Stigweard

I very much like this

Magic is the crystallization of intent. In Taoist parlance: Where Shen goes Qi follows, where Qi goes Jing follows. Next question?

Well the day is beautiful here in Oz http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3V8nu6e8eFY

Hiya Friend I am very interested in what you are saying, but I want to be sure of your meaning before I comment. I understand there is a language thing, but if you could, may I ask that you expand on your comments some more please. I would also be interested in hearing other people's perspective on what Friend has written. Cheers

In Taijiquan we have the principle of neither insisting nor resisting, meaning we never push too hard to create change nor do we resist too hard against change. I believe this is appropriate advice here in regards to the unknown ... we should neither overly strive to seek it out, but neither should we fix ourselves in place and resist it. To insist that we should journey into the mysterious unknown is an extreme, but so is insisting that we stay in realm of the rational known.

This is a push hands competition from 1992 showing some of the biggest names in mainland taiji all competing against one another. They are all grandmasters. First bout: Li En-jiu vs. unknown. Li is a Chen stylist that studied under Hong Jun-sheng. Second: Wei Shu-ren vs. Men hui-feng. Wei is a Yang stylist known for advocating the "no force" perspective. Men is THE top wushu teacher in China , a leading proponent of wushu taiji, practices everything under the sun, and was awarded the first 10 duan rank by the Chinese government. Yes I know, no one's ever heard of him. He's unknown in the West. Third bout: Li Bing-ci vs. Lin Mo-gen. Li is a Wu stylist. Lin was a top student of Li Ya-xuan (a disciple of YCF). Fourth bout: Liu Cheng-de vs. unknown. Liu is a Chen stylist again from the Hong lineage and is in one of my favorite push hands clips. Fifth bout: Xin Yu-he vs. Men Hui-feng. I know nothing about Xin. Maybe someone can fill me in. http://www.youtube.com/user/internalsearcher#p/a/u/2/NEeBTKdoeD0

Apech has my 110% vote of confidence in his ability to be a very fair and even-handed moderator. If you don't like the fact that moderators have to take action then I guess you are free to frequent other forums more to your liking.

Heya folks, I have just started a new Tai Chi practice journal on Facebook with a few folks. Just a place to share your daily Tai Chi practice, exchange ideas, and be motivated by others. All welcome! http://www.facebook.com/yourtaichijournal

Authority issues hey?

Yes I agree. I perhaps though would have used a different term than "the body", as I believe the "full Self" is so much more. And this is not so "dense" at all Very well written.

I spent a number of years as a sleep consultant. Talking with people who suffered with sleep apnea was a regular occurrence. There is an alarming amount of people who can't handle the machines or the mouthgaurds. My focus was to get them looking very closely at their sleeping posture by examining the orthopedic quality of their mattress and pillows. If the spine and neck are not in alignment properly then the airways are restricted. Recommendation: Get a friend to check out your spine and neck alignment in your favorite sleeping positions. You may start to get some relief this way. Also... Please excuse me if this is being insensitive, but are you carrying too much weight? Overweight people are prime candidates for sleep apnea because the extra flesh around the throat constricts the airways. Also... Is your sleep environment free of dust mites? Dust mite feces is highly toxic and allergenic, I have met a few people who, when sleeping, would have their nasal and throat passages inflame and swell up causing snoring and sleep apnea. One chap in particular stopped snoring over night by sleeping in a dust mite free environment. Also... Learn to play the didgeridoo In a Swiss study published in the British Medical Journal, it was found that didgeridoo playing is an effective alternative treatment for moderate obstructive sleep apnea. It was hypothesized that the circular breathing technique may improve muscular tone of the upper airway and reduce the collapsibility that is common in sleep apnea.

Or is that when we surrender the "known" we embody the "self" in its integral wholeness?

Yup there is no doubt that the model has limitations, just as any conceptual model has. Not quite. In the model the knower IS the known. The "idea" of the island of the known is that the conceptual frameworks that we create for ourselves through incessant description and self-narration creates a "little world of our own." It is our personal window through which we view the world framed by our conceptualized beliefs of what is and is not. Ah yes, this is the real limitation of the model. The image of island in an ocean implies both that the situation is static and also that there is some sort of solid delineation between known and unknown. Of course the living reality is infinitely more subtle than this. And, as rene has so accurately said, both the known and the unknown are simultaneously ever-present. Each and every moment contains the full spectrum of possible perception. It is only the self-imposed boundaries and conceptual filters that prevents us from seeing the all. Thank you Easy and thank you rene for your valuable perspective.

LOL thanks for this ... although Liao Kuangcheng looks more like a WWF wrestler rather than a combat wrestler, which has made me a little suspicious

It can be hard to find authentic texts on ancient Taoism. Damned hard actually. You look here ... you look there. Some people can spend a lifetime looking without success. Some people spend thousands of dollars finding the "right" book. And there are predators out there as well, lying in wait for the desperate fool, craftily pawning off fakes and fraudulent texts to the unwary. So if you are wondering why you can't get your hands on truly authentic Taoist texts I have very, very good news for you. It took me a long time to realize this simple fact. Hours of practice, years of insight to lead to a simple but eye-pooping realization. Now I shouldn't be telling you this. There are rules you know ... secret and sacred agreements have bound people to silence for many centuries. But now the secret is out ... it is time to lift the veil on this preciously guarded truth. The reason why you can't find truly authentic Taoist texts is because... You are in the ... Bahahahahaha !!!

I believe this is called taking your partner for granted. Tough lesson to learn.

Yup I agree with you here, except for the non-contact bit. Right from the start you have to have contact in my opinion. Contact training cuts the crap real quick. If you start with non-contact you can acquire unrealistic ideas and habits that have no practical use when you get to contact training or combat. Start with being pushed and struck (in a safe way mind you), learn the natural responses of the body, learn how to adapt and protect yourself, then let your own applications and attacks naturally evolve out of this. And when being struck you have to work from the worst case scenario back up to best case scenario. By this I mean you have to first look at how the body reacts to a push-punch (i.e. pushing the opponent's body with the fists but not actually impact striking ... yet), drill it over and over again. This also teaches the push-puncher the right locations and directions to cause the most disruption to the opponent's core, which is the main point. This is more like "push bodies" instead of "push hands". Then when you and your partner are comfortable with push-striking, up the intensity and allow impact striking to come in. Again work from the worst case scenario of, "Oh f**k I am copping a hit," incrementally back up to where you might see the strike coming and can do something about it before it hits the core of the body. Combine this sort of training with all your Tui Shou and Shuai Jiao and you are developing a good foundation for combat. Oh and don't forget about doing all this sort of training on the ground as well. Most fights on the street end up there. Just on another note, I personally dislike the whole push the opponent away silliness that you see in most Tui Shou. That is just a stupid tactic in real combat in my not so humble opinion. If I have gone to all the trouble of breaking your root and floating your qi, the last thing I want to do is give you a chance to recover or, even worse, pull out a weapon. I want you at my feet with my knee in your face, I want you controlled and incapacitated and I have no hope of doing this if my techniques land you 10ft away from me.

Nope you haven't missed a thing IMO. Playing Tui Shou is about learning a certain skill set on the way to all-out combat -- adhering, listening, yielding, following, leading, severing the root, issuing force etc. Unfortunately many practitioners see it as the be-all-and-end-all of martial arts ... it's not. It's just a training drill. But hey what do I know, I'm just a stupid knob from Australia.

I think what we have to be aware of is that the Daodi jing is about helping the adherent develop the world view as prescribed by Laozi. From this fundamental world view neidan, taiji, yangsheng, and other varieties of Taoist-aligned practices emerged. I am inclined to agree with xuanying here that Laozi is like the lowest common denominator that infuses the whole Taoist tradition.

I'm with you on that one my friend

This is such an important line of exploration