Yoda

that's been a recent discovery for me that outdoor practice is very energizing and grounding. This seems to hold for everything from strength training all the way to stillness practice. The Greeks exercising outdoors and naked is an image that comes to mind these days. It also seems more 'enlightening' too--the elements wake up instinctive memories. Remembering the wind, the sun, or the stars brings me back to the real world. I read a bit of that RJ Stewart material--good stuff. It's very cool that Winn and Stewart are pals and that they have combined their teachings. Thanks for pointing that out! -Yoda

I look forward to having them! In the meantime, I've been showing my toes foot fetish material, massaging them, etc -Yoda

laughing should be on the list too! -Yoda

If it lands in my lap, I'll try it. But otherwise I won't worry about it. Sounds like a nice little church service y'all had! That reminds me, in Athens, Ga I'd sometimes go to a black Baptist church. Their choir was on some kind of rotation system, but the A Team was amazing--and I'm definitely not a Christian! I was the one white kid dancin' in the back row. They would just tune me out. Unfortunately, I never knew when the rotation was so mostly I'd have to sit through all the rugged cross "material" only to discover that it wasn't the right group. So I bagged it, but the A Team lives on in my mind! Definitely sacred dance. They couldn't stop--and they tried to, but someone in the choir or the pews would cut loose again and the whole thing fired up over and over. Fun stuff! -Yoda

I once went to a huge rainbow gathering near Flagstaff, AZ. Everyone brought their drum to the bonfires--it was pretty incredible. I've never experienced anything like it! But that was my only experience of anything like that on that scale. In Boulder, CO I'd go to the "chant and chow" with the Hare Krishnas in the early 90s. That was pretty cool and there would be over 20 people in a modest living room with hardwood floors--that was good. We weren't missionized or anything. It was very nice. I've not done any raves or anything along those lines. I have a coworker who goes to raves and does xtc, etc and he refuses to give me any. "It's not for family men" he says. I tell him that I'll be good, but still no luck. They keep closing down the cool danceclubs. In Cola, SC that pretty much hems us in. If mbanu is reading this he'll agree. I haven't been out in quite some time! -Yoda

Definitely the fundamentals: inner smile, healing sounds, frolics, microcosmic orbit, embracing the tree come to mind. Perhaps Bodri could free associate while flipping through nice, basic chikung books like Way of Qigong by Cohen or Tao of Sex, Health, Longevity by Reid etc. I found WSM to be a brilliant "non-packing" relative to the iron shirt stuff. But anything on iron shirt would be great. Any WSM adaptations, with standing, etc. WSM got me to discover my feet too. I'm hungry for more commentary re: bones, my left big toe, etc. What about my right big toe, anyways? Any WSM like practices for organs? Why the insistance on white light vs other colors? I have a hard time keeping my WSM visualization stable--I sort of have to breathe in the white light and then breath it out. Any suggestions? What does he think of Sean's idea of mentally scrubbing the bones with a bristle brush to lighten/brighten/and stimulate? Max is always saying that emptiness is the main part of WSM--I don't quite get that part. Just visualize that I'm gone--just the landscape where I was sitting?? Also, any celibacy/retention tips like the crane frolic type exercise before bed. I don't know if Bodri has any thoughts on Wang Xiangzhai and his yiquan/stance training but I'd be interested in that. Also his commentary on picking up energy from weather, sun, stars, earth, etc. Anything on sungazing/sunbathing/vitamin D/serotonin/the pineal gland, etc. My WSM seems to be most successful when I'm practicing in total dark or in direct sunlight, for instance. Seems to mix well with sungazing, etc. I don't know if he's familar with Primordial Chi Kung, but moving drills like that, I'd like his input on. Dream practices come to mind as well. I don't think the taobums on our own, have enough buying power to make the book worth it for him, but it sounds like a fantastic book that would have popular appeal to others as well. Maybe Sean could link taobums to it as recommended reading, etc. If the title is something like introduction to basic chi kung and taichi principles it might could appeal to the larger taichi/yoga crowd. Keep us posted! Thanks!!! -Yoda

Caught by the sheepcam!!! I'm sure this will be the official screensaver on the Death Star before the week is out. All those storm troopers laughing on the outside, envious on the inside. -Yoda

That's my non-affiliated view too. -Yoda

Or maybe keep it, and just do them one handed. From what I heard on dragondoor, adjustable KBs never quite capture the same feel but they work for swings along with dumbells. I'm captivated by the beauty of my KBs, so I'd say get the DD ones sooner or later. I'm sure there's somebody who can sell you a DD KB in LA, possibly used. Just post on DD and check ebay. At least save on shipping that way. Also, the one pood DD KB handles aren't huge either, but I can get all my fingers around it for two hand swings, but I tend to do one hand swings. -Yoda

Yeah, I'm back on creatine to deal with the new motion. Definitely google for "The Wrestlers Body" and check out the dands/bethaks/retention connection. Also check out the workouts on trainforstrength.com--they are swing based workouts and might offer some cycling ideas between swing sets. I swung my 1.5 pood for a few reps and I'm sure the 2 pood will show up at some point, but I'll try to keep my kb training focused on high reps. -Yoda

Winn just posted an interesting article at HT worth checking out. -Yoda

Trunk, Pavel doesn't make a big point of which way to breath as long as you get a comfortable groove on it. What breathing pattern do you recommend? Breathing in on the downswing and out on the upswing does seem to put more attention and power into the ltt. That breathing pattern seems to get the thumbs up on dragondoor for lower rep work which gets more compressive as the reps get lower. But for high reps there's more of an emphasis on "being breathed" by the swings with the exhalation on the way down and inhaling on the way up. Thanks, Yoda

Trunk, I just did some KB shwings today, and I DO believe that they contribute to a kinder, gentler nation. Strictly one pood, mostly swings, duration: brief. (If I could brag about it, I would.) What happened with my previous training is that I moved up to and became enamored with low rep 2 pood work and lost my connection with the ballistic/high rep side of the equation and the training lost its zestiness and I bagged it. Thanks for posting--great insight & you got me back into the KB game! I ran across this William James quote today: "Muscular vigor will still always be needed to furnish the background of sanity, serenity, and cheerfulness of life, to give moral elasticity to our disposition, to round off the wiry edge of our fretfulness, and make us good humored and easy of approach." If anyone is interested in checking out shwings, you can do them with a 10-80 lb dumbell. I'm sure dragondoor.com has some articles and photos. There is a bodyweight trainer, I think, at trainforstrength.com who has animated photos of swings as well. He says that swings are key for fighters he also strongly endorses clubells. -Yoda 8)

looks like a good adjustable setup. Your insight makes me remember all the talk on dragondoor of the "What the hell?" Effect of KB training how it seems to transcend the law of training specificity and have crazy carryover effects into other types of exertion. Jing redistribution wasn't discussed--but it's an excellent one. Here are the others: the extreme grip training has reflexive strength benefits throughout the entire nervous system--by improving your grip you automatically have improved leg strength, etc. The swing/snatch/clean ballistic movement is almost impossible to train for in any other manner and is a very "core" movement involved in many sports. Ballistics have momentum are addictive and can entice the practitioner into greater exertions--the swinging is funner and has a more addictive groove than many calisthenics. Also, swings in particular don't tire out one part before another part. My best period of kb training was swings and snatches. I later moved to c&j b/c I could handle more weight but I started treating KB training like low rep strength training which isn't KB's superpower. doing KB's outside is another secret ingredient of their power. My set has been brought out, but I'm still only just watching them. I've never tried club bells, but I've heard that they are amazing probably for many of the same reasons. You HAVE to do those outside if you don't have high ceilings--so outdoor training is enforced. -Yoda 8)

Interesting insight, I believe that there's something to it. During the peak of my KB's, I was definitely the swinger. That's a motion that bodyweight stuff can't touch. I've brought them out from storage and I've been looking at them, but that's the limit of my current kettlebell training. -Yoda

Just read several positive reviews of "Bliss of Inner Fire" re: Naropa's 6 Yogas. It is the most chatty and easy to read account of Tsongkapa's work. Looks cool. http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detai...g=UTF8&v=glance I'm still behind on my reading. Next in line is Gene Savoy's "Project X: Search for the secrets of immortality" Gene is a famous South American explorer who became inspired to become a sungazing high priest from his Peruvian explorations and meetings with shamans. The reviews say that it's half adventure story, some philosophical speculation but the rubber never meets the road for practical applications. He claimed that sungazing leads to physical immortality but I'm thinking that belief may be fading as he approaches 80 years old. Any academic types might be interested in amazoning for "reginald ray" his works on Tibetan Buddhism are excellent, practitioner friendly... but scholarly so you have to be pretty serious on the subject to crack those tomes open. -Yoda

Hagar, You should watch an episode of Boohbah--a new kids TV show here in the states. I'm sure you have it up in Norge. Trippy, multiorgasmic triggers all over the place! -Yodster 8)

I decided to reread Pavel's Naked Warrior to get more pistol tips. Great book, btw, but I'm not putting into the taobum library!! One interesting thing Pavel says is that eastern martial arts teachers are notoriously such lousy communicators that students with few exceptions typically waste years of effort learning things that could have been mastered in weeks or months. Reminded me of Chia. Pavel says a good Russian military standard is 10 pistols is a "pass" 15 is "good" and 20 is "excellent". I would like to think that's special forces standards, b/c our marines can't do jack. I just met a infantry trainer who confirmed that suspicion. So I took a modified form of the test, I gave myself a chair to stand on so I wouldn't have to perform picture perfect, Russian form. I got 12 on my right and 10 on my left. My chair handicap would have sent me packing, but my goal is to get to 25 each leg, good form and 25 one arm pushups. (I can do 20r/18l one arm two leg pushups, not strict form) -Yoda 8)

those Sonnan drills are great!! Those dorsal pistols are extremely cool. I'm surprised they hadn't occured to me before. I guess Pavel keeps the heel on the ground, and that was my initial influence. I'm looking for good Taoist power yoga routines these days as well. One that I'm currently developing is the crane frolic--that's a good one to work in pistols, airbornes, hindus, etc. And maybe doing cloud hands while doing cossack squats, but that's as far as I've gone with it. -Yoda 8)

A few airbornes a day will eventually lead to pistols! I'm glad you are having fun with them. Another cool practice that the sungazing gang are into is walking, standing, practicing, gardening etc barefoot outside as much as possible. -Yodster

Sungazing at UV of 2 or less is, in my opinion, a very conservative guideline insuring complete safety. Sungazing within an hour of sunrise or sunset insures this, but lots of people can't see the sun during those times. Also, cloudgazing during the middle of the day can be dangerous as the built in pain reflex might not kick in allowing too much UV exposure. Leave it to Yoda to find the $35 UV watch at Target! Or a bit more if you google search uv watch online. While I have good access to the horizon, I'm still going to pick one up for kicks. Here's a quote from a study on sunlight and serotonin: "the rate of production of serotonin by the brain was directly related to the prevailing duration of bright sunlight and rose rapidly with increased luminosity." Just google sunlight serotonin and you'll bump into the pubmed abstract. Whatever practice you do might get a nice boost by doing it in sunshine. -Yoda 8)

Doh! I JUST got it handed to me on shipping charges! You beat me by $6! :evil: I've been checking the UV index website for the day's prediction, but I look forward to having more input on an hour-to-hour basis. Plus, it's nice to have little techie toys around the house. Mrs Yoda totally throws away anything that arrives in discrete packaging. -Yoda 8)

I'm sorry to hear that! Also, that nukes my theory that one's pain sensors are good protection on non-cloudy days. There are a ton of variations from normal sunbathing, looking at the sun with the eyes closed, watching the pre-sunrise/post-sunset radiance, just looking at the sky in a direction away from the sun, etc. One of the most popular is walking around in the sunshine without wearing shoes. I'd imagine just do whatever practices you enjoy but just do it outside without shoes on as often as possible would do the trick. I've been through lots of practices and, in retrospect, my best experiences with them whether kettlebells, yoga, standing, meditation, etc were when done outside. Also, my happiest periods of life seem to correlate with higher sun exposure, so sunlight is worth considering as a potential secret ingredient for the good life. Another study that I read about is that you really can 'store up' sunlight exposure, that a lot of exposure in the summer will see you through in the winter. There's a vitamin D precursor (cholecalciferol) that builds up with increased sunlight and the speculation is that keeps the vitamin D stocked up and thus the serotonin strong through the dark months. -Yoda

I think Hinayana is still a valid concept when applied towards one's own practice w/in the Tibetan system. Eg--taking the hinayana version of the empowerment, etc... But it is insulting and highly misleading when applied towards other systems. Not to worry, the Theravadin world has their own insults towards their Mahayanist rivals which most of the world of western scholarship buys into. They believe that the Mahayanist world is a serious perversion of the original doctrine. Theravadins can take care of themselves just fine! -Yodster

I'd agree, most here are/were HT folks. It's nice that there's no official affiliation here so you can sometimes get several different views on a subject. It's ideal for a la carte practitioners like myself. 8) -Yoda