Yoda

Speed not important to immortals. 2006 is the year I settle down and get married to a nice, stable practice life.

I'm thinking a Gene Simmons tongue would be good for lots of things including comedy club acts. This snipping is too slow, maybe surgery is the answer??? I'll write Dear Abby. She'll know. -Yoda Actually, that's a cool format for a comedy routine... read the dear Abby/Heliose/Delilah/etc chicks and give my own advice to the perplexed masses.

Scott, Great to see you here! After hearing about your material for years, I'm finally seeing the light! Sean finally wore me down. Thanks! Yoda

It's getting harder and harder for me to get a rise out of people, but that cutting the tongue thing has proven to be a solid crowd pleaser. The sungazing doesn't play as well as there's genuine fear there which harshes the humor vibe. The tongue thing doesn't activate fear the same way--it hits more the grossout/kinky vibe I'm looking for. Progress is glacial, though. I hope Plato's blog does well and I'm glad to be an indirect contributor. -Yoda

I love shower power tips. I'll check it out!

I've been getting into Sonnon's mobility work and really benefiting by it, so I decided to pick up Chia's recent (republished?) book on Tao Yin. Really amazing stuff. It focuses on sitting and lying which compliments the many standing forms out there. He says that tao yin can be defined as anything "chi kung" which is pretty vague, but I think the focus is on strengthening, stretching, and joint mobility exercises, especially of the spine. The basic drill which is the foundation of much of the book is what I call the "taoist situp". On your back with your knees bent and feet flat on the ground, do a gentle situp/crunch where your head and chest curl up off the ground and the tail bone curls in too so the whole spine is like a bowl. Do this while exhaling, then inhale and completely relax back to the ground and chill out and repeat. It's one part exercise and one part meditation. The focus is to use the psoas to do the situp more than the stomach muscles, but don't worry about recruiting the stomach muscles too. I've been doing situps for the last few weeks after Trunk put me on to Pilates, and this one especially is a nice one to use at the end of a workout--draws all the energy back into the center and allows a nice transition to the corpse pose. Chia says the energy benefits of tao yin practice comes from the rest after the exercise, so don't shortchange that part. A nice aspect of this sort of training is that it doesn't require much skill to benefit from--it's probably the easiest taoist practice in this respect. -Yoda

I own that seated brocade book, but it never did anything for me. If you have any level of interest, I'd encourage you to try it.

Awakening and Enlightenment sound like a goal or endpoint on the path to me whereas I believe there to be no end to learning and evolving, so the term is more misleading than enlightening. I think it's better to talk about an enlightening or awakening experience in the spirit of one of many. Sort of like attaining an orgasm--you don't say the master is orgasmed, just that he/she had one and it was very nice and here's how you can do the same.

very interesting, I'll experiment with it. I do figure 8s and dig them--part of the Sonnon drill.

Sweet!!! Thanks for posting! Too little is out there about this profound practice and every little morsel helps! -Yoda

Taoist Bling.

Red Fox, You should do a thread, "where should I move?" and give your basic preferences and requirements and we'll hook you up. Keep the SE in mind, though. Cheap, nice weather, slow pace, your car won't rust. -Yoda

A cool thread about Scott's preparation for his match. It's surprisingly unusual to actually see any guru's personal practice routine: http://www.circularstrengthmag.com/forum/v...opic.php?t=8442 It's cool to see mobility work, yoga, and more conventional conditioning put together into one system. Sean, I know you are busy but I'm still waiting for some yoga thoughts from you. -Yoda

Here's a mobility guru that I just found on Scott's site. Apparently, he's a coach for R. Gracie of BJJ fame. Click on the animals. He's really made movement fun. http://www.orlandocani.com.br/eng/main.htm -Yoda

Karen, I saw your other post, so interesting that this unusual MA style shows up again. I didn't read the interview closely, so it looks like 1935 it is--zowie that. My mobility at 15 was seriously bad. A sports doc told me that my mobility was like a 70 yr old! I've come a long ways since then with intermittent training to get to normal for an athletic male, which still puts me at beginner with Scott's stuff, but I'm totally hooked on this stuff. It really delivers a nice sense of well being and 'embodiment'. -Yoda

Karen, I'm glad you liked it. Those animals are difficult but not 'impossible' and look pretty cool. I'll see if I can fool my kids with them. Here's more info on this thread: http://www.circularstrengthmag.com/forum/v...opic.php?t=8445 1935 could be a misprint if the interviewer on this thread is correct. But I didn't ever have that level of mobility even at 15, so it's impressive and fun no matter his age. He says he has a bunch of animal routines. Must be pretty cool to see them. -Yoda

is Bill on it?

Fun, thanks! That guru rating site is pretty wild, isn't it?

Well, if Adyashanti agrees not to control or manipulate his experience, I'll put $100 on Bill. I'm thinking quivering palm in the first round.

Any teacher's method can be summed up on one page. Find out what each teacher's method is and cook yourself a loaf and see if you like it. Ramana Maharishi is a example to keep in mind--very realized and beautifully expressed but his method doesn't work for most of the population. -Yoda

Let's throw Bill and Adyashanti in the ring and see who's right.

I would say some sort of Sonnon or taoyin or yoga system would be very advantageous for an athlete or a taoist. The thing that the Russian system has going for it in general and Sonnon's in specific is that it is easier for the western mind to really understand. I'll send you my book of seated 8 brocades which was originally designed to help xbox players stay healthy. I'm just rummaging through my library and Daniel Reid's "tao of health, sex, and longevity" --a great book and has a killer taoyin section. Here's an excerpt which starts with a quote from a 2,000 year old text: Scott's system is very similar to what I've seen of Chia's, Reid's, and Frost's. Scott's system has simply been what I've been inspired to stick to long enough to see some paydirt. I would think Intuflow could be adapted to a stool. -Yoda

So I've watched some of it so far. The Intuflow is essentially an evolution of the Warrior Wellness program. At my beginning level of mastery, it really doesn't make much difference which program I follow, but an advanced practitioner would want to follow Intuflow. So if you have WW there's no imperitive to get Intuflow. If you don't have either, go for Intuflow directly. I've watched a bit of the extention dvd and it looks like a good general intro to clubbells. If you want to open up your joints and let the chi in, this is good stuff. As Sean has said, it also awakens your body's intelligence and hence your athletic abilities. Your whole balance, propriation sensitivity, and movement become coordinated which gives you access to new levels of grace and confidence. Scott talks about bioenergy a bit, but the system seems to train the body to pull in more chi while you are at it. At some point, I'll be willing to lend out these dvds, and it's easy enough to make cheap clubbells (go hammer shopping) so pm me if you are interested. I've done WW for 4 months and am developing growing sense of gratitude and appreciation for his material. This is the kind of physical mastery I've always wanted. -Yoda

darn, I thought he was in his 40s. Still a great show, though.

Has arrived! The 5lb clubs are what I had in mind--mobility and conditioning, strength can come from just being me. Although, gripstrength will be developed nicely. They have a great feel to them. It's natural to grab them in the center to lessen the workout too. The whole thing has a retro Indian Club feel which I like. The perfect heft for Yodster. If Sean can watch the DVDs and report back, I'll be set. -Yoda