Rocky Lionmouth

Totally in resonance with what i’ve observed also. I can have full, coherent and seemingly lucid conversations while still being sound asleep and not remember an iota of it upon actually waking. The experiences are weird too: i can almost always identify what sound something is and i wake up for fires and people fiddling the door handle of my house but i’ll sleep right through the alarm clock or a misfiring fire alarm. It is definetly worth trying it out, but i gotta fix my snoring and whistling nose before i have nearly enough credit on the ”plz get used to this” account, it’s totally in the red right now 😁

Yo @Yang mind the frogs coming out your mouth yeah? Where to start? Ok, autism is a disorder spectrum because of the high variance in symptoms, functioning and impact between individuals who have the disorder. Having a disorder or neuropsychiatric variance is not an inability or a lack, it can however include a functional disability, but i’ll tell you right here that your take on disorder vs order is pretty nasty to be on the recieving end of mate. I have disorder and dont much enjoy the implications. Vis a vis your hamfisted and haphazard spectrumization of genders and sexualities i have to ask: have you run this by any trans, gay or bi folks to get any balancing or corrective feedback? It would be a learning opportunity if you did. From where i stand it looks like you ad-hoc’ed stuff to fit on a projective model you really like and in so doing your stepping all over toes, heads and whatnot to write others on their nose. Its been repeated from many trans people (by the way tranny is highly offensive when used by non-trans folks to describe and generalize trans folks, just a little useful tip for you there) that common, highly disinformative and offensive, mistakes are to mix, equalize and blend things as genitalia, gender (social and legal), sexual preference and personal disposition, among other things. Do tread lightly if you’re ever going to expound those theories of your out loud among people you don’t know will interpret you with earned goodwill, thats another piece of valuable advice if you’re looking to avoid being plain horrible to people who done nothing bad to you... DNA i know very little about, but i do know the chromosomes that govern the genital development in a child are regular for women and aberrant for men. X-chromosomes are the standard in all other pairs but the genital one for males known as the Y cheomosome is the only ”healthy” chromosome that lacks a leg. I know it’s been mused that men are a generical defect, while i could see the irony and humorism in such a statement, i know for a fact few men like to hear they’re only useful for the species because of their aberrant genetics... just to relate how mislabeling and defining the world around you might affect you and others, especially through the power of words.

I understood and agreed with you my friend, i was just referencing the goodfellas scene for laughs.

Bit like autism you mean? 😉 But in principle i agree to some extent. My opinion on yin and yang between male and female isn’t necessarily so that men are always mostly yang and women yin, the energy of yin and yang is that of dynamically complementary in their union. Among a set of men there would be yin and yang men, as well as within a set of females. Every human being has both properties at once and in interaction and relationship the main yin yang dynamic is between those involved as a whole and not just stemming from gender. Imho. I’m not sure social gender, physical reproduction organs and sexuality correlate, not for me anyways. I like Eddie Izzards way of explaining his transgender take on it during the ”bloke in a dress” bits he does. He’s out as transgender and describes it like being a physically male lesbian, but also reports having a boy and girl mode switch. He was talking about it in a podcast episode with that other guy Rogen or Rogan something, idk, i hate podcasts normally but that was a good episode. There’s probably an overview possibility if you put it on a origo-centered graphic function. Izzards take on it seems quite threedimensional. But the heat thing, and how it relates to sleep, is still interesting from a qi perspective i think. Like tummo, thats supposedly some form of nei gong or qi gong (or isn’t it?) where the inner work produces body heat. So if qi and technique can be used to regulate and express heat like that, what could be going on energetically with those who are percievably warmer than others? I do recognize the OPs experience, forgot to say that previously, but for me it hasn’t been only females but all sorts of folks. I have an old training friend whose hands i could sense from about 10cm away from me, distinct heat. One time we did a sensory development exercise and i could see brightness as well as feel heat from this guys hand with my eyes closed. We didn’t have any romantic connection or sexual spark between us, we were just good friends training kung fu together, but he was one of those incarnated rays of sunshine, always happy and lighthearted you know? His case was extreme for me, but i have met others who were noticeably warm at about a foots distance. I’ve been content regarding this phenomenon as just a way of perception and sensing, like most of my qi gong training opens up ways of feeling, seeing and understanding more without necessarily labelling it as anything, or even calling it a result. It’s mostly data along the way for me. But, but if there is some theory to it it’d be fun to know.

Ah, finally someone who’s making it work! Yeah the old thermostatic-foot trick is frequently employed, as well as using thin ”summer” comforters in the cold seasons. Good idea with the fan, it’d not work for us because the sound of mice holding their breath wakes the lady up. I like her sleep heat too, but shring the same blanket cant be done with dryness and relative dignity.

That is odd yes, personally i’m not afraid of them but a few times i’ve been upset enough to start writing defensively and it’s not how i want to share or exchange. At times there is the preference to err on the side of caution and/civility, but i think thats perhaps preferrable to a careless attitude. Starting out mildly aint that bad. A few of the arguments i’ve gotten into on herehave gotten to a point where i either pleaded to an agreement to disagree, bowed out or asked a specific poster to leave me the fuck alone so i wouldn’t have to put them on the ignore list. Those are my experiences of getting into rapid escalations. And many of us have witnessed stuff getting bonafide ugly which brings me to a collective issue: namely the aspect of embarrassment and tediousness for everybody else to read a three party flamefest that gradually overtakes the whole thread... i like it when people get passionate about something but i also appreciateit when affect isn’t messing up valuable info and consideration throughout posts. I don’t agree with the lack of exchange and sharing in threads, i’d say a lot of it is made by people with experiences but perhaps there is the unbridgeability of that which is easily talked about and that which isn’t, there’s a lot of talk with litterature-terminology and it is highly fallible. What i referred to in the specific case of Mo Pai threads is similar to threads that have the words Nei Dan in the topic: they derail in fairly vicious behavior, ad hominems and fallacies abound with eerily high frequence. Some noob threads arent very interesting to me either, but sometimes someone has the opportunity to easily advice or inform someone about reading or practices that they need. I think it’s good there’s a low threshold for posting about basics or newbie topics, keeps people less shy of daring to engage and easily completed discussions are quickly done and forgotten, as they should be. As an aside: i will never placing blame on anyone for posting long stuff again, i do it all the time. Sigh.

Huh! I’m known to be always warm to the touch, except for when i sleep. Of the women i’ve slept with (with and without sex or romance mind you) they’ve all been reverse: cool (also to feel easily cold) when awake and warm if not hot when asleep. The heat also bugs me because its impossible to snuggle up without overheating for me. Whats that all about?

Sorry, i meant that to be adressed to the community, forgot to readress. But seriously though, if you and Voids cant stop going at it i suggest an agreement. I think we’re both happy we made one.

Well, headaches are bad yes but me and Voids have a DNE-agreement that we both honour fiercely (hint hint) but Mo Pai threads can’t but take the undignified route of the lead balloon in the end, you could have two meek and mild posters suddenly flame the living carbon out eachother and then the shock and horror dawns even on them and the thread becomes faint embers before dying out. Until its next apparition. Starting to sound like Hungry Ghost day or some campfire legend but these things have a mgnetic pull of their own. TDB collective energetic resonance with Mo Pai is volatile. And where such talk goes there follow the stubborn. About that counter though, is it feasible as a programming soultion? 😉

Even ”worse” i’d say! We’re all those percents of nothing. For some reason that still escapes understanding for me is the tension or whatever the correct terminology is still makes possibility of interaction between stuff on a physical plane. Whats bugging me even more, liquids and gases are made up of the same ratio of stuff:nothing. Wtf, srsly physics, how?!

Might have to get this one.

Has the ”Days since the last Mo Pai thread” counter been reset? Been a while since the previous incident.

This! But even moreso: whats to say that the majority of them arent true in their heritage? I mean just looking at some southern kung fu styles development under one and the same living grandmaster show great variation in emphasis, footwork and technique. In that particular case all variants are true to the lineage, even if some arent looking like the latest students version, because they all adhere strictly to the underlying principles as embodied and developed uppn by that current generation. Different students inherit different aspects too, depending on their character and disposition, and thats still just talking about a visibly physical art, lets not even get started on more orthodox religious and philosophical lineages where the influences and updates are even less obvious. Also thanks for clarifying about chinese historiography, your take on it rings true with what i can remember about chinese history, they were among the first groups to preserve facts, narratives and data, besides organizing pretty good beaurocracy, standardization of education etc. Oral traditions are another thing, their passing on varies greatly in execution and detail from line to line, lineage to lineage, some require verbatim recall and others transmit a certain narrative, sometimes gaps are filled in or become disorganized because of human memory not being 1:1 in fact to recall ratio... or thats what i’ve gathered at least, consider it hearsay.

Vis a vis hard vs healing qigong: from where i’ve been standing and looking at things it doesn’t seem like healing and hard expressions differ much in the basic knowledge and training. Sure harnessing and using it has different application and the techniques aren’t the same but working with the energy develops both potentials. Specialization in one doesn’t exclude the other, in fact i believe they aid mutually, especially in practical martial application. Caveat: with this i am speaking of the soft version of hard qigong, meaning nei gong and building a conditioned body with constructive exercise, not just banging your fists on rocks to dull the sensitivity. Nei gong work develops hard skill without sacrificing sensitivity or health, when done right. Nei gong does not however exclude working with pain and conditioning, but the approach is less blunt and force oriented. Neigong it’s about technique, power and cultivation, the result is power, graceful technique and surprising resilience. Knowing what to treat and reinforce means knowing how to attack and weaken and in a way both pairs (treat-attack, reinforce-weaken i mean) are necessary for healing and fighting. Practical example: no profession is more suited to train an assassin than being a doctor. A doctor knows all the ways to heal and damage, a doctor is knowledgeable in hurting somebody in very subtle ways that cause much pain and injury. Likewise a skilled assassin would know enough about the same subject matter to be a more than decent trauma-medic. On topic: i’ve just recently come back out of a longer hiatus from kung fu training. Comparing how i felt and ached when i was only going to the gym and complementing with doing qigong and doing kung fu and qigong has me noticing that gym work game me a tiredness and ache that i identified as being a symptom of injury or overexertion. I did 1:1 body to weight deadlifts, leg presses, weighted squats and warm-up cardio and my body was feeling exhausted and pushed to a spot of grave discomfort. Doing kung fu training and rebuilding my gong in footwork, posture builds muscle but simultaneously works with healing and strenghtening connective tissue and oxygenation. I ache because of good, hard work and my body has pains of development, there is a replenishing quality to it. Just two cents of anecdotal evidence

Stick! Stick work is the bomb, both mastering the forms with sung power, transmitting power to and through the stick and so on and so forth! I am passionate about sticks, spears and polearms in general but the classic staff is the Sage of weaponry. Preferrably a 2 meter-ish Double Headed Dragon (equal diameter [20-30 mm] along the whole lenght) made out of rattan (no varnish!!) and correctly maintained with (linseed imho) oil on the inside. They are alive and glad to be so in caring hands that have control and power. Making one of those resonate either in a curve or a circle is serious training, my oh my! Spears, the supreme General of weapons, do up the ante somewhat in power-cultivation but every spear technique you can do with a stick and not all stick techniques are applicable for spears so the Sage is more adaptable than the General. A good rattan stick is perfect for sparring too, used correctly they clack and bounce and make the room smell of cooked sulphur from their curing treatment. Doing these ”wobbling” or shaking exercises force a practicioner to use their internal power and structure correctly, the more exerted they are the less correct the exercise is done. Bouncing and tapping drills show the way. Doing the forms force a student to use correct footwork and alignment, but the real challenge comes in doing paired sparring routines, where zero sloppyness in body- or footwork is allowed. Without shaking and wobbling training it’s impossible to actually use the stick correctly at all. I’m so happy others to this too! It means stick-skill is alive! I’m seriously celebrating over here with some more coffee!

What Rara said! Let me also suggest you look at the threads relating to something called Sung (roughly means a vibrant and active form of relaxation) and check out videos on ”Sung Gong” which is a very useful and beneficial practice. There are videos out there with very detailed and easy to follow instructions and wether you should find a primarily external or internal martial arts practice you’ll have a lot of help if your body is familiar with this form of relaxation and mechanic. Something that is worth mentioning is that besides the famous internal martial arts branches of Taiji, Bagua and Xingyi there are some, less renown and marketed, styles that still have intact and thriving internal practices. For example there are more than a few southern styles of kung fu systems that incorporate internal cultivation after establishing the right body mechanics and structure in beginners. Nei gong, qi gong and meditation are still alive within Choy Li Fut, Hung Kuen, Five Animals, Five Ancestors and the like to name a few. Some masters don’t have an internal style in their advertized curriculum but do practice cultivation for healing and research purposes too. What schools are available to you in your area if you dont mind telling? If there is a legit, traditionally trained acupuncturist, calligrapher or feng shui master (someone who either is or trains directly with a lineage holder) near you you could ask them to teach you since those professions usually require skill and insight with internal cultivation to take to the next level. Don’t get stuck on what is apparent and obvious, asking questions and inquiring about referrals can yield interesting results!

I cant really say whats good vis a vis strenght training that is pro internal development. Sifus system has a lot of nei kung exercises, some are very physical (usually on entry level) and very focused on a particular thing, some are softer, some are in stillness etc. I know my brothers have been given exercises based on their five phase body type: certain bodies have a stronger relationship to wood or fire or earth and have their corresponding strenghts and weaknesses. Wood bodies, i’ve been told, usually need balance training among other things because a wood body is ”tall” and slender. Not necessarily taller than others but elongated iirc... so there are exercises to help develop the lacking parts of ones own body, some of which are chalistenic or strenght training as far as i’ve seen. Within our system i mean, hard to speak outside that. But from what i’ve seen with my students and myself is the following: Correct horse stance and low stance training, pushups, planks, lunges, frogjumps, long hard bouts of kicking and striking with medium power and high technical focus and like my man SilentThunder said: WALKING. And micro-training such as using kung fu stances in your daily endeavors (low scissor stance to reac something on the floor, horse stance while washing up dishes etc). Pushups though. Lots of those! I’m currently trying to remedy my diet, which has been a mess for the past year... But i constantly end up falling back on carbs and gluten, bread and sweets are my thing. Plus:I cant do a single ”just a salad” meal without getting some fast and disruptive bowel movements within two hours after, it cant fail. I was thinking going major on nutrient healthy fat (like olive oil), rice, nuts and veggies, the occasional game meat (when available) and tofu/vegetarian protein for everyday eats. Its just that food is so immensly BORING to cook, eat, plan, shop and deal with, i honestly don’t know why but i’ve felt like this for a few years. I used to enjoy cooking and never felt ill at easy with my looks and weight and then the immense boredom and aversion to all the food-related logistics and planning and now i eat like a sugarjunkie teenager with a vengeance. Brrrr! Add a dose of really feeling ugly-fat and heavy plus a recurring lapse in active kung fu training then well, i’m not really enjoying my physical self as much as i used to. That needs fixing, pronto and over a long time... wish a bum luck?

What the Star-Lord said! Perhaps Bagua could be cool too? What you want is someone who practices the styles and has the nei kung (inner exercises) that go with it from their specific lineage. Also you don’t want a teacher who talks but never explains the how and what and lets you study these exercises in pairs. A lot of people will show an intended use but don’t let students feel it or try it because, well, many reasons. But you want the mechanics and details and to get those you gotta be sincere and dedicated and have a keen eye for spotting windbags. Avoid windbags and people who dangle ”secrets” and ”advanced” practices like carrots, my experience tells me these people need that kind of ”hook” to keep students interested, which is bogus. The real arts with a skilled teacher you’ll get lost in ”basic” exercises and how to understand, use and own those principles and techniques. And word to the wise: developing this kind of stuff usually takes from years to decades before stuff ”really” happens, depends often on how much expectations and preconceived ideas of whats supposed to happen you carry into the practice. Everybody does to some extent, the trick is to shed and leave that stuff at the door and just go with whats being done there.

Putting brush to surface is hard to beat! I mostly do european writing and lettering but that elusive but important feedback between surface and self with the brush as a translator is a very powerful exercise imo! Morning time stretching is my most favourite, i have a mind to implement my sung gong as a morning ritual followed by profusive stretching. Also intuitive, there are fairly easy ways to access almost any part of the body through standing or sitting stretching, i recently found how to stretch out the bicep and upper shoulder and the space in between the scapulas in one two-direction exercise, total eureka-moment 😂

Word, this is good reading! So, what ethereal cultivation do you engage in?

Sitting down with a guitar tuned in an open chord and bluesing out. No thinking really, i take the sound and rythm that comes ans go exploring it, straight up improv with no singing. I dont think, not really following a pattern unless it happens, just using the physical knowledge of the instrument and how it sounds to just play. I used to do this with a qin too but then i snapped a string and didn’t really know how to replace it, i know fuck all about how to play it except a few pointershere and there. Improv. Other music making that involves beats and rythms, especially dub mixing where the goal is to take a recorded track and work the mixing desk balances and effects to create a spatial and stripped down version of the recorded song while it plays back (”realtime remixing”) since it must be done with spatiality and spontaneous feeling. I took to massaging others (means i study my perception and physical listening, no thinking) and letting my hands just find the places and work the issues out. Gives fair strenght training to fingers also, good kung fu! I do gardening (especially weeding), target shooting and fidgeting with mechanical things and smoothing out cast burrs and lips, greasing contact surfaces up and just generally going for an experiential feeling and understanding of the design and function and making sure it runs smooth. All of these can be done with a sort of either onepointedness or no-mind where i just stay open to the activity without thinking or trying to end up in a certain place. Feels great during and after, opens the mind, dissolves knots and clears worries and fears, stagnant feelings and takes nonverbal thinking, spontaneous reasoning and inner quiessence to the forefront. All these are things i do about once a week at least, for a minimum of an hour and no set upper limit. Thats what i thought about when reading the OP at least, don’t know if they fit your question Desmond.

No way!?! Such an old variety? That is insane and remarkable! Thunder, as always you come straight out of left field and drop these diamonds, thanks! I know a forestman who ithink would rejoice and somersault if i could give him some of the research material, he grows firs and pines and i’d love to see what he could uncover with pineseeds. 😍

To the point with grace and efficiency of language Luke, i second that!

But there seem to be ways to be less agressive in consuming jing, which ought to do some difference in a long run right? I’m hoping @Desmonddf would chime in on this question I mean the aging and ecesses thing is visible in many very healthy people too, highly dedicated gym goers, master joggers and other idolized folks who look overly tanned and 15 years older than they are. Then theres folk who you can see in their eye and posture they’ve not really wasted a lot of their stores, i know a few older guys and girls in their 60s who are spry and stronger than most people i know, their energy dimishes whenever they’re not being dynamic and active. Strange but maybe not that strange after all? Someone told me once that once you work yourself tired you’ve done too much and dug into your jing resource, which is why it’s important to stay hydrated and eat a decent amount of food to expend energywise, and knowing to pause before one starts to feel like a break is needed. Anyone against these ideas?

Selma actually ate most of her prey but she had a zero tolerance policy for boisterous birds, a heavily restless kitty with a very large hunting ground and a VERY strong territorial defense game. She and her brother (they pretty much hated eachother most of the time) would coordinate ambush assaults in chasing roedeer off our lawn. Roedeer didn’t mind people the cheeky bastards but they were deadly scared of our cats 😂 I think that particular bird might have been angling to scare cats off because of nesting or something, it was late spring more or less, didn’t work. I know the kind you talk about, my first cat was like that. I got her when she was two months and we grew up together. At 13 she was an accomplished matriarch with such numerous offspring she moved in to our neighbors house a few doors down the road, but she’d come out to visit me when i biked by. She was barely domesticated, we hung out and enjoyed eachothers company but it was a mutual voluntary friendship. She did like to watch over me when i was sick though, she taught all her children how to open doors, and having been raised by chickens after her mother rejected her her angry sounds always had a clucking element, which only the top big kittymama adopted efter Sabina moved out.