GreytoWhite

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Posts posted by GreytoWhite


  1. Good evening Dao Bums!

     

    Start your month off with balance and poise - join us for 5 Element 1st Fridays at Everything Just Rocks. From September onward, Matt Parsons is offering 5 Element Meditations that help balance and heal the physical, emotional, and spiritual aspects of the body. These simple seated and standing meditations will be followed by a mantra healing. Seating is provided, please wear comfortable clothes and flat shoes. $45 per workshop. $20 early bird discount for those who register by the 20th of the month prior.

     

    Call 480-404-0625 or e-mail [email protected] if you need more information.

     

    CashApp $mattbparsons
    Google Pay [email protected]
    PayPal [email protected]
    Venmo @mattbparsons
    Zelle [email protected]

     

    Matt Parsons survived a stroke in his early 20s and used a combination of Eastern and Western modalities to recover from paralysis, scoliosis, seizures, and PTSD. He uses the practices taught to him to manage chronic pain and neurological issues. Matt is an Arizona certified peer support specialist, as well as certified instructor of martial arts, meditation, and energy healing. Additionally, he is a father, performance poet, storyteller and a giant nerd.

     

     

    https://www.facebook.com/events/974411700475476/974411710475475

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  2. On 8/17/2023 at 9:15 AM, Jox said:

    Do you mean the five elements postures done dynamicaly in a circle? 

    8 Mother palms pre heaven set?

     

     

    The Bagua branch I practiced before doing the Dragongate Sanctuary material had Zhang Zhaodong's Hebei Xingyiquan as a foundation. My sifu's approach was to take individual postures from the Jiang Rong Qiao Old 8 Palms form and have us circle walk with it. Once we had more advanced Xingyi knowledge he encouraged us to start experimenting with using the Hebei Xingyiquan postures in circle walking and explore the transitions through space to see how the two arts were combined by our sigong. Here is a video of my sigong doing basically that. There isn't more public video of him because his daughter requested the gong fu family not post it.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7yoZMD7lmTA

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  3. On 5/31/2023 at 2:26 AM, Bruce Qi said:

    Hi , can I ask where abouts Nathan mentioned Nelson ?

     

    Nathan is one of Nelson's students and is helping him with the Thinkific course. He is present in the student community as well on Liuhebafa Online. The martial art is deeply influenced by Northern Shaolin and this Luohan Gong aspect is more Buddhist as the Yi Jin Jing work is an important prerequisite to doing Northern Chinese internal arts. Liuhebafa has very Daoist theory and its Animal imagery is more akin to Assyrian mythological creatures than common animals like Xingyiquan.


  4. On 5/21/2023 at 3:36 PM, Shadow_self said:

     

    Foundation is a bit of a broad term. As I understand it, it would be multidimensional and related to

     

    • Sinking and Anchroing the Breath, Mind and Qi
    • Learning to control the awareness
    • Reconsolidation of the Lower Dan Tien 
    • Opening the Spine, Joints, Kua and the extremeites
    • Creating the Qigong Body (Having the connectivity of the Huang established)
    • Learning the basics of building more qi
    • Purging the Pathogens via practice

    Just curious which of the above boxes this ticks. I think it might be informative to others who may be looking to pick up something new

     

     

     

    Please understand, Damo's model is for Damo's teachings and you would be doing yourself a disservice to universalize it. As far as the list goes I can confidently say it does 1, 4, 5, and 7. If you would like to learn more, please feel free to read what Nelson has written about the course and reach out to him. I'm just a beginner student and can't intelligently discuss this material other than to say I started and I have done similar work in other styles that are descendant from people that trained in the style. Liuhebafa is the pinnacle of Chinese gong fu in my opinion and Nelson's instruction is very plain and clearly demonstrated. The good stuff is simple in words but difficult in the body.

     

    https://liuhebafa.thinkific.com/courses/luohangong

     

     

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  5. Greetings Dao Bums!

     

    I have been working on esoteric Buddhism primarily the past few years. That said, I keep up with my Daoist gong fu training. Nelson Ma is offering a Northern Praying Mantis Luohan Gong as a foundation. It is a direct neigong for releasing the spine and unifying the body. Nelson has much to offer and is filming the main 66 form of the style - currently the first quarter is available for purchase. My own training is peripherally related to this art and I've started on the Luohan Gong myself. So far the material is very clearly demonstrated and you can test the body method for the stretch locations as he teaches. I hope to see you guys in the discussion board of the training site.

     

    https://liuhebafa.thinkific.com/collections

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  6.  

    Join us at Elements of Spirit on February 22, 2022 and March 8, 2022 for the Psychic Reiki Peace Guild Training. In the first week you will receive an overview of the Psychic Reiki Crystal techniques, healing sessions, meditations, and affirmations.

    The second week of Peace Guild Training will be a group clearing session and instruction in Reiki table work. We will transition into using the techniques from the first week in healing others.

     

    The 2 part course is $250 total. Limit 12 people. Please contact Elements of Spirit to arrange payment. Included in the price is access to the Peace Guild Certification course from Brett Bevell's Academy of Love and Light. Participants will also receive a Syncretic Qigong and Reiki completion certificate as well.

     

    To register please contact Elements of Spirit directly.

    https://elementsofspirit.net/events%2C-classes%2C-readers/ola/services/psychic-reiki-peace-guild-training

    https://www.meetup.com/syncreticqigongreiki/events/283837995/

    https://fb.me/e/1zve0YQ9y

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  7. Greetings Dao Bums!

     

    I am still grateful for the chance to interview Michael Goddard. He is my lineage senior in the Dragongate Sanctuary lineage of Baguazhang and Reiki. We discuss topics from Baguazhang to Reiki and a lot in-between. Michael offers a free Udemy course to those first 5 people who e-mail him with the name of his Cranio-Sacral Therapy teacher. I provide links to Michael's video and contact info in the YouTube video description.

     

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hxa91l6rZTE

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  8. On 9/15/2021 at 10:01 AM, Master Logray said:

     

    Reiki is Japanese, nothing to do with China.  Its founder was a Christian priest.

     

    You're gravely mistaken about the origins. Usui Mikao was not Christian - that was marketing created by his grand student Takata Hawayo so American students wouldn't feel intimidated by foreign culture. It is linked to Chinese Maoshan Thunder Magic through Onmyodo as well as Golden Light practices descendant from Joh-Rei that are also present in things like Zhengyi Daoism.

     

     

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  9. On 9/10/2021 at 10:13 PM, johndoe2012 said:

     

    Then it's not Reiki but something else.

     

    You can try this form which doesn't suffer from the limitations you describe

     

    https://www.amazon.com/Psychic-Reiki-Divine-Life-Force-Healing-ebook/dp/B07D19PP8D/ref=mp_s_a_1_3?crid=34NZFCZWHZBMA&keywords=brett+bevell&qid=1631336569&sprefix=Brett+bevel&sr=8-3

     

    Since Reiki is initiated by an thought directed to a reiki crystal in your heart.

     

    I'm certified in this system - it definitely works.

     

    https://www.academyofloveandlight.us/collections


  10. As a Reiki Master Instructor - my opinion is that Reiki is very beneficial so long as the person does the foundation work. It is very possible to complete a weekend class and receive a certificate saying one is a Reiki Master. Personally, I wasn't taught any qi emission therapies until I had ~9 years of cultivation practice and I received a separate Vajra transmission with its own qi emission therapy prior. Reiki translates from Ling Qi in Chinese - it's literally one of the most refined energies one can access. So long as the person doing your healing is out of the way it will be without pathogenic qi. That assumes the person even knows how to get out of the way. I'm teaching a Level 1 class at this very moment and chose to teach it over the course of a month so people would have a good way to integrate the energy and take a practice home.

     

     

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  11. On 6/15/2021 at 3:36 AM, Jox said:

    I learned the "same" 5 elements postures and the dynamic part, which is five elments dance ... Alltogether comes from Bon shamanic dances  ... to Bagua ...  

     

    All esotericism descends from shamanism. Esoteric methods are just a preservation of tribal knowledge within a civilization. Have you trained from this school in person? My teacher learned from Chris and Max prior to the formulation of the Kunlun system. What I learned was closer to the  practices outlined in the old red book Max published with Chris Tittle. We mainly did Tibetan Vajrayana seated meditations and Bagua Neigong but we also did some Tibetan yoga. Bon was only ever mentioned in passing and its influence on the Vajrasattva heruka we were doing at the end. Much of what we did was straight out of Tibetan Nyingma and has given me the ability to exchange transmissions with monks. After completing my studies a signed copy of Max's purple book literally jumped off the shelf at my girlfriend at the time.

     

    When I made achievement after integrating the 5 Elements I was told I turned on the Lingbao side from a past life. Lingbao was already a syncretic sect that was known for integrating Buddhist cosmology and methods into their brand Daoism and had great influence on the wider Chinese Daoist culture. The 5 Elements are necessary to perform something like Vajradhatu practice. The mandalas are more than art and are meant to be engaged with in a multi-modal manner. All of the Dragongate Sanctuary practices come from somewhere - much of it is Tibetan but have a lot of influence from China and Japan.

     

    Many of the teachings they received from China and Japan may have roots in Tibet but they develop their own flavor in the new  country. You can sit down to a Japanese or Tibetan fire ritual and the only difference will be the language but that doesn't mean the surrounding locale, culture, and people it contains are the same. The Shingon school that the Kuji Kiri descends from preserves aspects that have since passed from popularity in more mainstream Buddhist sects. The Kuji Kiri practice itself descends from a Daoist Liu Ding Liu Jia practices for protection whilst traveling through forests and mountains. While some ninja schools have preserved the martial guardian aspects of this - many only use it to ask for the Six Paramitas. 

     

    Back to the topic at hand - Jason Read talks about the Buddhist influence on his Mao Shan line openly. There is a quick thunder palm strike method he described that would basically require one to have some cultivation of the 3 Vajras to use. Also he shows Daoist methods and talismans that are incredibly familiar to any Reiki Master worth their salt.

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  12. We obviously don't have the same practices. I can make someone fly with a simple Wood fist. Single Palm Change typically has a number of supplemental exercises I learned before getting it sure. 3-5 years is excessive - I feel one needs 1-3 years with a good teacher. I feel the Wuxing and Single Palm Change takes about that long and how we teach it, including the Neigong - one should be able to fajin at will using all 5 Elements on the circle and then the 8 Mother Palms.

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  13. Yup - me too just a different branch. Did you guys start Bagua? I have a number of transmissions for it now. Last I saw the David Chan guys did Yiquan, Liuhebafa, and some Yang Taiji Sword. I feel like Baguazhang is basically mobile Yiquan as taught by our Jiang Rong Qiao. Really takes the 12 Animals of Xingyiquan and moves it through different angles. Granted, I have a slightly different lineage so we do things a bit differently. Fajin whilst walking - super basic work for a Bagua person - you should be able to do this when you have a good grasp of Single Palm Change.

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  14. 17 hours ago, Earl Grey said:

     

    Technically, they are sister styles as historically there was a lot of overlap in the training methods. 

     

    Everest and K2 are both in the Himalayas - one is still taller than the other. What I do is heavily influenced by Liuhebafa but does not pretend to equality even if we can see from our peak to theirs. Jiang Rong Qiao thought for a very long time it was the same as Taiji until the latter part of his life. Prior to that he had helped develop Taiji Duan and Chang Quan sets with his martial brother Yao Fuchun. It's said that his Baguazhang may originally have been developed for a Xingyi man to transition into Taijiquan. Later, he changed it to include content from Liuhebafa. 

     

    My Yiquan lineage is also influenced by Liuhebafa and I can see the crossovers between the Zhan Zhuang of Xingyiquan and the influence from Liuhebafa's Weituo Gong in the Han Xing Qiao Yiquan I practice.  There is good reason so many people sought out Wu Yihui and so many of Wang Xiangzhai's students cross trained. I don't pretend to know it yet but can tell there is something there I do not yet have from training Taijiquan, Hebei Xingyiquan, or the Jiang Baguazhang I have practiced.

     

     

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  15. Baguazhang is very interesting. It really takes this liminal space between ritual, meditation, and martial arts and expands it. I feel it's probably the second highest peak of the Chinese internal martial arts after Liuhebafa. I'm a Jiang Rong Qiao line practitioner and I've received a few transmissions now largely from Jiang and other Cheng related branches but I'm told some of our neigong comes from Fu Zhensong as well. Every group seems to have a slightly different focus. The more fighty focused guys usually had a focus on natural heel to toe stepping. The more energetic focused cultivation guys loved long low mud wading steps with very exacting requirements for not peeling the foot. The more body structure oriented steppers seemed to want to "check" every part of the step as you go. Anyway, get an in-person instructor with good achievement - it helps to be in someone's field to get these things right.

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  16. I've not really done the prescribed exercises as I already received a Lingbao transmission - it's just filling in gaps for me. I've been practicing talismans the past 3 years or so now. Jason is a cryptolinguist by education and training who has spent much time in China and married into a sorcerer's family. If you want more information about other, similar Daoist practices I was pointed this way. I'm primarily waiting for his Fox Immortal book - it's going to have information on Liu Ding Liu Jia practices that will fill in the Chinese gaps a bit better on the Kuji Kiri I learned from Chris Matsuo's students.

     

    https://www.amazon.com/Thunder-Sky-Secrets-Acquisition-Exercise/dp/157062660X

     

    https://www.amazon.com/Gold-Pavilion-Taoist-Peace-Healing/dp/0804830606

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