RiverSnake

Though others may disagree, Mantak is not my cup of tea. His practices can be carelessly written. In regard to chi...I've found it of value in my own practice to not focus on seeking certain phenomenon. Trying to feel chi can be a bit like trying to hold water. As your body grows in sensitivity you will feel things automatically. Focus on correct training and the sensations will come all on there own. In regards to back pain you may want to seek out a specialist. Best of luck and Welcome to TTB.

It may benefit you to see a professional healer.

The Internal Arts will actually make you a better martial artist (IME), it's a win-win. What martial art do you practice? It may have an internal component that you can focus on.

Been a Bum for awhile, and I wanted to have a pole for the more seasoned Bums on the forum. For all the seasoned vets whom surf this forum and have been here at-least a year......In your experience has the quality of content, dialogue and sharing changed noticeably....and if so has it been positive, negative or has there been no fluctuation in the quality of dialogue? Obviously this pole is highly subjective, but wanted to take it anyways. My 2 cents, Peace

My understanding is that Palm strikes are very important in many martial systems, I've found them specially emphasized in Bagua and there seem to be so many different kinds. Could you elaborate on this subject of Palm Strikes, the vast variety and there usage in martial arts?

Indeed, definitely feel there's been less spear tossing as of late. But tommorow, whom knows?

Enjoyed the interview. Thought it might be a bit too nerdy for my sensibilities, but was pleasantly surprised. Blessings.

Bump. It's been a little over a year and was wondering what others experience during that time has been. For me personally I definitely noticed a shift in the quality of conversation and felt a need to re-cast my vote.

What are you looking to achieve in your practice?

Jetpacks are great to fly around in.....If you have clear skies, the proper instruction manual and an instructor there to clear up any misconceptions you have regarding your interpretations of the manual. The more items you subtract from this list the rougher it may be in your flying. You can still fly, but it may very difficult and you may experience a very harsh learning curve.

There are so may different ways that internal work can influence the practitioner. My only recommendation is that you start some kind of journal log so you can keep track of your experiences. Also if your instructor is skilled on the internal aspects you may want to ask him what results he got from the discipline.

Welcome to TTB. For Buddhist Meditation book recommendations Wisdom Wide and Deep may be a beneficial text. Also i'd recommend you find some energetic circulatory practices, meditation and energetics go quite well together (IME). For books on Imagination and the power of thought-forms i'd recommend Mindscape: Exploring the reality of Thought-forms. Hope this is helpful and best of luck in your path. Blessings. http://www.amazon.com/Wisdom-Wide-Deep-Practical-Mastering/dp/086171623X/ref=pd_bxgy_14_img_y http://www.amazon.com/Mindscape-Exploring-Reality-Thought-Forms/dp/0835606600/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1437913989&sr=1-1&keywords=Mindscape+exploring

Make sure to balance "Sitting" practices with "Moving" practices.

There is a barrier of experience with these kinds of arts. If you practice any system and feel a strong connection with it then i recommend you give it a 100 day trial of daily practice. See what experiences/results you have. Afterwards, if you feel its not for you, then go elsewhere.

I have heard nothing but good things about both methods. There is actually a very extensive thread on Flying Phoenix Qigong in which several students, teachers and bums discuss the system. Here's the link: http://thedaobums.com/topic/12639-flying-phoenix-chi-kung/?hl=%20flying%20%20phoenix Also there has been many discussions on The Way of Energy By Lam Kam Chuen and Zhan Zhuang in the past. Would definitely be worth investigating. What appears simple is often very powerful. Best of luck in your journey.

Welcome to TTB.

Welcome to TTB.

Meditate and hour before you go to sleep. This should affectively sublimate the baser energies upwards and thus prevent nocturnal emissions.

Self transformation is the name of the game.

Having a teacher is very beneficial. They can give useful advice, energetic transmission, and also point out the subtler aspects of the art, that you will likely miss when first starting out. Also there is a matter of the complexity of the teachings. Some methods are simple and can be applied by most people, while other techniques can be complicated and may require detailed in person instruction. However, the fact is 90% of the work you will have to do yourself, even if you have a teacher on hand. If it was impossible to train by oneself then no teacher would create DVDs or write books on the practice. That being said I practiced for about 1 year by myself and recieved a lot of benefit. When I went to my first seminar of the teachings I was learning it was extremely beneficial and I learned a great deal.....much more than I think i would have if I hadn't been practicing alone. There is no down side to practicing by oneself, as long as the methods are simple enough to understand and there is no risk of sustaining internal injuries. Better to practice some qigong and recieve some benefit than practice no qigong and recieve no benefit.

Yes that was what I was refering to, between the eyes.

I rarely take a firm stance against any kind of practice because there is a time and a place for everything. But to my sensibilities, this method is retarded. Sadness is a not a particular vibration you want to be cultivating on a regular basis. However, if using emotions for cultivation is something you resonate with then practicing and circulating the Inner Smile would be quite beneficial. You want to utilize higher vibrations that dissolve through blockages in your system such as: Love, Confidence, Happiness, Orgasm and Relaxation. Vibrations like sadness depress the system if cultivated and will likely leave you worse off than you were. Take your head out of your ass...your not the first person to go through these struggles. People whom have walked the path before you developed methods to make overcoming these internal obstacles easier so that others wouldn't have to suffer the process of running into brick walls like they did. Hope this was helpful and best of luck.

Recommend you see a professionally healer. These imbalances are often systemic blockages rather than isolated in one area. Pm me if you'd like some references for healers.

It would be cool to have an interview with the TTBs own SeanDenty.

If its occurring naturally and unforced then i don't think its likely to harm you. There are many types of cool breath based practices and as you said the benefits are awesome. In regards to your problems, don't forget to pursue some form of self-purification that's gradually clearing out the blocked channels in our body. It's easy to be in these "High" states and feel like everything is great. But in reality we can be sitting in a pile of our own shit and learning to like the smell. The Peace and Equanimity gained through practice must be developed into a calm and flowing stream. Not jerky rapids with occasional siestas. This requires taking out the "trash' in our own body. In terms of your problems of absorbing women's jing and feeling psychically scattered. I don't know much about the jing part...but psychic self defense is worth studying so you don't pick up peoples junk as your in the process of unloading your own. Hope this is helpful. Blessings.