The credit downgrade

I retrieved my tin hat from the closet to think about conspiracy theories ... actually, I don't believe in conspiracies, but I do sort wonder what's going on.

I am starting to believe like there is a bit of collusion by different parties underway to DESTROY America ... or take it down a peg ... was it really necessary for S&P to cut America's credit rating, or was it coaxed, pushed by people who'd benefit from a bit of a collapse [and dead-cat bounce rebound]?

Are OTHER countries really a better risk than America?  Are OTHER countries really going to be standing tall if there's a big enough disaster to take America down?

The budget deficit, Bowles-Simpson and Joe Biden

Biden is an incompetent goof ... only a MORE incompetent goof would put him in charge of budget negotiations.

Breathing exercises to build power, enhance cellular health, regulate the mind, manage the emotional fire

We take things like eating or breathing for granted; even though we may go through different stages in life when we are active, even athletic ... most adults probably use less than 50% of their lung capacity -- as we age ... past 35 or so, probably younger in obese adults ... we slowly start paying the penalty for unregulated breathing and poor cardiovascular health with increased incidence of bone marrow and neurological ailments. If we don't take responsibility for understanding and regulating the body's energy, our bone marrow becomes weak, diseased and subject to cancer. Reduced oxygen in the bloodstream cripples the healthy genetic transfer necessary for limiting DNA damage in cellular replacement of brain cells.  Unless we really want to be victims or helpless blobs controlled by someone else, we simply CANNOT take eating or breathing for granted! If we want to be in control of our lives, we need to be control of what we eat, we need to be in control of how we breathe.

The lungs are very much like your posture or your the stomach ... as someone who has never thought much about this before, I now know how important it is. Good posture is something you should work on everyday -- it will not magically appear. The same is true for the condition of your stomach ... the more you eat, the bigger your stomach gets. The bigger the stomach gets, the more that feel the need to eat. In most cases, this process is rather gradual -- no one begins eating like a pig; it's starts very gradually as something that you'd barely notice. After a decade or two of not really watching what you eat, it's likely that you [like most American adults] will have developed a weight problem. If you want to reduce your weight, there aren't any pills or secrets or special diets. It is very simple you need to get in the habit of eating less ... if you SUDDENLY change your eating habits, you will be miserable AND you will get very sick because your body [especially the intestinal system and the microbes in that system] still needs the diet it is used to. If you want to reduce your weight, you need to eat less ... and [especially if you are older] you need to make the change gradually OR the change will make you ill and almost certainly will not stick.

We might crave the drama of a TV show (e.g. Biggest Loser) or stark contrast of a fat Before and a herculean After picture ... we want to be stars; we want to be the center of a universe of adoring fans. We want big results; heroic efforts. We not only want to do a couple push-ups -- we want to ride in RAGBRAI and then go on to become one of the world's most successful triathletes! We KNOW that we deserve to play Lead role in our own autobiographical movie and we think need to hear the theme from "Rocky" playing in the background ... but if we want the change to be healthy and to stick, we need to sustain the change more gradually, over a longer period of time. The movie of you life takes about 100 years to complete; maybe not quite that long, but it definitely takes at least 50 or 75 years ... if we try to go too fast or don't get started now and work every second, our movie will be worse than an irresponsible 6th grader's project started late at night before the big science fair.

We should start with relatively simple breathing exercises and then steady, continually, gradually escalate to more advance breathing techniques to regulate, relax and calm down, to improve the function of the cells and make the circulation healthier, to build power for our exercises, martial arts and weight training, to lead the qi to "wash" the bone marrow.

Regular deeper breathing ... relax, close your eyes, try to focus all of your mental and physical energy on on deepening your breathing, try to build a consistent, sustainable habit that uses about 70% of your lung capacity... find an enjoyable form of active exercise [that you can sustain] such as gardening, digging, chopping wood, rapid walking, running, bicycling, lifting weights that forces you to breathe more deeply to expand your lung capacity.

Normal abdominal breathing ... place one hand on dan tian area [below stomach], place other hand on chest; the hand on your dan tian should move up and down like it is on top of a wave; the hand on your chest might feel the waves but should not move as if it's resting on the beach.

Reverse abdominal breathing ... except think about movements when you are laughing or crying

Embryonic breathing ... breath like a baby; your body's midsection drives the movement [in an exaggerated form, this includes even your hips]

Eight Pieces of Brocade Qigong

Qigong is a living artform; I was thinking about this as I was trying overcome a problem with my back and being completely unable to do ANY gardening.  In a nutshell, I started off this spring with EXCESSIVE exuberance ... rock-like exuberance!

That kind of exuberance is the kind of exuberance that gets one into trouble.

It is a thinking person's exercise and a form of therapeutic self-massage that can cure old injuries and make the body healthier. Of course, the mental discipline of qigong is true for other martial arts and forms of exercise such as yoga. The mental discipline is what makes the exercises so powerful for other pursuits, i.e. why someone like Tiger Woods or other professional athletes would incorporate martial arts into their training regimen ... not to be some sort of aggressive bully, but to develop mental discipline and build upon the ability to focus and refine. In practice, making an ancient exercise into a living artform means that each and every student who practices the artform should attempt to understand the theory behind the art and to use additional knowledge and medical science and along with reflection and insights from on one's own personal practice to extend and develop the artform. Each THINKING participant perfects, polishes and improves the form. As with quarterbacks in an American football game, the best careers in martial arts usually do not happen to the person with the most raw athletic ability, the first one one to reach a certain level, the strongest or toughest ... the best careers happen to the thinkers who can improve their practice and, most importantly, improve the practice of those around them. Qigong has been studied in China for several thousand years. There is still room for improvement because there are still lessons from the ancient historic texts that can be learned, mastered once again, renewed, updated and even built upon!
The Eight Pieces of Brocade Qigong is one example that distils this long history into very simple exercise that anyone can and should perform on a daily basis. The sitting form is especially good for waking up in the morning; it may also be performed by elderly, disabled or sick people. The standing form is a good warmup and stretching exercise for more people who are more fit. As you practice a practical form of qigong such as the Eight Pieces of Brocade, you will see that there is nothing particularly magical or mystical about qigong -- it is extremely practical and beneficial exercise that benefits from mental discipline and regulating the mind. Eight Pieces of Brocade is a proven martial arts exercise developed by General Yue Fei (March 24, 1103 – January 27, 1142) to keep his troops strong and fit ... of course, in a normal martial arts training, qigong is built upon very simple routines that anyone could do without thinking, but just doing the routine is only the beginning, the first step ... although we can do qigong without thinking; it is very important that we actually do think about what we are doing to make sure that our foundation is increasingly solid!

Sitting Qigong

1. Close Eyes and Sit Still (Shuang Shou Tuo Tian) The purpose is to calm the mind. Meditate 5 minutes.
2. Knock the teeth 36 times; two hands hold the head. Tap the teeth to stimulate the brain cavity. Pull head forward 9 times.
3. Knock and beat the jade pillow. Left and right stimulate the jade pillow 24X by snapping fingers against head.
4. Lightly turn head to loosen the neck repeatedly and gaze backward. This is a stretch of the neck to the left and the right in an alternating fashion.
5. Hand massage the essence door ... rub hands together until hot, massage the kidneys.
6. Hands turn double wheel or left and right windlasses turn ...9X as if you are turning wheels with your hands.
7. Lift and press, hold the feet. visualize holding something above your head.
8. Sit quietly, swallow saliva, guide the qi, breathe deeply to put out any fires.

Standing Qigong

1. Two Hands Hold up the Heavens (Shuang Shou Tuo Tian) This move is said to stimulate the "Triple Warmer" meridian (Sanjiao). It consists of an upward movement of the hands, which are loosely joined and travel up the center of the body.
2. Drawing the Bow to Shoot the Hawk (or Vulture) While in a lower horse stance, the practitioner imitates the action of drawing a bow to either side. It is said to exercise the waist area, focusing on the kidneys and spleen.
3. Separate Heaven and Earth This resembles a version of the first piece with the hands pressing in opposite directions, one up and one down. A smooth motion in which the hands switch positions is the main action, and it is said to especially stimulate the stomach.
4. Wise Owl Gazes Backwards or Look Back This is a stretch of the neck to the left and the right in an alternating fashion.
5. Sway the Head and Shake the Tail This is said to regulate the function of the heart and lungs. Its primary aim is to remove excess heat (or fire) (xin huo) from the heart. Xin huo is also associated with heart fire in traditional Chinese medicine. In performing this piece, the practitioner squats in a low horse stance, places the hands on thighs with the elbows facing out and twists to glance backwards on each side.
6. Two Hands Hold the Feet to Strengthen the Kidneys and Waist This involves a stretch upwards followed by a forward bend and a holding of the toes.
7. Clench the Fists and Glare Fiercely (or Angrily) This resembles the second piece, and is largely a punching movement either to the sides or forward while in horse stance. This, which is the most external of the pieces, is aimed at increasing general vitality and muscular strength.
8. Bouncing on the Toes This is a push upward from the toes with a small rocking motion on landing. The gentle shaking vibrations of this piece is said to "smooth out" the qi after practice of the preceding seven pieces.

Scholar qigong, medical qigong, martial qigong, enlightenment qigong

This text provides the a detailed discussion of history and development of the artform, the scientific principles and physiological theory underlying the practice [along with cultural background and vocabulary from Chinese medicine] and practical concepts for applying qigong in practice.  This text was first text in a series of in-depth texts on qigong by Dr. Yang, Jwing-Ming; it serves as a foundation reference for anyone beginning an in-depth study of qigong regardless of the purpose of that study. There are probably as many reasons for studying and practicing qigong as there are people who study and practice qigong. We could list four significant classifications of reasons or motive that people have for studying qigong; these include: to improve and maintain health, to heal injuries and overcome serious illness, to focus power and train for fighting more effectively, to focus the mind for spiritual cultivation.

Maintaining health with qigong is primarily about training to regulate the mind, body and breath.  At its simplest, this form of qigong could be thought of as a form of physiological meditation that uses disciplined study of breathing combined with different forms of exercise and stretching movements to massage muscles, tendons and strengthen bones in order to maintain physical health and help calm the mind and practice emotional control.  Essentially, qigong conditions one's thinking on exercise, diet and all activities that pertain to health.  It is NOT a substitute for eating well, getting plenty of exercise or leading an enjoyable and meaningful life -- instead, qigong complements those activities.

Healing injuries and recovering from serious illness with qigong builds upon the techniques used for maintaining health and adds specific qigong exercises designed to speed up healing or cure the sickness.  Over thousands of years, qigong practitioners have developing an elaborate medicinal knowledge of biolectric/biomagnetic qi circulation and balance; recently, conventional medical science and biomedical engineers have begun to better understand and use the millennia of clinical experience to develop treatment methods and devices based upon bioelectricity/biomagnetism.  

Developing martial arts power and effectiveness with qigong is primarily about using the training to develop the power, efficiency and self-control of the body and mind for self-defense and diffusing difficult situations.  It involves the abilities to perform spectacular leaps, to accomplish unbelievable moves and to deliver highly-focused blows.  These abilities are especially effective because an understanding of qigong allows for devastating attacks delivered to extremely susceptible areas on the opponent's body.  There are also techniques (e.g. iron shirt) that emphasize training to focus energy and provide an ability to resist blows; there are others such as chin na grasping or siezing arts or taichiquan wrestling arts that focus upon understanding an opponent's energy and power and using an opponent's imbalance qi against him.  

Spiritual cultivation with qigong is associated with techniques that extend self-control and build upon having achieved the highest accomplishments in all other qi gong categories ... beyond healthiness, beyond longevity, beyond power and effective self-defense ... spiritual cultivation is about an elevated capacity for self-awareness and grasping reality exactly as it is.  This level of awareness allows one to think very clearly about one's previous explorations of faith, lifelong prejudices and mental conditioning that can bias spiritual cultivation ... with self-awareness and discipine, one can use prayer and meditation to reach beyond one's conceptual frameworks, intellectual limits or physical capabilities ... to enter a world where grace and unexplainable mercies prevail.  

Li Floats, Jin Is Sunken; Li Is Dull, Jin Is Sharp

In martial arts, li pertains to the external manifestation of power derived from muscle and bone; jin is the force that comes from tendons and is generated by using the mind to lead the qi or human biolectricity.  As we get older, li isgradually lost -- however, through patient and diligent practice and meditation, internal martial artists learn to use their minds to relax the muscles as much as possible and to generate and lead qi  in the local area around the muscles being used.  Older martial artists who have been practicing their art for 50 years will produce the internal jin force that is more powerful than the younger martial artist's external li.  

Driving process improvement in exercise, nutrition, martial arts, massage franchise networks with mobile and video technology

As an engineer, I cannot break free of my fascination with technology for advancing the cause of health ... I'm not a gadget geek; I despise geez-whiz presentations by guys in black turtlenecks that feature a glimpse into a hip, entirely proprietary future [that you can't join unless you are ready to part with a lot of money] -- I really hate the hype associated with promises of the brand new unreliable bleeding edge technology. But I am finally starting to be fascinated with mobile technology because I can see that it is getting more reliable AND it allows quant jocks like me to bring a lot more data to bear on the situation when we get really serious about studying, experimenting and attempting to rapidly optimize processes. I am beginning to like mobile technology because it is almost BEGINNING to be useful.

I know that I should be thinking about getting more healthy immediately or about improving my own martial arts practice; instead, I have been thinking a LOT lately about exploiting new developments in mobile communication and video technology to leverage martial arts expertise and establish new "franchise territories" to expand a strong existing network to be even stronger and dynamic AND [through franchise and licensing fees] to generate financial support for a non-profit educational foundation ... in a nutshell, mobile communication technology could be a big part of what is needed to eliminate geographic barriers and enable greater benefit for thousands or even millions of people by more effective dispersal of knowledge and expertise ...but there's even more potential. If we could take the next step to more effectively use sensors connected to the network, starting with video for coaching and diagnosis OR perhaps extend mobile devices with new sensors for bioelectric diagnosis (e.g. similar to GE's handheld electrocardiogram), we would generate a revolution in fitness and jin power training for the martial arts!

Mobile technology would remove many geographic barriers by making it possible for trainers to be much more mobile and have a greater impact through a dispersed network of coaches. Moreover, the accumulated knowledge and expertise of masters and experts could be shared through franchise network that exploited mobile technology ... to maintain closer relationships with as many certified trainers and coaches as possible [without destroying the ability of those masters and experts to develop and extend the theoretical martial arts basis of the franchise]. As in other pursuits, mobile communication technology enables an organizational network to maintain and strengthen its key relationships in spite of the fact that the people in that network are more mobile and more dispersed ... the availability of this highly productive technology almost demands that we rethink how organizations are structured ... entire cultures, industries and economies will be revolutionized!

The type of franchise network that I am contemplating serving would build upon the best global martial arts networks ... basically, the technology-driven quantitative process-improvement model would be an extension of the western healthclub business franchise model (i.e. technology-driven productivity and customer service à la McDonalds in fast food franchises). This extension applied to traditional Oriental martial arts network with mobile communication technology as one of key enabling technologies for an intense multi-level training and coaching franchise. In some ways, the multi-level organization would function somewhat like MaryKay or Herbalife -- EXCEPT that the primary push of the organization would instead be to develop LEADERS in order to develop discipline and lead people to be more responsible for their own health, diet, exercise, self-defense and ability to heal themselves and others from common injuries. In other words, the organization would need evangelists and marketing [like all growing organizations] but it would not push agents to become more adept as salespeople or, in anyway, push people to buy products or services -- the organization would extend knowledge and LEAD people to better health. Basically, since the model would be based on oriental master-student relationship, it would not really be all that revolutionary or different.

The franchise [target customer] would typically involve 5 levels: Masters, Experts; Trainers; Coaches, Individuals ... it might work something like this:

Masters are the theorists and thought leaders of the organization; they are responsible for training and certifying experts; masters would be few in number. Typically there would be one key master and several heirs apparent; redundancy would ensure survival of the organization. Generally, masters would not be selected but would instead would emerge from the pool of experts after a lifetime [at least 25 years as an expert]. Being a master would carry significant responsibilities for ensuring the health of the organization; mobile technology would allow masters to reach down through the organization to assist coaches, trainers as well as experts. The demands of being a master would result in the likelihood that many lifetime experts would serve as a master for only a few years ... preferring to leave and focus on their own spiritual cultivation.

Experts would be located at main facilities on call to answer difficult questions [they might ask masters for assistance with the most difficult questions], they would keep their skills sharp by training and certifying trainers. Coaches would also utilize mobile technology to call upon experts for assistance with tough questions. Gaining initial certification as a expert would involve, at minimum, a commitment of at least 10 years of dedicated practice and intensive daily study under direct guidance of masters;

Trainers would be based at main facilities, but highly mobile; often traveling to disperse knowledge and conduct seminars in different locations. Trainers would thus sharpen their skills by producing training videos and conducting seminars in which they trained and certified personal coaches; also, mobile video technology would allow trainers would be on constant call to assist coaches in giving answers to their clients. Gaining initial certification as a trainer would involve a commitment of at least 5 years of dedicated practice and intensive daily training under the guidance of an expert; with additional annual training at retreat centers conducted by masters.

Personal coaches would sharpen their skills by working with individuals to insure their personal discipline was progressing. Gaining initial certification as a coach would involve a commitment of at least 2 years of dedicated practice and intensive training. Given the familiarity built through training seminars, Coaches would probably rely mostly on the network of trainers for guidance and answers, but mobile technology would allow coaches to also call upon experts.

Individuals would rely mostly on the familiarity with their coaches to build diligence in the practice, to obtain guidance in the practice of various forms and answers to their questions about health and diet. DVDs, training videos on the internet and mobile video technology would allow individuals to also call upon the organization's network of trainers. Individuals would expected to be diligent and to progress in their practice, but they would typically be employed in other pursuits and would pay coaches for personal guidance in weekly half-hour one-on-one video coaching sessions and weekly group sessions led by the coach. Particularly skilled and talented individuals with sufficient diligence in their practice would be encouraged to become coaches ... the first stage in becoming a coach would be for an individual to assist other individuals and recruit new members through organization-sponsored introductory seminars and pro bono training sessions for people who could not afford coaching.

Ruminations on Lojong Mind Training

I am one of those Christians who, like the Trappist monk, Brother Thomas Merton, believes that there is a lot to be learned from an ecumenical or interfaith dialogue with those firmly on spiritual paths taken by other religions ... that does NOT mean that I am about to convert to another religion; my faith is more than strong enough to take away my fear of any sort of temptation to stray from my life in Christ.  Not only does studying another religion help me to understand how to reach out to AND to relate to people of other faiths [hopefully without coming off as another condescending missionary jerk preying on them like some sort of evangelical vulture trying to add another soul-for-Jesus to my crusader belt], it invariably teaches me a deeper lesson about my own Christian faith, about my own commitment to love God, to do His will and to treat all other human beings as I would want them to treat me.

Beyond just the religious aspects, there is an awfully lot to learn from other cultures ... all have attachment to symbolism and beliefs that more trouble than those symbols and beliefs are worth -- it's nice to know that Christians aren't the only knuckleheads who are so stuck in their backward ways, that they'd rather die than think about changing.   What I find useful is investigating how other cultures approach problem solving and thinking.  In particular, I am absolutely certain that the Buddhists and Daoists have some very important things that we could learn about discipline, meditation, patience, situational awareness, self-defense ...our western heritage is relatively violent and confrontational -- our history is all about heroic crusades, dying in glorious battles, military strategy, weapons and systems for winning wars ... "Onward Christian Soldiers!" captures how we think ... by contrast, for thousands of years, the energy of brightest minds in these cultures has been focused upon debating, thinking about, meditating on and writing about the best techniques for training one's mind and purifying one's motivations and attitudes for greater focus on spiritual cultivation.   Lojong is the mind training practice of the Tibetan Buddhist tradition; it is based on a set of fifty-nine aphorisms originally formulated in Tibet in the 12th century by Geshe Chekhawa. These proverbs that form the root text of the mind training practice are designed as a set of antidotes to undesired mental habits that cause suffering; these proverbs should not exactly be regard as we Christians regard commandments [especially the 1st and 2nd commandments] but they are helpful guidelines that will make our search for happiness in this life a lot easier. The aphorisms on lojong mind training listed below are paraphrased from web-based directory of translations of the Tibetan original.

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  First, train in the preliminaries.
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  Treat everything you perceive as a dream.
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  Find the consciousness you had before you were born ... respect the miracle of your birth and everything that miracle represents about the best intentions and essential hopes of your parents, the accumulated values and traditions of your elders.  
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  Let even the remedy itself drop away naturally.
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  Stay in the primeval consciousness, the basis of everything.
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  Between meditations, treat everything as an illusion.
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  As you breathe in, take in and accept all the sadness, pain, and negativity of the whole world, including yourself, and absorb it into your heart. As you breathe out, pour out all your joy and bliss; bless the whole of existence.
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  Understand your attachments, your aversions, and your indifference, and love them all.
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  Apply these proverbs in everything you do.
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  When practicing unconditional acceptance, start with yourself.
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  When everything goes wrong, treat disaster as a way to wake up.
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  Take all the blame yourself.
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  Be grateful to everyone.
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  Don't worry – there's nothing real about your confusion.
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  When something unexpected happens, in that very moment, treat it as a meditation.
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  Work with the Five Forces.  Practice these Five Forces and you are ready for death at any moment. The Five Forces are:

1. 
   
   
   
   
   
   Be intense, be committed.
2. 
   
   
   
   
   
   Familiarization – get used to doing and being what you want to do and to be.
3. 
   
   
   
   
   
   Cultivate the white seeds, not the black ones.
4. 
   
   
   
   
   
   Turn totally away from all your ego trips.
5. 
   
   
   
   
   
   Dedicate all the merits of what you do for the benefit of others.

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  All teachings have the same goal.
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  Follow the inner witness rather than the outer ones.
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  Always have the support of a joyful mind.
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  Practicing even when distracted is good training.
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  Always observe these three points:

1. 
   
   
   
   
   
   Regularity of practice.
2. 
   
   
   
   
   
   Not wasting time on the inessential.
3. 
   
   
   
   
   
   Not rationalizing our mistakes.

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  Change your attitude, but stay natural.
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  Do not discuss defects.
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  Don't worry about other people.
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  Work on your greatest imperfection first.
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  Abandon all hope of results.
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  Give up poisonous food.
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  Don't be consistent.
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  Don't indulge in malicious gossip.
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  Don't wait in ambush.
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  Don't strike at the heart.
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  Don't put the yak's load on the cow.
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  Remember – this is not a competition.
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  Don't be sneaky.
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  Don't abuse your divine power for selfish reasons.
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  Don't expect to profit from other people's misfortune.
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  In all your activities, have a single purpose.
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  Solve all problems by accepting the bad energy and sending out the good.
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  Renew your commitment when you get up and before you go to sleep.
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  Accept good and bad fortune with an equal mind.
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  Keep your vows even at the risk of your life.
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  Recognize your neurotic tendencies, overcome them, then transcend them.
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  Find a teacher, tame the roving mind, choose a lifestyle that allows you to practice.
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  Love your teacher, enjoy your practice, keep your vows.
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  Focus your body, mind, and spirit on the path.
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  Exclude nothing from your acceptance practice: train with a whole heart.
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  Always meditate on whatever you resent.
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  Don't depend on how the rest of the world is.
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  In this life, concentrate on achieving what is most meaningful.
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  Don't let your emotions distract you, but bring them to your practice.
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  Don't let your practice become irregular.
• 
  
  
  
  
  
  Train wholeheartedly.
• 
  
  
  
  
  
  Free yourself by first watching, then analyzing.
• 
  
  
  
  
  
  Don't feel sorry for yourself.
• 
  
  
  
  
  
  Don't be jealous.
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  Stay focused.
• 
  
  
  
  
  
  Don't expect any applause.

I think about Afghanistan more and more every day.

When the world saw the destruction of a UNESCO Heritage site as expression of fundamentalist hate in early 2001, we knew the hard-line Taliban, Osama bin Laden and the other idiots linked to Al-Qaeda around the world would never stop. We knew that the ignorance, intolerance and capacity for evil would keep coming for us; we ignored it, dismissed it, or worse, thought that this senseless cultural vandalisn of destruction of the Buddhist statues in the Afghanistan Bamiyan Valley was an acceptable form of Afghani cultural assertion or islamic religious expression ... besides, it too far away from the United States to matter.   But the bell was tolling for us in early 2001.    This act took several attempts over several days; it was deliberately pre-announced and well-documented by various news agencies.  If the world had not already gotten the hint, this was Taliban's declaration of holy war against anything and everything in the world that could not be explained within their simplistic, narrow, brutish views.  Six months later, they took down the World Trade Center and flew a plane into the Pentagon. We should realize that we have only started to confront them in a world war that will continue; we can leave Afghanistan, but this attack will keep coming. We need more patience, discipline and inner strength ... to support our troops, to push for reform in [or removal of] the Karzai regime, to continue this fight as long as we need to, to sustain clear alternative.

The Attitude of Learning Taijiquan

The traditional internal martial arts of taijiquan, xingxiquan or baguazhang are often misunderstood as being just a flexibility and balance exercise for better health ... which is understandable, because they are excellent for that purpose alone, particularly for older martial artists! In reality, there's so much more. For instance, every one of the 113 movements in the classical Yang-style taijiquan form sets the stage for multiple different martial applications for self-defense purposes including: 1) shuai jiao, throwing an enemy off balance or downing an enemy, ideally by understanding the enemy's emotional state or following the enemy's intent and then exploiting the enemy's anger or lack of centeredness or if necessary with more direct contact and wrestling moves that set the enemy up for explosive bursts power or fa jin; 2) qin na, immobilizing the enemy by seizing, locking and breaking joints, muscles, tendons and bones; or 3) dian xue, beyond wild boxing or kicking, this involves very controlled strikes at vulnerable acupuncture body cavities or acupoints. As these three secondary tactics demonstrate, the neijia internal martial arts are much more than just the opening movements and their choreography -- the very same understanding of the body's vulnerabilities and function that is used by the qin na and dian xue tactics are also the basis for acupuncture or acupressure as well as TCM massage [such as tui na an mo, die da an mo or dian xue an mo, which is very similar to shiatsu massage]. Taiji classes have become popular in hospitals, clinics, community and senior centers in the last twenty years or so, as baby boomers age and the art's reputation as a low stress training for seniors becames better known -- or at least PARTIALLY better known. After all, most older men and women just are not that interested anymore in throwing punches to hurt people or in being injured in their workouts, but they still want to be active, flexible. Yet traditionalists feel that a school not teaching martial aspects somewhere in their syllabus cannot be said to be actually teaching the art itself. Traditionalists believe that understanding the theory behind breathing coordination strategies and the core physiological principles of the martial aspects of the internal arts are a necessary gateway to develop the mental focus necessary for realizing the full physical, mental and spiritual benefits of these arts. And you can't really understand the theory, unless you practice in conscious, repetitive training enough to develop a reflexive ability to apply the art without thinking ... OR until you have reached the point where you understand the theory without having to think about the theory.

At first, when one learns about the mental benefits and martial deadliness of taijiquan, xingxiquan or baguazhang it's a little tough to believe the results. These arts seem so unrealistically powerful that one might wonder why these internal Chinese martial arts have not already become more widely practiced ... the simple answer is that these arts require an extremely serious decades-long commitment of daily training and effort ... the benefits are in fact real enough but the commitment is much deeper, longer than anything that most modern American's can imagine. These arts do not offer the rapid turnaround, "Biggest Loser," cancer-survivor-runs-in-marathon dramatic before-and-after instant-jedi results that Americans typically dream of. Internal martial arts demand more serious mental study and a decades-long commitment ... they do not fit with expectations of rapid results possible on a training regimen at their gym, start doing pilates, kickboxing or extreme cardio video for a sixty minutes a day, training for a marathon, signing up at external mixed martial arts dojo or even jumping into something deadly serious Marine Martial Arts training.

In some cases trite expressions are especially true ... for example, when you start preparing to learn taijiquan, you should realize that you will get out of it what you put into it. Perhaps, in some ways, it is most discouraging to get past the very first disappointments in just doing the earliest taiji qigong stretching and conditioning exercises as preparation to be able to learn taijiquan ... because even though you know better, you might be secretly hoping for more ... you dream you'll pick up a few DVDs, some books, go to a seminar or two and learn one or two things and ...Viola! you're an instant jedi. Of course, that isn't going to happen -- so you need to make a firm decision that you're going to have to make an investment and you're going to have to stick with it and find ways to commit to working at it every day for a pretty long time BEFORE YOU MAKE ANY TANGIBLE OUTWARDLY VISIBLE PROGRESS. In the internal martial arts training, a journey of million miles does actually begins with the first step -- and you need to get that step right or do it over until you do! It is useful to know beforehand something about scope and hardship of the journey in order to prepare mentally for what is ahead and to "pace oneself" emotionally for difficulties that will need to be overcome. Of course, aptitudes vary, but becoming a taijiquan master probably requires something like 25,000 to 50,000 hours of serious effort and diligent study under the direction of an excellent master. It might be relatively easy to describe the attitude necessary for learning taijiquan -- it is entirely another thing to embody courage and perseverance necessary to continually display that attitude over the course of a training period that lasts decades. It helps to understand that courage and perseverance are like muscles, built one repetition, one movement at a time.

Taijiquan theory, for example, is deep and profound -- xingxiquan or baguazhang require similarly exhaustive and perspicacious study -- not only as a complex martial art (e.g. 113 movements, each setting the stage for multiple different combinations of martial applications in Shuai Jiao, Qin Na, Dian Xue), but also with deep implications for physical flexibility and balance, mental acuity and spiritual cultivation. It should not come as surprise that it takes many years of learning, research, reading, studying, pondering, questioning and practicing to gradually grasp the feeling of the art. In addition to perseverance and a good learning attitude, it is also important to find a good master. The Chinese have a saying that "It is better for a disciple to inquire and search for a martial arts master for three years than to learn three years from unqualified one." Additionally, it is common for a good master will test a qualified disciple for three years to see through a disciples's personality to know whether or not the disciple will persevere and maintain good martial morality.

A sincere taiji practioner should collect, read, study and practice the material from a lot of different taijiquan books and DVDs especially from established, reputable authors and martial arts masters that you trust; it does not hurt to also peruse and collect materials from other xingxiquan, baguazhang and other martial arts. It is also good idea to reach out and make connections with other martial artists in order to possibly workout together for flexibility and conditioning, exchange knowledge about techniques, or collaborate on important things like better diet and nutrition. In addition, it is necessary to take advantage of as many seminars, summer camps, emails, videos and every other way that you can think of to get in touch with truly experienced masters and their well-qualified martial arts disciples. Do not be shy about asking questions -- realize that the best way for an experienced martial artist to learn the art even more deeply is for them to teach a worthy disciple. Another Chinese expression is that "You do not want to give up your throat; question every talented person on earth. The way to attain the necessary knowledge is look outside and inside, fine and coarse ... nothing must not be touched upon."

In the beginning, it is necessary to pay close attention to the movements and try to be as accurate as possible. At first it is necessary to do the movements repetitively, but carefully to build the correct muscle memory. As you do this, you must also learn to relax physically as you regulate the body consciously, Only after you have gotten to this stage, can you reach the next stage where you do not have to regulate the body consciously ... the stage known as "regulating without regulating." The next stage after this is to coordinate your breathing with the movements and then work at regulating your breathing. When you get to the point where you can regulate your breathing without regulating your breathing, you can slow down the form while keeping the number of breaths the same. As you carefully stretch the form, your breathing must become natural, smooth, deep, slender and calm ... once you have reached this stage, you will have provided the necessary environment for your wisdom mind to regulate your emotional mind.

Regulating the emotional mind is necessary for obtaining the most significant relaxation benefits of the taiji practice. As you become better in this practice, you will also strengthen your immune system and more thoroughly oxygenate your blood to raise your mental sharpness and elevate your spirit. In order to garner the full health benefits of taijiquan, you need to explore the martial arts applications. If you practice taijiquan for martial arts applications, you must learn to use your mind to lead the qi to the arms for performing different techniques and to to the legs for rooting. In order to manifest power most efficiently and rapidly, you must build a sense of the enemy by imagining that you are in a combat situation. Here, too, the approach is continually train all of the combinations of your techniques to point past conscious regulation, i.e. where you are at the "regulating without regulating" point for regulating the qi where habits are no longer conscious choices, but instead reflexes. After all of your techniques are at this level, they could be quite useful in real emergencies ... or in preventing misunderstandings from becoming real emergencies ... after all, the ultimate goal of taijiquan practice is to help you reach the point where you can harmonize your energy with the energy of the natural universe ... the perfect warrior does not fight, but instead prepares so that it becomes possible to understand where the fight will come from ... which makes it possible to prevent the fight from ever happening with the appropriate early intervention of kindness and disciplined resolve.