Peregrino

Coooo-weeeee! Thanks GT--I especially look forward to checking out the George Leonard transcripts.

A very hearty welcome indeed, Raymond! I really get a lot out of your apophatic mysticism site, and in another "incarnation" invited you over here. How's the book coming along? Really happy that you've found some time to share your insights here. Best, Peregrino

(Continuing to leave Matt Furey in the background of this thread, he he . . . ) Thanks, Christoph! I will definitely be making my appointments with the Bas series. The guy's one of my favorites in the MMA world . . . In fact, his scenes were my favorites in the Mark Kerr doc, _The Smashing Machine_. Unfortunately, I took a hard hit to the ribs in my boxing class, and won't know if it's fractured or not until the X-Ray on Friday, so it looks like I'll have to lay off the training for a bit. Neither ice NOR heat was doing the trick, so I finally broke down and went to the doctor this morning. So now I must ask myself, WWBD? (What would Bas do?)

This guy's a total badass, but he's not afraid of showing his "feminine" side in the ring. And then there's his final message: "We all are one." Talk about tough love. I've never seen the spinning backfist used to such lethal effect in MMA . . . And then there's his amazing aerial guard! http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-6...do%22&hl=en

Hi Pietro! I don't think I go for Bat Y'eor's theory of a conscious conspiracy by European leaders to strengthen the Islamic world at the expense of the US (and themselves, ultimately), but there are definitely Islamic governments that take advantage of Europe's "good will" to further the cause of destroying Enlightenment-inspired institutions! I likewise don't believe there was a conspiracy on the part of the US government to instigate the 9/11 attacks, but it's plain as day that the Bush regime has EXPLOITED those events to further its own myopic ends. A couple of articles I'd recommend for anyone who still favors progressive-leaning government without appeasing the jihadists: http://www.opendemocracy.net/globalization..._jihad_3886.jsp ("The Left and the Jihad") http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2092-2309812,00.html ("Wimmin at War") http://imshin.net/?p=448 ("Genocide, Genocide, Genocide"-- a revealing comparison of Israeli casualties inflicted on Arabs / Muslims and casualties Muslims have inflicted on other Muslims since the founding of Israel) I've heard Pim Fortyn wrote some good books on the subject of Islam in Europe before he was murdered, but I haven't found an English or Spanish translation yet. Finally, although you might disagree with them, Penn and Teller from the TV show _Bullshit!_ did a funny episode on 9/11 conspiracy theories: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=7501020220921158523 Cheers! Peregrino

Hi Pietro, Actually, I agree with you completely about the principle of never IMPOSING democracy on anyone, so on that issue I part company with liberal/progressive interventionists who think they can convert Shia who idealize the 7th century into 20th century Swiss burghers. However, when it comes to democracies right to defend themselves, then I am in complete agreement. And then there are issues that get trickier--e.g. Bosnia, Rwanda, or Darfur--in which the issue is simply how to save lives, no matter what political system the people of those places choose. Berlusconi's media empire extends to Spain, as he owns Canal 5. Actual Channel 5 isn't the most conservative one here, but it does censor any stories or comments critical of Berlusconi's holdings. So Prodi isn't making the kind of dramatic changes Zapatero has brought to Spain? When the Socialists were elected with many promises of reform, I thought, "Great speech material, but impossible in the world of political compromises." Actually, though, they have done quite a bit to protect the environment, and they immediately withdrew the Spanish troops from Iraq, and, surprise of surprises, they even passed the gay marriage law in this historically Catholic country. Any chance of a similar law passing in Italy? Still though, the Socialist Party here won't change the basic economic system here too much, though they are good on social issues. I remember an English grad student once feverishly telling me about GLADIO and talking about the shadow government of Italy in the 1970s. You know, there is so much I prefer about European democracies to the US system, but sometimes I wonder about how stable the EU will be in the long-term, given the shaky and very short democratic traditions of so many member states. Still, if Turkey recognizes its genocide in Armenia and cleans up its human rights record, I'm all for them joining. Ciao! Peregrino

That sounds like a very sane, balanced, and rational response, Pietro. Despite Tony Blair's disastrous decision to support Bush in Iraq, I think the Labor Party is taking a line similar to yours: welcoming immigrants, BUT speaking out more and more in favor of the pluralist, Englightenment institutions as being non-negotiable. They have also moved to deport imams who preach hate and violence. The people behind The Euston Manifesto think similarly, as do these American supporters. I think the Christian religious institutions in Europe can be very backwards on some issues, though I still think they're centuries ahead of their unreformed Muslim counterparts. (Notice that I'm not indicting whatever proportion of moderate Muslims there are in Europe and elsewhere with this statement.) Perhaps you can tell from my posts that I'm rather sympathetic to Christian _anthropology_ as interpreted through mimetic theorists like Rene Girard, though I don't take much stock in traditional, literalist Christian cosmology. That is to say, I think that, despite all the bloody crimes of the Judeao-Christian tradition, I still think that a lot of our Enlightenment notions of progress and human rights owe a great debt to the evolving consciousness of "who is my neighbor," as outlined in the Bible's transition from a vengeful god to a non-violent one. The only problem is that with the secular/progressive emphasis on the sanctity of the victim (and the Marxixt Slavoj Zizek has a lot to say about the Christian legacy's contribution here), sometimes Europeans are _too_ quick to assume that they are wrongful victimizers, and thereby put the very institutions that best protect people from victimization in jeopardy. Of course the West also owes a lot to the Greek tradition of reason (logos), but the emphasis on the sanctity of the individual's life owes more to Biblical teaching than to the Greek tradition of democracy. In ancient Greece, women and children had it MUCH worse off than in patriarchal old Israel; indeed, Israel distinguished itself from its neighbors precisely because it insisted on literacy for its women and prohibited the sacrifice of children to deities like Moloch, or the abandonment of children to the elements if the parents simply did not want to raise them. Robert Godwin has some interesting comments on this subject in the interview he did for _What is Enlightenment?_ magazine. By the way, what do you think of Prodi's performance so far? He gets a lot of good press here in Spain. Cheers, Peregrino

Thanks for that review, Cristoph! I'm making the transition from boxing back to kickboxing, plus I'm picking up some more jiu-jitsu classes, so the Bas workout series sounds right up my alley. Just curious, though--does he throw in any grappling-related skills, like falling and sprawling, or is it all strikes?

Too funny! Furey has been great at propagating the gospel of calisthenics, but there's no way I'd spend money on his already publicly available materials. Ross is indeed The Boss, and I'm also partial to Pavel, despite all his marketing hype. The Pavel articles at Dragondoor.com on "Greasing the Groove" have really ushered in a paradigm shift for my thinking about fitness, and I've gotten phenomenal results by putting the principles into action. PS Anyone tried Bas Rutten's CD/DVD workout series? A lot of long-time combat athletes at sherdog.com say it's amazingly rigorous and effective, no matter what pace you follow.

Once again, Tom Kurz, age 50, proves why he is a master in both the theory and the practice of stretching. You'll need to scroll down a little: http://www.stadion.com/secrets.html (There's also a version on youtube.) Right now I'm taking his advice and adding weights to my splits by holding light dumbbells as I do the PNF reps. Will post the pics when I reach full side splits again! He doesn't pay me a penny to say this, but I can't recommend his materials enough. My only major difference with him is on the issue of stretching machines (he's against them, but I think they work great IN CONJUNCTION with his method), but that's neither here nor there. This guy has my deepest gratitude for immensely magnifying my kicking power and giving me the gift of vibrant mobility as I make my way through the daily round.

Hey GT, Regarding Kurz, I hope his instructional vid arrives soon. Sometimes the Spanish mail system takes awhile . . . We've had a couple of threads on Stephane and ideagasms here. At first I took a lot of Stephane's advice with a grain of salt, and, I must say that at this stage in my life, the harem thing is not for me. However, the massage techniques on his squirting vid are really amazing. I give my girlfriend a session every week or two, and each time she notices less and less tension . . . and she just glows afterwards. Eventually I'll get to the yang fingers, he he. The idea is to concentrate on a woman's entire body as an erogenous zone before giving her the love rub and setting off the water works. Here's the major thread: http://www.thetaobums.com/Ideagasms-t2059.html We also discussed some vids by Stephane's teacher, Steve Piccus, who apparently demonstrates an even more thorough massage method. Sean also suggested that any interested Tao Bums could chip in for a communal purchase of the video Deep Tissue Massage and Myofascial Release. BTW, Sean, if you're reading this--I'd be willing to chip in for sure! Regarding www.apophaticmysticism.com, that's a website run by someone named Raymond Sigrist. I first discovered him while reading customer reviews of Evelyn Underhill's book _Mysticism_ on Amazon.com. His website and his posts at other Taoist sites always give me a lot of sustenance, because even though I'm finally starting seriously to explore the alchemical side of Taoism, I've always felt a strong pull towards the contemplative side, which he lucidly delves into using non-dualistic a/theological language. I actually invited him to join this site, but he told me in an e-mail that he's currently busy working on a book . . . on apophatic mysticism! Look forward to reading it, and hope he finally can drop in here!

Good gravy! The most brutal part was the post-fight clip in which a bloody, pulverized Coleman invited his crying--howling--young daughters into the ring to share that psychologically scarring intimate moment in front of thousands and thousands of jeering spectators. WTF was he thinking? "Daddy's OK! Daddy's OK! Look!" And then when he gave the mock punches to a baffled Fedor, he accidentally backhanded the daughter standing paralyzed and in tears behind him. If Coleman wants to win another title, he can compete with Michael Jackson for the worst parenting skills ever!

I'd love to check out some more of your inspired "eggcorn" verse, Freeform! One warning about Robert Godwin, though: he's great when he's on the subject of cultivation in the "vertical dimension," but horrible when he gets to the horizontal, with endless political tirades on his blog. He's a rabid right-winger, far beyond my own "skeptical liberalism," vigilant as I am about radical Islamism. Still, even when I disagree with him, his terminology is always amusing! I heard his book, _One Cosmos Under God_, is excellent, and he apparently doesn't push any political buttons in it. He also gave a great interview on Andrew Cohen's _What is Enlightenment_ site (and I am by no means an Andrew Cohen fan) in which he gives props to my big MT (mimetic theory) influences, Rene Girard and Gil Bailie. Here's his header from onecosmos.blogspot.com:

Wow Freeform--what a great "eggcorn" that word "evolitionary" is! (Not to be pedantic, but an "eggcorn" is a lexical formation that's just off from the consciously intended one, but still makes some kind of sense, e.g. "eggcorn" for "acorn." James Joyce and Robert Godwin of the "One Cosmos" blog are masters at that!) So yes, volitionary evolution is the way to go, and it is precisely for the *evolitionary* wisdom found herein that I enjoy this site so much! Please don't take my comment the wrong way, 'cause my typos are myriad . . . Seems to be a case in which you should "honor your mistake as a hidden intention!"

Again, I recommend to everyone who wants to enjoy the preternatural benefits of eating top-tier meat: the movie RAVENOUS!

Howdy Cloud! Kurz can definitely be blunt in the no-nonsense, Iron Curtain-refugee kind of way, but the bottom line for me is, his methods WORK! It's certainly not impossible to achieve full splits without extra equipment, but weights will make the process that much faster, which is a big selling point for Kurz. Still, dramatic gains are feasible with patience, and the right combination of bodyweight exercises (e.g. high-rep adductor flys without weights, or lower-rep flys with ankle weights if you don't have access to a weight room to do adductor pull-downs). Ah, I would also add *ab*ductor exercises for the sake of joint integrity (balanced development on both sides of the joint). I also find that simple bodyweight abductor exercises combined with the adductor training really improve the stability of my side and roundhouse kicks. The main thing is to incorporate the isometric contractions, as opposed to stretching statically. There's lots of info available online if you do a search under "PNF stretching" or "isometric stretching." You'll build strength naturally in those stretched positions and notice less pain (though perhaps a bit more fatigue) than what you'd get from static stretching. Splits-in-a-month or not, I think you'll be most favorably impressed by the results if you give it a go. I must admit that I do miss my old "rack," or stretching machine. I just KNOW I could get back into full splits within a month if I could do my isometric stretches on one of those babies . . . I'm also considering experimenting with a "greasing the groove" approach to isometric stretching, as time and circumstances permit. Some people have brought that up on the Kurz forum at www.stadion.com, though I haven't read about any "field-tested" results, as of yet. Mind you, the isometric contractions for normal PNF stretching are supposed to be intense, and therefore shouldn't be undertaken every day so your muscles can adequately recuperate, though the GTG contractions by definition should be much lighter and therefore should help, rather than hinder, recovery. Speaking of time limitations, looks like I'll have to head back out onto the pilgrim trail now! Oh, what a danger it is to get me started on my two current obsessions-- Kurz and squirts! Best, Peregrino PS A karate instructor called George Dillman managed to do the splits-in-suspension party trick at age 51 thanks to Kurz's methods. Don't know if he took on the weight training bit, as Dillman was working from an older version of Kurz's program that only highlighted the isometric contractions without going into detail about supplemental weights/calisthenics training.

Ayn Rand was a biotch! Ooh, was that uncharitable? Too bad her poor hubby never got the benefit of David Deida's teachings. I really dug the book Saints and Postmodernism by a philosopher named Edith Wyschogrod. It's a bit dense, but she makes a strong case for the blissful and/or serene elements of altruism, with numerous examples across various religious traditions, and allowing for "saints" who are not religiously aligned as well. She acknowledges that while no one human being, rooted as we all are in the animal kingdom, acts from purely unmixed motives, there is such a thing as "saintly desire," which finds a very real satisfaction in contributing to the well-being of the Other (or "zhe Ozher," as the French philosophes would say) . . . And this has nothing to do with "S & M" theology ("I must do this to please the Big Divine Nobodaddy and avoid punishment!"), calculating karmic transactions, masochism, etc. Unfortunately, I've lost some of my joy in giving in recent years because I was burned at times for being a naive and unskillful giver, but I haven't deserted my hope that it's possible to cultivate self-interest and increase benefits for others at the same time. *** Hey Wayfarer--I'm of the opinion that a lot of the most radical positive changes in the US didn't really take root or spread until the 1970s. The 60s were seminal, but a lot of the fruits didn't arrive until the next decade. Unfortunately, a lot of the impetus behind Reaganism began to arise in the 70s too (e.g. the so-called "taxpayers' revolt" that gutted the once exemplary California school system, the culture of narcissism that gave rise to yuppiedom, etc.)

Funny, the GTG stuff doesn't make me sore, and shouldn't on principle, though it really seems to work. Still, it seems to be mainly increasing strength-endurance, so I probably will go for the one big sesh per weeks with some kind of rows. One thing that gets me about Matt Furey is that while calisthenics are extremely important for combat sports, I still think that for most combat athletes, weights still provide that extra edge. Furey was heavily into weight training when he won all his major wrestling championships, and the picture of him by the waterfall he so prominently displays on his website was taken while he was still lifting . . . I would hardly call him "fat" now (as some of his detractors at Bullshido.com do), but he's not nearly as lean and mean-looking in his post-weights incarnation. Back to my man Kurz: he's all for Pavel-style calisthenics, but considers weight lifting fundamental both for fast flexibility gains and for functional strength in martial arts. Maybe a combat athlete can get away without rowing, but he says squats and deadlifts are fundamental . . . Along with the oft-overlooked benefits of adductor flyes and psoas training, another thread I'll start up at some point!

Weird--my avatar changed back to the ninja, BUT NOT OF MY OWN DOING!!! Must've been a member of my ninja crew warning me about the dangers of unmasking. Ninja, please! While we're on the subject of "peacocking," I was just wondering about your back-building routine, Triple-D. Do you primarily work with pull-ups, weights, or some combination thereof? Lately I've been doing lots of Pavel-style "greasing the groove" pull-ups from all different positions with very positive results, but I might throw in an incline bench rowing session or two per week if I hit a sticking point.

Ha--I loved Zoolander! But now I'm kinda beardy and shaggy. Life was too tough always having to be so really, really, really, really, ridiculously goood loooooooooking . . . Anyway, after I managed to perfect the "steel blue" look I got bored. So, next goal, after getting back into full splits: building a Fabio chest! Oh, the world is too much with us . . .

I tend to vacillate on the question of petitionary prayer. Sometimes it seems like a crutch, but at other times it really does seem to connect me to something greater than myself. Suppose it has something to do with whether or not the petition is made with an attitude of "spiritual materialism." Raymond Sigrist, the Taoist who runs the site apophaticmysticism.com, has some interesting things to say on the subject. I'll re-post one of my favorite quotes from him here:

Hmm . . . It's just occurred to me why female ejaculation might be a sort of "holy grail" for us menfolk. Most of us don't want to deal with too much ambiguity in our personal relationships, and we want definitive proof of a woman's attraction for us. There's no faking a squirting orgasm . . . And chemical tests can prove that liquid isn't pee! Of course, if a woman feels she must perform to prove herself, there can very likely arise feelings of anxiety, insecurity, and resistance to being somehow "controlled." For the men, we really seem to have to learn to walk that delicate line between wanting to take the quest for "know how" ever further, while at the same time practicing a deep empathy for the woman, who can end up feeling very vulnerable if she doesn't squirt, and then much MORE SO if she does. This is all turning into a very deep lesson in trust for me, and I'm ever so glad that I'm with someone who both inspires and gives trust in a way that makes this level of intimacy even possible. Just my random "sensitive" thoughts before I spring back into action-analysis mode! (Not in the bedroom, mind you--I mean at the workplace!)