GreytoWhite

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Posts posted by GreytoWhite

  1. Posted

    Western science has still yet to find many endogenous compounds for known receptor types. You could be switching between the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems, you could be experiencing endogenous cannabinoid receptor stimulation or even fascial awareness. Also the brain is always susceptible to its own programming who knows exactly what is going on in these instances.

  4. Posted

    This is in no way a threat to make this sort of thing get harder to do. Collections companies already buy these debts at pennies on the dollar and are happy to be recompensed in any way. There are many debt negotiators out there, a friend of mine had a negotiator take nearly $100,000 in credit card debt down to about $37,000 including the negotiator's fee. Most people will not take advantage of this sort of thing and it will not be threatened.

    • Like 1

  5. Posted

    Hmmm... interesting, Xie Peiqi's system has an extensive daoyin standing practice. The Lion system standing methods and striking methods are said to change the tendons and ligaments fastest from within their system as well as build strength. Although from what I've read the standing postures are really meant to inform the circle walking.

     

    https://vimeo.com/13499485

     

    The videos from Liang style expert Zhang Quan Liang include standing postures. Focus on the circle walking versus the standing as far as time investment goes. Liang Zhenpu was very young and only trained with Dong Haichuan for a few years. Mainly he trained with Cheng Tinghua and Yin Fu as well as their various students. Who knows from where the stake exercises originated.

     

    Dong Haichuan was known to teach those accomplished in another art, standing stake may have been largely ignored as many of his students would not need to build a kung fu foundation before learning. If one is starting off learning baguazhang with health troubles or a general lack of fitness something like Shaolin jibengong as well as zhan zhuang would be a good idea to help one be able to practice circle walking.

     

    JS: Do you think it is necessary to learn Waijia before taking up Neijia?

    MR.MA: No matter whether you learn Neijia or Waijia, you should first develop flexibility of legs and waist. Once you have these basics you can make faster progress in Neijia. Hence some kind of Waijia practice - Wushu basics - can be helpful for your Neijia. Of course these basics can be also acquired through pure Neijia practice, but it takes more time. Waijia can be considered a shortcut in learning basics. There is however a difference - flexibility you get through Bagua practice comes out naturally along the practice process and cannot be lost, while in Waijia flexibility of legs comes from regular stretching - once you give up stretching exercises the flexibility decreases very fast - usually after three months without practice the flexibility is gone. In Bagua once you can walk in the Lower Basin (Xia Pan) the flexibility of legs greatly increases.

     

    http://www.chinafrominside.com/ma/bagua/machuanxu.html

     

    Jiang Rong Qiao's bagua has standing meditation but it is also heavily influenced by xingyi. It's taught in Ted Mancuso's material.

     

    This same question comes up occasionally on Rum Soaked Fist.

     

    http://www.rumsoakedfist.org/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=13304

     

    http://www.rumsoakedfist.org/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=13229&start=15

     

    http://www.rumsoakedfist.org/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=12629

     

    http://www.rumsoakedfist.org/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=4580

     

    If you are struggling with a moving posture on the circle then it may be a good idea to explore that posture in a stationary position to better explore its different aspects without having to focus on footwork.

     

    Ultimately though I would just ask your teacher what he thinks of what your training should consist at this time.

    • Like 3

  8. Posted

    Re: Chloe Bruce from turtle shell's post

     

    She is a Tang Soo Do practitioner from her site. It is a Korean style which focuses on high kicks not known for being "internal" but it's all about the practitioner.

     

    i will give an example:

    the boxer known as jack dempsey certainly displayed an internal game.

    did he get it from internal training or did he get it from external practices?

    that idk. but it is obvious he was issuing internal force with his punches

     

    ed> there was alot of coiling /un-coiling and yin/yang going on with dempsey

     

    Yes, Jack Dempsey had a base of hard labor and a very specific strength training program. Light weights, high repetitions, there were grips in his light barbells like Eugen Sandow. The footwork and his description of some punches are nearly identical to xingyi. Did he classify this as internal or external? No, it was just a complete method of training.

     

    http://archive.org/details/ChampionshipFighting

     

    Another good resource are Eugen Sandow's books.

     

    http://www.sandowplus.co.uk/sandowindex.htm

     

    Regarding Systema I would not exclude it from an internal classification. There are extensive breathwork aspects to the training including percentage breathing, natural breathing, and breath retention. The Systema folks operate around the idea of natural movement, absorption and redirection of force as well as using the spine as a central axis. They fight regularly and even offer conditioning seminars as well. There is focus on the middle dantian as the source of movement as well as principled movement versus technique. Sounds rather "internal" to me even if they have some alternate focus.

     

    In previous generations of Chinese martial arts the breathwork was more focused on even in the "external" arts. The very silly distinction did not really come into play until Sun Lutang started drawing parallels between bagua, taiji, and xingyi and has been overblown. Even in Shaolin which is held up to be the main example of external there are some extensive internal training aspects.

     

     

  17. Posted

    The lineage I learned from is Chen Xiaowang's and he has a number of disciples in Southern California, more in the San Diego area if I recall correctly.

     

    http://www.chenxiaowang.com/disciplesusa.html#California

     

    Jason Tsou is a long time exponent of quality internal martial arts instruction and he is more famous for his bagua and baji but is certainly able to teach Chen. He learned it from Adam Hsu who is a kung fu brother of his in the Liu Yunqiao lineage.

     

    http://jasontsoukungfu.com/program/regular_classes

     

    Tim Cartmell teaches Chen, Sun, and Zhaobao taiji privately. I would go for the Zhaobao, it seems to be a wonderfully graduated system with three different frames and a quite extensive neigong that quickly improve strength and internal connection.

     

    http://www.shenwu.com/classes.htm

     

    There is also Mario Mayorga who teaches Zhaobao but I do not know his lineage or anyone who trained under him so I cannot vouch for him.

     

    http://www.5esd.com/class_info.html

    • Like 1

  18. Posted

    After watching some of the trailers for his videos, all I can say is: ugh. He's gasping for air after every move he performs, so perhaps he should stop being ignorant about Qi as it's clearly holding him back.

     

    I'll look into the other videos but it seems as if Chen-style is just really hard to come by. I can find a million things online regarding Yang-style though.

     

    Ken has some sort of medical condition where part of his diaphragm is paralyzed. I don't know if the videos were made before or after he was diagnosed. Not everyone is a good fighter but the experience is there. Ken has studied IMA for many years and has studied with some super top notch Chen style folks. He has some really good tips for those who are having a hard time intellectually understanding the style. You will never learn an art like this properly without in person instruction though.

  20. Posted

    Ken Gullette's silk reeling DVDs are very good for a basic level. Disclaimer: He does not believe in qi as anything other than a physical phenomenon and is not a "master" just a good practitioner with good communications skills.

     

    http://www.plumpub.com/sales/dvd/dvdcoll_TCchenxiaowang.htm

     

    I personally prefer the Chen Xiaowang series of discs. If you really want to learn you will need an in-person teacher for corrections. It IS necessary.

     

    http://practicalmethod.com/lang/en/category/chen-zhonghua-taiji-products-shop/

     

    Chen Zhonghua is from the Ma Hong lineage as well as Feng Zhiqiang's after Ma Hong passed. His videos are very clear and he has even inspired others.

     

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=We3nu1dSfE4

     

    Charles' taijiquan foundations series of videos is INCREDIBLE material if a bit dry.

     

    Rich Marantz also did some great videos on taijiquan basics but I believe he's from the Wudang lineage.

     

    http://www.ehow.com/videos-on_7710_tai-chi-concepts-principles.html

    • Like 1

  21. Posted

    MPG is there a specific reason you recommend the 32-bit over the 64-bit? I know Flash finally updated late last year for a 64-bit release on Linux and that was the main detractor I knew of against 64-bit but that has been addressed.