doc benway

Since we're doing some jazz - Snarky Puppy hTyd-Yfx_JE Alain Caron - the man is amazing qcsjlFFBU6M

With all due respect, I would say this video is bullshit. If he is skillful, it might take quite a bit more than two times to figure out how to resolve a good fajin strike. Your timing has to be excellent and that takes a lot of work to develop. Our tendency is to stiffen and "go against" and this has been conditioned your whole life. One of the most important principles in Taijiquan is - Zhan Nian Lian Sui Bu Diu Bu Ding. Bu Ding means "do not go against". What I mean is that there is certainly is magic in the fact that we are able to practice a martial art like Taijiquan and develop a high level of martial skill in it, but that is accessible to anyone with the time, determination, and a good teacher. Just like our very existence is magic, the smell of grilling meat is magic, and a wink from an attractive stranger is magic. Life is the magic - the things you can actually sense and experience. But we're always looking for that something more that we haven't experienced. Something special, as if everything at our fingertips isn't special enough. So I guess there is a fine line between "special powers" which represent the masterful application of the principles of physics in Taijiquan vs "magical powers" which represents having developed a power that transcends the laws of physics. That's the best way I can express my point. In my experience, the latter category is bullshit. But I don't know and haven't seen everything so hopefully one day I'll learn some "real" magic and eat my own words! I'll respectfully disagree. Fa Shen is real. You can develop your spirit to the point of completely intimidating an opponent and make them fall all over themselves, make them slip up, flinch, and exploit that. That's Fa Shen in a crude way. That's what we're seeing when an old master twists his students around barely touching them like in these videos. It's kind of like hypnosis. A lot of people, however, imagine that magic bolt of invisible force and call that Fa Shen, and I'll agree that is bullshit.

I believe that the most important qualities of a healer are compassion, patience, and sensitivity. Everything else is simply a function of paradigm. I agree that women are natural healers. Men can probably be equally effective but probably need to work more at it. Men dominate the field in patriarchical societies for the same reason they dominate everything else - fear.

Pretty good stuff! Very old school sound, I guess that makes sense since they've been around since '79. I don't know how I missed them.

I think the key is motivation. If you enjoy marijuana intoxication there needs to be some reason why you choose not to indulge. What might such a reason look like?

It can - you develop Fajin using a number of training methods, one of which is practicing on a heavy bag.

I don't think so, I know so. You're seeing it with your own eyes in that video. Watch very closely. There is easily enough tension. Light touch does not mean being flexible or having the ability to yield. I can touch someone very lightly and remain quite rigid, that's much easier than remaining song - song takes a lot of practice. The force comes quickly and without a relatively high degree of skill the opponent's natural reaction is tension. That tension can then be exploited. I'm not saying it's easy, it does take practice. And the yielding also takes considerable training. It's just not anything magical. There is no magic energy being expressed other than the sensitivity, coordination, timing, and proper posture that is the foundation of good taiji and fajin. Those qualities in and of themselves are quite magical in my mind but that is different than the imagined invisible Qi force that opportunists pretend exists and that people who aren't satisfied with honest, hard work over time imagine. There is no magic in Taiji. We all have the same potential. I do believe it can be figured out - someone figured it out at some point, didn't they? On the other hand, it is much easier to learn under the guidance of a credible teacher. It is simply a matter of timing, sensitivity, coordination, and diligent, correct practice. Another name my teacher likes for Fajin is 'coordination power'. Short force is more literal but 'coordination power' gives a much better idea for what's going on.

Neither video shows anything special. Fajin simply means short, explosive force. Both videos show that - that's a relatively easy skill to develop. The reason they look impressive to the uninitiated is that the subjects are resisting. Look at the elbows of Michael Phillips' subjects. You can see them subtly tense the elbow. At times they are nearly pushing themselves off, at other times he is just taking advantage of their stiffness and "bouncing" them. It's a drill we practice regularly. There is an extremely simple way to neutralize this - simply absorb the energy, don't tense the elbow. Then it is completely dissipated. The only trick is timing. A skillful Taiji player can cause you to tense, then take advantage of that in many different ways - that is exactly what you're seeing in the videos. These are useful skills in Taiji application and also impressive parlor tricks. It's not magic.

White Tiger's recent thread about practicing internal arts made me want to discuss the natural extension of that which is teaching the internal arts. What do you teach? I'll start - I primarily teach Taijiquan and Qigong. My major personal practice includes Taijiquan, Qigong, and Daoist meditation. I also practice and assist in instructing Xingyiquan and Baguazhang but they are secondary for me. Perhaps this might be a thread where we can discuss teaching the internal arts. The frustrations and rewards. Ideas for drills. Ways to keep it fresh and interesting. Anything. It's been fascinating experience for me. For those of you who practice and have thought of teaching and have the opportunity - DO IT! I feel like my own Taijiquan skills and understanding have improved dramatically as a direct result of my teaching responsibilities. My own teacher maintains that there are a number of steps to achieving mastery in Taijiquan and other internal arts. First we obviously have to practice diligently and properly for a long period of time. No matter how long we practice, however, that will only take us so far. Second, we have to incorporate meditation into our training method. Certain aspects of Taijiquan will only be achieved with proficiency in meditation. Third, we must gain experience in teaching to reach our highest potential. There is a deeper investigation that takes place when we are forced to help others understand. When learning ourself, we only need to look at the material in one way - the way that makes the most sense to us as individuals. When teaching, we need to look at the material from the perspectives of all of our students and we need to find ways that help them to understand. This necessarily leads to a deeper understanding for us. Furthermore, our students will raise questions that may never otherwise occur to us. Ultimately this results in a wider and deeper knowledge base and a higher level of confidence. Anyone care to discuss any aspects of teaching the internal arts?

People often talk about the dan tian like a radiator in a car and the pathways like a cooling system. Qi isn't stuff - it isn't water. That's only a metaphor. The energy pathways aren't fixed anatomic structures that can be seen or measured. They are wherever you imagine them to be. They are continuous throughout. If you develop adequate sensitivity, you can feel flow anywhere you choose. Try it sometime. We get too attached to diagrams and concepts - it's all a convenience of communication, nothing more. Just my opinion of course, YMMV.

I think this is a beautiful quote - it really speaks to me. I have no idea who said it and don't recall anything similar form Dao De Jing, but then again I'm not much of a scholar. It doesn't sound like something from Laozi. In any case, Laozi probably wasn't a historical individual anyway so i'm not too concerned with who said it...

1. I prefer the word Awareness over Mindfullness. Buddhist, Daoist, Christian, Jew, it doesn't matter. Be aware! Pay attention to yourself, to others, to what's going on - the little stuff, not the propaganda that masquerades as newspapers. Be connected with you everday activity. Not in a sense of controlling it, but rather in an attempt to simply experience it and maybe even "understand" it a little bit. Daoists do not believe in controlling anything. Who is there to control? What are they controlling? Wu Wei is a core principle of Daoism. It means to recognize your connection to everything else and simple go with, rather than against the flow of your life. Controlling means to go against. 2. Energy practices are not important but they can help to become more aware. 3. I don't know much about Reiki but many of the folks that get involved get caught up in some of the new-agey hype surrounding it, so be careful that it doesn't become a distraction. It is a healing method invented by a Japanese guy in the 1920's. I really like this and agree with it wholeheartedly. Clarity, in my mind, is akin to my use of the word Awareness, and has similar connotations to the way the Buddhists use the word Mindfullness. Be an integral part of your life. Get out of your head and into your life, as Stephen Hayes would say. The only thing I would add is that the Clarity must also be applied to that "little (or big) voice in your head". Perhaps it is possible for the voice to be quiet at times but I don't think the voice can or needs to (or should) go away. It simply has to be seen for what it is using that same light of Clarity. It is just the thought that separates itself from the others and calls itself "I". It's the thought that gives us the illusion that we are separate from everything else, and acts as the interpreter, judge, and decider. The thought may not go away but is just another thought along with all the rest. The end of the conditioning is not necessarily the extinction of the voice but rather putting the voice in its proper perspective.

I like this! Hmmm, kind of like a chess grandmaster? I'm glad you're still around gold - sometimes enlightening, sometimes exaperating, always entertaining.

I find that all drugs have a negative impact on things like meditation and qigong. Some of the more psychoactive drugs make you think that they are helping but it's an illusion, IMO. Drugs are toxins and I try to keep free from them as much as possible these days, whether prescribed or recreational. As I've become more skillful in my meditation practice, I find that I'm much more sensitive to the effects of medications as well as alcohol. I used to enjoy alcohol quite a bit, now it's relatively infrequent that I feel like drinking more than a taste. It just affects me too much.

I like both of these ideas because, to me, the Dao and all of us and everything is not "made of" stuff of any sort. The more we investigate the nature of things, the more we find that there is no stuff. There is just process and relationship. This is beautifully expressed in Daoist writings as well as the Buddhist philosophy. Here, I will respectfully disagree. I think that there are Western writings about Daoism that are very helpful, particularly to those with Western conditioning and sensibilities. Some Western Daoist writing is crap. Then again, so is some of the Chinese writing. Not all of the Daoist canon is valuable or meaningful in modern life and not all the Western writings are crap. YMMV

No need to state the obvious! You work too hard. Relax. I'm a fan of Guinness myself, as long as it's draft. Although Macallan's works pretty well too.

Cool - maybe there is more to you than just bile and bitterness after all. It's OK, some of us won't think less of you! And do you think it makes any difference at all where you live? The purpose of a guru is not to enlighten anyone - it is simply to show you how foolish you are in your efforts to try to become something other than you already are. Most 'gurus' don't realize that, of course, and simply exploit their donkeys. And most people love it! People don't want to wake up. It's much more comfortable to simply follow the conditioned patterns and indulge in the game. And it's very hard work to break out of that programming. It takes enormous energy. And it isn't something you just do once, it is an ongoing effort. Most people just aren't serious enough (or are way too serious, depending on how you look at it). And those that do want to get out need to torture themselves for a very long time, usually, before they realize that it's OK to finally stop because they've been there the whole time. But I don't mean to hijack Stig's thread... I'll shut up now.

Some guitar related stuff.... as you may figure out, I'm obsessed with Dusan Bogdanovic's music. A traditional lullaby done in an improvisatory manner - Dusan's specialty Oh3YYYoWQUw A very beautiful, hypnotic piece - probably my single favorite piece to play (but this isn't me) VeK8B4Wq6BY And another classical guitar genius - Carlo Domeniconi. Here is his piece called Koyunbaba which is meant to evoke the Turkish countryside. The first movement as performed by Aniello Desiderio dCxtS6AZG7k I can't find a really good clip of the 2nd movement yet... The last two movements as performed by the composer DwKDLgwTnQU nqw043POqRw ps it's not quite as hard as it sounds, I play it passably well, but certainly not like him. If you're a guitarist, track down the music - it's a lot of fun to play.

I started training in Japanese martial arts at age 12. Mostly empty hand but then got into the sword arts. I then got into Wing Chun. My teacher got thrown in jail after several years of training with him, so back to Japanese arts. When I hit 40, I found I could no longer train hard with the young guys and manage to get up for work the next morning. Too many injuries, too much soreness and stiffness (I was in a very traditional school that emphasized full contact). That's what stimulated me to seek out Taijiquan. For the first year or two it was just the form and QiGong and was very healing and healthy and built me up. Then I got into the more martial side of the training but there's a very different quality to the physical training that doesn't cause me to always be so sore and injured, even when we train very physically and very hard. Sure, my back is sore quite a bit from some of the pushing and pulling and throwing and I get bruised up quite a bit, but it's not like it used to be in the Japanese school. Plus, the QiGong and form continually rejuvenate me after the tough training. At the recommendation of my teacher, I also took up Daoist meditation which brings a whole other aspect to the table. So my reasons for practicing internal arts - Health and fitness Self defense training Spiritual development I like 'extreme harmony' - that actually would be a pretty fair English translation of Tai Ji. I dislike the usual tranlation - supreme ultimate, it totally misses the point. It's way too lopsided in English. Extreme harmony or, better yet, harmony of extremes or unity of extremes, is a much better translation. Do you know anyone teaching in the Sarasota area? My family lives there and I'd love to find them a good program down there. At least until I decide to move!

Good points, Pietro. For all we know, once out of the closet, the Daoist practitioners may end up on someone's list somewhere, just waiting for the next extermination attempt. I'd certainly be wary in their shoes.

Hi Stig, Not sure if this will help at all. I live in the West but I wouldn't consider myself a Daoist. I'm not much for definitions, labels, and categories. I do practice Taijiquan and Daoist meditation daily. My practices have spilled over into my daily life. I'm lucky enough to have found a good teacher. My teacher doesn't advocate much in the way of reading or study. He's not one for philosophical discussions or interpretations. I have done some reading about Daoism nonetheless - I've read a few translations of Laozi in English and I've tried translating a few of the chapters myself (not very well). I've read a few English translations of Zhuangzi and Liezi and a variety of other writings on Daoism. I've read nearly nothing on the subject for the past year or so, although I have been reading Anthony Demello and Jiddu Krishnamurti on and off, both of whom are very Daoist in their insights and approach, though they wouldn't take labels as such, if they were alive I suspect. Demello was a Jesuit and Krishnamurti eschewed labels of all kinds - this was a big part of his fundamental teaching. His teachings were a very direct expression of Dao De Jing's first chapter. I don't practice any of the "religious" aspects of Daoism. I have no interest in deities, incantations, magic, fus, Yijing, and the like. If my teacher ever offered to help me study Yijing, I would consider it, otherwise I just don't have the interest. Too intellectual for my taste right now. I don't spend much time studying the philosophy but rather I find myself living it. It helps me immensely in my daily life. I'm always looking for and finding the world to be a reflection of the principles of Tai Ji and Wu Wei. It allows for a great deal of personal understanding and acceptance, particularly in times of stress or when faced with unpleasant situations. Trying to "define" Western Daoism would be a bit presumptuous and artificial, IMO. Similarly, trying to define Daoism alone is a formidable, if possible task. One aspect of Western Daoism that I think is very important to be aware of is the diaspora, if you will, of Chinese Daoists that occurred as a result of the cultural revolution in China. Mao's policies effectively neutered much of traditional Chinese culture, Daoism included. Most serious martial artists and practitioners of the Daoist methods were either jailed, executed, went into hiding, or fled. Those that didn't have mostly died of natural causes by now. A few may have managed to pass along their skills and knowledge but much was lost. The Chinese may not want the world to believe this but much of what is considered traditional Chinese martial art and Daoist practice is an attempt at reconstruction and commercialization by the powers that be currently. This is probably one reason for the recent Daoist event you attended. It's certainly the case in places like Shaolin and Wudang and even Chen village. Much of the ancient wisdom is dead and gone. Some has survived, much of that on Taiwan and elsewhere outside of China. I would take many of the "experts" in China with a large grain of salt. Many of the finest martial arts and cultivation experts fled to Taiwan and elsewhere and their legacies carry on in other places. I think a lot of anger and bitterness exist in China as a result of their losses during the latter half of the 20th century. Some of this is displaced onto foreigners and other easy targets as it remains very difficult and risky to manifest anger and resentment toward those that are the most deserving - the leadership and the very people themselves who bought into the insanity. So I think Western Daoism is a very complex subject. It includes Westerners, like myself, who are lucky enough to have credible teachers and practice Daoist methods and others who try to practice from books and videos and the like (most of which, unfortunately are incomplete, inaccurate, and often the creations of opportunists who have cobbled together bits and pieces of a variety of traditions). It includes Westerners who are attracted to the philosophical insights of Daoism. It includes martial artists who are attracted to the spiritual aspects of their practice. It includes refugees of Mao's cultural genocide and their offspring and successors. It includes the Chinese diaspora in general who practice the rituals of religious Daoism in their new homes. And it includes quite a few opportunists, occultists, and new agers who are drawn to things like immortality and magic and who think they will find such secrets or an opportunity for exploitation in these practices. Daoism both in and outside of China is a very heterogeneous subject that I think will be very tough to capture in a meaningful definition. Good luck with your project.

Never really looked into George's music beyond My Sweet Lords. I was a Beatles fan up until they split and beyond. I got into John's solo work quite a bit but none of the others. I'll check out some of George's stuff. Thanks

I agree. You seem to have a way of communicating where you are and what you feel very nicely. Now that you feel you can only find answers inside yourself, how to go about looking there? I think that's the next step.