gendao

No, you're totally normal. With all the spiritual & health benefits of qigong, people wonder what the catch is? Well, the catch is that it can be boring as hell. Look, if it were as fun as jacking off to p0rn, everyone would be a qigong master. But, only very, very few are - so why? Because 99+% of people will never develop the intense-enough desire and motivation to do it. Don't underestimate the discipline it takes to put in hundreds and thousands of hours of practice to develop yourself in this art. You have to desire it like a drowning man desires air... Mere curiosity or casual dabbling will never be enough to put you through such extreme paces. Talk is easy...doing is hard. And doing not-doing can be even harder!

Theoretically, yes. Realistically, the ancient schools have so much accumulated experience and insight in them that their depth is just astounding. Giants standing on the shoulders of giants... Now, oftentimes a fresh look can rediscover a lost concept or add a new angle or breakthrough, but to recreate an entire body of knowledge that evolved over centuries is just bloody unlikely. Or in more contextual terms, try reinventing the automobile or computer from scratch today.

Word-of-mouth is usually best. Always check the general user feedback, as if you were shopping for a product. In your locale, Chunyi Lin (and his disciple, Jim Nance) are supposed to be pretty decent. Although Chunyi may have been much more powerful before draining himself with a family & doing many healings & seminars.. Ya Mu lives out in Missouri, but may have students or know of good healers in MN. Down in Chicago, Gary J. Clyman does "emotional liposuction" "jing-based" healing. By most accounts, he can be a rather pompous smacktalker...but nonetheless does possess some amount of true gong. One of his teachers, Waysun Liao, is well-acclaimed and teaches in Oak Park there (but I don't know if he does healings). Dan Ferrera in Michigan is supposedly "crackling" with a strong qi field. But I'm sure if you surf & ask around though, there are also many closer, less-publicized healers who can also help out a lot. Try a few out and see what works. Although self-practice is best in the long run, I do think healers are really good for n00bs - because you have no idea what you are doing and may not be that energy-sensitive yet. So, experienced healers can help get you over the hump or learning curve...after which eventually you can DIY. I also agree that while it's good to allow for the possibility of instant healings, establishing a strong foundation of health by clearing & opening all your channels is generally a long, arduous process that takes years. So, EXPECTING instant gratification could backfire if it reduces your work ethic. Which you will typically need a LOT of in this long game. Neidan is a marathon for the tortoise, not the hare (IMO). It relies a lot upon patience, discipline, endurance & perseverance. I'd love to be wrong here, but most anyone who has actually achieved much in this has also put a hella lotta hours in.

I think Non has boxed himself into a no-win situation...but this inner conflict is nothing new and something that MANY post-Baby Boomer men have gone through. In fact, just witness the mental and persona transformation of TUPAC - and how deeply it was influenced by real-life female feedback: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9myAkp28wT4 He went from a sensitive magnet school performing arts student...who falsely idea(o)lized women and wouldn't even UTTER the "B-word" - to a gangsta rapper who shouted BITCH with every other word! And guess which version women actually liked better??? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nlvS_Uk5yJM So, I DON'T think this is ALL in Non's head at all. It IS a very real phenomenom today. I don't think he's entirely crazy at all. He is just struggling with how to deal with it...in congruence with his own self-identity & definition of "morality."

Very true, definitely way more females into the energetic healing arts (in the West). This also includes Reiki, etc. Could be due to the stereotypical "nurturing" tendency. Sort of a polar contrast to males being more interested in the martial arts applications. As far as neidan though, I would say there are far more males interested in personal alchemy. Although that can depend in some cases too - as women seemed to take to Kunlun more. However, that is also a nontraditional alchemy marketed in a very contemporary fashion. So, I do think it is interesting how different classes attract different types of people..

That appears to be a healing, not martial, technique though. So, he very well may be feeling pain as blockages are being released. Pain in qigong healing is usually proportional to the severity of the blockage & amount of qi being used. You can also see similarly painful reactions in his "emotional liposuction" vids (although those do involve physical contact). As far as applying "empty force" in combat - Master Cheuk Fung probably explains it best here:

You could also just wear an eyemask or sleep with a pillow over your eyes (like I do, hehe). The main thing is to block blue light from reaching your photoreceptors. Here's some more interesting articles on it: TCM For Insomnia 33 Secrets to a Good Night's Sleep Overall, sounds like a condition that could have a number of causes..

I agree. The male role is far more burdensome in Asia because he is the sole provider for his nuclear, as well as extended family. So, since that's not any easier than the female role, then it shouldn't make the difference. This topic has actually come up before here when people made the same observation about this site - and the small minority of women here too. I think Taoism may just come off as too philosophical to most women - and women are typically not interested in philosophy. Also, a lot of women prefer more company or devoting themselves to gurus (Indian gurus, Muhammad or Jesus) - whereas Taoism is more about self-development in solitude with no big alpha deity to bow down to. Additionally, a lot of males start off chasing MoPai-type siddhic powers...and women are less apt to desire that. Creation - FAN-f'n-tastic posts!

No offense to the victims, but some dude tries oiling up my junk...and I'm peacing out. Well, first off I would have already been highly skeptical of his sleight-of-hand stage tricks to begin with. Show me some actual healings of real people, and then I might be more impressed. Some of these New Age nut flakes just need to use some common sense. And also quit seeking "instant gratif-enlightenment" from gurus who will do all the "work" for them. It's often lazy seekers who don't want to walk their own long, arduous path themselves who are going to be far more prone to falling for these "get enlightened quick" cons.

Philosophical Taoism concerns studies of the overall philosophical ideology of Taoism - mainly as elucidated by the Dao De Jing (sort of the ad brochure for Taoism - that talks ABOUT, but doesn't actually tell you HOW). Great stuff for beginners or dabblers, but ultimately mental masturbation until you can reach the same level of realization as the author, to really get what he wrote about. Religious Taoism focuses on the devotional veneration of and interaction with legendary Taoists in their spirit forms. But I don't think anyone here is very familiar with this branch. Practising Taoism is the nuts & bolts methods by which individual Taoists personally seek "liberation" ("immortality" & enlightenment). Neidan is the primary esoteric practice for this, for which a number of actual "How To" guides have been written that methodically outline the basic steps to be taken. And although most of these ancient Chinese classics are still relatively obscure in Western "pop Daoism," they nonetheless eclipse the Dao De Jing in importance for practising Taoists. This branch is thus more for "serious" practitioners with far more than just a passing interest in Taoism. Well, if you do ever meet up with drewhempel, please give us a feedback report if you happen to experience any interesting sensations..

Evidence, please? And I mean in Non's Gen-Y today, not old couples from 50 years ago... Now if you look at the men in recent history who have gotten the most & hottest women - let's say Wilt Chamberlain, Elvis Presley, Dennis Rodman, Tommy Lee, Tiger Woods, etc...the common denominators are that they were all powerful alpha males at the top of their respective fields. These fields were in either music or sports. Their displays of physical or emotional mastery are what turned women uncontrollably on. And once turned on, any "flaws" (married, cheating, lying, etc) could be forgiven. IOW, it didn't really matter at that point if these guys were nice or mean, good or bad. Once her gina's dripping wet, all of that become inconsequential. So I think nice guys could get girls, but it has little to do with them being nice - but how much they turn girls on. Everything else is really just a red herring. Thus, I think Non has painted himself into a false dilemna here. He wants to get girls, but ONLY as a genuine, nice guy - which he feels is basically impossible since they only like "bad boys." Thus, he sees no ethical way out. He's either stuck as a dateless nice guy...or must sell-out as a bad boy to get girls. However, my thesis is that the nice/bad guy paradigm is ultimately a false one (although there is often some correlation there). And that if you are physically powerful or emotionally evocative and can turn a girl on - the rest doesn't matter anymore. And PU could actually help him improve these aspects of himself. It's not about being bad...and definitely not just nice...but sexy (although that's no easy feat, either ).

Wow, AWESOME!!! She even shows exactly how she did it! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GQp-VBpk1f8 I just wonder how long she did each session for? I think several of us should try this and compare any results!

Taoist neidan combines the cultivation of one's true nature (Zen mind) with eternal life energy. So, you're already halfway there.. If you already have an empty mind in meditation, now just add intent down at your dantian to cultivate your energy too.

Yea, I am (I believe) feeling more stuff internally now. Although, it's hard to say for sure and maybe I'm just doing something wrong! I was able to get a little vibration in my legs again today, but only after pumping in a lott of energy.. It would be good to practice in a group again just to see if anything different happens? I wonder if perhaps Max moved the right hand up to include the throat, but let it dangle down so that it still covered the heart? I have a hypothesis right now that big jerky (as possibly opposed to smooth, dancelike) kriyas are due to large (often organ-based or gross bodily) blockages obstructing energy flow and vibrations are due to "sputtering" from smaller meridian blockages. Whereas heat radiating out without any motions may be a sign of clear energy flow. Has anyone noticed if emanating heat and thrashing kriyas/vibration seem to be inversely-proportional? IOW, the more movement, the less heat & vice-versa? For example, I can feel heat pouring out of my left laogong, completely motionlessly. But my right hand will vibrate and only a thin layer of heat radiates around my hand when running energy. So, my guess is that my right laogong is still closed - thus "sputtering" and not radiating much heat?

Right, but why the different upper position then (throat vs heart)? Also, I don't have kriyas anymore. I'm totally still during the entire session now. So, I'd probably rather move my hand down to my heart...but if there's a better reason to keep it hanging up by my throat, I'll just do that still. Not a huge deal if it actually serves a better purpose.

Awesome review, thanks for taking the time to write that out for us! Max apparently modified the form to have a limp (rather than flat across) upper right hand held in front of the throat, rather than down by the heart. Anyone (especially facilitators here) know why? Mainly I ask because my right hand keeps gravitating towards my heart, which seems to amplify the energy...but I keep lifting it back up by the throat because that's how Max taught us. So, which is it??? What's the purpose behind either hand position?

Sounds like you're ahead of the game then if you already have a healthy, stable lifestyle. You can probably start on the next step, then... Your (12 zang fu) organs are emotional batteries that can store negative emotions from your own life, past lives, ancestors, etc. These negative charges can cause gross energetic blockages in your organs as well as compromise their physical functioning, leading to actual health problems. Since these are often your largest blockages, they are generally the ones people work on clearing out first. There are many ways to do this, but I think "energetic psychology" works best for such big stuff. This is where you identify the psychological issue causing each energetic blockage and resolve it. Which then instantly removes the blockage. I am not talking about Western "left-brained" psychology here, btw - but "intuitive psychology." Now, once you've cleared out the big energetic boulders, you will still be left with innumerable energetic "gravel" and "sand" clogging your channels. But it would be far too difficult and time-consuming to identify all the issues behind these, so a "mechanical" shotgun approach is more efficient here for sweeping all this finer debris out. This is where a LOT of qigong practice comes into play to incrementally flush your system clean over many, many hours of practice. You don't have to single out issues here, just focus on accumulating and clearing your energy. Think of it as reversing energetic atherosclerosis. This is also the beginning stage of neidan, which then has some more specific goals & guidelines. I agree that Spring Forest Qigong would probably be a good practice to start with since Chunyi Lin is in your same state and it seems to have garnered some good reviews. Drewhempel here may even be able to give you some personal instruction. You may notice that he's had some VERY interesting experiences from SFQ, although they're probably not typical, lol..

To keep things simple at first, just aim towards a more natural lifestyle in general. Eat more whole, organic foods. Avoid synthetic chemicals & overprocessed, denatured foods. Taoism is a scientific art of living. By living in accordance with our bodies' natural design intent and evolved functionality - we can optimize our performance and efficiency at life. A lot of this involves relearning and remastering the core basics properly - like simple movement, posture, breathing, energetics, etc. Once you get serious about Taoism, you can then start an actual neidan practice. But first you will probably have to stabilize your life, release gross energetic blockages (emotionally detox your organs) and normalize your health, though. This all could easily take ~1.5 - 2 years or so (mileage will vary). So, I would focus on these at first to get the big hurdles out of the way. Only when you are in fairly good shape and have a suitable block of spare time available everyday for practice, are you going to really be able to start one. Yes, this does take a lot of desire & discipline, so don't underestimate that. If it were that easy, everyone would be doing it. Not just reading ABOUT, or dabbling... Fact is, IF you want any real results in qigong, it's simply going to take a lot of real effort (mainly, time). Thing is, a lot of it may sound easy in theory, but actual extended practice day-in and day-out could be considered a form of torture for most ADD people today! Simple is not always easy, yet often also the most powerful.

Western allopathic doctors are not going to be able to diagnose any energetic disorders or even many odd general detoxing processes that don't have clinical names. Often good to still give them a shot though just to cover the bases... But if they find nothing (or regardless), I would go find a good energetic healer for some diagnosis and treatment. Then later on, as you develop your own abilities through your own practice, you will be better able to fix it yourself. And if you already have this degree of fine sensitivity, you will actually probably be a natural and quite talented at qigong.

Well, I guess that depends how you define "bad?" How exactly do you? Causing undeserved harm to yourself or others? I personally don't think the 2 are synonymous. Because, you could be really bad...yet not turn a girl on. And in that case, she will just be disgusted by you. Seriously, try chopping a rabbit's head off in front of some chicks...and then see where that gets you. I'm not saying there couldn't be some overlap here, but ultimately I don't think they are the same thing. I mean, you could also be "good" and turn a girl on as well. Meet some chick at a charity event and that could add to your appeal. I will say though that one HUGE advantage that "bad" guys have over "good" guys though is that have NO QUALMS feeding women pathological lies just to tell them whatever they want to hear. "Rub my thighs & tell me lies!" Whereas a "good" guy IS going to turn a lot of women off by being very BLUNTLY HONEST. Womanizers and politicians are often both spin-doctoring BS artists - because both their jobs demand it.

Yes, but the bigger factor here boils down to an elevated M/F ratio in the West due to extended peacetime and large influxes of male immigrant laborers. This is what allows such 1-sided programming to take place. The gender ratio imbalance here has thus caused male sexual demand for women outstripping supply. Which then gives women high leverage and puts far higher selection pressure on men. As result, even the most repulsive, psychotic female today can get sex and commitment ON DEMAND - while many very decent men cannot. You can see the opposite scenario in areas with high F/M ratios (war-torn Eastern Bloc countries, Black hoods where many of the men are dead or in prison, etc). So, a lot of this simply has to do with plain mathematics. If you have 10 eligible guys for every 7 eligible girls - the girls are simply going to have the choice regardless of all other factors. And the guys will simply have to really shape up to compete for them, "fair" or not. Anyhow, since a lot of this is caused by the numbers, women who currently are overvalued shouldn't take too much personal credit for that and men feeling undervalued shouldn't take that too personally either. The playing field simply isn't level, is all. When the table turns again, things will simply reverse. As far as the good/bad guy paradigm, to solve any paradox you really have to transcend it. IMO, the real key now is not whether the guy is good/bad anymore, but whether he turns her on...or not. If a guy turns a girl on, then she will no longer care if he's "bad" (or "good"). If a guy doesn't turn a girl on, then she will not care if he's "good" (or "bad"). So, "forget" about being "good" or "bad," you must focus on turning her on. If you can turn her on, then nothing else will matter... And getting turned on is all that really matters to most women today. The Old School Game of being "good" to a woman...and then trying to turn her on - is simply outdated and obsolete now. If she's not turned on, the only thing that being "good" to her will make you...is a good FRIEND. Which is OK too...just not if you actually want to ever have sex with her.

At least they even showed it there... It was totally banned off the airwaves in the US.

The vast majority of Americans also believe that Osama bin Laden took part in 9II. However, there has never been any evidence of that and he never claimed credit for it, either. Ever wonder why the FBI has never formally charged him for it??? The only crimes the FBI has charged him for are some overseas attacks: More than likely, OBL is merely a paid spook who played his CIA-scripted part to justify the US invasion of Iraq. And now that that's happened, he is no longer needed and Obama has officially retracted the kill order for him (that never actually existed, anyways). The vast majority of Americans also believe that "Al Queda" ("The Base") is a giant terrorist network that took part in 9II. Thing is, none of these American "beliefs" have ever been proven - simply telecasted over the mass media as if they were. But which is more than enough to create the illusion of truth for most Americans today. For whom TV propaganda = fact.

Man, this guy's understanding and explanations of core IMA phenomena (on the left index of his site) are the best I've ever read yet. I'd like to know what his actual training method is (that he does himself, not just his class curriculum)? Just tons of jam jong (zhan zhuang)? Anybody here this dude's student?

Those who have been numbed by abuse or trauma do require higher stimulus to feel anything. These are typically the ones who like S&M.. Otherwise, women do instinctively get turned on by power and aggression. And when they get turned on, they no longer care if the guy is "bad" anymore. See married cheater Tiger Woods. As the old PUA adage says...women would choose 5% of a stud over 100% of a dud. So if you want to satisfy a woman in bed, you do need to be more "Rob Zombie" than "Mr. Rogers."