Zone Trooper

Hello! To elaborate, survival/success at our place of work demands me playing the "gray man." After the 2008 economic crisis, upper management are very task-oriented and have terminated those in lower management who disagree. This has made for some unfortunate ripples through the rest of the organization and for those of us on the shop floor. There seems to be a pronounced predator-prey mindset. My peers are are a great bunch of people that you could describe as "good old boys." I do my best to blend in. Flannel, old pickups, talking NASCAR, fishing, dogs and so forth. Probably 90% are unaware of my involvement in Chi Kung or the martial arts. This forum seems like a good place for ideas. Needing to be somebody else for 40-60 hours per week is heck of a drain on my system. Chi Kung does a lot to relax me, but it seems like it takes about 48-72 hours to get back to normal before the next workweek. My family deserves better. I'm getting good sleep, food, avoiding excesses of alcohol and caffeine, not using tobacco. The only thing I can attribute the drain to is the corporate culture. Any ideas for resisting the drain or "recharging my batteries" quicker, for lack of a better metaphor? Any suggestions will be considered. Thanks in advance, -ZT

Gotta confess something to y'all. I'm not Taoist, Buddhist or any other Eastern religion for that matter. I'm not trolling or trying to start a debate. I practice a Western religion, but am sorta on the fringes with it. Not losing faith, just not in the center of the bell-shaped curve, you might say. Always have been. But the practices like Chikung, Asian martial arts and whatnot seem like a natural and a no-brainer to me. I'm kinda high-strung and depressive by nature and find that Chikung and meditation seem to have more practical benefit than the traditional prayer within my own religion. Prayer has its value, without a doubt, but after I get done praying when stressed, I'm still stressed. Like I have to open up a separate relief valve afterwards. Chikung or a good martial workout centers me up almost without fail. Gotta keep it on the low-down within the body of fellow believers due to the perceived "wrongness" of it. (Then why does it work so darn well?) Causes me to think that through trial-and-error God wanted me to find these methods. Someone else's differing religion and viewpoints don't threaten my way of life, but rather give me another perspective and a need to really practice respect and tolerance. Plus I have some really good friends of the Buddhist and Taoist persuasion. In the last several months in our household we had a variety of family crises. We are mostly through them, with a few aftershocks. These kinds of things really let you know who your friends are. Some highly educated and high-ranking persons within our faith basically dropped the ball and showed their true colors when they were called upon for advice or just for us to vent. On the other hand, some unexpected people, Buddhists, and some of no apparent religion really came through. Gave me a lot to think about and cause for some re-arranging of my social life. I guess the point I'm trying to make in this rambling rant is that good people and your friends are just that, regardless of who or how they worship. Keeping it real and making the rubber meet the road seem more important than a lot of flowery talk, blah-blah doctrine and self-righteousness. So, in conclusion, thanks to everyone who's keeping it real, wherever you are.

Hello! I've been doing some Zhan Zhuang for almost a year now in the tradition of Master Lam Kamchuen. It really works well. Ideally his books say to practice outside. We are currently experiencing single-digit temperatures, so I'm practicing in the living room of our house. Would a person get a better effect doing it in the basement in order to be closer to the earth versus on the ground floor and approximately 7 feet from the earth's surface? I'm not Buddhist or Taoist, but definitely a "Pragmatist", so any advice is much appreciated! Thanks!

Hello: I'm a little new to the internal arts, but am enjoying the health benefits a lot! Traditionally, one is supposed to practice Chikung/Tai Chi/Bagua in the early morning and evenings, from everything I've read about them. Minor problem is, that I work second shift, so the AM practice is in the middle of my sleep cycle, and the evening practice is about the middle of my shift. I definitely want to make the practice part of the daily routine. Any harm in doing it as your schedule permits versus not at all? Any advice is much appreciated! -ZT

Thanks for everyone's input. As so many other things in life, there's the ideal situation, and then doing what you have to. It seems to work well in spite of not exactly being at the ideal time. Gives merit to the practice as a whole! -ZT

Howdy: Being relatively new to the internal martial arts and the Taoist concepts associated with them, I have a question regarding conditioning. Does the bodyweight conditioning advocated by Matt Furey and boxing/MMA workouts a la Ross Enamait enhance or take away from the goals in Tai Chi/ XingYi/ Bagua? Any advice or opinions would be much appreciated. ZT

Thanks for the advice. The exercises are typical cardio, resistance and flexibility but I didn't know how they might affect internal energy development. Probably won't hurt, from the sound of things. ZT

Hello! I found this site while web-surfing and was impressed by the content. I've been involved in some various external martial arts for a number of years, but recently started training in Bagua. It's VERY different than the external stuff for a number of reasons, but rather interesting nonetheless. -ZT