Old Man Contradiction

Push ups were and still are essential to my martial arts training. Besides the obvious benefits of increased strength and mass (within a reasonable degree, mass does improve your ability to generate power. Whereas the unreasonable degree of body building diminishes that ability), there are a lot of overlooked benefits. One main benefit, which I believe is why it is used in some IMA schools, is because it teaches you how to connect up your lower and upper body. When your arms have given out, you recruit bigger muscle groups to do the pushing. This ability to recruit technically abnormal muscle groups to do simple tasks is a necessity in tai chi, hsing-i, and pakua. Push ups are a simple way to build strength and connect the body like that. Push ups not only teach me to use the rest of my body to move my arms, but if done before my training they encourage me to relax my arms more, while using the body. Do 200 push ups in 5-10 minutes, going to failure every set(not recommended by some methods[GTG], all of which I use at different times). You will find that your arms are extremely relaxed after wards, and due to their tire, you will want to use your body more. Don't forget to breathe and stay relaxed. Sung-gunn is to be applied in pushups. Relax without becoming dead muscle, work hard without creating tension. The practice is universal and can be done anywhere, from push ups to sitting at a desk. And in the end, let's not be blind and look at the fact that in the end, it is your muscles and tendons that are working. Do everything that you can to maximize your body's potential. PS. It is up to the practitioner to let push ups create tension or not. Like any other movement, this relaxation and tension are both controlled.

Do you simply want a happy life? Do you want to push yourself to beyond your limits and into mastery? Do you seek a naturally healthy body? Do you want to be the best you can be? Why do you practice? I practice in order to be the best I can be. This intense training in the style of i-chuan has been the most challenging, painful physically and mentally, than anything else I've seen. I feel I have a once in a lifetime opportunity to train with someone as skilled and experienced as my Sifu. In a way, I am training to master the art and make it my own. A creative task that as of yet is undeveloped, but one that my Sifu encourages. In truer terms, I am pushing to be my own best. The daily burning pain, profuse sweating, and shaky legs is worth it. Post the reason that you train, and what exactly you train, whether it's qigong, taichi, i-chuan, yoga, meditation etc... thank you and I hope this is a good thread.

Sorry man, I've tried the kind of stuff that I talked about at the very beginning of this thread and it just didn't do as much for me as my current work. Unfortunately, your quote of me implies many wrongs out of context. But, okay that is a deal. I will practice another 35yrs, and maybe by a major stroke of luck I see your name again, than we'll talk. Trust me, if my beliefs are shattered by a philosophy resembling yours, I will get on the ground and kiss your toes. If not, than maybe we'll have a more constructive discussion than we did today.

Eh, the problem is that based on what you've written, I know that you've never practiced what I call nei kung. You try to relate (Chen Pan Ling for ex.) but you still missed the target. I feel you have a good grasp of all the sung qualities of qigong, but no knowledge of gunn to complete your work. Think of a powerlifter lifting 1000lbs, but without creating tension. That is only possible with true power, and it's impossible without a body full of qi. Without qi, there would be tension. Also, without tension there is qi. But the missing link is the hard work, that is what builds the power which can then be used for cultivating the body. Note: all my statements are subject to change as my training progresses. Meditation, nei kung, and martial arts were once just one thing. That's why I believe that real nei kung, real martial arts, and real meditation all include each other in any given moment in time of training. IMA are for kicking someone's tail without kicking your own too.

IMO, If Hsing-I is not nei kung, than it is not Hsing-I. note: I do practice Hsing-I.

I believe that there are original forms of xingyi, pakua, and taiji out there. The history as taught to me about my teacher's teacher's teacher, Wang Xiangzhai, is that his teachers were mainly fighters from the empire. The kingdom scouted China for the best fighters and recruited them, if they said no, they chopped off their heads. Beheading was a popular form of punishment. Once the fighters were within the forbidden city walls and they did not meet the standards or did something wrong, they'd get beheaded. During this time, the king promoted to the public forms of tai chi that were less than martially applicable. So in China, the kingdom had the best of the best. They were not allowed to teach outside of the palace walls, if they did, they get beheaded. So their common story when they actually did teach outside was that they learned it from a taoist in the mountains. Hence, the multiple stories of lineages coming from mountain dwelling Taoists. So these guys were the best. Unfortunately, most of them were slaughtered during the Cultural Revolution, but a few did survive. Although i-chuan is technically a new martial art, Wang Xiangzhai's teachers were from inside the palace walls. He reduced the forms into the most basic movements, and emphasized the internal work. Now days, most people have kept the extravagant form of tai chi for example, while neglecting the internal work. To mention, just relaxing is not what I mean by internal, it is as much of a physical hard act as doing pushups or pullups, but it's inside your body and goes with the principles of TCM and western physics. This is why I believe I-Chuan is the best bet, although even in i-chuan you will find people neglecting what it originally was. Guo Guizhi's and/or Yu Yong Nian's students are the best way to find the real deal IMO.

It is my beloved practice, and I am highly biased and also have different goals than others. Based on my goals and background, I really should be at an internal martial arts forum instead of a taoist forum. ZZ is a part of i-chuan's training. I think that outside of i-chuan zz is practiced differently. I-chuan's ZZ uses posture and relaxing as the precondition to training the six directions, the tendons and the yi. It can basically be simplified into the six directions if need be.

Eh, my post was stupid. Not because I was wrong, but because I know that people hold strongly to their beloved practices, and my words threatened that. If you want the most well preserved and advanced method of cultivation, look for good I-Chuan. It's surface is extremely deceptive, and if you find a good teacher and stick with him, you'll learn about the many keys to what qigong really is, and what the Guanzi really means by "mental discipline."

Because qigong, meditation, and martial arts were originally one. It is the best way, and I'm not talking like," do form for 30mins, do punching drills for 30mins, then qigong for 30mins, then meditate for 30mins." I mean at any given moment you are doing all of these simultaneously. Sorry Ya Mu, you and I will never see eye to eye. IMO the "relax, breathe, and move" forms of qigong are no better than dancing, yet better than visualization forms. They are a misguided misinterpretation of what actual qigong is. The only health benefit and the only reason it's practitioner's experience qi is because it relieves stress. Other than that, a lifetime of this type of practice will make you weak unless you get some actual exercise along side it. Since when did people start believing that not exercising will make you healthy? But I say we should dump the gap and just do it all at once. Your qigong should be relaxed and include correct breathing, but it should also make your body burn and sweat, and it should be painful. It should make you strong and healthy. Not only my opinion, not only my experience, but I do only represent myself in this forum.

You are more likely to find good qigong in a "internal" martial art than somewhere that just teaches qigong alone.

http://www.taoiststudy.com/content/step-15-conceive-foetus-true-self-2 how does one attain this?^^ Look for women with adam's apples, they are the keepers of this ancient taoist secret.

You are talking about something that is missing more than half of the puzzle.

"The Web That Has No Weaver" has come highly recommended.

I am wondering what the relationship was traditionally like, and what were the small kinds of etiquette that occurred between the sifu and student? How about just generally in China? How does this differ from America? Any books or articles for me to read about this? thank you.

I've been here, since early '08 under different names, which isn't that long. But I disagree with you Eric23, I think that the vast majority of information on TTB is and, for the most part, always was misinterpretation.

that was pretty funny though. I thought people were just poking fun at the poster of the first masturbation thread.

IMO, the one quality thing at the taobums is information on traditional chinese medicine. The martial arts and qigong being discussed is usually unrealistic, misinterpreted, or just not up to par with the best that you can find out in the world. My claim is that you'll never find the best on the internet.

If you could study with Fong Ha, I would do it. I'm sure he would be a great introduction teacher to qigong/yichuan/taiji. Eventually though, I'd look elsewhere. IMO there is better qigong/yichuan in the USA.

I'm not sure if I believe the claims of jing reservation or not, but I must say,"Don't forget to exercise!". Seriously, intensive exercise will help you be the "master of your domain". Since my gongfu training started a year ago, my common physical drive has cooled down, yet my attention to women has never been so fixed.

In other words, you believe that all of these methods make up the disassembled act of meditating. I believe that, I also believe that meditation, qigong, and martial training are disassembled parts of what happens when you train in the style of a real "internal" martial art, aka not most forms taught around the world.

Does anyone know why gluten is unhealthy?

It seems to me that every system I've ever seen sold on the internet is overrated. Lam Kam Chuen's books are a good start. But they only take the first few baby steps. Chi Kung is a heavy, painful, burning, sweaty process. It is far from being relaxed and easy. It is hard work. From what I've seen of the majority of systems where people are just waving their hands in the air or sitting and breathing, none really involve hard work. So in my opinion, good I-Chuan is the most underrated system. Within I-Chuan you have to sift through some of the less than good stuff too, but if you can trace Wang Xiangzhai's original stuff to a contemporary teacher with an equally intense focus and drive, than you've found a really good "system". Not to mention, Hsing-I and Pakua both have good kungfu too. Some taiji is good, but it really breaks taiji's stereotype of being soft and gentle. Anyway, these ideas aren't the most popular. Take it or leave it, and sorry if my opinions have stepped on your toes.

I understand the paleo-primal thing, but I'm wondering about the protein called gluten. If grains can be eaten medicinally and as prescribed by a good TCM doctor, than I would recommend it. Otherwise, I can see them as being empty of dietary value. Yet, grains are cheap and can keep a hungry child's stomach full. So along with everything else, it's specific to the individual. Anyway... gluten. Please share information on gluten, I remember somebody mentioning gluten's affect on the nervous system?

Yeah, I have researched it. But why would you care about that? It's hard to digest... It seems like there has to be more compelling evidence out there. I'm not concerned about celiac's disease and gluten sensitivity, I want to know the harmful effects on the average person. I personally think I am lightly sensitive to gluten since it seems to correlate with headaches I get. They say it causes intestinal inflammation. Does this occur in everyone? What other ways does gluten harm the healthy human body?

Non, you have no idea how exactly you described where I was at a couple years ago. It's uncanny. The evil force and gov't thing, and the law of attraction, and how because you know so much and have so much potential. The isolation was seriously horrible and I felt that all of my ex-friends targeted me. In fact I clicked on this thread because of the title. These are exactly the same things that I was going through, plus, I was frequently eating acid during that time which super amplified my twisted reality. And I was smoking weed everyday which continued the bad acid trips into my everyday life. By the way I was trapped in a crazy-ass mind for a good year or more until a grounded approach started wearing it out. First, if you smoke weed or do any other drugs, stop doing them now. They can be helpful to people that have a strong foundation, but not to people that need rooting. Second, start exercising everyday. This will seriously start to help you. Just shoot for jogging for 20mins at first, then increase it to 30. Then add pushups, pullups, and situps. You need to at least sweat. This is an incredible medicine. Basically the way the brain works is that an external stimuli causes the reaction in your mind that you experience as your thoughts, memories, and behavior. Exercise alters all stimulus by improving blood and oxygen supply to the brain and body, which improves the way the senses work. This change in your perception of stimuli will start new behavior, basically you will start becoming a new person. Exercise basically saved my ass, and is being used to treat anxiety in place of medication. Do what's best for your body and your physical brain and your mind will follow. Also Non, it will benefit you to drop the notion that you are special, or a chosen-one. This belief will short change you. Anybody can read, we all have unlimited memory, and fractal-like comprehension is commonplace in my neighborhood at least, so you can't really "know too much". The thought that you know too much is a testament of where you need to work.