spiraltao

Can you expand on this? In terms of yin and yang?

...great post above. I'm allergic to alcohol.

I dont listen to alot of cover songs aside from Metallica, but The Dillinger Escape Plan take GNR's "My Michelle" to another level. http://www.youtube.c...feature=related just found they have an EP of covers heh DEP have been sent to fuck shit up, lol. - Jesus Christ Pose

Oil of Capsicum (OC in the pepper spray cops use) helps one's dermis heal faster and I hear the immigrants say it helps them handle heat better. I know one who ate one ghost chili mid day every day and he didn't sweat in the tobacco patch.

yeah ten drops is too much unless you have some radiation exposure. also make sure there is no drain cleaner and/or ammonia nitrate in your dwelling. not joking either. :wub:

After watching Bill Ryan in the Dragon Tiger Medical Chi Kung vid called "Letting Go of Tension" he talks about being able to squat at age 57. He says something like "I can squat with no problem, like this (demonstrates), as you see in so many other COUNTRIES." I think the same "squat" is indigenous to this region. It is not uncommon to see farmers, just the older generation in general (sixties to seventies) do this quite often and for long periods of time, being heavy I had always noticed this as I found this position comfortable even though I was overweight. (Come to find out, both I and the older men I am referring to were piling their body weight straight down thru the balls of the feet) ...ok, Zerostao had taught me some kneeling Kunlun postures. One of them is this squat. The other two are moving one leg out and flattening the heel while piling the body's weight through straight down thru the ball of one foot. Zerostao stressed the importance of these "kneeling Buddha" exercises and I have to wonder, is this squatting a Zhan Zhuang in itself and could it play a role in the longevity and mobility in some of these men I speak of? I am highly interested in any opinoins.

Great input, snowmonki. Cultural or genetic, as far as the ability to do this squat, I feel it is much more cultural/environmental here in my state.

I had never heard of hanna somatics! Thank you Rainbow Vein! I am going to give them a go and do more research on hanna somatics. ...and yes, rhumatoid (wrong spelling) arthritis is an autoimmune disease and virtually ANY rx medicine for it is very hard on the liver, which leaves people with existing liver disease and/or another autoimmune disease not so many choices (i can relate), thus leaving some between the proverbial rock and a hard place. I think I have mentioned this before, but the whole reason I started kung fu as a child in 89 was for my arthritic hips!

Thanks for the tip!

My knees hurt really bad after I first got back into martial arts a couple of years ago, so I went to the Dr. The doc ordered x rays and just pretty much felt of my knee, pressed on certain parts and asked "does this hurt?" At any rate, after finding out there was no obvious problems with my knee physiologically, I then done exactly as mythmaker said and for that matter I am still working it! I have been diagnosed with a bone disease which I don't know the name of, but it was called Rhuematory Arthritis when I was child, I digress again, my point being I have kind of the same problem with my hips, so what I have had to realize is that LESS IS MORE. ...and internal development takes time and can't be forced, same with rehabilitating the human body. Some great respsones in this thread, go with your heart and what does not hurt. TTB rocks.

IMO, Jam Jong is the so called secret to "empty power", if I have my vocabulary correct, even though it is there for everyone to do. Just doing it is all we must do! Keep up the good work Anamatva. I started in small increments and am now up to twenty five minutes, but not it the same posture the whole time. Warm ups are should NOT be skipped! [edit for warm up reminder]

That is what sifu referrs to as "charged hands". A sign that the chi is moving to your hands, very good sign in your personal development! If I am not mistaken the laogung is a pericarium point? The sack around the heart holding fluid. This means that your breathing is spot on! I would advise as above and continue doing what you are doing. I know in BGZ that we look through the tigers mouth and I thought it was to focus one's intent on the palm, thus bringing Chi there, but if i am wrong it certainly won't be the first, lol. There is NO SUCH THING as a DUMB QUESTION! If there were, I would have asked it by now! hahha:blink: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

Thanks for the input thus far. I certain feel more with the eyes open. I am used to closing the eyes during the sitting meditation that Sifu taught us back in 90, when I was a wee lad. I would offer an appendage (not literally), to know what I have forgotten, like the tiger form for example. At any rate with my eyes open I have no problem visualizing my dan tian, which I DON'T do during standing meditation, just think about CALM BREATHING. Another note, for me when the postures are done correctly there is a "feeling" that one gets that only will "click" if the posture is correct. I am sure this has already been mentioned, I haven't fully read the whole thread, so if redundant, disregard.

I have read some articles by Doc Fai Wong in some Inside Kung Fu mags from the early nineties. I Master Doc's writings he says one absolutely can't do standing meditation correctly with the eyes open. I can't believe that I hadn't caught that way back when. He is a tai chi guy, is this just the plum blossom tradition, in regards to keeping the eyes closed? Can I get any opinions on this?

I have moderated other forums:ninja: and we had to follow protocol, like no sources and it was a much smaller collective than what we have here. The men in black will sure shut ya down, if they deem fit, logical reason withstanding. heh

apparently grindcore peeps like me can't embed a damn video:angry:

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I got his TCM and Daoist Magick books in PDF... pm for my email if interested, plus tons of dacheng/zhan zhuang writings, the book "warriors of stillness" is a very good one! i am looking for the bagua WOS, the book i have is from taiji view

keep on droppin that knowledge Mista Blast bump bump bum

I know this thread is quite old, but i have put an autoimmune disease in check and now healthier than I have been since my early twenties and liver panels indicate superior performance! I have a thread detailing my journey and results, but rainbow body exericises helped me the most, I feel. The eight vibrating snake palms, in particular. Vulture exercise. So one has "freshly stagnated" energy always on TAP! Oh yeah, standing five element postures were the other crucial part, I feel. ...but the SINGLE most important thing is being consistent in one's playing of their particular art.

The method I have used and was taught from my sifu was sitting with the right hand on the tan tien and the left covering it. Now I always close my qigong/bagua sessions doing this standing. Focus on the LDT, slow deep breaths and use intent to bring it down, at first i was having trouble, but the simple fact was that I needed to slow down even more and let go more, if that makes sense:glare: . My friend likes to do this is a straight back chair and use intent to guide the energy down to the LDT.

Mud stepping is BAGUAZHANG's unique way stepping. The heel of the foot does not leave the ground, when the front foot slides out the rear foot becomes weighted and so on. The front foot slides out carefully to feel the ground, if one were on mud one would have to glide across it such as in mudstepping or the foot would get sucked in to the mud. ...and NO your knees shouldn't hurt. There is a difference between soreness and hurt to me, ya know?

I am game! Please update if anyone plans to follow through.

noob you seem too intelligent to come to this kind of generalization. being raised in the bible belt has biased me, yes, but not the bias you might think. i have had christianity put in front of me my whole life, hence, it used to bother me. don't let anyone get to you like that, especially a whole group, lol. how can u live fully and have your heart open with this stereotype of christians? sure, i have seen my share of of what i would call highly overbearing human like beings, but i have never rejected them as a group as a result of the behavior of the few(even though many, still a small number when relative to the whole) i have came in contact with. i won't defend or throw dirt at christians, just wanted to say that such a rash generalization as "i don't accept christians" is just not healthy for you, IMO. that is just my half cent though no;)