Old Man Contradiction

A system with proper conditioning and training will, through exercise, balance your brain's neurotransmitter levels and increase BDNF production to stimulate the growth of your brain, and improve learning, alertness, and attention while fighting off aging, ADHD, stress and depression. Soft and gentle qigong just doesn't have as definite of an effect and doesn't work as well on some people. But I believe a person needs both, hard and soft, to be the healthiest that he/she can be. Saying one way is good and the other way is useless is a mistake.

Good boxers are more "internal" than a lot of taiji practicioners. Tai Chi's popularity as led it really far from it's origin as centrally internal. Wang Xiangzhai had once said that even western european boxing is leaps ahead of China's average boxer.

The synergy between conditioning and INT/EXT training is awesome.

training both ways is the best way IMO. Serious hardcore physical muscular training will not only teach your body to work as a single unit(which is essential to the internal martial arts), but the physical mass gained will give you the advantage over an opponent. Follow this with yichuan drills, and/or boxing drills, and then your taiji/hsing-i/bagua form. You will be much, much better than if you only practice the form and qigong.

Please post links and tips to help people rid themselves of bad habits. Some examples are: coffee sugar alcohol too much sleep masturbating internet addiction tv addiction porn I personally would like to give up the internet and sugar, i've tried going cold shoulder but i've ended up back with both. All the time and healthy energy I would gain would help me be my best.

Ramana Maharshi says if you seek the answer to the question "Who Am I?" dilligently, you will realize nondualism. Every perception must be perceived by you. In this sense, you are not perceivable, because you are always the undefined subject of any perceptible object. So when you remember to ask,"Who Am I?", you will realize that you are not this body, this personality, these beliefs, these feelings, etc.. You realize you are not any thing, and therefor not an individual, and you will lose your self to the bigger nondual picture of being everything and no thing. So I believe the question is relevant, but it can not be answered with a thought.

yeah it was just about training in general.

i asked an advance practitioner today if he believes in rest days... he said no, there is nothing to rest.

I've never claimed to have been training for a long time. I've only been training for a year, and for half of that year was doing bare minimum. How is this a stupid question? It started 4 pages worth of comments which is all I asked for. The fact is that a lot of "taiji" out there is crap. It's all way too soft. There is no yin and yang, just shades of yin. modern taiji ; soft and gentle + promises of power = sells to lazy people with no common sense classical taiji; horse stance for hours + intense conditioning = no students this is a real problem.

that is how i've been dealing with stuff! and it works and still takes willpower. I think it is the old school way of dealing with stuff.

which came first? chinese medicine, or qi theory?

In my school the general rule when you are young is to stand everyday, push yourself everyday(think US army or Kung Fu), and always practice intelligently.

haha nice! the old man is badass! I agree about taiji. Training your intention, feeling your form become more powerful and coordinated, and pushing hands with people better than you, for me at least, has upped my confidence a bit. ps. my comment about qigong and 10 pushups, I was just trying show that people that have spent most of their life sitting on a couch, aren't going to get up one day, do some qigong, and have so much energy that they can break people's ribs with it. and pushups aren't really a signifier of power since good power comes from a well connected body. and the taiji and softness comment was in regards to when students literally try to go as soft as possible. As in, totally off the sung-gunn spectrum and into inactivity.

I have pushed hands and done drills with a high level internal martial arts master. It was illuminating, in fact my life has been re-focused around training since. Never fought one though. Actually, nobody in his class calls him master, only people outside of it. You are 100% right about learning to fight. If you want to learn how to fight you just need to go pick fights, and you don't need a martial art for that. The art can be for healthy life and mind, this I'm sure we can agree on. The philosophy that's been passed on to me is that you need to intelligently train your body as a whole. It is entirely connected. Even qi and muscle have a relationship. If you have a weak spot, it's a limiting factor. If you have a tense spot, that too is a limiting factor. Training your body intelligently and creatively to get the most perfected and efficient synergy you can between all of the elements in your anatomy and all the elements of movement is vital in succeeding.

you aren't agreeing or even arguing with me... how does the above quote have anything to do with what I posted about the kung fu vs. mma video? If I had to relate my experience to a belief system I'd say I believe in bodily and universal qi, but I also believe in limitations in the control of the universal qi. I most strong heartedly do not believe that someone that practices qigong, but can't do 10 pushups, will be able to pack a punch. Somebody who practices tai chi as softly as possible, but never learns how to connect up the body and issue force, he too I don't believe will be able to pack a punch. Forms are not magic pills, and neither is zhan zhuang. They both take a lot of mental and physical intelligence, creativity, and hard work to get better at fighting.

it is not selfish, because living a long healthy life, free of a long drawn out death (like cancers and other diseases) will minimize the suffering of your family when your time comes.

The truth does not need belief in order to exist. Lies need your belief in order to exist. If you believe no one, not even yourself, than only the truth can survive. As for my experience of what some call qi, it comes in many forms. I find it when I compare store bought tomatoes, and the tomatoes freshly picked out of my garden. The garden fresh tomatoes have more life(qi) in them. In the martial arts I can feel the movement of force through my body, this too can be called qi. Sensations of hot and cold. Calm peace with mild visuals after training. These can all be said to be effects of qi. I choose not to see it that way though. Although our ego's delusion may be more subtle, these practitioners have both deluded themselves about their cherished art: Both of these fighters lack muscle, a necessary component for power. You ever notice that John Chang was pretty fit as well as his qi work being seen in his muscle? You aren't going to be all powerful without physically working very hard. I believe that this is the #1 delusion of qi work.

This is the most truthful perspective on belief that I've ever seen: (youtube clip) Don Miguel Ruiz Living Luminaries Interview Extras

this is true. but it was just an observation and I've used it to conclude that belief in qi is not necessary to work with qi, or to get really good internal martial arts. Probably not, unless those theories are just saying that people misinterpret the word qi, and that which you breath in and circulate in your body is actually oxygen. I disagree because it seems to me that investing in any belief, whether taoist or scientific, is limiting and potentially delusional. The real progress in any form of work is looking at your experience as it is, and working to improve it. I can visualize and feel the sensations of moving qi through my body, as I used to practice a la mantak chia a couple years ago, but that doesn't mean I'm actually moving qi. I can visualize and feel the sensations of a lemon in my mouth, but that doesn't mean there is actually a lemon.

yeah I think so. His list of teachers is rather impressive too, everyone from Wang Xiangzhai's daughter and Professor Yu to Chen Xiaowang, I really respect this sifu. I highly recommend his other free articles, I haven't read the ones for sale yet.

my instructor translates qi as oxygen. It is still in our bodys, the earth, and the heavens. But he also uses the word to describe the overall movement of the body sometimes, and also some other meanings.

This is a really really good article by a great teacher about many mistakes and misunderstandings in regards to zhan zhuang (highly recommended): http://www.i-chuan.net/download/ZhanZhuang...Perspective.pdf One point he teaches that I really appreciate is that the student should first look at his immediate and actual experience of the body, and from there he can understand the traditional teachings.

these all ground you. doing anything to ground yourself will strengthen your aura.