Xi Sui Jing). There may be relatively faster, but I don't know of an absolutely fast way to do this, though. If there was, yoga would simply be a weekend workshop, and not a regular lifestyle routine... I've been stretching for probably at least 5 years now, and still can't do the full splits or get into full lotus without using my hands. I've made enormous progress, but stretching is not like weightlifting where you can make gains fast and basically hit your max ceiling within a year or so...

Keep in mind though that generally-speaking, a healthy eyeball is about an inch long. Whereas an extremely myopic eyeball might only be a few mm longer... Like, all that physically separates crystal-clear vision from blurriness - is just a few mm of eyeball length! So, how hard is it to "shorten" an elongated eyeball by a few mm?

There's a lot of different terms (negative ions, antioxidants, alkalizing foods, grounding) referring to various substances with "extra" electrons that our bodies can accept their "donor electrons" from through inhalation, digestion, or mere physical contact. You could think of each of these compounds as tiny "batteries" charged with an extra electron or few... Of course, that then raises the question of why couldn't we just lick a battery for better health? Which is actually a good question - because if we can electrically ground merely through skin contact, then why not also absorb free electrons directly from an electrical current?