steve

I agree.

I don't know the answer to that question. I've pondered that for quite a while and I'm very conflicted. I think it's paradoxical. In the beginning, there is a sense of not being good enough and needing to improve. That's the natural tendency of the mind - to want to become something other than it is already. As the practice deepens there may come a time when we see that there is no separation between self and other, between human and environment. Dao is what it is and manifests as it does. Who is the self that desires to improve and what is it improving? Both are already Dao and already perfect. How can "I" improve Dao? How can "I" improve what I already am? And yet if I didn't start down that path of self-improvement would I ever have an insight into that? So when I get to that point practice seems useless and the struggle arises - why practice? I have no answers, just lots of questions. But I do still practice.... and it feels like the right thing to do. But improving upon self? Stay with that question, ffvii - it's much more valuable to you than our answers... I really appreciate the fact that you are asking such excellent questions on this forum _/\_

I have a stretching/warmup routine that I learned from my Shifu. I usually follow that with Tai Ji Quan form, some Nei Gong, and Qi Gong (if I have the time). That's my daily routine (along with meditation). I alway felt like I was reasonably limber but my back has always been an issue, very tight especially in the mornings and after strenuous exercise (like very physical push hands and san da). I've been plagued with low back pain since an injury about 20 years ago. I recently discovered a ridiculously simple routine that I do every morning that has improved my back pain dramatically. I increased may hamstring stretching until I was able to easily press my open palms to the floor with my knees fully extended. Now I simply get in a hot shower first thing in the morning, press my palms to the floor, and take it beyond that - bending the elbows. For a while I would feel it mostly in my hamstrings. Once my hamstrings got loose enough I would feel it in the low back and pelvis where the lumbar, sacral, and pelvic muscles attach. I relax there and let the hot water run on my back. When I get out of the shower, I do side to side whips - very loose, feeling the lumbar and sacral areas loosen and pop and crack until it's fully relaxed. That's it. My back feels great! I think the key was to loosen the hamstrings.

The glass that is half full was once half empty The full half is also half empty. So the half empty side must be half full. Now I don't know if I am an optimist or a pessimist!

You still haven't answered my very simple question which makes me think that you don't want to for some reason. That's fine. You don't have to. I asked to gain an understanding as to what level of training you have achieved with your Shifu. Your comments about reverse abdominal breathing and Tai Ji Quan tell me that you don't understand how and why it is used (and essential) in developing martial Tai Ji Quan skills. That's fine. Not everyone has the opportunity to learn Tai Ji Quan from a teacher that understands the martial training. Just because you haven't learned something in your books or from your teacher doesn't mean the 鬼佬 don't have good teachers! You really ought to spend more time studying Tai Ji Quan and Dao meditation with a Shifu before considering yourself an authority on those subjects. They are not equivalent to Qi Gong.

That's a wonderful post and a profound insight. "My lesson from that situation was that knowledge does not help without practice. Each person is different so attempting to make a 'One and only way to enlightenment" is impossible." I'm currently listening to an analysis of the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali. The teacher does a great job of analyzing the language and syntax and really helps one to penetrate the sutras but it's painfully obvious that the teacher has not done the practice so he really doesn't quite get what he's teaching. Based on your post, I think that you have no need to feel On the other hand, it's nice to approach this stuff with a beginner's mind. Namaste

You didn't answer my question. What breathing pattern did your Shifu teach you when learning how to develop Fa Jin?

I'm not disappointed at all but I have a better understanding of your level of training and understanding. What breathing pattern were you taught to use when learning how to generate Fa Jin? Thanks

Do you mean to say that your Tai Ji Quan Shifu never mentioned the practice? Or do you mean that you have not come across it in your reading?

Very cool - nice to see. Thanks

I'm sorry that you are too closed-minded to listen to someone who is sharing with you what they have learned from a Daoist master. My teacher is from Taiwan and I have learned from him directly. What I am telling you has nothing to do with books. It is the real deal. If you are not interested, it is your loss. Be well and good luck with your practice.

There is no point in trying to help those who choose not to learn.

Good point - body awareness is very valuable and something I've come to late. Tai Ji Quan and meditation have helped develop that a lot for me. It's something I did not take to naturally - too wrapped up in the head for too many years. Oh yeah, quite a bit further than we realize. Perhaps as far as we can think.

The irony is that it doesn't believe in you either!

Last week, my son decided ~ 3am to fly to Florida and visit my parents who he hasn't seen in a while. Totally spur of the moment. Drove to the airport, bought a ticket and took off. Told me he was feeling very antsy, unsettled, had to get far away from here. A few hours after his flight left, our area was hit by the first significant earthquake in my lifetime. A few days after that, hurricane Irene. Hmmm... does anyone think that's a coincidence? Neither my son or I do.

Actually, may I ask a question? Do you study with a teacher or from books?

I'll start - this is a topic close to my heart. This is about the skill of 'listening' I got this from reading and listening to J Krishnamurti and Anthony Demello primarily though I'm sure it's not unique to them. When we 'listen,' we typically do a few things - 1) Have in mind an opinion or idea of whatever it is the speaker is addressing 2) Compare what the speaker is saying to our opinion or bias and either agree or disagree 3) And as soon as we have determined that we agree or disagree, nothing else penetrates 4) We then focus on counter-arguments to defend our position and try to convince the speaker of our position 5) And we are thinking of things that reinforce our position - it's a very closed and defensive posture of the mind So in reality, we rarely listen in a way that fosters learning, sharing, or collaboration. Another method for listening is to first empty our mind of preconceived notions, opinions, ideas, expectations, or objectives. Is this possible? If you spend the time working at it you will find out for yourself. Don't take my word for it, don't agree or disagree, just open yourself to the possibility. If you can do that, you are already heading in the right direction. So - I can open myself to what is being presented - listen to the words, read the body language, take in the surroundings, feel the intent and non-verbal clues in the presentation. I can listen from a relaxed and receiving posture rather than from a position of opinion, bias, response, the closed and defensive posture. And then I can just absorb what is being presented and see how it settles in me and how i relate to it. I can try it on for size, I can actually put it on trial in my life. See how it works, see if it holds up to investigation. Then I can choose whether it works for me or not. It is my choice based on my own personal examination. I know, rather than believe. I am not accepting something based on a perception of authority, I am choosing based on direct experience. So if I listen with my ideas and opinions and bias, I am listening from a perspective of all of my conditioning and automated patterns of behavior and response. But if I can be successful at listening without the distraction of all of that then "I" am no longer in the way. There is just listening. And that's when the magic can happen.

Very cool Stig. I wonder if the Anishinnabek's have the intention of connecting with the aboriginal people's of your country. I've studied the history of the First Peoples of North America a bit. It's a deep wound in my heart.

I certainly do, I think it has to do with our tendency to look for ways to have reality support our opinions and biases rather than letting those go and looking straight into the truth.

No, I am not 100% Yang. My answer to the original question. Man ≠ Yang Female human being ≠ Yin Yin and Yang simply describe relative characteristics, they do not define human beings in their entirety. I'll have to take it that you knew nothing about the Yin and the Yang. Period. No offense, the issue was being addressed but not you. Please don't quote me out of context to change the meaning of my post. Let me clarify in case you misunderstood. Perhaps I was not as clear as I thought. Man is not 100% Yang and Woman is not 100% Yin, that is the meaning of my use of ≠. All human beings have Yin and Yang aspects. There are women with very strong Yang energy and men with very strong Yin energy. All possible variations exist. You are unsuccessfully trying to oversimplify the nature of man/woman/Yin/Yang to support your ideas about homosexuality. Perhaps I know nothing about Yin and Yang, that's certainly possible. I am not an authority on anything, other than perhaps wasting time on the computer. But I do question your grasp of Daoist ideology in its entirety based on your comment: That is about as far from Daoist ideology as I can imagine. Would you care to elaborate on this conclusion and where it comes from?

My answer to the original question. Man ≠ Yang Female human being ≠ Yin Yin and Yang simply describe relative characteristics, they do not define human beings in their entirety. Similarly, if you take cold water and ice water they are both cold. If you put a finger in each, one is warmer than the other. If you mix them, the resulting temperature is in the middle. Yin and Yang are relative, not absolute. So, any two people can enter into a relationship. The health of the relationship will depend on the skill with which they balance the various aspects of the relationship. This will be the case whether the relationship is simply friendship, sexual, or whatever. The sexual component can be healthy or unhealthy whether it is same gender or opposite gender. Certainly, the "norm" or majority of sexual relationships are opposite gender and this is what fosters reproduction. Nevertheless, homosexuality has clearly been a part of humanity since the beginnings of recorded history and has at various times been accepted or rejected from a social and institutional perspective. It was widely accepted in ancient Greece and Rome, it was accepted in several Native American societies. I guess you could look at it as a variation on a theme but it is a characteristic of humanity and therefore I think it would be an error to call it unnatural. If you have ever had close homosexual friends or family members, you would know that to them what they are doing feels in no way unnatural. It is who they are, be it a result of genetic or environmental factors. In fact, heterosexual relationships feel so completely unnatural to them that they struggle terribly when the try to stay "in the closet" and live the lie of heterosexuality. It is not an unusual cause for suicide in teens and young adults due to the extreme pain associated with not being able to be who the are and feeling forced to live in a manner that feels so completely unnatural.

I think the best way to help them is to simply be a friend. Lend support and encouragement when needed, offer advice when asked for, show them they are being foolish, hurtful, or self-destructive when appropriate. But if you try to change them or expect them to see things the way you do, you're bound to be frustrated and disappointed. And it is not in your power to spare them pain. A good friend is like a mirror - they show us the way we look to others rather than ourselves. Not everyone is looking for a friend like this, however.

Nice post, I've generally found your comments to be valuable and appreciated - you're probably correct in your assessment. The Daoists don't seem to have been too focused on the presence or absence of Atman or absolute self. They certainly seem to have been coming from a different place than the Buddhists. They certainly don't seem to have been as focused on the whole problem of suffering, or at least not as explicitly. And yet it seems to me as if they had already reached the conclusion of the absence of a first cause, or absolute existence of self, or even of the elements, hence the concept wu ji --> tai ji --> elements --> 10,000 things. Kong is more literally empty and can refer to air or sky. Wu is used along with Ji which to me is more suggestive of non-dual. So you are correct that they're not equivalent. Thanks for bringing that out.

Hi jboz, This site has its share of intolerance and unpleasantness, unfortunately. There are some really good folks here and some very good info. It's an open forum, however, and therefore represents a cross section of the population. I don't mean this to be a criticism of the OP or anyone in particular, just a general response. It's a breath of fresh air for me anytime someone speaks from a place of civility and kindness as you are. I hope you stick around for a while and share your views with us.

The intent of the OP seemed to be - finally, here is some taichi that looks martially effective to me. How we choose to define "real" Tai Ji Quan is a separate matter. Personally, I would define "real" Tai Ji Quan as a system of martial training and personal cultivation that is consistent with the principles outlined in the Tai Ji Quan Classics. Just my personal definition.