neimad

todd, i dig your talking about the pool game.... it's a good example of the entire microcosm/macrocosm. the whole universe and our existance within it can be experienced in something as trivial seeming as a game of pool. i have another friend who had the same kind of relationship with snooker. it's a little less talked about but no different than the same kind of attachment and seeking people get from the pursuit of martial arts, but really it's the same with any passion. yeah my intent is clear, and by not putting too much pressure on my thoughts but only on my actions (in this case mostly my dialogue) i have room to move within and to slowly get used to having less negativity and more positivity in my life. ultimately i know that a state of neither is desirable, but for the sake of things i cannot talk about that state as anything but positive even though i know thats not what it is. pure bliss is not happiness and not sadness...... but in the sense of how we need to interpret things in this 3rd dimensional plane.... it feels good! hehe. *** about trying. i agree with you about pure intent, i agree with you about not being 100% sure of the result.... my interest is not in the action of trying, but the use of it as a word. i know for myself and any other person i have discussed with that when you say something like "i'm trying to give up cigarrettes" it means that the attempt is really only half-hearted and the person giving the statement has pretty much given themselves a clear escape route so that even if the effort towards said goal was miniscule, at least they tried. have a go for yourself..... "i'm going to try not to speak for 5 minutes" "i'm not going to speak for 5 minutes" which one feels more powerful? with which statement do you feel more likely to succeed? but hey i'm not set in stone with this idea, this is an experiment so anyone reading this please feel free to try the above ^^^ and report back with the differences you might feel. for me i feel like if i say "i'm going to try..." it's not so serious, i can fail and it wont be a big deal. if i say "i'm not going to..." it feels a lot more serious, less room for failure, but also a little pressurised. is there a way we could go somewhere in the middle? neither giving too much of a loophole to get out of it, but at the same time without a heavy sense of pressure?

great comments, guys. freeform... so true about your pen example. exactly! todd i get what you are saying about pool. my impression of the guy being able to make the shot after saying "i usually miss this" is the sense of relaxation that will come with taking the pressure off himself. by allowing himself the oppurtunity to miss he can relax and through that carelessness can he focus. like for me i find i play pool better after a couple (just a couple) of beers.... why? because i no longer care about the outcome of the game! there is no stress attached to it. so how does this fit into our language discussion? i guess some room for approaching a desired goal with a relaxed attitude is certainly necessary. can we approach that without the negative language? yeah i'm pretty sure we can..... the self-defeatist attitude may help in something like pool, however i would argue that in most cases it is actually used to remove the stress of having to make the shot. on our own for our own personal goals it may be slightly different..... thoughts anyone? anyways also about the thoughts rather than the words, todd. the reason i chose to be aware of first my verbal dialogue than thoughts is that jumping from nothing straight up to thoughts is a huge step, one i don't think i would be able to keep for any prolonged period of time. being aware of my language is much easier, however as i don't have to be focused on it 100% of the time, only the times when i am speaking. i am also free to think as i will. it's like a training procedure where i train my awareness of negativity in small steps. i am using a CST/RMAX THP (training hierarchy pyramid) model for my approach to this. the goal is to pretty much eliminate negative or self-defeating attitudes from my life.... in this respect GP (general preparedness) involves the awareness of words, SP (specific preparedness) involves the awareness of feelings, SS (speicific skills) involves the awareness now of thoughts and finally MT (mental toughness) involves shedding the necessity to be held by my thoughts at all. desired outcomes: increased spontaneity. increased ability to have deep and successful social interactions with any and every individual i meet, regardless of how short it may be. even if it is entirely non-verbal. more awareness of myself as an individual (and perhaps as universal too). cool how i can use the THP outside of a physical purpose, huh? it's a really fantastic model for achieving any goal.

yeah for sure man. actually i realised the past weekend that i was bordering on being this kind of person...... i've caught it though and goodbye to clinginess! we have unlimited energy from our source point (slightly behind and below the heart centre is it's location i found on myself) so really there aint no need to ever draw any energy from anyone else. for me it has been very much an attention/social contact thing..... for most of my life i have felt very neglected and ignored by others, of course i realise now this is only my own perspective of the situation. becoming aware of yourself can be a very shocking and unattractive process, but ultimately beautiful as to be aware is to be able to change.

i disagree.... but it's ok to have our differing opinions. i was raised as a buddhist, so i am pretty familiar with it's underlying philosophies. buddhists view existance as suffering and strive to liberate themselves and all other beings from it. regardless of all the lovely things buddhists say, do and act.... this is it's grounding. everything builds off upon this. perhaps the word 'sin' or it's direct meaning are not present in this religion.... but it's there, deep somewhere in the psychology of the people practicing it. i personally doubt that the original intent as laid down by the buddha had this in mind, just like christ had no intention of creating a religion based on sin and fear..... but over time humans get their hands on it and as it is passed down along the line parts are misinterpreted (or intentionally altered, but we won't go into that). you are also wrong about the asian mentality too. i have spent a lot of time in thailand, a mostly buddhist country and everyone there views karma as in my interpretation their sin from a past life. they go to extreme lengths to try to alleviate themselves from this negative karma (i.e. sin) and it very much governs how they live. i am sure you will find this in any asian country too. the matrix seeks to keep us in fear and religion is just one of the many arms of the holographic matrix we inhabit. ultimately there is nothing so sin is not possible, yet the thought and fear of the consequences of that sin is what keeps us in chains.

the book, i think, definately has value. i didn't read any of it, just looked at the pretty pictures..... i think what the bleep pretty much summarised everything behind it. the only other details to be filled out would be sampling methods, etc. i think it's best function would be as a coffee table book where guests can pick it up and leaf through it...... so if you got spare $ to throw around... why not? i'll keep all you beautiful people updated about my language progress. already from not swearing i have begun noticing just how much the people around me swear...... pretty incredible, although as part of this whole project i won't be saying anything about it to them, unless i can broach it in a positive way without it being me finding fault with their own actions. i'm actually finding it easier every day to monitor my language and speak the way i want to.

oh yeah... to add to this i also wanted to address one other facet of words, and that is the self-defeating use of words. the most common example of this is "i can't" saying this about anything immediately sets up the conditions to fail. the next big one is "i'll try" saying this provides a massive loophole to get out of whatever it is you are trying to do. it's like you want to do it but aren't committed so you give yourself an escape route in that you can say at the end "at least i tried". there are plenty of examples of this kind of defeating language we use to escape from things we think may be too hard or require too much effort or we just don't really want to do. as part of my whole awareness of the action of language, this kind of language is also a focal point for me. i am eliminating all such language from my vocubalary. if i am not ready to commit so doing something, i just wont say anything about it, rather than using defeatist language to allow myself to fail.

yoda man, i dig your vibe. something i have been encountering with one of my spiritual teachers is the whole "sin" thing that is present throughout our religions, including the considered most lovely one of buddhism (i have a problem with buddhism because of my parents who are devout tibetan buddhist practitioners). all of these religions have some kind of inherent belief that we are sinners, we are here because we sinned or did something wrong at some time in our existance. the whole concept of karma itself is one based on sin. personally i don't tolerate this line of thinking. there is no sin, there is only our perception of it. if we perceive ourselves to be sinners, then sure enough we are. it's not a truth though and i refuse to subscribe to that kind of self-defeating belief. i am perfectly imperfect. i am the whole universe and i am nothing. i am love. i am innocent. all beings are innocent. i am a warrior, a king, a lover and a clown. all my actions are from a place of love and innocence because there is nothing else.

in that case, what does it say about you if you are ready and willing to hug with just about anyone? (like i am hehe). i can't get enough hugs, honestly. i have found that genuine hugs actually seem to melt tension or tone in the body and leave your whole body more relaxed than before the hug. very interesting. on the other hand, ungenuine ones seem to increase tension and bracing in the body, particularly i would think on the part of the person giving the ungenuine hug. i don't know about that side of it though because i always commit to a hug. but i do find if someone gives me a hug that isn't genuine there is some unneccessary tension left after....

yeah. you can tell instantly when a hug is not genuine...... i just try to have compassion for the person giving the insincere hug because it's obvious that some kind of trauma or inability to deal with affection is blocking them. but on the other hand, genuine hugs are truly amazing. i was blown away over the weekend just how good honest hugging can feel...... regardless of who it is.

haha with the firm pats. don't cheapen the hug man!!! i've just been at an alternative living festival, i hugged plenty of men (and women too). i'm comfortable enough with my sexuality to hug whomever. the festival itself was actually incredibly intense. my good space disintegrated around so many people and i lost the ability to just enjoy myself. i got caught up in trying to pursue someone elses experience and totally forgot about my own. ive never been to anything like that before, and i went on my own too. but all in all it was incredibly powerful. i learnt a lot about myself and i will definately go to the next one solo also, to challenge myself again. hugs make you softer..... in that they remove muscle tone or residual muscle tension in the body, i think. it's pretty incredible. but you can only reap the benefits if you aren't afraid to commit to the hug in it's entirety. i reckon hugs are the most powerful and honest form of communication between two people. you can't lie in a hug! just commit..... regardless of who you hug and enjoy as a part of your fear and tension melts. ooooo i'm such a hippy now.

yeah RMAX is cool, my body is evolving that's for sure and i love it. well i think i mentioned this earlier, but after that argument i still had some questions left so i went about it in a much gentler way and basically got this out of it: RMAX is about health first, mobility second. all the other stuff like becoming enlightened, etc.... is for each person to consider for themselves. CST is basically a system of physical culture. it is exercise and it's entirely physical. nowhere does it say that it can bring you anymore than physical benefits. what was discussed in that article about RMAX was that prasara could not open your energy meridians. opening of energy meridians, despite it's exotic sounding, still falls under the banner of a health or physical process. in shiatsu they say that certain stretches condition certain meridian lines. in other forms of yoga they say the same. so because it isn't stated in CST that this stuff happens, then it doesn't? anyways when are you planning on coming to aus? i'm bailing outta here in september this year, not sure when i'll be back..... otherwise for sure i'd hang out.

haha i still believe in the whole conspiracy thing, however i view it as basically an expression of our collective shadow. i'm not really trying to pooh pooh chi or any mystical seeker. i believe that anyone with real sincerity in their quest for knowing will find it, regardless of the path they take. all i'm doing is holding to the very base argument that cultural, exotic terminology is not required to get there. that's it, that's all i'm saying. i'm not trying to invalidate anyone out there teaching chi or even trying to say it doesn't exist and so forth. just that it's all there for each and every one of us whether we need to use language from another culture to describe it, or use our own. i don't think true liberation or enlightenment has anything to do with chi or energy levels, that is still a very physical thing and is only relevant in that for the time being our spiritual body is tied in with the physical. i kind of like the scientology view of the 'genetic entitiy' that is the electrical or energy field that is tied up with governing the physical body. in this sense i can see that chi relates directly to process of the body and within our electro-magnetic field. my statement of attack was not of this forum but related to the original article that was saying CST is good but doesn't open your energy lines, or whatever it said. but in all honesty the only thing i really and truly know, without anyone else having to tell me..... is that i am more than this body, and there is much more to this universe than we think we percieve. i know this. everything, and i mean EVERYTHING (cos someone else told me about it, by book or whatever) else is still up in the air, and if i do know the answers.... i'll get back to you. so.... can i have a hug?

health first, mobility second. 15's are cool. and actually i really find that if i don't use my hips, back and legs in clubbell swinging then yes my grip and shoulders get fried. however with proper form, everything works together.... no element is left out of swinging the club.

i'll tell you what.... i'll probably buy it too, RMAX is just that good that i have a very deep level of trust for their products already. if anyone out there can actually tell me what qi gong is and break it down as simple as possible, i'd appreciate it. i've tried qi gong before, as far as i'm concerned it's just breathing and moving. sure you may get tingles in certain places and so forth, and then get all mystical and say "oooh i'm opening up my energy pathways" and so forth. or you could also be all western about it and start talking about how through the intertwining of breath, awareness and movement that your blood flow, hormone flow, nervous system energetics and so forth are all responding positivitely. your energy level is rising and you feel nourished as a result. that argument between scott and sean really opened my eyes a lot. scott was not denying the mystical, rather saying that the exotic language is not necessary for the same benefits to occur. it's all there, ALL OF IT, in our very own language and culture. the point of scott posting the initial article in the first place was to say that, just that. it's totally unnecessary for someone else to attack something saying that basically because it doesn't specifically use the exotic language then in no way could anything be happening on that plane. i got some news...... IT'S ALL CHI! the whole uni-verse (one verse? one song? one sound? - it's all there in our own language, all of it. we don't need to translate centuries old texts to realise the nature of ourselves. our true nature is not culture specific, it transcends all boundaries) is brimming with the stuff. everything is made up of energy. mass is just energy in particle form rather than wave form. how then can something not be using chi? what about intu-flow? do you not think that perhaps the nutrition and lubrication being brought to the joints is not some form of chi? i know mantak chia speaks heavily about the synovial fluid and it's importance. in the chakra system also, every single one of our joints has several chakra points located in it. i know b k works to energise and release these joints. do you not think that moving them alone is enough to bring chi to them? what is the aim of qi gong? as far as i am aware usually it's for health reasons.... completely the same as RMAX's aim..... or if not it's about becoming a better being.... also in line with RMAX. anyways ultimately anyone has the right to practice whatever they want to and gain the benefits as they seek and are capable of receiving.

yoda is right in some aspects about body-flow..... however i have to come back to the point that joint mobility, body-flow and clubbells are all interrelated and when combined, create incredible results. i constantly suprise myself these days as all of a sudden i have new found skills or i try something out and can do it almost immediately. today a friend showed me this yoga pose that she was shown when doing instructor training, it's like a planch but with the hands together and elbows tucked into abdomen and then balancing on the hands...... like third try i pulled it off. she told me at the training, only the instructor was able to do it. she was also commenting on my flexibility, although it's actually MOBILITY not flexibility. i never stretch yet over time my range of movements of course have been increasing. on the weekend i found this log and i started log rolling, being able to keep my balance on top of it really quite easily. i have been thinking about this and all this balancing stuff is strength, but in such a different way than we are used to defining or thinking about strength. circular strength training is unique in that it trains our joints, muscles, tendons AND nervous system to work together. this way skills become easier as the body is more intelligent. the difference between a regular push-up and an RMAX push-up is IMMENSE. the regular pushup may give you bigger pecs and the illusion of being stronger, but the RMAX pushup will coordinate your body in such a way that true strength far outways the simple illusion of isolated strength. i have tried hindu-squats and pushups, i have tried body-weight exercises, i haven't tried kettlebells and now that i have clubs have no desire to me. i think CST is awesome because it IS inclusive of all other modalities, the difference is in the sophistication. we don't stop at the level of "oh this dand is it, i can achieve all the strength i could ever want with this" no no no.... we go "this dand is pretty good, i've got it down now.... so what can i do to take it up another notch?" always evolving, increasingly complex, never stagnant. *disclaimer* i in no way receive any kind of compensation for promoting RMAX, i just love it that much is all. it is changing my life and my own physical mastery.

ugh. no thanks!

yeah..... power breathing. a big 'no no' in CST. the internal bracing done with power breathing will cause increasing levels of tension in the body and will eventually cause problems me thinks. with CST you learn structural breathing or "being breathed"... that is how to integrate breathing, movement and structure. you don't breath, your movement and structure breathes you! it's pretty incredible and when you get it down you begin to see the idea of perpetual exercise is very much real. body-flow is CST's body-weight exercises, and while it may not look like much for building strength, don't be fooled! the strength built by body-flow is far more sophisticated than you could ever imagine..... real strength! which is 3-dimensional and complex. Clubbells and CST is tha bomb! as Grandtrinity said quite a long time ago when i was asking about clubbells "i feel sorry for anyone who doesn't have clubs" (or something like that) and now having my own, i echo his sentiments exactly! *excuse me, i'm very passionate about it. it has that effect as you'll quickly realise if you frequent the RMAX forum*

if i was cooking for you peoples you better believe i'd knock something tasty up! i'm real proud of my current breakfasts. soup (sometimes miso, sometimes just salt and pepper) with veggies, which depend on what i get for free from the organic vege seller i work for. this morning it was salt and pepper soup with green beans, squash, broccoli, sweet potato, left over merguez (spicy lamb sausage), buk choy, fresh warrigal greens from the garden and mung bean sprouts (added after i finished cooking). preceded by a glass of raw, biodynamic buttermilk..... what a breakfast, huh?

the only experience we have is our own one.

yes i'll say thanks too. i've changed pretty dramatically since i've been here and actually now have virtually nothing to do with taoism (although this is only from a personal practice point of view, the real teachings and concepts of the tao are universal and i cannot but follow the natural law of the universe), but i have learnt a lot from being here (i am particularly grateful for being introduced to RMAX through this forum) and continue to return for the stimulating conversation and the open-minded and friendly participants here. and also, thanks for the invite sean i'd be more than happy to share a meal with all of you.

go the clubs!!! never tried kettlebells and honestly once i saw clubbells i never felt the urge to. clubs are awesome, i love them. the RMAX philosophy is so deep and if you explore it and apply it to your physical development it can really take you places. the more i understand about RMAX, the greater the ocean seems..... and that ocean is not a 'system' that ocean is my own experience. RMAX is just a gateway to deepening your own personal experience, particularly in this physical dimension. want physical mastery? go RMAX! no way.... heard the term "knuckledragger"? thats what RMAX builds. if you want strength and flow, but most of all value health first and foremost.... then RMAX is your tribe!

well that makes it a little different. i have to stay or else we all die. i guess i'd throw it open first and let anyone offer themselves. explain the reasons. and then well if noone volunteered i'd set up one of those reality tv-show type competitions to decide who gets cut hahaha..... no, this is a hard question. what right do i have to decide who gets to live and who gets to die? regardless of who they are as a person, a saint or a mean bastard, we are all equal, we are all infinite consciousness and we are all just having a different expression of existance based on ourselves and our external circumstances (one and the same really). if noone volunteers, let people vote. but in reality the situation would quickly escalate out of control with everyone being hysterical. if that's the situation...... listen to my intuition, push 3 people off quickly and bail.

haven't read all the responses, just too many for me to go through right now. but here's what i think i would do, circumstance obviously would always dictate otherwise. people aren't going to believe me when i say this, but as the captain of the ship i would be the first to volunteer to stay behind. i'd then put it out that this boat can only carry 7 people safely, who else will do the right thing so that some people can at least survive? yes, i truly would offer to stay behind.

my secret identity has gone now.... haha. i love CST, apart from my own meditations, it's the only thing i currently engage in. and any other discipline i may venture into (different MA, breakdancing, capoeira, acrobatics, rockclimbing, whatever) over time, will just be as an expansion of my exploration of CST. clubbells are by far the coolest thing i have ever bought. my intention is to get over to the US, hopefully next year, and do the certification. right now i am looking to build myself up to the level where i would actually be able to pass (it's a long and expensive trip for me!) and all my efforts are channeled into this exploration. you know i have to thank this board for even finding CST. it was here where i originally learnt about warrior wellness and based on reccomendations here i took the plunge and bought it. my library is substantiall bigger since then, but in the meantime i had tried many things to satisfy my earth element (i'm mostly air and ether, but there is an earthy part that needs to be satisfied by getting physical.... else i float off into space!) and CST is by far the best i have encountered. before this i have tried various qi gong forms, power yoga, isometrics, callisthenics and all bored me after a short exposure. CST never gets boring.... how can something that has no defined end, that constantly sophisticated itself, ever get boring? and yeah i'm a forum hanger over there. i just leave the forum open while i'm at work, and it's my few moments rest every now and then. i don't feel comfortable viewing this forum at work though because it's a little bit more 'out there'. no no no.... the shadow (me) works with CST! hehehe.

hey guys, being very interested by scott and seans thread i decided to have a go and see where i ended up..... but staying away (as much as possible) from cross-cultural concepts. check the thread on rmax forum called "transcendance" and there are some fantastic things that show you truly where scotts opinion on these matters truly lie. the first is maslows pyramid of needs, where he defines CST as covering the first level and flowfighting as covering the second. the top level, which is the territory we venture into when discussing such lofty beliefs as enlightenment (because they ARE just beliefs until you experience it for truth) and so on, is left to the individual. so scott's opinion (although i add a disclaimer here that i am not speaking for him in any way. i am merely reiterating what i believe his opinion to be based on our discussion) is basically this: CST lays the foundation, through physical health, mobility, removal of fear, etc.... to realise such things as enlightenment for the personal experience it is for each individual. he never claims that CST gives you this.... merely provides an oppurtunity to go there, if you wish, by using it as a springboard (or my analogy... CST gives you the blueprints to use the resources you already have (your body) to build a jet, but no destination is supplied... thats up to you!). and he wants to keep CST free of all concepts such as this, so the journey and experience can be the personal odyssey it should be for each and every individual. philsophising is just that, it's not experiencing it. and it is all about the experience and i agree with his feeling that CST is about deepening your own personal experience through daily practice. nothing more, nothing less. the rest is up to the individual. the original point that concepts such as chi, etc need not be discussed or referenced to obtain the same benefits is perfectly valid IMHO. and i would agree that it actually complicates things, the mystical or exotic is certainly attractive.... but how much of it do we actually miss just because the cultural concepts are out of reach of our 21st century western minds? personally i have gained A LOT through my daily practice of CST that go beyond merely physical results. but i do find that my daily meditations are a perfect complement, although that is my own choice to pursue.