RobB

Done!

There is an interesting comment on the background of both here. I think the poster there is also a member here @peacedog94

Wade into the water- Alabama 3

Hey @liminal_luke - maybe 'Current Events' is the right place - they're not 'could be' - they're happening right now! HNY!

Dear All, As many of you will, I am sure, be trying to find ways to ignore your families and/or friends over the festive period, I would like to recommend the following entertaining and educational diversion. In which actor, writer, and director Ken Campbell expounds on inter-related subjects such as multiple universes, the difference between believing and supposing, meeting David Deutsch and Roger Penrose, the Solar Templars and CERN and much more. Also extended footage of Ken taking his dogs for a walk.

I think I've shilled for Josh Shrei's 'The Emerald' podcast (https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-emerald/id1465445746) here before. Would also recommend Scroobius Pip's Distraction Pieces (http://www.scroobiuspip.co.uk/distraction-pieces-podcast)

Love that painting @Trunk Merry midwinter festival weirdos!

Her book, The Valley Spirit, describes some of the experience of undergoing this training. Doesn't sound like much fun 🙂

I felt bad, we're not supposed to visualise! (Note to self: punch real cow and report back)

I once trained with someone who had trained the iron shirt in our school to some level. He wasn't a particularly big guy but punching him felt a lot like how I would imagine punching a cow might feel.

Those interested in BKFs lineage might enjoy some of the material Alex Kozma has been putting out in his Martial Cultivation journal (https://lineofintent.com/product-category/martial-cultivation-journal/) and his Flying Monk Youtube channel.

Hi All, My teacher, Serge Augier, has released a website laying out some foundational practices. https://daxuanforall.com/ Cheers Rob

Princess Elizabeth and the Archdruid of Wales 1946

<arrgh, can't resist...> 1. Rob Poynton's key observation was that he saw Mitzner using the same basic tricks that people used twenty years ago to claim 'mysterious powers' which, when looked at more critically, turned out to be basic matters of biomechanics. Mitzner is a big name with, apparently, real skill. Why does he feel the need to wheel out these old carny manoeuvres? 2. @Pak_Satrio the reason it matters is that martial arts and alternative healing are bullshit-rich environments. There are a lot of vulnerable and gullible people around looking for magical solutions. We don't need anyone, especially someone with a massive social media presence, adding to the dung heap.

Why? If I've seen five questionable things in a five minute trailer, why would my view on that be substantiated or otherwise by whether or not I've watched the rest of the movie? Anyway, I have no dog in this fight - I think its a good thing that people like Rob are prepared to share their considerable experience for the benefit of others - no-one else has to agree :-)

I am afraid I have no idea what this means. My point, certainly poorly expressed, is that active debunking serves us all. Lots of us, certainly myself, started off wanting to be ninjas or acquire special powers or 'see beyond the mundane' or similar. Further down the tracks, I appreciate those teachers who keep it real - especially where self-defence or healing are concerned. Does it work, can you test it? Can you do it? Can you teach them to do it? Maybe that is your situation - that's great and I'm happy for you. However, there are large numbers of shysters out there actively feeding off on the initial quest for wonder and short-cuts to power. In my view, people like Rob, who I'm pretty sure would not claim mastery of any sort, are acting in the best interests of the community in providing a balancing viewpoint and helping equip people to seperate the wheat from the chaff. And ultimately, when the teacher passes all of those tests, when all the debunking is done and they're still standing - well, isn't there something genuinely interesting going on there?

Also worth noting that Rob Poynton, the person in the video posted above, had extensive experience in Tai Chi before moving on to Systema (which battles its own accusations of 'no touch' woo-woo!). Surely part of the path is working through appearances, discerning real from unreal? Adding layers of mystical nonsense benefits no-one apart from the person trying to mystify.

Ha! Sounds exactly like a Dragon & Tiger Chi Gung seminar I went to years ago!

I studied EA stuff for a bit, mainly via Brian Cooper, Bruce's senior student in the UK at the time. I went to a couple of seminars where Bruce taught. He's a character. When stories came up Brian would shrug and say 'Bruce is Bruce'. I've heard this from others as well. I also had some contact with a swedish guy who organised some seminars for Bruce and came away very dissatisfied with some behaviours he encountered. I was quite invested in the EA curriculum - had strong dissolving experiences and had just started teaching local classes in Wu short form. Then another teacher moved into my town and I met up with him out of curiosity. Never went back to EA. When it's time to change, it's time to change.

Thanks. Would it be accurate to say that we find egregores everywhere that we find a sustained, shared sense of purpose or identity? I'm in the UK and we seem, as a society, so fragmented and dissipated right now. I'm not sure whether something has been lost and needs re-finding or whether something else has ascended and needs repressing or undermining. Maybe neither and it's just a question of riding out the flow of consequences as best we can.

Displaying my ignorance here but, @Yueya, would you say that your local community: 'where I live has strong secular community support and is a very friendly place to be' is in some way an egregore?

How to make the best of it? By shaving your beard off! I tend to stop shaving on the autumnal equinox and take it up again in spring - in the future, my beard, and beards like mine will be the only reliable indicators of seasonal change!

Could you all step up the pace a bit please? By my reckoning we've got at least <fx: checks notes> 92 pages of this to get through before we can go home.