Martial Arts and Magic

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Tgace

Tgace

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Strange thing happen I guess...this just smacks of being a joke though.
 

ginshun

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That magic site is a riot.

It HAS to be a joke though.

Why stop at the 3rd or 4th dimension though? I going staight to the 8th dimension with Buckaroo Banzai.
 
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rupton

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ginshun said:
That magic site is a riot.

It HAS to be a joke though.

Why stop at the 3rd or 4th dimension though? I going staight to the 8th dimension with Buckaroo Banzai.
"This isn't your planet monkey boy!" OMG I loved that movie!!!! Now back on thread :)
 
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Karushi

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I think Ki is something of a lie. It strikes me as make-believe. But if someone can show me proof and Hadooken me (haha street fighter) then I'll reconsider. Otherwise I see no real usage for it.
 

Rich Parsons

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Tgace said:
For example...check out this guys selling points.

http://www.thearrowcatcher.com.au/

Now I dont want to turn this into a "fraud busting" escapade as much as a discussion of what people believe and how those beliefs are being used. Are these legit skills, just misguided people teaching BS, or blatant marketing of dangerous beliefs?


I do not see much or any of this type of Magic in what I train in. Everything I have seen I have either explained to me in a way I can easily understand or I can understand the motions and explain the physics of the technique.

As to the arrow catcher, the bow is not a compund bow, it is a recurve bow. I believe that anyone can trian to catch an arrow from this type of bow. The issue is the shooter/archer and his aim to make it come close enough for you to catch but not to risk harming you. I think there is more skill in that portion of this technique then in the catch side.
 
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rupton

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Karushi said:
I think Ki is something of a lie. It strikes me as make-believe. But if someone can show me proof and Hadooken me (haha street fighter) then I'll reconsider. Otherwise I see no real usage for it.
Like I said in a previous post I think it really depends on your definition of ki/chi. If thought of as a magic force or aura or universal element that can be called out or projected at will then I think I'm with you. But if you instead think of it as the flow of energy through your body across specific points (meridians) similar to how blood flows through your veins, and that this flow does have a very real impact on your body function(s), good and bad then no, I don't think it's make believe at all. I think a good way to demostrate this is to look at the various vital points on a human body, they are all along the meridians. Striking these points affect the body part associated with the meridian. This is the point of my last post where I said even if you don't agree with this concept, you can't argue the effect. That's why pressure points are so affective. No? Also acupressure and acupunture use a lot of the same ideas and I don't think you can argue the effectiveness of those either. I've studied this stuff for a long time now but am still ever the student so that's about as far as I go. The whole channeling and drawing stuff I personally don't focus to much on but I'm not qualified enough to say it's make believe, there's certainly something there even if it's only a magic illusion :) Just my thoughts, take them for what they're worth.
 
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Tgace

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"Pressure Points" are nerve complexes, not Chi points.
 
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rupton

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Tgace said:
"Pressure Points" are nerve complexes, not Chi points.
Yes, of course. I meant to focus only on the vital areas and drug pressure points into it. I see that my intended separation of the two was very muddled in my post. Thanks for setting that straight. I shall try to be more lucid in the future :) However I do think from the whole physiology standpoint I'm trying (albeit not so good) to make is that they are somewhat related when looking at things holistically. Again, just my thoughts.
 
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kenpochad

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Floating Egg said:
Yes, I have some familiarity with that, and for the most part, combat ki practitioners genuinely believe that they're actually using ki.
so what do you think is ki or are they condtion them selfs by hitting hard & hard?
any way about it there pretty hardcore !
 

The Kai

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tHERE IS A there is a touch of trickery involved. There is also not a a not of hardcore conditioning going on
 
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Tgace

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rupton said:
Yes, of course. I meant to focus only on the vital areas and drug pressure points into it. I see that my intended separation of the two was very muddled in my post. Thanks for setting that straight. I shall try to be more lucid in the future :) However I do think from the whole physiology standpoint I'm trying (albeit not so good) to make is that they are somewhat related when looking at things holistically. Again, just my thoughts.
Fair enough. I just think there is a difference between using "Ki" instruction as a learning method for centering, learning nerve center points etc. is fine. Buying into the whole mystical "energy channels" , chakras and the like is a different story.
 
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rupton

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Tgace said:
Fair enough. I just think there is a difference between using "Ki" instruction as a learning method for centering, learning nerve center points etc. is fine. Buying into the whole mystical "energy channels" , chakras and the like is a different story.
Yeah, honestly I don't really know how much I buy on some of this. I certainly believe in engergy channels and the disruption of energy but I try really hard to pull up short of the crazy mystical stuff. The only reason I think I'm not 100% comitted is because whether you believe in chi flow or charakas (which I haven't studied), or whatever, you got to admit (or not :) ) that there is something deeper there. So where does focus come from if not from focussing you mind AND energy. And if that's true how can we accept some of the principles of chi and not all? That's not an argument to your point, I'm honestly asking. The thing that's paradoxical to me is the more I learn (or think I learn) about this stuff the more I see I really dont' know, and I don't say that trying to fein humility I honestly don't know :) Oh well, it's late, I'm babbling, the best thing for me to do is go to bed. Peace!
 

Han-Mi

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Tgace said:
blindfold slicing of watermelons on people with Katana and so on.
My instructor actually did that long ago in a few demos. I was surprised to see it on the list. He didn't make it out to be mystical at all though, he walked around with that sword as much as he could and got used to the feel. along with his training that he already had and his focuse, he was able to do something that seemss like magic i guess. But it was just for show.
 

Maltair

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My old instructor should me this one thing, he has me in a wrist/arm lock and he reaches over with his foot and just touches my toes, the pain goes from a 4 to an 8 as soon as he touches. He doesn't know how it works, somebody showed it to him. Seams like one of those meridian things, no?
 
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rupton

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Maltair said:
My old instructor should me this one thing, he has me in a wrist/arm lock and he reaches over with his foot and just touches my toes, the pain goes from a 4 to an 8 as soon as he touches. He doesn't know how it works, somebody showed it to him. Seams like one of those meridian things, no?
That's a good example of the stuff I'm talking about. I've never personally seen the toe stuff but in my dojo we do quite a bit of holds and locks followed by strikes to either vital areas or meridian points, but as stated a couple of posts back that's the crazy mystical stuff ;-). I still maintain my earlier assertion if you've ever had this done to you, believe it or reject it, you can't argue its effectiveness. I don't know how it works either but I have studied long enough to know it can't just be blown off as magic hooey (some, yes, but not the physiological things IMO).
 
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