Cameron

And since we are now on this topic let me add I atleast strongly suspect that Taoist practiced enable one to transcend these astrological limitations. Zen practice probably also also enables you to free yourself of karmic and astrological influences. Which is why I gernerally don't put much stock in astrology.

I have so many aries in my life it's funny. One of my best friends actually has a Ram tatooed on his arm with ARIES on it. He said since I am a Libra and we are opposites or something that's why we are good friends. Like half my family is aries. Your actually a double dragon yo! THE FIRE DRAGON 1916 AND 1976 The Fire Dragon is a powerful force to be reckoned with. This is a Dragon doubled! The Fire Dragon can move from calm and collected to combustible in a matter of seconds. In some ways the Fire Dragon is his or her own worst enemy. These Dragons cannot help feeling they are valuable and all-knowing. When they are right their vehemence and vigor is an asset to the cause, and though they value objectivity, they do not always employ the best decision-making measures, and sometimes jump to the wrong conclusion. They also suffer from recklessness and quick tempers. Yet, when they do keep their temper, emotions, and rivaling spirit under control, they emanate a commanding influence on other people.

Nice!

At this juncture I view "Taoist practices" most importantly as a health promoting and life enhancing activity. Remember, chinese medicine and herbology were created by the taoists .The Tao, to me, is being in balance yourself and then in balance with the rest of the universe. At a fundamental level Taoist practice can help to balance emotions, improve health, strengthen one's will and volition to accomplish one's goals in life. Every taoist practice I have learned, from standing meditation to fusion of the 5 elements to tai chi to sexuality to herbology to I Ching, appears to be about living in balance and harmony with the tao. the Universe. One of the major drawbacks from what I can percieve is Tao shines brightest in it's effectiviness and success at PREVENTION .from the taoist perspoctive when you have starving children and wars and awful things like that you have basically already lost the Tao. The situation is unbalanced to say the least. If everyone in the world took up Tao you would have a world where people rarely if ever got sick, learned how to live in harmony with nature and create societies where everyone has a place. But Utopia is something we really need to realize more than achieve. It is a long hard sturuggle but tao says it does not neccissarily have to be a long hard struggle. In many ways we make it a long hard struggle ourselves and then have to do all the work to repair the ramifications of the long hard stuggle. Buddhism gives answers by saying everything that happens is karma but then the question arises how can we overcome Karma and cause society as a whole to overcome karma? In many ways you are right the Christian church/Catholic church and probably other huge institutions give tremendously. But maybe it balances out at a higher level. Maybe all the giving and charity these organizations do is to make up for teaching false teacheings. Teaching people less that what we might call the truth. I am not saying this is so but clearly most all major world religions have quite a few gaps. Just as Taoism has many gaps. As a whole it provides more questions to more answers for me that Christianity or Islam or even buddhism but there are still areas of deep questioning for someone with a sensitive or spiritual mind. Why do beings have to suffer? Why is life heaven for some an hell for others? Of course then you get the Taoist sentiment that I have heard and respect alot that you really need to work on yourself. That you balance out the "microcosm" that is "you" and that is as much as you can do to serve the rest of the universe. If everyone worked earnestly on balancing thmselves out and improving there own qualtieies, devleping the 3 treasures and being a help in the community that you live in. Serving when neccissary but not becasue you have to or think it will bring you blessings but because it is the way. It should be the way anyhow. Obviously in some other places in the world "communities" it may not be the way. For me, these are deep questions to ask oneself throughout one's life. Sort of like a zen koan. Perhaps suddenly these things make perfect sense. Perhaps.

John Stewart is a talented man.

I like it. You can create different journals to discuss/share different things. Good job.

Intersting points Sean. You have spent way more time on Scott's material than me so I don't have much of a disagreement. There must be something to the idea of clubbells/circular strength training being applicable to combat sports since quite a few MMA fighters including current heavyweight UFC champ Andre Arlovski trains that way I heard. I guess the issue is my time is limted and do I want to spend 30 minutes doing bodyweight stuff, kettlebells, or Clubbells or Body Flow etc. If I was a professional athlete I could spend all day playing with these things but it's really more about just losing weight and getting some functionals strength at this point. but I will try to keep an open mind about it and explore those clubs and other Sonnon stuff when I have the time.

I was playing with my clubells over the weekend and they are fun. But still agree with Matt Furey that for overall functional conditioning nothing comes close to bodyweight stuff. That said, doing hundreds of squats, pushups, pullups etc is too damn hard for most so if swinging a kettlebell or clubells motivates you great. I don't see the Clubell as having as much usefulness as the kettlebell, however. Kettlebell swings and snatches to work the hips in a unique way bodyweight stuff doesn't. Not that it is really that important I don't think it is but it's still unique. Clubbells basically are for fun. I don't see any super unique carryover. The circular strength concept is interesting but frankly when do you use 'circular strength in real life? Bodyweight excericeses are what you do in real life. Kettlebell swings and snatches are awesome if your a MMA fighter but it's also not something you use much in real life. You dont' snatch your groceries and no 'circular strenght is required to walk down the street or up a flight of stairs. Just my 2.

I have gradually learned to have a sense of humor about this stuff since I really don't know any of these people personally .For all I know they are in need of genuine medical or phychiatric help. That said, there comes a time in a comminity that a person may become more of a threat to the harmony and peacfulness of a community than a help. I have been friends with the 'outsider' the troublemaker, the 'bad guy' and when you are friends with this type of person it does give you a bit of a different insight into the matter. One of my best friends for some reason just loved to cause drama at the first Dojo I practiced at. He just couldn't make other people uncomfortable or angry enough. It was true from one perspective that he kept things exciting and brought a kind of unpredictability to the environment but it was also true that he just made too many people uncomrfortable and some downright miserable. the bottom line is you have to have some kind of awarness about WHO you are communicating with. What is considered offensive or threating in one circle is accepted or considered good humor in another. It's not so much what you say or do but your awareness of lack of awareness of WHO you are comminicating with. This is how it works in life. You may be the star with some people and generally distained with others .You cant' please veryone. That said, having a higher level of awareness about WHO it is your communicating with is something worth cultivating to be successful with people. Somone who lacks this is just limiting thmselves to a very small group of like minded people with like minded sensibilities. It's about LISTENING. Without this your missing out on a lot. Of course internet discussion boards are all about the written word so it involves a different type of listening but the same pricnciples apply. Really basic stuff but somehow a big challenge for some.

Take a wild guess who wins. http://neurology.med.upenn.edu/%7Ejason/fi...vs.Shotokan.wmv

I disagree with what you said about Buddhism. Although probaly some teachers say this I think having a thought about something is not even remotely close to action. Ok, I just thought about killing someone. I took a shotgun and blew there head off. I even put some anger into it, is that anything like taking a real person's life..no. Thoughts definetly have energy behind them so you don't want to be thinking bad thoughts often . Actually, from my udnerstadning the real Zen thing is not to have good thoughts or bad thougts but to go beyond thought . Ken Cohen says only by giving up both positive AND negative thinking do you become truly positve. He is a Taoist priest so think that is a good source for your question. the Tao Te Ching says to "Empty the mind and fill the belly". I always thought this was the quintessential, to the point idea of Taoism or Qigong. Empty your mind of concepts, including discriminative thinking and ideas of right or wrong, and you see clearly. You see clearly. And from what I can gather Buddhism is basically saying the same thing except they introduce the idea of merit or virtue which is basically trying not to think bad thoughts, be giving, don't steal etc. But from the Taoist perspective all this may be artifical or contrived. Taoists seem to be about direct experience and oneness with nature. Not forcefully establishing rules of conduct or behavior. Anyhoo...

Also, I see no reason sex shouldn't be considered a ritual or spiritual practice .My general feeling about this is sex is the most intimate and potentially beautiful thing you can do with another human being but can also become self serving. Or something that doesn't allow any kind of spiritual development. I like what John Daido Loori wrote about the way a zen practitiner should view sex. It should be not-2 sex. Not self centered sex. It should be loving. I was watching some japanese porn of some girl vomiting on another girl that someone sent yeterday and just thought. How did we get such perverted views on this? Isn't sex the direct way we can express our love and feelings with others? Where does all this sickness come from? And then of course all you have to do is look at the world and look at human history and it is very easy to see where all this sickness comes from.

Hi Matt, I began with aikido and did that for awhile. karate is fine but it doesn't really work if the other guy knows Jui Jitsu or grappling. This is not an opnion it is something that has been tested and proven over and over again in mixed martial arts competition. Most grapplers or jui jitsu players just have more options than a karateka. NOW, that being said, a really strong high kick or strike will take anyone out but if your fighting a really good grappler you need to be like a surgeon with your speed and precision in kicking. However, it is defielty possible I was at an mma fight years ago in Atlanta that was over within seconds when the fighter..who incendently was named "cam" knocked out his opponent with 1 strong, prefectly placed kick to the head .The guy was OUT for like 20 minutes and could not get up. A really good Jui Jitsu player will know what to do with any karateka. However, you also have world class kickboxers or strikers like Mirko Crocop who can end a fight with anyone instantly with a kick, most kickers don't have that kind of talent. But anyone can spend a couple years and learn Brazillian Jui Jitsu and do what the guy did in that video did instantly. That guy was nothing special for a jui jitsu fighter and doubt he would have been able to take me down .I would have instantly "sprawled"( A wrestling manever to regain balance and defend a takedown) then probably wrestled him down with a 1 leg takedown or underhooks .Then quickly go for an americana(ki lock) or Oma Plata. But if a BJJ beginner like me were to try that on a world class kicker like Mirco I would get KTFO! Rainbows!~(kidding)

In Zen we do prostrations(bowing) at the end of zazen .i like it. I don't really look at it as bowing to the buddha or anything like that but as an another opportunity to drop.let go of the self. To me, all these spiritual practices have as there hieght the experience of letting go, letting go..going beyong the ideas and concepts. Something I also..very,very briefly experienced with the white skeleton meditation. My grandparents are muslim and pray 4 times a day facing Mecca. To me they are trying to do the same thing..letting go of the ego by submitting to Allah. We can call all this whatever we want ultimately there is only one source and truth. The rest are our ideas and opinions about that which IS. There I go adding more to the too much that is already there again!

Interesting site with free audio lessons on the different jhana states in Buddhsim and meditation, http://www.universel.net/lessons/media.cfm...FTOKEN=79638477

Impressive. I didn't realize how hard pull ups are until I tried to do them, much less one armed! The handstand movements reminded me of pictures I saw of your boy Scott Sonnon on rmax. Amazing stuff.

It's not an instructional course..it shows the actual practice sessions of indian wrestlers. Not a how-to but a what they do. Sort of liekw atching professional fighters train..most of it your not going to do but it's cool to watch.

It is the best work of it's kind and highly recommended. Especially if your interested in this kind of thing to begin with.

Why not? Why the fuck not? Discuss.

What do you guys feel are the over all best practices you have learned? Like the top 5 or top 3 list of the best of the best? The practices that have the most benefits, are most enjoyable or perhaps not that enjoyable but just very productive. For instance, Michael Winn has said if he was banished to an island and could only do one practice it would be primordial qigong. Ken Cohen says if he only did one practice it would be standing meditation. My top 3 list would go something like.. 1. Zazen(cessation contemplation or empty mind) This I feel is the most important spiritual practice. It is considered the cornerstone technique for coming to self realization for many people over a long period of time. It empties the self of egotism and greed and makes you more compassionate . Ultimatly leads to unity with the Tao as has been the experience of many thousands of Buddhists and Taoists. It opens up your qi channels naturally without force and leads to Samadhi and peacfulness with the ultimate goal of enlightenment .Or in zen terms seeing the true empty nature of the self. Other people like Bill Bodri also consider it the foundation practice of changing your fortune due to the ability to empty or sacrifice the ego self and recieve the unlimited, boundless blessings of the universe. 2. Water therapy. I feel this practice can literally keep one free of disease .Or atleast improve one's chances of not getting sick. Water is the most powerful cleansing agent and 72% of our bodies are water . When done daily water therapy also improves over all feelings of well being, completely cures constipation and makes you more energetic. It also has cured people of serious illnesses that medical science did not showing how important water and particulalry drinking a large amount of water first thing in the morning can be. 3. The Royal Court. The 3 simple excercises that originated in India and are literally all you need to get in shape, have awesome cardio, burn fat, and can be performed anywhere, anytime with no equimpment. Also, when done in high numbers, the excercises seem to lower resting heart rate and do it quickly. Also develops a very focused mind from having to keep count in high reps that is useful in developing a focused determined mindset for achiving other goals in life. That would be my top 3 right now.

They each have unique stuff that isn't found in the other. Not really a situation where one is better than the other so much as your personal preference . Personally, I like both but have spent more time on Dragondoor stuff. But Sonnons stuff looks interesting and it has been one of those things I have had on the backburner to check out for a long time .I think one of the reasons I didn't go all out on Sonnon's excercises is because he was critical of Body weight excercises like the Bridge(nose to mat version). But in reality, bridging is as much a part of the training of Hindu wrestlers as Club work. I would just buy some of the material or spend some time on the discussions formums(they both have thriving boards) and see which resonates. Or maybe do what alot of people do..mix both.

no trace

http://www.the-insight.com/articles/sublim...ual-energy.html Havent read through it but looks cool.