Age Sage

Maybe the fraud part isn't in the contents of his books, but in the allegations that those contents are not his to give, but stolen from his teacher. Then he would be a fraud because he does not himself have the knowledge and skill, and because he took and published something, under his own name, that was not his. No one has addressed that question, yet, as to whether it is true that he did that (stole manuscripts).

IME, it's a myth that people "adapt" to the water in their region. When I traveled in India and Nepal, I learned that plenty of "locals" get sick from their own drinking water. Diarrhea is one of the leading causes of infant/child mortality, and of adult illness, in impoverished regions around the world. The diarrhea is almost always caused by contaminated water used for drinking and to make baby formula. The contamination frequently is from E. coli, the bacteria found in the human gut and in the guts of other animals. Illness-causing bacteria constantly mutate so the immune system may not be able to handle a new strain of, say, E. coli (gut-dwelling coliform bacteria)until it gets infected by it. Viruses such as the notorious norovirus, mutate so quickly that a vaccine can't be made for it. People get reinfected again and a gain with mutated strains of the virus. And, certain parasites, such as protozoan types, can be chronic inhabitants of the human gut, and "want" to be pooped out into the drinking water in order to complete their reproductive cycles by having their offspring infect new hosts. So, chlorination and boiling have been used as the main ways of destroying these germs and parasites in developed and developing countries. In developing countries, water supplies are often used for bathing, dishwashing and even toileting and disposing of dead animals or garbage (I once saw a woman washing the family dishes in a pond in Rajastan, while 10 yards away a man was taking a dump right into the water). Where I live, in the good ol' U.S. of A., the water supply is inhabited by other animals such as beavers, who carry parasites in their guts, that they poop into the water. It causes a very unpleasant infection with lots of diarrhea, bloating, and farting in humans. I am glad that the water commission in my district makes sure the water we drink goes through a stringent purification process. Put it this way: Municipalities don't like to spend money on services for the populace, if they don't absolutely have to. Chlorination is a necessity in many places to prevent epidemics and seasonal illness outbreaks. We may not like the way chlorinated water tastes, but would rather taste chlorine and have a little bit of side residue in the water, than poop and barf my guts out because of unwanted microscopic guests.

OOPS! I misread the thread header as "Iron Shirt Advantages," not "Iron Fist." My comments were referring to IRON SHIRT training, NOT Iron Fist. Mea Culpa! And, I do not believe that so-called Iron first has ever given any benefits. Interal power comes from total unification of the body, and there is no way to "condition" the hands to be "harder" and more powerful. In fact, human hands were never meant to be used for the kinds of abusive things that such training involves. I'd think that if anything, it could make arthritis worse!

I guess it's one of the "big If" things. If you have a good teacher who has the Real Goods, and you proceed carefully, IMO it is worth it. There are so many cautions, though, particularly when it comes to straining and putting unhealthy stress on internal organs. But done properly, I believe there are benefits both for general wellbeing and martial combat power. About osteoarthritis, as far as I know about it, it's caused by auto-immune response and leads to inflammation. Auto-immune means the body "attacks itself" because the immune system misreads its own body tissues as foreign invaders. Low-impact internal training can improve circulation and reduce inflammation. I don't know if it directly prevents arthritis, though I doubt it. But I do think it can reduce inflammation due to better circulation. I have a little osteoarthritis that is inevitable with age, and I think that my martial practices may keep it in check. YMMV.

It's not about visualizing, but of using intent to manipulate the neuromuscular system. It's how you use your body, including the legs, as one unified piece, and how you manipulate those internal tissues and the skeletal frame to create structure that is capable of manipulating force. Intent is not visualization, it is willful command of the neuromuscular system. It should not take "centuries of zhang zhuang" to develop the skills. More like 10 years to get to a high enough level of skill. The foundational skills should be attainable within 4-5 years. No unicorns needed.

I had already been training in internal MAs for some time before I read two of Chia's books, "Iron Shirt Chi Kung" and "The Internal Structure of Tai Chi." I am not a Taoist, so I tended to ignore the esoteric Taoist symbolism, but the descriptions and instructions in practical qigong principles were pretty straightforward and for the most part they complemented and mirrored things I already was training and doing. So, no complaints about the practical stuff. However, I did read that Chia's books are actually manuscripts he took from his teacher and published under his own name, and that he doesn't himself have the skills that the books' contents would imply. In fact, IIRC, one of the places I read that accusation was in a bunch of reviews of Chia's books on Amazon.com, from former students. Whether the accusation is true or not, I can't verify, and I thought maybe someone here would be closer to the source and able to comment.

Jox, MAs with percussive kicks and blows, such as muay Thai, have conditioning methods that work fine for dealing with percussive blows to the big outer muscles of the thigh and leg. But in my observation they can't handle the concussive power of internal attacks. For that you need a different conditioning strategy, and that involves learning how to maneuver the body internally to redirect force, both percussive and concussive. Regards!

Are you getting tingling sensations when you're training, such as when doing standing qigong work? IME, when I am working the "6 directions" and using the opposing forces to maintain structure, there is a definite nerve "buzz" happening. Maybe from the mixed signals the nerve cells are getting from my intent to push-pull in the different directions. But the buzz I'm talking about is in the limbs, too. It's kind of an all-around tingling, burning sensation that lasts as long as I hold the structure. It's not unpleasant, but it is a bit weird.

Hahaha Hey, no human body is totally impervious to violence. I don't care how good your "chi" is.

Being able to take blows to the legs is very much connected to internal body practices that unify the entire body. You don't "condition" the legs by subjecting them to blows; you learn to redirect force using internal coiling or winding processes that redirect the force. I wouldn't use muay Thai conditioning, I'd opt for one of the internal training methods such as that for I Liq Chuan, Xingyi or Bagua (that is, from legit systems and teachers who actually have real internal skills to teach).

I realize that, and good point. I mentioned I Liq Chuan because it does have the internal methods and applications necessary to receive and return force, including hard kicks to the thighs. There are only so many ways that the human body can ground and return force through the frame. Since the OP is interested in that kind of application, I thought that ILC was worth mentioning.

http://www.aikiweb.com/forums/showthread.php?t=21508 FWIW, "Aiki" is the Japanese term for internal harmonizing of opposites within the body (In-Yo = Yin-Yang)in the Qigong-Neigong sense.

I don't think that ego and humility have to be mutually exclusive. It depends on your interpretation of "ego," I guess. The popular interpretation of "ego" is having a high opinion of oneself, but in the psychological or psychiatric sense, it just means awareness of self. "I Am" and "This is Who and What I Am." There's nothing wrong with that! You can be very aware of who you are and have a very healthy sense of Self, and still be humble. For example, you could have worked very hard since early childhood to be a pianist, and have a natural talent for it which you augmented with very hard work and self-discipline, and attained a high measure of success. You KNOW you are a great pianist, and yet you also know that you could be better, and that as an artist you must continue to strive for the rest of your life. And, you can appreciate and admire other people's talents and skills and put your own skills in perspective with those. Healthy ego is very capable of healthy humility!

I have not met Mantak Chia but have read his "Iron Shirt Chi Kung" and "Internal Structure of Tai Chi." They do have a pretty solid foundation in creating the body structure and power generation needed to apply to taiji and other Internal Martial Arts. A lot of what I read in those books correlated directly to what I have learned in practice. As to taking kicks to the thighs, yes it's doable. It is not something you learn right out of the box, though. You have to start by creating an internally structured and powered body, and there is a very specific sequence of practices you need to do and build on to get to the point where you can receive and return force that way. One criticism I have heard about Chia, and I do not know whether it's true (I don't like rumors so hopefully someone here can corroborate yea or nay) is that the contents of his books are actually the work of his teacher, and that Chia simply published it but is not at the skill level of the things presented in the books. Caveat emptor. I think you would do well to look up F.S. "Sam" Chin, the inheritor and innovator of his family internal martial art, I Liq Chuan. I have met him and he has high level skills and is an excellent teacher. Furthermore, he does workshops and seminars around the world and has disciples and students who are certified instructors all over the world, too. You may be able to find one of them and train or to travel to a seminar and then work with his DVDs between workshops. It's a VERY cogent system and is broken down into exercises and principles you can work on at any level and be able to make progress. There is a video on the I Liq Chuan website that shows one of Chin's high-ranked instructors in Russia, taking full-on roundhouse kicks to the outer thighs and hips, and sending the force back into the kicker. Check it out. I think it's in this documentary here, along with a good overview of I Liq Chuan and Sam Chin: http://iliqchuan.com/content/master-sam-fs-chin-apperance-dan-test-tv-show