devoid

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Everything posted by devoid

  1. Question about the Fire method

    Hi fatherjhon, I think Taomeow framed it quite nicely. As for water or fire method or tradition it can be said that there is no method or tradition which exclusively works with either fire or water as the two are opposite poles between which you create balance. I guess Bruce Frantzis prefers to make the distinction because he likes to emphasize one over the other. I don't know where you want to take your studies from here, but I could imagine that you would like more info on how to move energy. If this is the case I can recommend considering to look into the microcosmic orbit MCO. My recommendation is to read about it as much as you can before playing around with it too much. (Caution: Many people on this forum disagree vehemently with the self-study-approach and think that you should not read, but instead study with a master and heed his every command ) Since you're already on BK Frantzis, I suggest starting / continuing with "Opening the Energy Gates of the Body" and study / practice his recommendations on posture of the body/spine for meditation. Also study / practice his recommendations on silent, abdominal breathing. Once you have all that in place you have a good foundation for starting to look into MCO. A good place to look for MCO are Dr. Yang Jwing-Ming's books - he covers it in several books, but I would say that Qigong Meditation: Small Circulation is the most complete. Apart from the MCO, this book also discusses kan and li, fire path, wind path and water path as well as much more. I wish you happy searching
  2. Internal Martial Arts Classics

    Hi MithShrike, Thanks for your response. Good point. Yes, the idea of using dedicated IMA forums also occurred to me. Yet, I found that generally on (all) the dedicated IMA forums that every time you bring up the hard to grasp words such as qi, jin, li, etc. in the context of the ancient texts you get stormed by MMA buffs who will tell you start hitting harder rather than an actual discussion trying to understand what was written. That's why I considered this forum, but I agree that there's a risk we don't have the critical mass here. This said it is very much my understanding that we have many martial artists here as well. We'll see - perhaps we'll get something going here and if not I guess I'll just have to continue studying with my teachers, on my own as well as with my personal IMA friends. I was planning on letting this thread sit throughout the weekend and see if I got more than a handful of encouraging responses from people who want to play
  3. Which Tai Chi School is "Best"?

    Hi Stig, I think your answer is a very good one. You could consider adding that it is important that the teacher can also explain the martial applications of the forms he/she teaches. I know some people are not interested in that, but masters of the past have suggested that the understanding the martial application is key to performing the forms right. Additionally, you could consider pointing your friend to this article by Dr. Yang, Jwing-Ming on learning Taiji Quan: http://ymaa.com/articles/steps-in-learning-taijiquan
  4. Help with protection from taoist black magick

    My advice to you is not to worry. Obviously, he's trying to intimidate you. Simply ignore it - don't let it get to you. If he won't leave you alone and keeps stalking you, report him to the police. On the tao / energy side of things, remember that the tao really likes you. Close your eyes, breathe deeply and let all the negative thoughts recycle into the tao. As you meditate quietly, imagine the tao washing through you and taking along with it any negative energy left by your encounter. It is a nice feeling. Give all the bad vibes back to the tao and let the tao recycle the energy back to the wuwei state. At the same time, the tao will replenish you with new positive, happy, healthy energy.
  5. answer the call of the tao

    Interesting discussion zerostao, It reminds a bit of the How did you get here? thread started by manitou. I wouldn't say I had a calling as such - I stumbled upon it by accident and suddenly all my implicit first childhood memories and earliest recallable understanding of things now had a name. I guess I feel very much that I am here because as a consequence of the tao rather than because of a calling. In other words, I think I always had the tao in me, but just didn't really know what to call it or how to explore it further. Internal cultivation has been my path to reconnecting with the tao - only later did I get interested in looking more into philosophical taoism - on that note, I enjoy our discussions on that topic very much
  6. Finally we meet

    Hi ocelot, Welcome to the Taobums
  7. The dark side....

    Hi z00se, Instilling fear in somebody is essentially to create an imagery / impression that you want that person to experience. Please note the difference between you being something and you projecting signals to somebody - in other words, you don't necessarily have to become what you would like to project. Instead, and in order to do that, you have to master the art of projecting such signals. This can be done on many levels: the physical (body language, raising hair, showing teeth, narrowing of the eyes, sounds, etc.) the psychological (using manipulative tools and techniques such as intimidation, distractions, etc.) as well as perhaps on shen level (using concentrated, focussed intent). Now, this is of course all easier said than done. It takes a lot of training to incorporate such aspects. The hardest part IMO is to become master of your own shen. To attain this you will certainly need to be able to dissolve and control any anger or emotions you may have, in order to succeed. The funny thing is that when you attain that level you will see that there is in fact no dark side - it is simply a set of tools / skills which can be used for both virtuosity as well as for malaise.
  8. [TTC Study] Chapter 30 of the Tao Teh Ching

    Thanks Marblehead, The good, humble master - very nice. I am missing a note on the humble master always willing to learn, but I guess that can be found implicitly with going along with (rather than against) the forces of the Universe. I suppose if one is already a master of oneself, the Universe and the Tao, such things are self-evident
  9. Tao Teh Ching Subforum FAQ

    Hi Aaron, We have had a few threads on the general discussion forum on the Art of War and discussed moving the somewhere more appropriate. Does Sun Tzu fall under this umbrella labelled the Tao Te Ching, etc. in your opinion or would like me to ask the admins for a separate sub-forum for the 13 chapters like e.g. Manitou did with the Nei-Yeh texts / discussion?
  10. hi

    Hi goldentaoist, Welcome to the Taobums
  11. The pig has landed

    Hi virtuos pig, Welcome to the Taobums I am not too much into Mantak Chia myself, but many on this forum are. My general impression from the Taobums is that he is considered a very important contributor to the publication of taoist alchemical practices. The best way to search TTB is using Google with site:thetaobums.com as well as using the search functionality on the forum as a second attempt if the Google search doesn't yield what you were looking for. Caution about the direct search under TTB - it tends to be a somewhat slow.
  12. Hsing-I and Ba Gua of BK Frantzis

    Hi Jess, Yes, there's a lot of truth in the proverb: the devil is in the detail - this is especially true for martial arts. I'll try to contact you next time I'm in the Bay Area so you can show me in person
  13. Hsing-I and Ba Gua of BK Frantzis

    Hi Jess, Many thanks for the clarification on the style as trained by the titans I didn't mean to suggest that the footwork of Heng Quan should be anything like Pao Quan. Sorry for not making that clear, please allow me to clarify: In the styles I have had privilege to till now, in fact the Heng Quan footwork has been quite similar between the linages and I agree it's not easily described in writing. The difference between the style variants is in the line of attack (following either body or fist): E.g. in the Sun Lutang style, the practitioner moves forward (with the body) in a straight line (which means that the punches are not thrown on the same line - instead, the punches thrown by the left is on one line which is parallel to the line of those thrown by the right fist). This stands in contrast to the general Hebei tradition in which the tactic is to move the body slightly off center line (hence the reference to the zig-zag) to ensure that each Heng Quan punch (right and left) are executed on the same line of attack. I speculate that the Sun Lutang strategy for Heng Quan makes it predominantly a defensive maneuver which helps open up the opponent for throwing the next punch center on (such as e.g. a Beng Quan which I guess was really one of Sun Lutang's all-time favorites) while the traditional Hebei strategy suggests a more balanced Heng Quan with equal shares of offense and defense (much like the other elemental fists). Sorry if that got a bit long.
  14. Hsing-I and Ba Gua of BK Frantzis

    Hi Jess, Many thanks for posting all this while still so fresh in memory. Sounds like you guys had a great time. In the IMA, Xingyiquan was my first love and thus I really enjoyed reading your recount on the details that make it so special - sounds like this is one of your favorites as well By the way, I always wanted to thank you for publishing the book Nei Jia Quan - I found it to be a great source of inspiration. Just one question related to the Xingyiquan you practiced this weekend: From your description, it sounds like Hebei style, Sun Lutang variant? In case you don't know, perhaps you could tell me if the Heng Quan (Earth Elemental Fist) of the style is straight line or zig-zag (like Pao Quan)? Sorry for the many questions
  15. Hello Everyone!

    Hi taobum2011, Welcome to the Taobums
  16. Hi

    Hi Jorge, Welcome to the Taobums
  17. Hey guys and girls

    Hi Conwaypk, Welcome to the Taobums
  18. Hi

    Hi Kombaiyashii, Good to have you here. Welcome to the Taobums
  19. Happy Losar

    Hi boatmaster, Welcome to the Taobums
  20. Hey Guys

    Hi nifotc, Glad you finally joined us. Welcome to the Taobums
  21. Greetings

    Hi Sephius, Welcome to the Taobums
  22. Hello

    Hi YZBG, Welcome to the Taobums
  23. To you who love Tao

    Hi Trinh, Although I am not aware of searching for what you recommended I would still like to welcome you to the Taobums
  24. Just saying hi!

    Hi Gren1o1, Welcome to the Taobums
  25. Very nice post, Marblehead - I enjoyed it.