UNIQUE Training Methods, self discovery?!?! ;)

[xing_jian108]

I never said you must be Buddhist or any other religion in order to practice martial arts. Gong Fu and Buddhism go together in many aspects. Gong Fu fits into Buddhism. Buddhism fits into Gong Fu. But you don't need to do either to do the other.

[xing_jian108]

Anyway, keep on your topic.

[Swordless]

Weirdo thing? WEIRDO THING? Them's fightin' words...lol

Speaking of Buddhism, I would highly recommend that those interested in it should go see Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter...& Spring if it is playing at a theatre near you (it's only at the artsy theatres...probably because it doesn't have Hillary Duff in it). There's a lot of interesting symbolism going on, definitely made me more interested in learning more about Buddhism.

[emre]

I didn't think that film had much to do with Buddhism. I wouldn't recommend it to anyone as a way to get an idea of what Buddhism is about.

[Swordless]

I would disagree, but I'm not in the mood to argue, I imagine I'll do enough of that today at work. Besides, I suppose we should get back on topic...
I'm not sure if this counts as unique, but every once in a while when we have the right numbers in class, we'll do two on one sparring, the principal strategy being, to line up your opponents, usually trying to keep whichever one you consider to be less of a threat in front so you can deal with him first before moving on to the other guy. That's the theory, anyway; pretty difficult to put into practice.
It's a lot of fun, especially when you team up with the other person to trip the defender, remove his shoes and beat him with them.

[daodejing]

In the absence of knowledge of a good taiji sword form, I started practicing the yang style long form while holding two swords. Interesting stuff, with some good applications. There are a surprising amount of barehanded forms which functions equally well as weapons forms.

There ya go vince, back on topic.

[zachsan]

i'm gonna take us off topic again because i'm an asshole. cheers.

buddhism has a lot of interesting philosophies, but it is still a religion, and various deities are a very real part of buddhism. i myself have adopted some buddhist philosophies into my everyday life, and some i haven't, but i am very far from being what anyone would consider a buddhist.

and also, to clarify, not all atheists necessarily believe that there could not be a god, but simply that rationally, they have no reason to believe that there is (read: me). things like god are the province of philosophy, and while i find philosophy to be very interesting, i would not call one of my philosophies a concrete "belief", per se. for instance, i philosophize that shooting another man in the head would be wrong; i believe that shooting another man in the head would kill him.

[agreenknight]

Well, I could disagree with you zachsan that's there is no evidence of a god/goddess, but in the end if you don't think it's possible well..

Yeah, I've thought sometimes that a few of empty hand forms i've learned could be sword forms. It can also work the other way too.

[zachsan]

well, i only mean to explain my views on the matter, not get into a debate about the existance of god. my most fundamental belief is that you have to make judgments based on your own experience - and, if your own experience has caused you to believe in a god, then there's nothing more to say about it.

[daodejing]

Yet another attempt to sway us back on topic.

Two words. Tree climbing. Helps build alot of lean muscle and trains balance in unorthodox positions. Try it, you'll like it.

[Maestro]

why not rock climbing? could train your grip better then trees...

anyhow, dao do you ever smoke then train? i do sometimes when i can get motivated enough, and usually wierd **** happens, dunno if im imageing it or if its real..

and, if anyone knows a good way to condition the legs, id be interested in hearing some thoughts..

i have a makiwara post i made, i do sam sing on it everyday, i started hitting it with back hands and stuff, but then i went a little to crazy and my hands got all bruised up..my jow healed it in a couple days but im not sure if thats detrimental so i just do sam sing

anyhow, besides kicking my post, which im not sure if it will do any damage to my legs, what else are some good ways to condition the legs? and what do you guys think about hitting makiwara ingeneral?

amitabha

ps, **** in gay buddhist/atheist talk you guys sound stupid

heheheheh

[daodejing]

Good ways to condition legs without damaging them.... Go running knee deep in the ocean. At least a mile. If you can handle it. Also, pilates and yoga can work quite well. And then you can do the same kind of partner conditioning drills that you do by making forearm contact with your partner (like five blocking hands in wing chun) but with kicks. But have dit da jow on hand, and be prepared to get hurt at first if you're legs are week. Honestly, I'm not even all that conditioned (can't really deaden the nerves and expect to keep hand sensitivity for my work) but I still can't find partners to do forearm conditioning with me. They say it hurts too much. Pansies. But seriously, if your in alot of pain when you try to condition yourself, you're probably doing it wrong and you should stop. Practice your kicks on a sandbag.

One of my favorite methods of finger/hand conditioning was playing one handed catch by myself with a 20lb bag of rice. If that gets too easy, upgrade to the 50 lb bag. But put the rice bag in a tied up pillow case, and do this outside, because it sucks for you if/when you rip through the bag.

Smoking and training, yes I've done that quite a bit. I've noticed I have much better fluid balance, I'm more relaxed, and my hand speed goes way up after I've been smoking. My drunken boxing gets alot better too as a result of these things. But I also sometimes lose my grip on weapons after I've been smoking. And yes, sometimes wierd **** can happen. I have a friend who refuses to smoke anymore because it used to blast open her upper dan tien (the third eye), and she began seeing things she didn't want to see. It has a dispersive effect on the qi of the body, and that combined with a focused intention can really open up your root, your crown, or your third eye. When I smoke and do drunken boxing, sometimes I break out into techniques I didn't even know that I knew. When I've done reiki after smoking, my qi is dispersed outwards enough that just doing energy work on myself means I'm doing energy work on the entire room that i'm in, including anyone inside it. This gets really funny when you start causing your qi sensitive friends to convulse as the current runs through them.

Rock climbing is cool too, but it requires good rocks, or alot of equipment, or both. Tree climbing is easier to do on a regular basis for poor folks.

[zachsan]

i haven't smoked and trained, but i've smoked and played music once or twice (or a few hundred times), and yes, weird **** does happen.

now, to you, that's the opening of your upper dantien and the dispersal of your qi energy. to me, that's being high. but to everyone involved, it's a hell of a good time.

sigh, i do miss elementary school...

[MenteReligieuse]

Originally posted by daodejing
Rock climbing is cool too, but it requires good rocks, or alot of equipment, or both. Tree climbing is easier to do on a regular basis for poor folks.

Screw equipment! (from www.shixinghong.com)

[zachsan]

haha... yup, you gotta love those crazy chinese monks and how they insist on building vertical walls along their cliff faces.