Cameron

Sad but true Max. I actually was watching sattelite TV before we attacked Iraq and it looked like a nice country. Though Iran has some very beautiful parts like Shiraz you don't see anywhere else. My mom is from Australia so if I am going to visit any of my parents countries I would go there instead but hopefully one day i can check out Iran without any worry.

Cool. Maybe I can meet your infamous german buddy too

Some pictures of Iran... ]

Cool, let me know when you want to come. Now my knee is healed I am ready for some hiking again. edit- Actually the beginning of July I will be in NYC, LOL!

I suppose I am not really attracted to magick in the sense you do it since I am more on the Taoist vibe. All my main teachers are really about allowing things to be as they are rather than manipulate. I guess you could argue doing qigong is like manipulating your health and vitality in a way but I don't think that is the same thing as what Tao Te Ching talks about. No judgment I know some quite entertaining people into magick and it certainly is interesting. I once asked Eric Yudelove why do you do magick? He said because it is my true nature to do so. I guess we can leave it at that.

Not neccissarily Taoist alchemy .Though that has deifnetly been my main attraction as far as alchemy goes. The western traditions(or what's left of them) are interesting from the bit I have read. Perhaps the tradition of magick comes from alchemy to begin with(East or West)?

Lezlie, what would you say is the diffference between Magick and Alchemy? Or would you classify alchemy, changing or controlling states to another state, under the magick category?

They are a tool. They are fun and you cannot discount the fun factor. Clubs are also pretty fun. I think, as Steve Cotter says, kettlebells accomplish the most things in the shortest period of time. Personally, I would get both kettlebells and clubbells. Also check out bodyweight excercises which are awesome.

All jokes aside, my Dad spent last summer in Iran. Iranians have NO DESIRE to attack America. All this shit is just fear and fabrication. Although I don't agree with the mullahs either.

Ken's stepbrother fought Tito way before Ken did.. http://streaming3.vidilife.com/vidilife/vi...2964/371178.wmv

Every few months or so I like to do a post to make sure people know about this incredible experiment. It takes you right into the training of an Amercian Zen Monastery in upstate NY. With 24 hrs a day teachings. Check it out! http://wzen.org/

hehe, they have music interludes. You can just check the schedule on there it telles you when the talks start.

Michael that was my original advice to but my badass martial artist ego stepped in to assert it's opinions! Is it just a coincedence that the art I decide to practice is the absolute best?! Probably if I studied Tae Kwan Do I would find a reason to say it is the best?! They are all better than sitting on the couch watching Desperate Housewives lets just all agree with that.

In July. It will be awesome.

My favorite right now is Phoenix Dragon Pearl and Rasberry Ceylon from Coffee bean and tea leaf. For basic Green Tea Dragonwell. I here white tea is pretty good also but havent tried it yet. And persian people drink black tea all day so will have that when hanging with family.

Not a claim Max I practiced at 5 aikido dojos with some of the best aikido people in the world. Yes, they are good. But after seeing top BJJ people I don't think they would have a chance. I am not going to get into an ego match with you about technique you might as well gauge an opponents eyes like you said but in a CONTROLLED setting with RULES I don't see a TOP BJJ guy have any problem with MOST aikido people. I am not talking about any of my teachers who can kick ass in aikido I am talking about 90% of aikido people you would find. I have travelled to quite a few dojos and did some camps maybe I saw more practitioners than you. If your going to study aiki jitsu O'sensei learned that's cool and not what I am talking about. LOL@ Koshi nage. I trained with probably the best Koshi nage guy in aikido. A good BJJ guy(Black belt) would take your back and choke you if you tried koshinage. Man i really didn't want tog et into this but your just not doing koshinage or shihnage or irimi nage to a good BJJ guy. You would be choked out fast and easily.

Most zen teachers I read about do lots of focus on LTT. One of the first zen books I read used the visualization to imagine your nose is 2 inches below your navel(ltt) and imagine you are breathing from there. So instead of being on your face your nose has actually 'dropped' into this area below the navel. Eventually, your mind and breath are so connected to this that you breathe from the ltt anturally without effort. Something I am still working on after years of practice I am nowhere near as natural as any baby that can do this naturally.

emptiness meditation 20-40 min zhan zhuang 20-40 min kettlebells 20 min I may add to this but pretty much what my am practice entails.

Watch Rickson Gracie roll. It IS Tai Chi.

I distinctly remember walking around the campus at Arizona State University after the HT board crashed thinking how someone needs to set up another site where people can talk about this stuff and also have a little more freedom to express there own views without having to worry about getting into flamewars. Like the next day I found out about this place. I am still somewhat amazed at the quality and insight of those I have met here. Cameron

I don't want to come off that Ime dissing Aikido it's lots of fun and definetly works but a good BJJ will take 9 out of 10 aikido people down and submit them fast. I am not talking about hardcore aiki jitsu O'sensei learned but the majority of aikido you find. My aikido teacher in NYC would break my arm before I could get the take down. Maybe after 10 years of BJJ I could do something. But he is top of the food chain martial aikido.

Jessie Forbes, Ken Shamrocks first pick for his team on the Ultimate Fighter 3, trains at my gym. He is a really good wrestler and very strong. I can definetly see him win the whole thing. Even though Ken didn't bring in a submissions expert Jessie has trained BJJ alot and will be fine. I have seen really good BJJ guys put him in submissions and he just powers out. One of the last classes I took before my injury was with Jessie. We just drilled takedowns for over an hour straight. I didn't know he got on there even though I saw him a few weeks ago since I have been so out of it from my injury but really happy for him. He is a very nice guy and all class.

Ken's brother Frank is a master of submission but he has bad blood with UFC now unfortunately. It sucks we can't see him fight in UFC aymore he is 10x better than Ken and beat Tito already.

What a good BJJ does to an aikido practitioner. Except Max of course.