Michael Sternbach

There is no such thing as magic or the supernatural.

Only sciences which we don't understand.

I practice Temple Style Tai Chi as taught by Master Waysun Liao. I study with his direct student of 30+ years.

The is some material in Master Liao's book titled "T'ai Chi Classics".

Thanks, Dwai.

 

Actually, I have that book somewhere. I will look for it!

 

Meanwhile, could you also comment if your master's method of generating Fa jin is the same as what Erle Montaigue demonstrates in my last post's video? I would really appreciate it.

 

Best,

Michael

A linguistics professor was lecturing her class. "In the English language," she said, "a double negative forms a positive. In some languages though, such as Russian, a double negative is still a negative. There is no language, however, wherein a double positive can form a negative." Just then, a voice from the back of the room piped up, "Yeah, right!"

That's an interesting observation. Do you see the parallels with the mathematical use of these terms? A negative number multiplied with another negative number results in a positive number. And a double positive is also still a positive.

 

My own concise definitions in the contexts of physics, biology, and metaphysics:

Negative: Entropy - going from a state of higher to a state of lower order - decay - energy being spent

Positive: Ectropy - going from a state of lower to a state of higher order - build-up - energy being gained

 

Obviously, both forces are needed as there would be no room for new developments without it ever getting cleared by the force of decay. In this sense, positive and negative are both neutral or even "good".

 

But to thus assume that everything is somehow "equally desirable" (as some spiritual seekers are prone to do) is a non sequitur and often serves as a cover-up for indifference, cowardliness, resignation etc.

 

This should eliminate all unambiguities.

 

Cheers,

Michael

Great, now we're really talking Fa Jin!

 

On this video we can see Fu Qing Quan (grandson of Fu Zhongwen) doing the Fajing.

 

Hi Vitalii,

 

Thanks. Fu Qing Quan's performance closely resembles Earle Montaigue's Fa Jin which can also be watched on this video:

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pJ04lJGLmrE

 

Please check if in your school you are doing it the same way. In particular, I am curious if most schools use that forth-and-back turning of the waist the same way Erle demonstrates a little before 2:00. Especially in regard to punches to the body where it would seem you want to have an appreciable degree of penetration.

 

Best,

Michael

In my opinion, the videos by Joanna Zorya mentioned above by Zerostao (as well as her others that relate to Taiji and Xingyiquan) are very recommendable for their in-depth explanations of principles.

 

Ted Mancuso's Bagua videos are well produced and excellent in content as well - and the man is certainly most dynamic!

 

I also enjoyed the 2012 DVD Ba Gua Zhang (Pa Kua Chang) - Fighting Secrets of the Internal Arts by Richard E Clear JR. I would suggest this as well as Clear's other videos if you are looking for ideas how internal martial arts might be used in a context of realistic self-defence.

 

In this regard, don't overlook Erle Montaigue who made dozens of interesting videos on Bagua and many more on related topics.

Good answer! This seems to imply that both wake and dream awareness are both conscious , both the result of subconscious calculation which we are unaware of because its "non linear". Now if a person can compute a threat and physiologically react before they are conscious of it, what would be the need for awareness at all?

Could direct awareness of subconscious ever happen?

 

Stosh,

 

During the dream state your brain wave frequencies will be mostly in the alpha range, in fact not that far removed from waking consciousness. However, as we all know, dreams are typically rather chaotic - this is because they are not bound by the logic of the rational mind but reflect subconscious non-linear, associative processes. Certainly your awareness is moving in a psychological zone closer to the subconscious during dreams.

 

Conscious awareness doesn't necessarily stand in contradiction to instinctive behavior; nature wisely looked to it that when we happen to touch a turned-on hotplate we withdraw our hand reflexively rather quickly! The linear functioning of the conscious mind is just too time-consuming to handle such situations. But this doesn't deprive the conscious mind from its real purpose. Without a doubt, the latter does make us a very successful species in many ways. Indeed, the expansion of awareness seems to be what all of existence is longing for.

 

Which ties in with your final question: Could direct awareness of the subconscious ever happen? This is a tricky one! The conscious personality or ego emerges from the subconscious but needs to shut out lots of internal and external data in order to maintain its stand. A lack of "linear boundaries" is synonymous with confusion, even psychosis. Certainly the conscious mind can learn to tolerate more such data input, in a step-by-step process, most of all if it sees the meaningfulness of this information. This is the aim of many meditative practices.

 

Ideally, the conscious and the unconscious mind, the Yang and the Yin, the Sun and the Moon will exist in a balanced state of unison at the end of a process of inner Alchemy.

Hi Michael,

 

IMHO, the difference between pushing and striking is in the nature of the power being used. Long power is usually pushing, short and cold power are striking. Because an explanation I've heard is that long power is like giving one tug to a long rope...a solitary, slower wave results in such a tug. Long power is like that...so a single pulse of jin (in fa jin) affects the opponents, thereby resulting in his/her being uprooted and physically moved.

 

Short power is like a rapid fire series of short pulses, resulting in a dense waveform, will both physically uproot the opponent as well as cause damage to him/her internally (if the right amount of power is applied).

 

Cold power is like an explosion inside the opponent, and applied power literally explodes within their body. When applied with sufficient power, it can stop hearts, explode organs etc.

 

My sifu tells that long power, short power are easier to cultivate. Cold power is hard. There are other powers that are possible, but only a few know how to do this.

 

Hi Dwai,

 

Thanks. Your comment is very interesting. May I ask, what style of internal martial art do you practice? Do you know of any published explanations of its various ways of generating power?

Hi (fellow) Alchemist!

 

That surely sounds interesting what the Wikipedia article has to say about your system. I found the following quote particularly intriguing:

 

"A distinctive trait of the school is its postulated identity of Taoist principles with those of early Chan Buddhism."

 

This is reminiscent of certain writings by Alan Watts - even though he tended to look at early Eastern philosophies from the Zen perspective of spontaneous awakening and was not so interested in the more Taoist/Alchemical/Qigong approach that your school seems to follow. That said, I think that such distinctions are somewhat artificial and that the different outlooks are in truth rather complementing than contradicting each other. Hey, doesn't this sound quite Taoist?

 

Be that as it may, I am looking forward to further exchange.

 

Cheers,

Michael

As above, so below. Look at the universe in the Grand Scale, and you will see the Microcosmos. Very metaphysical. Very logical.

This is what the art and science of astrology is based on.

As far as I'm aware, I'm not dining with the Yellow Emperor while sleeping, or something like that, alas. But I do have some personal experiences that seem quite in line with Tao Wizard's query.

 

Back in the 90s, I was active as a certified Bach Flower therapist. I had the great opportunity to work with the patients of a psychiatric practice during six years. I would regularly "tune into" my patients prior to meeting them, using a technique I had learned in the Silva Mind Control seminar and refined through practice together with a bunch of fellow attendees. I was strongly influenced by the book The Creation of Health written by Caroline Myss, a psychic diagnostician who was working together with a doctor, just like me. Even before meeting a scheduled patient for the first time, I would visualise them in my imaginary "laboratory". Frequently, when seeing them later, I found they really looked the way I had imagined them. Having established this psychic connection, I proceeded by scanning their chakras one by one in front of my mind's eye which lead me to their psychological and physical difficulties. I would perceive all this with a combination of inner vision and empathy (I felt their condition myself, which was not always a pleasant thing to do). When a patient showed up in the practice for the first time later, I knew quite a lot about them already! I would repeat my psychic analysis of the same patient before the following counselling sessions, and sometimes even in their presence, if I felt they were open-minded in this regard.

 

I did this so many times, I'm really not sure which story to share here! But I will think of some suitable ones on request.

 

I didn't limit myself to using psychic diagnosis, however. I would employ other methods as well, such as astrology and, most importantly, simply talking with the folks! It goes such a long way for ascertaining what exactly somebody needs for their betterment, for which I was trying to draw on the abilities of both my left and right cerebral hemispheres. Moreover, it was important establishing a relationship of trust and understanding that would help induce healing.

 

Michael

If youre dreaming , are you aware of your subconscious?

 

The processes of the conscious mind are linear. The subconscious mind is relying on massive parallel computing, instead. Therefore it's the source of intuition. The conscious mind can't follow it in its functioning, that's why it doesn't see the subconscious.

 

While dreaming, you are not directly aware of your subconscious mind either but you are more receptive to its messages. In the deepest stages of your sleep, when your brain wave frequency is down at delta, you are in fact accessing the non-linear mind directly, but you won't remember it upon awakening.

Hi,

 

Interesting query... It can be answered in many ways, and all of them are right.

 

To add yet another perspective, the mind is a function of the subtle body which permeates the physical body and extends beyond it. More precisely, there are actually several subtle bodies, or you can say it has several layers: mental, emotional, etc., but let's keep things sweet and simple for the time being. The subtle body interacts with the physical body, thus the mind will be influenced in its functioning by the given physical conditions (such as the intake of a Long Island Ice Tea ).

 

It's important to note that the mind is not connected only with the brain, however, but with the physical body in toto. Emotions and thoughts often have their origin and can be stored in parts of the body far away from the head.

 

Michael

Hi Tao Bums,

This is my first post.

I'm practicing Taiji in the Old Yang style as taught by Erle Montaigue. Erle's Taiji emphasizes Fa Jin, Dim Mak, and realistic self-defence. To him, Fa Jin was for striking, not pushing... Because if you merely push somebody away, generally they come right back to you (now really mad). All right, it is conceivable that there are times when a good push may have its survival merit but I don't feel like going further into this right now.

In Montaigue's Fa Jin techniques, shaking the waist is the almost universal denominator! For example, if you were to punch with your right hand, your waist would first turn counter-clockwise, in the direction of the strike. But at the moment of impact, the waist sharply twists the other way. According to Montaigue, it is this counter action that “squeezes the Ch'i out of the Dantian” and into the technique. However, obviously, this will also reduce the time span the hand actually stays in contact with the target as well as the degree of penetration it can reach - which I think makes sense especially if a technique is aimed at the bony structures of an adversary's head, while on the body you may need more penetration to get the desired effect.

Now, what surprises me is to find this forth-and-back action of the waist so prevalent in Montaigue's system mentioned hardly ever in the Taiji literature outside this system - at least as far as I'm aware of it (but maybe somebody else here can navigate me to books or websites that do elaborate on it). I am curious also how other styles of Taiji handle this issue, as well as other martial arts such as White Crane Kung fu (i.e. Shaking Crane).

Any informations welcome!

Cheers,
Michael

Hi Soaring Crane & Chang,

 

Thanks for this warm welcome.

 

The fascinating topics of these forums attracted me. I look forward to learn as well as contribute something myself, here and there.

 

Best wishes to both of you, too!

 

Michael

I am a 45 year old Swiss student of philosophical Daoism, Taiji and Chinese medicine. I'm also involved with Western esoteric systems and modern science. I won't say more right now because:

 

The Michael who can be spoken about is not the true Michael!

 

So it's best you find out yourself who or what I am... and would you PLEASE let me know!

 

Cheers,

Michael