Trunk

I just started with kb's, and have been doing swings. Unusual thingies. I noticed how much swings tap into basic fucking force & motion. The hips, buttocks, really drive the swing, - and the back and arms pretty much go for the ride (they do get some exercise, but aren't the engine of swings). It occured to me that kb swings are a useful method in processing residual force from retention.

Just an up-front notice of any amazon links that i post with the affiliate link of "alchemicaltaoism", the %$ goes to the UN World Food Programme. Check gets sent there directly (not that its been hardly any $ in the years that my site was up). Consider this my blanket notification re: that affiliate $.

... or is it just me. Seems like the forum picked up speed today.

I honestly wasn't keeping track of who was writing on this thread. (and i know that sounds hard to believe.) - and i hadn't read the whole thread, so i missed your initial acknowledgement of Plato. If you hadn't o' put your silly spin on your reply to me, i coulda said "oops, my bad" - but you had to be a dick about it. again,

I've been reflecting today on how much my leg-work has paid off, particularly airborne lunges. Its so easy to do 'em any time: yesterday while gassing up the car, stood off to the side and did a couple each leg. Just that little bit, for me, converts the edgey little bit of built up force -> into pleasure. I feel increased circulation at the hip joints (that is the name for that joint, isn't it?), and it pays off with soothing bloodflow. I feel like i really missed the boat by not getting into leg-work earlier, like it could've helped take the edge off of forceful build-up that was a problem in my practices for a long time. The legs are such a key lever to the LTT expressing force! Modern urban lifestyle sucks. You grow up watching tv, then computers, freeways, office: all activities that are anathema to whole-body integration. Physical activity is in isolated slots of jogging, gym, sports (vs. through-out the day, as part of life activity). Airbornes (or pistols, for you crazy yutes) aren't the same as if i'm spending the day workin' on the farm, but they help a lot. (thanks, Yodster) T.

You could've as easily said that you acknowledged Plato at the end of your first post, but you've gotta make me jump through hoops as part of adversarial bullshit. :shrug: If the bs part could be dropped (or the adversities addressed directly and constructively), there'd be the possibility of productive conversation.

I dunno the answers to any of your queries in that post. Though it does seem that you're trying to do maybe too much at once. Plato would have better Sonnon/Furey comparison than i.

Chris, Agreed. While all of Chinese Medicine might be beyond (most of our) scope, i think that a certain limited knowledge of "quick fixes" within your usual area of disharmony is achievable. - if approached in a learn-a-little-at-time basis. It could be that a tcm dr will prescribe a patent medicine. Then you could look at the book and get a cursory description. Likely that, with the formulas that you are prescribed over time, that they tend to home in on a certain disharmony territory. Then you could - over the next several months - become familiar with 2 or 3 simple digestive formulas that treat your general area. Then you could handle your "general mild standard" stuff ok, and go to the dr when you get beyond that. That's very approachable, achievable, i'd bet. Just to take a wild shot at this ("cyberspace, never-met-you" disclaimer in effect). With the itching and the bleeding, looks like heat is an issue. With the bloating, looks like stagnation is an issue. (On the slim chance that that'd be correct,) There'd be maybe 1 or 2 or 3 standard herbal digestive patent medicines that cooling and circulating (each for about $1.50 a box in Chinatown). You wouldn't have to know all about the formulas, only that #1 & #2 often help you some, and that #3 really doesn't work for you. Of course, the prior step would be to see a dr of Ch.Med., and start with his/her recommendation. And use that as a starting pt for user-level study. Keith

Sounds like a hard-wired configuration that you'll have to adjust for from here on out. (I could be totally wrong - but maybe not; everyone has an achille's heel.) Chinese herbal medicine has a wide range of digestive formulas, many quite effective - and specific to etiologies. The patent medicines (excellent user's-guide book link) are pretty effective for this sort of thing, and very inexpensive. As my 1st sentence implies, unlikely to "cure" you, but likely to help substantially - with minimal $. Trunk p.s. The hardcore herbal guides are: 1. Bensky's Materia Medica (single herbs) 2. Formulas & Strategies (putting the herbs together)

.. i think it'd be clear to anyone who 's watched Plato's posts for a while, that by far and away his posts are driven by his avid and sharp R&D sword, and we've all benefited.

Yeah, the Sonnon drills really got me started into a whole world of one-legged qi gong movement. Its difficult to describe in text, and i haven't seen any good pics of what i'm doing any where on the web, yet. Basically, you want to keep the kind of integral connectivity that qi gong postures and movement promotes - while exploring all sorts of angles and postures on one leg, slowly, slowly moving around while keeping integrity of form and root. Those pics have some hint (really just a hint) of the sort of postural styles to explore, but apply the integral-qi-gong-body forms to the more extreme and varied angles of hip and leg in Sonnon's article. - and you really start to get some interesting results! Its not really a strength-training drill, like pistols are, but a slow qi gong movement exercise that still does tap into the power areas of the body (legs, hips, tan tien, chong channel - 1 leg at a time). The resulting increase in root, cnxn, blood flow in the legs, hips, and tan tien - have all been very interesting for me. Though, you've already gone really far with your leg work - probably won't be quite as dramatic for you. T.

Not sure if i ever want to do pistols. I am having fun with a bunch of one-legged stuff though, starting with.. http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/sonnon8.htm .. and adding qi gong, internal martial, tendon changing, postures to it - going really slowly and exploring various one-legged positioning. Applying the principles (posture, movement, yi, qi) of internal work. http://www.golem.demon.co.uk/cia.html There's variety of positioning beyond what Sonnon shows. I'm on the look-out, actually, for a good resource re: one-legged zhang zhuangs and moving work (either online, or other). If anyone knows of any - shoot me a msg. Dig that! Its been raining here for nearly two weeks straight! Had two days of no rain, now it started again. I'm about to go out and run in the early morning rain right now. T.

btw, in classical Chinese medicine, the 8 extraordinary vessels have to do with heaven-person-earth integration. The central vessel with emptiness. The 8 extras are a deeper layer than the five elements. In the internal martial arts, goes through the layers of fascia-tendons-ligaments-bones. The 8 extras resonate with the bones.

Nice post.

Jade is both hard and soft, unified yin & yang. Good symbol. What effect it actually has (by touching, etc), if any, ahdunno.

testing if i can put html links in my tagline..

"Tsongkhapa's Six Yogas of Naropa" has the most profound K&L that i've read.

Once you start getting really clear on what works, why, what causes injury, why, and what is at stake - Plato's comments will look mild and understated. Chia's "Healing Tao" books are neither healing nor Tao, but are contradictory to both.

Sounds like a healthy change. best.

Seems redundant to me... sort, of "why?". We can post our existing e-mail address with our profile. If we choose not to, then the next layer is private messaging through which private conversation and/or exchange of e-mail addresses could occur. It just seems like its all covered.. and anyone could get an e-mail address already from any # of sources. my 2 cents

I'm reminded of a couple of books... One of Castaneda's, that i read way back in the 80's,... Don Juan's students were split up into a small group of women and small group of men - and they kept fairly separate, but found that they tended to be... overly fiesty. So the men & women paired up and each lived together, yet not as a romatic couple. Slept in different bedrooms. Also, Marsha Sinetar's book "Ordinary People as Monks and Mystics", where she talked about contemplatives that were married, or in a steady relationship, that consciously took more time apart. Lived separately for some days of the week, and/or slept in separate rooms. I think that there's (slim) opportunity for relationship with advanced women practitioners, where there's minimal physical sharing, yet profound balancing of energies. Varieties of relationships. Trunk

The point is, that allowing clarifying-conversation to degenerate into personal attacks results in nothing good. Simple point.

Basically, Chia is: selling sensation and marketing it as "Taoism". This is done by abandoning the deeper principles of Taoism (which must be taught first in order for this stuff to work), and promoting some of the more sensational (very advanced, much later) results. Unfortunately, the practices (and advanced 'fun' stuff) without the deeper stuff first is a sure recipe for injury. Results: Good for business, bad for students, bad for Taoism, bad for the world.