The Funny Cat

There is a funny post over at Tabby Cat (hat tip to Chris).

He seems to have not noticed that I am the greatest martial arts blogger ever, perhaps he just forgot. But then he goes too far. He disrespects the Daodejing.

MIGHT is defined as machines guns and so on. So I know perfectly well that the spirit expressed in the Dao De Jing below is total nonsense:

Nothing in the world is softer than water,

Yet nothing is better at overcoming the hard and strong.

This is because nothing can alter it.

That the soft overcomes the hard

And the gentle overcomes the aggressive

Is something that everybody knows

But none can do themselves.

Yet... yet... yet. I can't help myself. That's my only real interest in martial arts.

He is quoting half of chapter 78, which threw me off for a second because it reads like a bad translation of chapter 43:

The most yielding thing in the world

Can overcome the most resistant thing in the world.

That which has no form can enter

Where there is no space.

This is how I know the Dao of wuwei.

The teaching with no words

And the Dao of wuwei

Are beyond common understanding.

I'm here to say I've met the most yielding thing in the world, and she is hot. As for chapter 78 above, here is a comment from Li Hung-Fu (10th century) that I think sums it up:

"The soft and the weak do not expect to overcome the hard and the strong. They simply do."

(Translation by Red Pine).

And by the way, while it is true that "might makes right;" it is also true that machine guns confronted with water tend to rust.

Donations

OK there it is.  I've added a donations button.  A few people have requested ways to make donations so I'm happily complying.  I would like to have a separate page for books and t-shirts someday too.

On a completely different tack, a nurse friend was talking to me about cracking joints.  She said she was dubious of the chiropractors' view that a popping or cracking joint is gas suddenly escaping, "What do they think we are anyway?  Bubble wrap?"

Unhabitual

Here is a nice little essay by T.Y. Pang on being natural, hat tip to Dojo Rat:

It is a common experience for people who are first beginning to practice Tai Chi Chuan to feel that the movements they are trying to make are unnatural.  As a matter of fact, what they mean by unnatural is actually unhabitual.

Jitong (Trance Medium)

Here is an interesting article a student just sent me from the International Herald Tribune:

Most often, Chang is possessed by Ji Gong, a maverick Buddhist monk who lived in China in the 12th century, and loved his meat and liquor. Thus the cans of beer as offerings on the altar and Chang's occasional hiccups and slurred speech as she channeled the tipsy monk.

Wrestling with Finesse

A lot of people out there in the ether are saying that real martial arts must include ground fighting and must practice throwing techniques all the way to the ground.  This new critic has come about because of Mixed Martial Arts and the dominance of Brazilian Jujitsu in that market.

In a way this is just a continuation of the, "Everything must be tested in a real situation" critic.  The problem is, we don't know what's real for us until it happens.  And as they say in military circles, we are always fighting the current fight the way we wish we had fought the last one.

If I were stupid enough to say I don't like testing I'd have a whole bunch of people writing me nasty notes.  I think every single thing you practice should have some sort of testing but I'm not that into free fighting as a test.  Every form of limited fighting, push-hands, rosho, sparring, judo, shuijiao, grappling games, wrestling--they all have draw backs.  Each method, if seen as a testing ground, has elements taken out.  If they didn't, serious injury or death would be the result of every bout.

I'm conflicted about the best way to teach, not because I'm uncertain about what is the best training for myself, but because my early experiences with fighting are hard to recreate and I don't think my students would be game for them at this point in their lives.  (Still, if I had a dojo with mats I would use them, because that's just fun.)

Early History

As a kid I never missed an opportunity to wrestle.  Never.  I loved it, I breathed it.  My earliest memories are of wrestling.

My father wrestled in high school.  He challenged me to one final match when I was 13, because he said he didn't ever want to lose to me, and he nearly did lose that one.  I wrestled every kid in my neighborhood, big or small, even the ones who like to bite.

Because I didn't wrestle a lot after about the age of 12, my wrestling skill is intuitive, not very technical.  The thing about wrestling is that certain body types have an advantage.  Thick, wide, guys with big bones are often able to beat me if they are 15lbs heavier.  Technical skill can help in wrestling but it's no substitute for body type and weight.

In my twenties I had a friend named Neil I used to wrestle with.  He had that Scotish thick body type.  He was a foot shorter than me and 30lbs heavier, without fat.  He was also an Oregon State champ, and he won a gold medal in the Gay Olympics (This was before they got sued by the International Olympic Commitee, it's now called the Gay Games.  He actual gave his metal back in protest and made a speech about how they should include transsexuals.)  Anyway he kicked my ass every time.  But he never seemed to get injured and I too often did.  My lean, small-boned body just isn't made for that kind of thing.

The rules of wrestling are pretty strict.  For wrestling to be "real" it would look more like "dirty" wrestling or even "rough and tumble."  My elbow strike really hurts, and I know where to pinch to make it really hurt, but still, a ground fighting battle to the death with a bigger opponent is a tough thing to win.

I also loved tripping games as a kid.  Loved them.  I was the conscience-free terror of the second grade school yard.  When I started training Chinese martial arts, I already had great confidence in my ability to take someone to the ground.  But after about age 7 the risk of injury starts going up fast (and I developed a conscience).

In middle school I learned something about avoiding fights.  My best friend's cousin was the leader of a gang.  The two of them taught me something about how to not trigger a fight with a predator.  How to seem dangerious without being directly threatening.  It took some years to get good at.  I got close to older, tougher gang members in high school too, so by 17 I felt comfortable unraveling the meanest looking guys using my eyes, movement and wit (without any sense that I could actually beat them).

I taught myself how to fall.  When I was a junior in high school I had a daily lunch time ritual.  I would go down to the field and eat my lunch quickly.  Then I would run full speed and practice dive rolls, over and over.  At the end I would be covered in grass stains and sometimes a bit of mud, but it didn't matter because my afternoon class was ceramics (I was in the School of the Arts).

All of this training makes me conflicted about teaching.  Honestly, if you were a kid who hardly ever wrestled, I can teach you a bunch of chin-na, joint locks and even submission holds, but you are never going to have confidence unless you wrestle roughly with a lot of different people.  Same goes for take downs.  Technique is not as important as finesse, and finesse comes from rough play.

I'm focused on teaching the aspects of Martial Arts that I find most exciting, and which can be practiced everyday without injury.  Should I be trying to provide a place for students to get that basic experience that I picked up naturally just by being a wild and crazy guy?

Impulse Control

This is such a good title, I wish I had content that would live up to its promise. Still, I couldn't resist.

My simple offering is that we need impulse control to be successful, but we also need spontaneity. Teachers and students alike can find themselves mourning a loss of wildness, begrudgingly exchanged for the ability to focus, concentrate and persist.

Martial arts are often rightly credited with the ability to instill discipline in the unruly youth-- to curb desires and focus passions-- to turn libertines into responsible citizens.

I myself have often been sited for my patience and my self-disciplined example. Yet, I'm prone to identifying with the indolent prince, the artful dodger, and the easy life.

Daoism, despite its intricacies and difficult methods, has been called an apophatic tradition. Which means it teaches by unteaching, it reveals by showing what is not so, rather than what is so.

So, with Taijiquan (and other internal arts) it is said that all movement initiates from the dantian (the belly region?). To actual do this requires extraordinary impulse control. Why? Because impulses are how we initiate movement. Any impulse which originates in another part of the body will impede the one true impulse from the dantian.

One might even say that tension itself is a rouge impulse stuck in the "on" position. This is usually stated in the positive: "relax," "let go," "melt." But the actual "doing" is "not doing." This "not doing" takes years to undevelop, and comes with a simple guarantee; you can only get as much as you are willing to give up.

In the end all good teachers transmit the idea that the worthwhile result of impulse control is freedom itself.

So people sometimes ask me, "What does qi feel like?" It can be understood as an anti-feeling, a sensation of constant, unbroken, impulse control.

Is 70% Enough?

The following is another essay by a student in my Taijiquan class at the American College of Traditional Chinese Medicine, enjoy:



One concept in particular that I initially had trouble with was the idea of doing at 70%. Instead of using my full range of motion, use around 70% of my range, or less if injured. I also initially had some difficulty with the idea of emphasizing the middle not the ends. I was raised from a very young age on the concept of doing everything at 100% or not doing it at all; in essence do or don’t do. Because of this I have always lived my life according to this philosophy. When I do something I do it to my best ability, give it all I have, or I do not do it at all.

At first this concept of 70% and emphasize the middle not the ends seemed wrong, lazy, half assed, and noncommittal. But, I also decided to have an open mind and try to look at things from a different perspective. After allowing myself to consider that my preconceived perception of how to do things may not be the only way of doing things, I discovered that only going at 70% and emphasizing the middle not the ends was NOT weak, lazy, half assed, etc. but was in fact in its own way a strong, active, committed way of approaching something.

While I have opened up to the idea and see it in a much different and positive light, at times it can still be quite a challenge. The areas in which I noticed it the most was in paired exercises especially when I was following my partner. I had a very hard time following. I always wanted to lead, be in charge, be aggressive, attack or defend at maximum strength. In so doing I found it very hard to perform the exercise. For example, in push hands, I hard a very hard time reacting and following my partner because I was so aggressive, hard, rigid, unforgiving. I had a very hard time staying stuck to my partner because I was rigid not soft. It was only in softness and by not trying so hard that I could even get close to sticking to my partner.

In addition I also found learning and practicing the form to be much easier when I was not trying to be perfect from the get go. At first the idea that it did not need to be perfect and that you did not even want it to be perfect was very uncomfortable and disturbing. However, now I understand and to certain extend even enjoy the idea that it does not have to be precise or perfect or performed with everything I have to my maximum ability. Once I let go of the perfectionist ideology I found the form even more enjoyable and beneficial

In what to me seems a related issue, I never knew and would never have guessed that Taijiquan is a form of martial art. I had always thought of it as some kind of Taoist meditative exercise routine to promote good health and long life. I would never in a million years have thought that it had any martial aspects or applications. Again I saw it as weak, passive, non-aggressive and associated that with weakness, passivity, non-aggression, and allowing oneself to be pushed around. I could not have been more wrong. I now can at least see how weakness, reacting, following, etc. can be a in its own way very strong.

While I have allowed myself to see the world in a different light, I still have a long way to go. I look forward to continuing my Taijiquan practice and further pursuing this new way of thinking.
To me it seemed that you demonstrated many different aspects of Taijiquan, giving us an idea about the many aspects of the subject. Obviously, in 11 weeks or 22 hours of class time, there is no way we can become Taijiquan masters. While at times you definitely challenged my preconceived notions, I think that was in actuality the best aspect of the class – trying to get us to see things in a different light, from a different perspective, to be a little uncomfortable.

One example that comes to mind was when in class we performed the form very slowly. In one aspect I enjoyed doing the form very slowly but it also was very difficult. In doing it slowly I came to realize that I have a very strong issue with double weighting. I do not like at all having all my weight on one foot or the other. For some reason I perceive this as a weakness. During our class discussion on the topic of double weighting, you clearly demonstrated that in all actuality, the weakness is being double weighted. Having discovered this concept I now have something to explore further. After having experienced both sides I believe that less emphasis on double weighting in a number of aspects of my life will have a profound improvement for me. In conclusion, thank you for a different, challenging, and eye opening experience.

Climate Change Daoism

The idea of environmental stewardship has found it's way into Daoist discourses many times in history. Conservation is a Daoist precept and has often found its way into government policy decisions over the long history of Daoism's relationship with the state. This is not a human centered enviornmentalism, and because of that, Daoist have sometimes found themselves on the "wrong" side of population debates.

Still, many Daoist precepts have a personal/collective conservation ethic: For instance, "Own only one pair of shoes," "do not set fire to uncultivated fields of mountain forests," "improperly pick flowers or fell trees," "throw poisons into the sea, lakes, ponds, or rivers," "do not frighten birds or animals..."

So it was with great interest that I read this news article:

Something unprecedented happened in China in late October. It may not have been as glitzy spectacular as the Olympics in Beijing over the summer. It did not attract heads of state or world celebrities. But it possibly leave a more lasting imprint on the future of China and indeed the world.

Taoist masters from all over China gathered near the ancient capital of Nanjing to agree on a seven-year plan for climate change action. Anybody with minimal knowledge of China will immediately understand that this is more than a curiosity.....

snip...

Fourth, the Taoists are walking the walk. Over the last year or so they have installed solar panels on half of their thousands of temples around China and the job will be completed soon for all their sacred places. They are providing comprehensive guidance on all aspects of environmental and climate stewardship: water and land management, protection of biological diversity, energy efficiency of buildings, educational curricula, moral teachings, outreach through media and advocacy to business, etc. They will use their Seven-Year Plan to make a holistic and systematic contribution to climate responsibility and environmental stewardship in China. The perspective goes beyond seven years. The ambition is to change the course for generations to come. Because the Taoists plan to be around for quite a while longer, continuing their sacred cosmic dance that transcend time and space.

Then I read this comment at the bottom:

In order to save the environment, first you must realize the truth: that there is no global warming. Then, it is not the environment which is changed, but your mind.

There is a Daoist precept against challenging the veracity of local cults. The wuwei approach to politics is all about spin. Pollution and filth are reason enough to get together and issue a policy statement on the environment. Daoist have been dealing with apocalyptic cults who claim human conduct is the reason the whole world is going to hell in a hand basket since the first century CE. Notice, there is no quote from a Daoist claiming doom is here, now!

Xu Ling Ding Jin

The final papers from this Summer's Taijiquan class at the American College of Traditional Chinese Medicine included some gems. I hope you enjoy them as much as I did. This paper was printed with permission by the author:

Henry Lieu

The term "xu ling ding jin" is one of utter importance to the Tai Ji practitioner. The term xu represents "empty", "void", "extract", "shapeless". Ling means to guide, lead, or receive. Ding literally means the top of the head and jing is the common word for energy in the Tai Ji world. (Zhongwen, Mastering Yang Style Taijiquan)

When I was practicing Chen Tai Ji, my teacher always stressed on xu ling ding jin as one of the most basic fundamentals to have before beginning any Tai Ji practice. In fact, it was so important that it was at the top of the list for our basic thirteen principles. For me, xu ling ding jin was not something I could grasp right from the start. It took me many long months before I was able to truly apply this principle into my body. And even now, the technique is not at a high level for me. However, I am able to discuss in detail what I know about xu ling ding jin.

Xu ling ding jin is considered the gate that opens to heaven. Fu Zhongwen describes xu ling ding jin as "an intangible and lively energy that lifts the crown of the head." (Barrett, Taiji Quan Through The Western Gate) My teacher describes many of our techniques and principles through the use of our own imagination. For xu ling ding jin, he would have us imagine an almost threadlike material that connects the crown of our heads [bai hui] to the heavens and the other part of the same/similar thread which connects our dan tien to the core of planet earth. With this type of thread, one who practices this technique is able to root into the floor like stone and connect with heaven's qi at the same time. One need not use strength to execute the technique, instead one should only relax into it, but at the same time keeping their intent. The three treasures will flow harmoniously if xu ling ding jin is performed correctly. Qi and blood will flow correctly through the body, while jing is able to ascend and nourish the body and shen. It is for this reason why Tai Ji practitioners are always keeping their root within the medial center and are able to do it while in a standing position. Many kung fu practitioners need to use low stances in order to keep their root, but xu ling ding jin will provide the Tai Ji practitioner's main root. This represents the yin aspect of xu ling ding jin, the root of where our human understanding is more capable of grasping. The yang aspect of xu ling ding jin would be the bai hui point, where energy is capable of entering and exiting towards and from the heavens. The energy of this point should be empty and leading upwards. This is the aspect of the principle in which I have not fully grasped yet, especially since a student of Yang LuChan writes: "The whole body will be light and agile when the crown is suspended from above" (Yao, Song of Thirteen Postures) In my understanding, it would make sense that this is the ultimate balanced posture in almost all if not all aspects of life. Within this posture lies harmony and through harmony, one is able to go either direction as one pleases. He is able to root into the ground like a two-ton stone or is able to be light as a feather and agile as a leopard is he chooses.

In this position, I can also add the details according to what I believe to be the optimal positioning. In its most relaxed position, the arms should be at the anterior sides where the elbow has a bit of peng and hands are not in a fist nor palm position. Instead, they are also harmonized in a kind of baby's hand position. In this way, hands could either turn to fists or palms (yin and yang), elbows can either flex or extend, and shoulders can have ability to as it pleases. Feet should also be positioned in a similar manner where feet are pointed almost forward, but peng is present within the knees and gua and also a bit at the arches of the feet as toes can curl a bit to provide more balance and grip into the earth. Weight should not be focused on the legs, but rather the dan tien which leads the energy channels down into the legs and then through the lao gong points and attaching to where ever the practitioner puts their yi into. As for the dan tien itself, it should be at a continuously circling position, three dimensionally as if it were an invisible sphere. By invisible, I mean as small as a dot from a ballpoint pen as true masters of Tai Ji are able to create invisible circles where the body may look a bit rigid and yet centripetal force is completely manipulated by the practitioner. Breath itself should always be performed where dan tien and ming men are both expanding at the same time and the fifth bow (spinal cord) is constantly changing from curved to the opposite and chest will extend as ming men/dan tien contracts.

That is my understanding of xu ling ding jin. As for questions, I will probably ask you during class but in case I don't, I have one. I was always told that babies would breathe through their stomachs or dan tiens, but I was also wondering if this meant they were also breathing through their ming mens as well (both dan tien and ming men expanding at the same time). I would like to know if babies are naturally doing this and if this is natural for adults or do adults need to practice this technique in order to breathe through both ming men and dan tien at the same time?

Crime

Well, I said a week ago that my blog and website would have a new look by now. In case you are wondering, this is still the old look. I've been aware of changes I wanted to make for 6 months, and I've tried various experiments and strategies to accomplish them. Even when something works, it tends to create new problems. Software is a lot like a used car, you get it "AS IS." If it stops working there is always a tech labyrinth waiting to trap you. "Hey," the used car salesman/tech says, "we just got a new model in, would you like to take it for a spin?"

So I hired someone named Scott Hawkins who responded to my Craigslist ad. I met him at a cafe, he helped me figure out what strategies were best for me and offered to do everything I wanted for $300 dollars. After I paid him he disappeared.

I found a site called Rip Off Report. Here is the rap sheet for Scott Hawkins:

After I changed all my passwords, I went to my local police station to report the crime. That was weird. Of course I knew that $300 is a non-event to the police, unless there is an assault, they won't investigate it. But I figured there were other reasons for reporting it.

The officer on duty was about 50 years old, and he had blood shot eyes. Now I know that being a police officer is tough work, I really appreciate the work they do. He struck me as intelligent and caring. His movements were slow, his voice soft and deliberate. While we were both still standing, he asked me for a summary of what happened. Our conversation went something like this:

Me: This guy contacted me through an ad I put on Craigslist, I met with him in a cafe and he agreed to do some work on my blog and website, I wrote him a check and I haven't heard from him since.

Officer: Where did you meet him?

Me: At a Cafe in the Mission district.

Officer: So you just met this guy in a cafe?

Me: No, he responded to my ad on Craigslist and I arranged to meet him at a cafe.

Officer: What kind of work did he agree to do for you?

Me: You want me to explain exactly?

Officer: No, just generally?

Me: He agreed to work on my website.

Officer: So he did some work on your computer?

It occurred to me that maybe the officer didn't know about the Internet. But since I had some contact info and a description of the guy, he agreed to file a report and we sat down at his desk. We got interrupted continuously by the telephone. Many of my younger readers may never have seen one of these, it was a desktop landline with about 30 buttons on it. When I gave him the con-artist' email address he wrote it down on the paper report like this: 4celling at gmail.

It was like I was talking to Rip van Winkle. Being a police officer you see such horrible stuff, that it makes it difficult to have friends or intimates outside of the emergency services. I'm sympathetic to that, and I don't have a solution. But I'm I tempted to say that the protection of civil service unions makes police officers extremely difficult to fire, even if they are living in an isolated impenetrable bubble.

Not everyone at the San Francisco Police Department is computer illiterate. Check out these interactive crime maps. (You have to click "I Agree" twice, but then you're in and it's easy.)

I also sent an email "Tip" to the FBI, since Scott Hawkins (or what ever his name real is) appears to be involved in both interstate and international swindles.

Needless to say, I've made zero progress on my blog/website. I'm now thinking that rather than look for someone to do the work for me, I can find an office with a few computer people in it. I can pay them a modest fee to let me bring my laptop to their office while I work on my projects, when I get stuck, as I'm sure to do, I can just lean over and ask a question or two. Are any of my computer savvy readers interested in letting me sit in their San Francisco office for a day or so?

On a positive note, I'm getting busy with teaching--so expect a lot more blogging over the next few months! Management rule #11: "If you want something done quickly, give it to someone who is busy all the time."

What do my readers think I should do if I run into the con-man Scott Hawkins again?