Starjumper

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Posts posted by Starjumper

  1. Posted · Edited by Starjumper

    Some people think that if you want to become an effective martial artist quickly, tai chi and other internal arts are not for you, and if you want to learn to use tai chi as a martial arts, you'd best be prepared to devote a lot of time and focus to them.

     

    I also used to think this way, but I discovered I was wrong.  I discovered this in my kung fu class, a kung fu based on tai chi, wing chun, etc, the internal martial arts.

     

    It turns out that if you just focus on the applications and forget all the forms and push hands then a good student can quickly learn some really effective stuff.  Of course learning the forms does help, as does push hands, if you want to go far, but just knowing some methods can be absolutely effective.

     

    To illustrate this I'll share a story that Dave Harris told me while I was in class: 

     

    A young feller was brought to class by his mom, who really wanted him to learn self defense.  The kid wasn't so interested and really wanted to learn piano instead, so he dropped out after two months. My teacher referred to him as Little Sissy Boy.

     

    Well this guy was working at a fast food burger place one evening and this big African American came to the window and demanded a free burger.  The kid said he couldn't do that so the black guy said he was going to return at closing time.

     

    So at closing time there were 5 - Five - (5) big black bruisers waiting for him when he came out of work and they attacked him.  The result of this was that four of them went down and didn't get up for awhile, and three of them had to go to the hospital.  The big tough attackers told the police that little sissy boy had attacked them, but there had been a couple of police sitting in an unmarked car there and they saw the whole thing.  Dave said that Little Sissy Boy had learned well and he just accidentally did everything right.

     

    There are other reasons that traditional tai chi normally takes years to get to the defense part, if ever, and most students aren't ever going to get a chance to see the level of sophistication that Dave was teaching us.

     

     

    • Like 2

  2. Posted · Edited by Starjumper

    On 4/5/2020 at 4:46 AM, CloudHands said:

    Did anyone here ever used Taiji chuan in the concrete reality of a brutal street fight ?

     

    I did once.  Some guy in Vilcabamba stole my lap top computer so I chased him down and sent him to the hospital.  It was at night, and someone left the front door open at the B&B where I was staying.  Some young man snuck in and took my computer while I was sleeping, but I heard him, so got up and chased him.  He had a bit of a head start so it took me, a 64 year old man running barefoot, four blocks to catch up to the young punk with running shoes on.  Actually he was a pretty strong fellow in good condition.  We were running on kind of rough, hard and rocky dirt roads so I ended up losing most of the skin on my toes, and the next day my feet felt pretty beat up.  I thank my ability to run so fast, after never jogging or practicing sprinting, to my chi kung training.

     

    Normally I think of tai chi methods as ways to intercept an attack and end it in one second, but in this case I attacked him, so it was more like me just beating the hell out of him, but I did use methods which I had learned, and probably some from previous lives, because that was the only real fight I've been in.  I might write more details about that later, but first I want to share a story of how tai chi was used in a fight, by a kung fu brother of sorts, when he was attacked.  Next post.

    • Like 2

  3. Posted · Edited by Starjumper

    12 hours ago, thelerner said:

    That is awful.  As things begin to normalize, I suppose we'll be dividing society into those who had it, thus immune and can go to work and those who are vulnerable.    There might be a sizeable population that has had it and doesn't know.  A test showing they have immunity would be important.

     

    It seems to me that since isolation is rather imperfect in most places, and the majority of people are not wearing their masks correctly (at least in Ecuador, and I assume in many other places), that this thing will just keep going around and around till it gets everyone.

     

    Quote

    And the question of, do they have immunity or is Covid19 more like the cold & flu, a constantly evolving threat. 

     

    There are stories that people who have been cured still test positive and can get sick again.

  4. Posted · Edited by Starjumper

    @ReturnDragon  You didn't answer the question I posted for you.

     

    9 hours ago, Starjumper said:

    The sage teaches (Nei kung) without speaking, for very good reasons.  Try to guess some of the reasons.

     

    Then I'll give you my answer, which you may think is hilarious.

  5. Posted

    If you are perfectly good, why do you need a guide to good.  Guides are for those who don't know how.

     

    But ...

     

    Chuang Tzu says that "the perfect man is of pure spirit, neither death nor life concern him, nor is he interested in what is good and bad."  If the sage transcends good and bad how can he be good?

    • Like 1

  6. Posted · Edited by Starjumper

    24 minutes ago, ReturnDragon said:

    Did your chi kung teacher lie to you and strike by lightning? :D

     

    No, he didn't lie.  I think that picture is cool because of the way it shows energetic connection to the ground, which is how I sometimes envision energetic connection to ground in chi kung, or, better said, real nei kung, by someone with power.

     

    • Haha 1

  7. Posted

    20 hours ago, Nungali said:

    One difference might be the unusual way our teacher stepped , very 'up and down'

     

    What a dolt, prancing around like a horse with an overblown ego. That must be to telegraph your intentions to observant people, something you're good at anyway.

     

    20 hours ago, Nungali said:

    \not at all like the 'sliding step'  one often sees in martial arts ( I call it 'dojo footwork) teacher, teaching an old 'fighting form / SD'  , training and fighting would be done outdoors, over rough and uneven ground and balance was considered 'core' 

     

    A core of stupidity.  How ridiculous can you get?

  8. Posted

    8 hours ago, Earl Grey said:

     

    There's a training technique where we use cat stance and empty stance for a special kind of Zhan Zhuang, which when done long enough, makes you springy like Bruce Lee, powers your kicks, and improves your balance greatly. When combined with foot work and Bagua circle walking, it makes dodging and flowing a lot more natural. I'm not at that point yet as I don't have many training partners these days with my teachers out of town and other students now doing online work, but this is where shadow boxing really is crucial for when training, and I can't emphasize enough how important shadow boxing is across styles, whether they are internal or external. 

     

    Come to Ecuador some day and we can share some of the nastier techniques, including power methods.

  11. Posted · Edited by Starjumper

    10 hours ago, MegaMind said:

    What do you find insulting?

     

    Something like twenty people have tried to explain that to you for maybe two years now.  Even if I felt up to the task, I wouldn't be able to get er done, and I don't feel like spending an ounce of energy on it.  Try a little self honesty, looking in the mirror, putting yourself in other's places.

     

    Quote

    Also being called a wimp is certainly a personal insult.

     

    Ya, tit for tat, why do you think everyone is so insulting to you guys?

    • Like 2

  12. Posted · Edited by Starjumper

    16 hours ago, ReturnDragon said:

    Hi, Starjumper
    What chi kung did you practice today? It would be helpful if you can tell me how did you practice with as much detail as possible. Thank you!

     

    Sorry, it's a system of real nei kung which contains thousands of techniques, it requires a very good observer, in person, to notice some of those techniques, it is impossible to describe such things in words.  At best it would require a lot of words, and more words count less.  It would take a hundred big books, at least.  Some of the methods are secret and unknown to chi kung experts, and the tradition is that the sage teaches without speaking, for very good reasons.  Try to guess some of the reasons.

     

    Here is one description of my methods, but it is quite incomplete.  Just ignore the fakes doing magic tricks, real nei kung masters don't do public displays.

     

    But hey, you're in luck, there are some videos of some of the beginning levels that you can watch in order to see for yourself.  There is even one of  a very powerful Taoist wizard doing a higher level.  It was requested of me to add spoken instructions, so I did, against my better judgement.  I might remove the instructions any second, so hurry.

     

    Here are the videos:  

     

     

    • Thanks 1

  13. Posted

    3 minutes ago, GSmaster said:

    Western Mopai was in state of remission, it was all ok, until the troll came and made others think asking sean about Mopai matters.

     

    I guess he's just a little asshole who likes to stir up trouble.  There's usually a WIMP shit storm here once a year anyway.

     

    What the Taoist said, pinpointed it for me.  What the WIMPs say is actually a big insult to all practitioners who know what they are doing.

    • Like 1

  15. Posted · Edited by Starjumper

    1 hour ago, dmattwads said:

    How does Qigong tie into Taoism? Is it what Hatha yoga is to Hindu meditation? Preparing the physical body to be able to sit in meditation for extended periods of time?

     

    I don't know about Hatha yoga, but chi kung is not so much for preparing the body to be able to sit for a long time, although that can be a side effect of being in better overall condition.  The moving exercises are an addendum to meditation, they work to make your meditation more highly energized and therefore more effective.  The moving exercises should get your energy buzzing well, at which point the meditations, of which there are many, which are also energy work, will yield faster results.  The sitting meditation should therefore be done after the standing, moving exercises.

     

    I suggest ignoring Return Dragon, he is clueless about the breathing.  Some chi kung uses some breathing, some types of chi kung don't, and yet they still generate a lot of energy.  Some breathing methods, which are actually a lot more than just breathing, which are secret, do add quite a lot to energy cultivation.  the kind of breathing tat Return Dragon is talking about does nothing much for energy cultivation

    • Like 4
    • Haha 1

  16. Posted

    1 minute ago, Rara said:

    Do you agree or disagree that Daoism leans more so much one way, that Confuianism is necessary to balance the state?

     

    Yes, I would say it is a needed sort of balance, Taoism (yin) would be for more mature self responsible people with wisdom, while confucianism (yang) is for more immature, more irresponsible, people who lack wisdom.  The emperors adopted Confucianism though, and so it became the law.

     

    1 minute ago, Rara said:

    Again, speaking about governance. Or am I now thinking too modern? As before it was said that we had an age where we did live in accordance to Dao, naturally...before the Way was lost, perhaps?

     

    I would say that long lost age was the stone age, or even before that.

     

    Time to go to some chi kung now, later ...

    • Like 1

  17. Posted · Edited by Starjumper

    27 minutes ago, ReturnDragon said:


    03. Sages have no mercy,
    04. Treating people as straw dogs.

    "No mercy" are the keywords.

    On a human level. Whomever breaks a law will be punished with no mercy. 

     

    Yes, but breaking the law has to do with government punishment with the master carpenter, not the sage.

     

    When referring to the sage, it means they have no mercy with people because they are like the Tao and have no karma.  They act spontaneously, and can kill without remorse.

     

  19. Posted · Edited by Starjumper

    14 minutes ago, Nungali said:

    oink, oink

     

    Hey Oinkly, this is a Taoist forum, this thread is about tai chi, and not your lame ways.  Lumbering Lumoxes can do moves similar to what tai chi has, but it is always in their crude external style.  They have great difficulty learning the subtlety of the internal aspects, particularly when they are as old and crude as Numb Nutz.

  20. Posted

    17 minutes ago, dmattwads said:

    I suppose this is why the predominant philosophy was Confucianism.

     

    Yes, when the Way is lost then people need rules, and Confused Tzu had plenty of those.  Confused Tzu was a brilliant philosopher, but he couldn't see the Way with his heart, only with his head.

     

    I think of Confucianism as the fundamentalist aspect of Taoism.  Every system of religion or spiritual philosophy has it's mystics at one end, and it's fundamentalists at the other end.

    • Like 2

  22. Posted · Edited by Starjumper

    3 hours ago, dmattwads said:

    Ok so in Buddhism the goal is liberation. The means to accomplish this is wisdom, that comes from insight, that comes from mediation and right view.

     

    If the goal in Taoism is immortality, what are the means to accomplish this?

     

    Liberation and Immortality, not Liberation vs. Immortality.  In many ways those are similar and arrived at by similar means ... except for the armchair crowd.

    • Like 1

  23. Posted · Edited by Starjumper

    OOps, I made a mistake when I wrote that we do the elbow break with weight forward.  I had to stand up and try it a couple of times  = )

     

    In my form we do it with weight to the back, although technically the elbow break can be done with the weight wherever.  If You want I can post a video that shows how we give it power to actually break an elbow (the kind of thing that is normally hidden in Yang style)  I realize it may be considered getting off topic, although how to use it to break people may be considered more on topic.

  24. Posted · Edited by Starjumper

     

    32 minutes ago, CloudHands said:

    Sure

    "play the pipa"

     

    OK, playing the guitar (I speak Engrish), I think of it mainly as an elbow break, although the way it's normally done in the form its ability to break an elbow is hidden (but not in my form).  When you used the word stance I was thinking of a certain foot stance.  In my form, that elbow break  is done with the weight forward instead of back.