SifuPhil

Haven't you heard? There IS no such thing as a "difficult student" - only "too-easy teachers"! Extremely well-considered replies to my questions - thank you, Trunk. By the way - you mentioned a sort of synthesis of techinques / modalities in your quest - that brings to mind that I once had a ladyfriend who was a Pilates teacher, and the work on the core was amazingly apt for taoist practices - really worked the lower abdominal / spinal regions. So yes, it seems to be true - you can find knowledge wherever you look - it just depends upon how you look. Thanks again!

Depending upon what numbers you use, the number is usually quoted by authorities as about 77 million. This includes deaths from the Great Famine of 1958-1961 (although the Famine falls outside the "official" time line of the Cultural Revolution's 1966-1976, it is often included as another misjudgement/ purposeful mistake that Mao made). The deaths from the famine alone are said to be on the order of 40 million, so that leaves 37 million killed one way or another during the CR. However you break the numbers down, the man out-genocided Hitler, Stalin, and probably most other despots you could think of. Given that the cost in lives of ALL major wars from 1900-1987 was approx. 34 million, you can see how horrifying it is that ONE man was responsible for more than twice that amount of deaths within less than 20 years. As for the largest genocides - depends if you differentiate between that and democides, which is what many choose to call the Cultural Revolution. Either way, in my eyes, the CR was the worst case of willful murder since at least the beginning of written history.

Heh - I know the problem - my boys used to love Mickey D's - bleh!

LOL - yep, that's me - a little ebook I wrote...

- sometimes it is...and sometimes it's solid...and sometimes it's kind of steamy... Point well made and taken. Not to detour the thread (if I am, please just ignore me), but how do you see that we're developing our capacity to know truth? Would it be on a faith-based system (a belief or personal philosophy), through scientific endevours, or...? And a somewhat-related question - you mention that our systems for applying what we know change over time. Given that everything is in a constant state of change, yet nature (as an example) retains certain "qualities" - why would we need to change our methods of application? In other words, are we just changing systems because we want/need/expect an easier, more digestable method of inquiry? Is the "new" way actually superior to the "old"? Or, as I've seen happen many times, is the "old" dismissed out-of-hand because of it's initial difficulty in comprehension? Once again, I don't mean to hijack this thread - my apologies in advance if that is indeed the case.

Cloud- As a newbie here and not part of any "group effort", I'll state that for selfish reasons, whichever way you go with this thread would be fine with me - it's the type of discussion I'm used to and was expecting here. Just as a quick thought re: why people would be attracted to a "guru" - witness the relatively-recent phenomena of Wikipedia worship... ...citing a source that is often in error and is interpreted by many in many different ways as an end-all, be-all authority... ...while the "true" gurus (research papers, original sources) lie fallow because they're not "sexy" enough, easily accessed or easily digested. Any points in common with guru-worship that you can see there, or am I just hallucinating again?

..., the Water Cure was developed by a Dr. Batmanghelidj (author of "Your Body's Many Cries for Water"). To my limited understanding of it, it simply involves the consumption of certain large amounts of water (touched up with a little sea salt) and the elimination of caffeine-based drinks. Not sure what else is involved, but the Watercure website should help answer any questions you might have. Going purely by results, several of my students and patients have claimed (and seem to evidence) a complete turn-around in their symptoms and afflictions.

Thank you for the warm welcome, Cloud, but even though I try not to compete ( ), you may have competition for the "belligerent loudmouth" thing...

With all due respect, the same could be said of EFT and Medical Qigong Therapy... ..."there is nothing new under the sun"...

I would think it all depends on what form of qigong you practice, how you practice, how you learned it, etc. Not saying this is your case at all, but I encounter many people that expect qigong to be a panacea from all the PR they hear / see about it. It's just another tool... Hopefully, this doesn't fall into the 5 Element or herbal category , but have you ever heard of / tried the "Water Cure"? It seems to help many allergy sufferers...

Not to be a stickler (OK, so I'll be one! ), but qigong loosely translated comes out as "skill in working with qi"...

I'd heard comments to the effect that it was easy for Seagal sensei to throw those "poor little Japanese guys around", but of course those comments probably come from 12-year old Ninjas. I DO have a question for you, Michael, if I may - as a (former?) aikidoka, why do you say that you need other arts to be a well-rounded fighter? I would think the very fact that it's a -do would be indicative of it's path, but of course I'm not aware of your particular training. I only ask because I frequent another martial arts board where the topic of combat-effective aikido comes up all the time. Thanks for the link!

For those who are using / are considering using Oxy-Powder - You might want to consider that as far back as 1977, there were studies done linking germanium-132 with kidney and liver damage, and in at least 30 cases, death. Doses lower than toxic levels lead to anemia, muscle weakness and peripheral neuropathy. The biggest problem appears to be that if you aren't 100% sure of the processing involved (and since the Oxy-Powder isn't regulated by the FDA, you really aren't), you're basically playing Russian roulette. Yes, the "organic" Ge-132 may be safe (long-term studies were inconclusive), but the slightest contamination during processing will lead to serious problems. Don't be swayed by all the double-talk the sellers use - of course, they want to put their best foot forward. If you're concerned about flushing your system of toxins, why not just NOT ingest them in the first place? It's a much more natural approach... Just my 2 cents - do with it what you will...