GreytoWhite

I'm not aware of any that outline "the bagua syllabus" as that varies not only from lineage to lineage but also teacher to teacher. Split mainly between Yin (striking focus), Cheng (throwing focus), and Liang (mix of Cheng and Yin) the different lineages all have their specialties, outside influences, and favorite techniques. The most widely represented lineages are from Cheng Tinghua who learned Baoding Shuaijao before bagua providing things like the teacup exercises and mud wading step. It's said that Cheng Tinghua only taught three different palms. Most Cheng branches are heavily influenced by xingyi which is not a bad thing. I'm by no means an expert but if I recall correctly the typical Cheng style progression should be similar to below. Basic Exercises (jiben gong) Basic Leg Skills (jiben tui fa) Basic Arm Skills (jiben shou fa) Standing Meditation (zhan zhuang) Whole Body Training (neigong) Straight Line Walking Circle Walking Eight Mother Palms (ba mu zhang) Old Eight Palms (lao ba zhang) Eight Changing Palms Eight Linking Palms (lian huang zhang) 64 Linear Palms Swimming Dragon (you shen long xing) Weapons Some of these sets may have different names from lineage to lineage and be the same, some may not exist in some lineages, and some have the same name but be performed differently.

Yeah this one was definitely something my 20 year old self needed to hear. Also, the stuff below. -Atheism can be just as close-minded -No need for a structured religion -Quit drinking -Get fit

If you're not set on Pencak Silat and wouldn't mind something a little more Chinese then Willem deThouars' Kuntao is quite good IMO.

http://www.yesasia.com/us/search/cheng-bagua/0-0-0-q.cheng+bagua_bpt.48-en/list.html http://www.coohk.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=21_29&products_id=255&osCsid=a6693c1e929944761ed01bb4c44f5e36

There are good teachers for any of these arts, just a matter of how much you want to learn. It doesn't always get dropped in our laps.

You could always e-mail the folks over at PlumPub.com and ask for recommendations. I didn't see anything for Silat but they do have some Jow Gar. http://plumpub.com/sales/dvd/dvdcoll_jowgar.htm

Quite a big difference in reception from here to RSF eh? Haha I think the difference is mainly in levels of experience and a greater focus on cultivation than martial art here.

Why in all hell would this seem like a good idea? Christ on a crutch reaching for the bag of wine son! Get your girlfriend involved in her own energy practice and get some dual cultivation or meditative sex practices in your life. You'll live a much richer life than denying your biological motivation its use.

Edit: Double post.

You're asking for help with pirating material and that isn't kosher.

I could go on about true transmutation and blah blah blah but I seriously recommend just finding a loving woman.

Michael I would agree that much of what is demonstrated as Daito-ryu now looks like an older version of aikido. I'm not interested in the techniques but rather the aiki engine of the art. One of these days I'll get into a Dan Harden seminar and see what it's about. Some have compared what he teaches to neijia exercises but it seems that Dan has trained these aspects to a different point than many and can teach what he is working on. I didn't much like aikido when I learned it as a child but that's a different story. Yagyu shinkage ryu seems to be one of the arts that Minoru Akuzawa has taken some heavy influence in his creation of Aunkai. I've been interested in his art for a while and find it has some extremely functional basics that aren't quite compatible with the neijia I have been exposed to but are a good fallback set of skills if one is injured or just trying to power out. One of my favorite internal Chinese arts is called Ziranmen. If I've posted this already forgive me. It is similar to Yiquan in its focus on basic exercises but they're a bit more flexible and some groups have incorporated forms from other arts. Although traditional Ziranmen circle walking is quite a bit different and IMO more immediately applicable as a jibengong exercise. The story of "a dwarf taught me" in its lore is ever entertaining.

Michael there are records that show this line of Feeding Crane was present in Okinawa within the past 200 years. I don't have all the details as Southern styles of kung fu interest me little and I am mainly interested in Japanese styles like Yagyu Shinkage Ryu and Daito Ryu over karate. I think that this would have more information than I could provide off the top of my head. http://www.iogkf.com/newsletter/edition_2011_3/edition_2011_2/articles_pg_01.htm Here is an interesting video - a kind of popsci practice insight to Liu Chang I's movement.

That's about how almost all lawyers are the world over.

Okinawan karate was heavily influenced by the Liu family's Feeding Crane style.

http://www.homestarrunner.com/sbemail39.html

Sorry, I can't offer you advice on it is it's not something I've endeavoured to achieve or naturally have. My ex-girlfriend had a much more obvious telekinetic ability but it really unbalanced her energetically and emotionally so she didn't like to do it. I was always more concerned with keeping her healthy and stable.

Anyone? I'm chilling in there currently if someone would like to join.

There is a seminar here on the West Coast coming up in San Jose taught by one of Lotus Neigong's senior instructors Steve Galloway. http://damomitchell.com/san-jose-nov-8-9/ Second DVD Thoughts The warm ups and seated preparatory exercises on the second DVD are reminiscent of the floor work I've done over the years exploring Feldenkrais, Aikido, Systema's material, as well as various kung fu and general fitness stretches. If one is coming to this material in ill health I recommend spending a good amount of time on these warm ups, stretches, preparatory self massage and breathing before each practice session so as to condition your body. Doing the warm ups and self massage without practicing the set later in the day would also be a good idea just to get the body used to a stretched state. Damo's students in the videos have varying levels of skill and flexibility and are good examples of what you may be doing as you practice. Then the second disc's course gets into individual exercises with student examples and Damo providing corrections and common pitfalls of trying to emulate the movements. Damo gets into very important details about shoulder usage (this ain't Zheng Manqing's taiji y'all), intention, and energy flow in the classroom videos for the exercises. The Dragon Daoyin sets are great for rib and shoulder articulation which are extremely important for free breathing and allowing the organs to rest freely in the thorax. He is truly trying to impart daoyin - guiding and leading energy instead of just qigong hand waving. This is the good stuff that changes your body's connective tissues. His students don't quite have the subtle articulation I associate with good instruction but it may just be they haven't developed some of the same things that I have been instructed in or they may not focus on that stuff at Lotus Neigong. Some of basics like dantian usage to drive movement is pretty difficult to gain and truly learn without an instructor to demonstrate for you in person. I appreciate that Damo does address some movements mentioning hips and dantian usage as different and as different movement goals for beginners and more experienced people. He does not try to instruct the basics of dantian usage in this course and there are some things that just won't be as beneficial until one has at least some dantian instruction. I feel he had some prime opportunities to address spiral mechanics and relationships of the chest and kua in some of the more torqued movements. Another thing I think Damo's instruction is missing is a focus on the legs and hips, what the intentions should be for differing parts of the leg in each stance. I got really spoiled from Xie Peiqi's instructional videos performed by He Jinbao for the different animals. In the first couple of "classroom" recordings there is a high pitched sawing noise in the background that is distracting and made my dog take notice but then went away. I had one audio issue toward one of the last classroom videos where Damo's voice seemed to echo it may just be my DVD player. Overall I'd say the second disc has more information than the first and is probably a better practice guide. I feel as if the breakdown sections on the first disc were subpar in comparison to the classrooms sections on the second and could have been released as free online material instead. I'm glad he includes both in this package and hopefully the third disc will explain a bit more deeply and may address some things I hope he can clarify about this system he has devised.

BKA I skipped through the first part of the video and after the first click in the status bar I saw a bunch of man ass then closed the tab. Men just aren't that aesthetically pleasing to me.

Damo Mitchell is young and that is one of the major criticisms thrown his way. That stated I don't think it should count against him as DVDs can only teach so much without someone there to feel what you are doing and let you feel what you should produce. I think Damo is only about four years older than myself and I've pushed hands with people that have been "doing taiji" for decades that can't do much and I've seen videos from older "instructors" that have made me cringe. Damo's stuff at least jibes with what I've been taught in the past, is well presented and looks fun. Some of the lower postures could be difficult for beginners and without some basic kung fu/qigong/neigong body mechanics it may be stressful on the knees. The breakdowns in the first disc are an easy way to start approaching the Dragon Daoyin movements within each set individually and then link them together later as you get better. The second and third discs are a little more in-depth and from the description they were recorded from seminars. As to how much prior practice, it's entirely dependent on what one has studied and HOW. If one has at least a year's in-person instruction (500 hours) of legitimate neigong, Shaolin jibengong, Pilates, and/or some good martial bagua/taiji/xingyi then these shouldn't be too hard to start practicing. When I say good martial bagua/taiji/xingyi I mean the stuff with standing explained, spiraling drills, low stances, fajin and volume striking drills, KICKS (not just "dark" or implied leg skill), posture checks with hands-on correction, breathing exercises, the stuff where the teacher has forgotten the difference between internal/external and it all just flows, with footwork that you zig zag repeatedly across ball fields and do it until your legs are noodles, the stuff where your teacher weighs 80lbs less is 8" shorter and still blasts you across the room, the stuff you can't help but practice whilst in queue at the store. You got a year of that stuff, you should be able to learn from most kung fu instructional DVDs without too much issue.

If it's not a feature available for the board software you can always use Google like a pro. site:thetaobums.com idiot_stimpy will only search TheTaoBums.com for the phrase "idiot_stimpy" when you put it in Google search.

Mad Men is amazing. I've liked what I've seen of Boardwalk Empire. Ray Donovan has been great so far - I really enjoy it but then again I used to live with one of those Boston fucks. Masters of Sex is wonderful, think Mad Men but more sex and all kinds of social movement going on. Orphan Black was a blast, chick can act her arse off but luckily she has a really nice one and it stays on.

The trap of the neophyte - useless contemplation of details and comparisons.