Funny thing, these Internal Martial Arts...

[Sigung86]

Gentle folk,

Thank you for this enlightening, conversational thread.

Dan Farmer

 

[Matt Stone]

Originally posted by RyuShiKan

Is this the same person that we saw at the demo on July 6th?

Yep. He is good at what he does, but what he does does not include fighting from what I know. His forms have gotten appreciably better over the years (I knew him at Zama for at least 3 of the 4 years I was there), and he definitely earned the #3 slot at the All Japan tournament. He is good enough to be in the top three in forms. Unfortunately, his fighting applications need some work... But then again, so do mine.

Gambarimasu.

 

[RyuShiKan]

Originally posted by Yiliquan1



Yep. He is good at what he does, but what he does does not include fighting from what I know. His forms have gotten appreciably better over the years (I knew him at Zama for at least 3 of the 4 years I was there), and he definitely earned the #3 slot at the All Japan tournament. He is good enough to be in the top three in forms. Unfortunately, his fighting applications need some work... But then again, so do mine.

Gambarimasu.

There is a good saying in Japanese that Mr. Oyata has used from time to time.

"hitorizumo"

It translates as "Sumo by yourself" or "single man Sumo" and it means you will always win at Sumo if you only go against yourself.

Kind of funny idea.

 

[hubris]

hee hee hee! RyuShiKan, you tickle my funny bone! (From afar! Via the internet! What chi you have! See, this remote stuff is TRUE!)

Just kidding. I am just beginning to get into the martial applications of tai chi, and I agree that the martial aspects are very important. I didn't really start to feel "energized" by tai chi until I started doing some martial stuff.

That saying "gambarimasu" is a useful one.

 

[Matt Stone]

"Gambarimasu," as it was explained to me, means something along the lines of "continue to perservere."

In Japan, it has the equivalent context of "Good Luck," when wished for a person undertaking a difficult endeavor (like MA training).

"Gambatte" is the shortened common form of the term.

It goes hand in hand with the Japanese saying "Fall down seven times, get up eight."

Gambarimasu.

:asian:

 

[hubris]

"Our greatest glory consists not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall." (Attributed to Nelson Mandela.)

 

[Matt Stone]

"You can quit when you die, but just before you give up the ghost, crawl forward just one more inch to deny the bastard the glory of having killed you completely..."

Attributed to me.

 

[hubris]

Heee! I love that one!

 

[Matt Stone]

I have issues, what can I say?

At training this weekend, we were working some vital point stuff... really phenomenally painful strikes, the kind that pull the squeal out of you no matter how manly you are... I get hit, I hop around, I come back and say "do it again."

I just want to be sure that when I get put down, I get put down. If the guy left a little life in me, I am going to drag my body forward and bleed on his shoes, or gnaw on his ankle until I give out...

I have issues, what can I say?

:asian:

 

[hubris]

Yeah, but those are GOOD issues. Even in tai chi (where we don't wear special outfits, and we don't spar -yet) we have to keep coming back. It's a process of going past your worst pain. We did a class that consisted of standing meditation last week where we stood in the universal pole position for about 45 minutes. I thought I was going to cry. I didn't give in to the pain. (Because out of the corner of my eye, I could see the big strong mens collapsing.) I have issues, what can I say? If somebody in class is holding a pose for "x minutes" I will hold that pose for "x minute + three seconds." Not bad for a fifty year old suburban dame, eh?

But yeah, learning humility is, says Tai Chi Martha, a good thing. And when you're supposed to have your eyes shut during class, it really is cheating and being immature to peek. But I have issues, what can I say?

 

[yilisifu]

You're absolutely right. There ARE people who claim thay can knock you over without touching you....and they concentrate and all that and....maybe it works and maybe it doesn't.
Frankly, why would anyone WANT to be able to do it? It surely has no real practical value!
As for me, I don't believe in fairytales.

The problem is that such people, through their bizarre demonstrations, give us all a bad name. Chi IS real but it sure isn't what these people try to present.
Kind of like "enlightenment" (which Alan Watts once told me he preferred to call "awakening"). It isn't what you think.

 

[RyuShiKan]

Originally posted by hubris


Just kidding. I am just beginning to get into the martial applications of tai chi, and I agree that the martial aspects are very important. I didn't really start to feel "energized" by tai chi until I started doing some martial stuff.

I sometimes hear people refer to Tai Chi as a "woosy" art with no real martial value.
By that type of statement I cinlude that have not been exposed to "REAL" Tai Chi applications...........which when applied to you by someone "in the know" are about as painful as diving into a swimming pool with no water in it............"and that's a bad thing"

When I lived in China I did TaiChi for a while and had my *** handed to me by a Tai Chi practitioner that had to be 70 plus years of age (started training when he was 8 ), and I was a 23 year old kid that had played Ice Hockey for 15 years and martial arts for 10 so I was accustomed to pain. Basically what this gentleman gave was on about the same level as denist drill pain.
He certainly made a "believer" out of me.

Originally posted by yilisifu

You're absolutely right. There ARE people who claim thay can knock you over without touching you....and they concentrate and all that and....maybe it works and maybe it doesn't.
Frankly, why would anyone WANT to be able to do it? It surely has no real practical value!

Gotta be money.

Originally posted by yilisifu

The problem is that such people, through their bizarre demonstrations, give us all a bad name. Chi IS real but it sure isn't what these people try to present.
Kind of like "enlightenment" (which Alan Watts once told me he preferred to call "awakening"). It isn't what you think.

I agree.
As for Alan Watts...........great writer bar none.
The man could take the most esoteric complex Zen concepts and put them in such a language that even think headed people like me could follow.

 

[chufeng]

I still contend that J.Lo is a no touch Knockout...

...and Alan Watts is a pile of dusty bones...

:asian:
chufeng