Sloppy Zhang

Wait, that's supposed to be a turn off? Whoops.

I did this once. Now I'm turned on by skeletons and organs.

I'm just tired of people thinking that insight and books, wisdom and books, or experience and books are mutually exclusive, and that if you don't have a real life teacher you are wasting your time. Gaining experience and insight is about YOU. You could be with the highest master in the cosmos, but if you aren't ready to get the experience and the insight necessary for advancement, you won't. And if you ARE ready for the experience and the insight, then you will get it, even if it's a book you bought off e-bay for $4.50 that promised instant enlightenment. Or you could get it just living life, never hearing of enlightenment. Or you can get it watching tv. Being on a date. Having a drink. Playing a sport. Anything. Gaining experience means having experiences which involve you experiencing them. And there's no telling where you will or will not find them.

Unless that book prompts us to an insight we never would have gotten no matter how long we spent alone in a cave

People have ALWAYS glorified the past. A preface to a book written by an ancient Roman historian from 2,000 years ago started off with "I look around at the times now and weep, the country is failing, government is corrupt, youths these days have no value and disrespect their parents, if only I was around during the founding of Rome, but since I can't, I'll just write about it" (or something along those lines). But the point is it isn't new. History is associated with "authenticity". We see the corruption and dirtiness of our modern world, and since we look to the past at all they didn't have (our technology, world dominance, size, prominence, etc etc) we assume that they were somehow "better" than us. That they didn't have our temptations and distractions. When really we forget that it is all just human nature to be tempted and to be corrupt. No matter what the form, the underlying issues will be the same. On top of that we assume that since it is "old", that it "works". Why reinvent the wheel, right? If people have kept it around for so long, it must have some value. So yeah, there are a lot of reasons why we might be obsessed with old, dead guys. But that's not to say that we should throw out the "old wisdom". That would be arrogance. If someone has already said it and said it well, why waste your time trying to say it a "new" way, when it will only be a cheap, shallow version? If someone has already built it, and it works fabulously, why do it some other way? (case in point, the square wheels that work just as well as round wheels provided they "roll" across a surface with the proper grooves. That isn't to say that we can't be innovative, or we can't look to new, cutting edge ideas and processes. I'm just saying be smart about it. Know when something can be approved upon, and know when something is just as it should be. Have the confidence to step off the path, but the humility to follow the advice of the road markers you'll see along the way. Or perhaps another way of looking at it is to borrow a metaphor from some old, dead guys. "Stand on the shoulders of giants". Make advancements, reach higher and higher levels, bet realize that the progress you've made is only because of the people who came before you, just as the people who come after you will stand on your shoulders and advance.

Let's phrase it another way- There are more purposes to internal martial arts in addition to smashing someone's face in (or whatever other thing you want). You can cultivate all the chi you want, but if you can't actually fight, you aren't doing an internal martial art. You might be developing internal something or another. But if you aren't actually able to translate that to fighting, then it's just regular old qigong. You might be able to atomize a giant stone. Great. What happens if someone takes out your leg with a leg kick? What happens if they catch you in a feint, so your weight and balance is not moving in the right direction all of a sudden? For people saying that one should train so these techniques can be applied instantly, great. But how do you do that? The only way you can realistically do that is by subjecting yourselves to the same kind of rigorous practice that the full contact sports demand- you have to face someone who wants to punch your face into a bloody pulp, is probably more experienced than you and (if you're training in a school and not in an actual ring fight) is probably in another weight class than you. So, yeah, be internal. But make sure that all of your "internal power" can actually have an impact on the external world, and not just in the universe of your mind.

Then do a forum search. I think someone bumped a thread recently about him. Seriously, if you're asking about someone who's even moderately well known, chances are they've been discussed here before.

Same world bro

Not proclaiming to be an expert on anybody.... But Verdesi has apparently popped up in association with several people. Whoever the next new guy is, he's promoting. There are a couple of threads about him, and that's where I got that idea. I don't really know much about him or care much about him either way, check a past thread. John Chang is known from those vids, but he is no longer openly teaching. Basically, if you have to ask about it, you aren't doing it, or you aren't doing it right. Plus some of the practices can be dangerous from what I understand. If ever there was a system that you shouldn't be piecing together on your own, it's probably that one. Wang Liping is probably one of the most accessible of those you listed. Teaching seminars and things like that. Don't get caught up in the politics that has gone on in some threads. A couple of TTB's members have been to his seminars, apparently they teach a good mix of practices in those seminars, so if you want to get familiar with that, that's probably a good idea. As far as those you didn't mention, Michal Lomax (Ya Mu) teaches Stillness Movement Qigong. He's made a lot of good posts and has quite a compelling book. I haven't tried his method, but I do like his posts and his book, and people who have attended speak very highly of him. FiveelementTao has some experience with Chinese internal martial arts and meditation, and a little while ago started to spontaneously discover some things which, through some research, have revealed some pre-Christian Teutonic and Norse roots. So he's been putting together a system of Western, pre-Christian cultivation that integrates universal principles from what he's been involved in in the past. He's got some free meditations on his youtube page ([url="http://www.youtube.com). If you like those and his website, there is that. He's made some good posts in the past and given some advice that I liked (despite some of our disagreements), so I'm sure he could help you get a ways. There is Kunlun, which has been quite the hot topic in the past. Then there is Jenny Lamb's spontaneous adjustment Yi Gong that a lot of people have really liked. And most recently, Chris Matsuo has been getting some interest from a couple of members, like Trunk. I think a few people have bought his DVD's. I don't know what they are, check for threads about him. I'm a fan of B.K. Frantzis. He's got some good products out there. If you're near one of his instructors, check them out. If you're not, try to make it to a seminar. But they can get pretty pricey and in some pretty far out locations. But not as hard to access as, say, Wang Liping.

The lowest.

Nah bro, Edgar Cayce said they're under the sphinx.

In the upper right, when it describes how, from a proper stance, one can move, I think that's the answer right there. If you wanted to move from one side to the other, you could move your body and your foot would already be in position. And since your foot is planted, you could stay "inside". I remember reading an article from someone at the Bujinkan (waits for laughter to subside from the serious MAist crowd), and he was talking about just how little you actually had to move your body to get off the trajectory of a line. His example was to stand in front of a mirror, or have a friend take a staff and point it at your chest. Then all you had to do to really get off the line from center was to turn your torso. Of course, there are lots of other factors, like it not being a straight shot, etc. But the point is that a novice will make big moves and try to get "away" from danger, but tactically that will leave them always on the outside. A master will only move just enough to avoid the hit, which means they stay close enough to counter. So I'm guessing that, with the Wing Chun stance, let's say you wanted to move to the right, because let's say say somebody is throwing a right punch right at you, all you would have to do is move your body and keep your right foot planted. You would avoid the strike just enough, but stay on the inside to trap/counter/do the macarena. But of course the deadly assumption with that is that they are going to throw a committed attack. As in, commit with their body and their momentum, or at least have their body close enough to you. I don't think it would hold up so well against stuff like jabs, outside leg kicks, or stuff like that. It'd be interesting to see some "moving" positions out of Wing Chun. But I guess if you're fighting in a closed space as per the original design (air planes, phone booths that nobody uses anymore, etc) then you wouldn't have need with that. So I guess considering the close range, cramped conditions conditions of Wing Chun, the stance makes perfect sense. From the perspective of the octagon? Parking lot? Ice skating rink? Not so much. Don't know about the intended or unintended energetic effects of the body. With Wing Chun, I don't know how much internal stuff was thought about during its conception or its growth. I'm sure someone has analyzed it sometime or cross trained and experienced some stuff. But I don't know if that's a priority in Wing Chun.

Never read Lone Wolf and Cub, but "Vagabond" is another good manga about cultivation by way of sword (based on a fictionalized story of Miyamoto Musashi). There is a very good visual depiction of what Otis describes as well. Anger, striving, desire to win, etc etc, is portrayed as something flame-like that surrounds a swordsman. Sometimes it has a voice, sometimes multiple voices, all shouting out options, thoughts, memories, observations, etc etc etc. But in master swordsmen and veteran soldiers, as soon as their hand touches their weapon the flame disappears, they are still. And in even more skilled people, there is no flame. There was another scene in which Musashi is traveling with this kid. The kid happens upon a priest working in the fields. Musashi looks at the priest, and suddenly sees a vision of the priest drawing a hidden blade and stabbing the kid. Musashi runs and the guy and shouts at him, but when he gets closer he sees that the priest has a very clear gaze. The priest remarks that Musashi must have a lot of anger which he saw reflected in the priest's eyes. The priest (who is himself a retired soldier), says that a man like Musashi (as he is at the time) is easy to read for a still warrior, because each of Musashi's passions gives away what his intentions are. Good manga

I concur. Seriously, mad, undying props to Seth for meeting someone from a working method that does not equate ejaculation with "zomg I'm going 2 die!!!!! Dis chik haz sucked out my life force!!!!!!"

That's when fate decides. (that was pretty dramatic, if I do say so myself )

Sounds like you need an attitude adjustment No clue. I'm not a Mo Pai guy. Let it burn? If it doesn't particularly bother you, let it work itself out. Or take this time to work it into a practice with whatever it is you pie people do? It might be something you could chain on to something else and boost something that ordinarily wouldn't be that eventful.

Quick- 1) Find a newspaper 2) Roll it into a ball 3) Find a camera 4) Point it to you and the paper 5) Hit "record" 6) Point your hand to the paper 7) PUSH!!!!!!!

I think this is a far bigger detail than the not ejaculating. Reading the OP's situation, it seems his girlfriend has some issues surrounding it, and the OP himself has some issues. It seems that they have lost the "spark" to some tiny detail. If it's a hot session, if there is passion and energy and it is natural, then who cares if the guy blows his load? If they are both satisfied, then it shouldn't matter. The fact that it does means one or both parties are not satisfied with something, and it might not be the sex. It could be some other emotional relationship baggage. Look at the root cause, not the surface symptom.

I don't know what kind of practice you are doing over there, but as far as energy work and stuff goes, proper close down is a must. A proper close down could be as long, if not longer, than the actual practice, because you have to let the energy settle and integrate with your body. Again, I don't know what practices you are doing there, but in my experience, teaching events like that you have to balance teaching with the average person's pace- you may be above or below that, so you need to do what you have to do on your own time to settle outside of whatever activities you may be doing. This is also a great opportunity for self examination. Nothing tells you where the leaks in a bucket are as good as filling it up with water and seeing where it escapes. Ask yourself what activities you do in the mean time, how do you feel in the before and after those activities? What activities literally "suck" the energy from you? When you do give your energy away? And don't worry about it. The more you worry about it, the more energy you're going to lose.

Hm, yeah, tricky. I guess it would depend on what level of the physical you believe energy is impacted by. I seem to recall reading somewhere that B.K. Frantzis refused when doctors wanted to do a spinal fusion on him after an accident, because after his training in Kundalini yoga he didn't want to mess up any of the spinal energetics. But he was, quite literally, an expert in healing, and even he went through a very long, painful process to heal himself up the old fashioned way. But in another sense, cultivation is more than just energy work. And even then, there are some very, very subtle energies out there. I tend to shy away from belief structures that say "if you're spine is messed up, energy won't work" or "if you're missing an arm you're not going to get full energy". I mean... really... you want to cultivate and become one with the universal cosmic energy of light and love, and you're telling me an arm and a couple of vertebrae are going to screw you for life? If I were you, I wouldn't worry about it. Everyone has their own problems. If your cultivation is so weak that it hinged upon having everything in all the right ways (which hardly anybody does anyway), then you need some different cultivation.

Hey TTB's, Wondering what to do on a Friday night? Tired of going to the same old places with the same old friends? How about staying in tonight and chatting with some sexy Taoist singles on the livechat? They'll be waiting for you

Block him? Disallow the posting of comments on your channel? Apologize? Give him a verbal tongue lashing so great that he will leave you alone? Let his comments stand and let others asses the validity of those comments on their own? Let his comments stand, let him rant, blow off steam, and then leave? Get into a conversation with him and try to figure out what his problem is and how you can fix it. Seriously, mewtwo, what did you say to the guy to make him angry? What were you talking about? Either one or both of you have to be kind of a dick to get someone angry enough to start following you around on the internet and messing with you, especially with all the fun things there are to do online.

I dunno, what are the chances that you can comb American antique stores and find a brass statue of Johny Appleseed or Paul Bunyan?

Nope. But on the few occasions I've tried listening to various meditative tracks, they were just distracting. IMO/IME best way to balance is to be silent and still.