ChiDragon
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Everything posted by ChiDragon
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Yes, you are right in all of the above: The "tao of breathig" is only saying that the "methods of breathing".
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Why Does Tai Ji Starts with Slow Motion?
ChiDragon replied to ChiDragon's topic in Daoist Discussion
Have you ever made a fast sudden move and strained your muscles....??? @1:06 is the key to the slowness of tai ji for beginners. -
Tai Chi, The Pyramid View of the Body, and grounding
ChiDragon replied to ChiDragon's topic in Daoist Discussion
The Happeh theories perhaps not so great to you but some do have merits. Thus I wouldn't participate in anything from Happeh to be disregarded. -
Tai Chi, The Pyramid View of the Body, and grounding
ChiDragon replied to ChiDragon's topic in Daoist Discussion
I think the theme about "grounding", here, is about the stability of the body rather than the yin/yang energy. However, I tend to agree it has something to do with energy too. As I practice Tai Ji, I lower my stances, my body seems to be more stable and energetic. As far "grounding" goes, in Chinese Tai Ji term; it is 穩如山: stable like a mountain. -
Likewise to you.... Breath retention was all taken place in the deep, slow and long routine. Deep breathing is to lower the diaphragm to increase the volume of the lung. Slow is to increase the intake of oxygen. Long is to allow more time for the red blood cells to collect the oxygen for the body cells. Hyperventilation and hypo-ventilation do not take place in the Chi Kung practice. Hyperventilation can only be taken place from forcing oxygen, excessively, into the body from an external source. In the other hand, the deprivation of oxygen does expose the human system to exhaustion. However, it does not improve its resistance to fatigue but increase fatigue. Only the continuous provision of oxygen will prevent fatigue.
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Why Does Tai Ji Starts with Slow Motion?
ChiDragon replied to ChiDragon's topic in Daoist Discussion
I think here is another good reason. -
adept..... You have not mentioned what style that was. It didn't sound like a Wu style but more like a Yang style. Am I right....??? This guy is very good in explaining how to do the Tai Ji cat walk.
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I think Chuang Tzu couldn't careless about Robber Chih's act but Confucius does. The first paragraph says that Robber Chih's brother has advised that Confucius should not go to persuade Chih not to continue with the tyrant acts. However, Confucius was still insisted to go to give it a try and ended up was being kicked out of Chih's camp site. That was another one of those critics from Zhuang Tzu by saying how ignorant that Confucius was due to his stubbornness...... Do you think that Chuang Tzu will let Confucius get away with it that easy without criticizing him....???
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I think the ancient thought that the qi breath and qi energy were the same. However, I think that qi breath is the air that we breathe and the qi energy is biological energy ATP. The ancients just did not have the knowledge to distinguish the difference between the two. Somehow, the ancients were given the impression that when one raise the hands will absorb the qi energy of heaven(天氣), and the feet will absorb the qi energy of earth(地氣).
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Taoism, the term by itself, is not a religion; but it is a composite term which include all aspects about Taoism. This include the Tao philosophy and the Tao religion. The religion was derived from the interpretation of the principles of the Tao philosophy by some people. Those who study the Tao philosophy are scholars which are not necessary religious.
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Well...!!! When I was in Tibet I told everybody, before we get off the bus, to breathe deep, slow and long in case they are having breathing problems. The next morning, one guy with a heart problem, told me he was glad that I had told him that. It saved his life from suffocation. Anyway, at one instance, I had to hold my breath when a policeman knocked on my hotel window, 5:30 in the morning, and ask me was anything got stolen. Yes, unfortunately, all my cash were gone.
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Holding is a good test for the level of breathing. The longer one can hold the breath is an indication of how much oxygen was inhaled in the lung. The more oxygen the longer one can hold the breath. However, as soon the oxygen was used up, one must exhale and inhale for more. I rather breathe deep, slow and long other than holding my breath. Keeping the chi in motion inside the trachea is a normal breathing process. Holding the breath will interfering the normal breathing routine. Anyway, regulating the breath, known as 運氣, is a good practicing habit.
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"two a minute and my pulse was down below 45 bpm," I must consider that you are a Chi Kung master. I like to do 4 breaths per minutes to be comfortable at resting; and do one breath per minute for insomnia which puts me into sleep in no time. To the best of my knowledge, "in your ultra marathoning, two breaths and 42 beats of my heart per minute were carrying enough oxygen to all my cells" is a very accurate statement. However, it was not "basically due to the absolute absence of any blockages at all". It is the oxygen that was keeping your glucose from reaching the lactate threshold level. So, your body will continue to produce the biological energy(ATP) to keep you running. Otherwise, your muscles will be sore and painful due to hypoxia.
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Yes, the Chinese version didn't actually say that was not by Zhuang Zi's definition anyway. However, as far as a sage goes, linguistic wise, Confucius was classified as 聖人(sage) which fits the definition in the west. If you can keep up with the difference in definitions, you will avoid lots of confusion with the different Chinese philosophers. So far, you are doing quite well. I think! "Confucius was a mentor in spiritual and philosophical topics who is renowned for profound wisdom." Note: As a Taoist practice, knowing the distinctive difference of things with comprehension is the highest realm for the cultivation of the mind.
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To me, the Taijiquan, Qigong, and Zhan Zhuang will give me the same physical and health benefits and end result. However, the spiritual aspect is straightly a personal preference. As you'd said "which is great since one needs health in order to accomplish spiritual goals." Hence, they are indirectly/directly effected the spiritual benefits. It builds up more confidence and self esteem of one individual. It did for me anyway. In addition, it was from the practice of the Tao principles(TTC) also.
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42 bpm is considered as the "athlete's heart". Btw I am a Tai ji practitioner and advocate breathing in a deep, slow and long manner. It keeps me healthy as a horse. My body tells me it makes a lot of deference with ample of oxygen in my body than with less. Unfortunately, my energy with libido is out of this world from abdominal breathing.
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I think the western definition of a "sage" is this: A mentor in spiritual and philosophical topics who is renowned for profound wisdom
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A hundred-year-old tree was hacked up to make exquisite utensils for wines with carvings on it. Then, the patterns were painted over with green and yellow colors. Unfortunately, the unwanted pieces were abandoned in the forest. In comparison, the carved beautiful pieces and the abandoned, there is a big difference in between the fate of good fortunate and the encounter of misery. However, the inborn nature which had been lost, originally, they are the same.
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Rara, I think you are getting close. However, there is something missing in your thinking. I think if you can get the definitions straight, then you'll be home free. There is a difference between a thief and robber. A thief steals without having contact with the victims as opposed to a robber. The original question was: "Does robbers has any principles?" I had indicated in post #30. Robber Chih told his disciple that robbers has their own rules as principles. 1. Knowing what was stored in the room, it was intelligent(圣也). 2. Moves in first, it was brave(勇也). 3. Moved out last, it was an obligation of leadership. 4. Know when is time to take action, it was wise. 5. Dividing (the goods) equally, it was benevolent. Chih had laid out these five rules as principle for a good leader of robbers. A good leader must know where the goods are stored in the victim's house. During the course of robbery, the leader must move in first, bravely, to lead everybody; and move out last to ensure that everyone was out and safe. Know when it is the best time to move in to the victim's house for the robbery. After the robbery, the leader will divide the goods equally to avoid conflict and misunderstanding among themselves. This is called the tao of robbers. Call it the "Way of robbers" if you like. By logic and common sense, there is no such thing as a bad sage. A sage is always good. It is because a sage is highly cultivated. How can a bad person was being a sage at the same time? What do you think about that?
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Here are some of the terms used by Zhuang Zi. The definitions are defined from my source as below: (67)至人：这里指道德修养最高尚的人。无己：清除外物与自我的界限，达到忘掉自己的境界。 (68)神人：这里指精神世界完全能超脱于物外的人。无功：不建树功业。 (69)圣人：这里指思想修养臻于完美的人。无名：不追求名誉地位。 1. 至人: A person who has been cultivated to the highest virtue of Tao. He is selfless, non-materialistic and altruistic. 2. 神人: A person who has a spiritual world which is out of the ordinary. He does not hold any title. 3. 圣人: A person who has been cultivated and reached perfection in his thinking. He is nameless and has no desire to strive for rich and famous. 圣人 has been translated as "sage" in many cases. My source is a very good reference for the study of Zhuang Zi. It has the original text followed by the modern interpretation and the definitions of the ancient terms. Ref: My source
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Yes, Rara, It is the same person.
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According to the native source, Yang Zhu(楊朱) had met Lao Zi once and his thinking was influenced be Lao Zi. Why do you think he was classified as an "Egoist"? In a philosophical sense, what do you think "Egoist" was meant, here?
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What Chapter is he in......??? How about a little hint.....??? It's better in Chinese characters for me.
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Anyway, thanks for your response. My real concern, here, wasn't to determine the Robin Hood image for Robber Chih as others did. I am very sure that he was not what Zhuang Zi portrayed him as such. The guys won't give up to say that he was Robin Hood like, then I cant help it.
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祝由 was before the composition of 《黄帝内经》(Huang Di Nei Jing). It was black magic performed by shamans to cure illness in the prehistoric time. The earliest recorded info was mentioned in Chapter 13 of the Huang Di Nei Jing.