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September 2006 - Posts
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The ability of fear to control behavior is an impediment to developing the full power of your attention. As you develop the sensitivity of your attention you will notice many things that you were too dull to notice before, such as the flow of energy in Read More...
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Welcome back to the Movements of Magic "Community" site. Our site has been down for several months but we are now ready to provide weekly lessons on our front page, clips of instructional programs, audio lectures, articles and the discussion Read More...
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The feet are considered to be the "gateway to consciousness". The condition of your feet as it steps, affects the response of the rest of the body to that step. If you do not have awareness in your feet, and you fall into your step, the rest Read More...
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This week's lesson at the Long Island School of Tai-chi-Chuan is about the home of the attention. We usually experience our attention as originating from our head and then going to what we are paying attention to. In Tai-chi, each part of the body Read More...
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This principle applies to everyday life as well as practicing forms, push hands and self defense. It is the main factor eliminating excess tension and keeping the mind and emotions calm while still being active. In Zookinesis training, this principle Read More...
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The use of internal energy (chi) as power is a very difficult subject to understand and to use in actual sparring. We usually associate power with muscular tension and with forcing the opponent's strikes out of the way. Internal martial arts systems Read More...
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"The Elements" are the basic philosophical tool of Taoism. It is the language by which the philosophy is described. This week, I will discuss the element of metal. It is the element of will and spirit. I can describe metal with a discussion Read More...
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When I worked on editing videos (back before the days of computer editing), there were four video monitors in front of me on a shelf. My eyes were glued to those monitors as I edited. Monitors have raster lines. These are the lines between the rows of Read More...
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The principle of yin/yang can be applied to the dynamics of attention. A large part of the training of Zookinesis is to learn that attention itself has dynamics. There is a physics to the energy of attention. Each aspect of attention (its strength, agility, Read More...
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This concept in its simplest form means sinking into your root. More specifically, it is the ability of each joint and muscle to drop individually towards the ground. Most people interpret sinking as dropping the knees. Sung means that each joint drops Read More...
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This practice is essential for progress in Tai-chi and Zookinesis. Each of us feels "we" are located somewhere in space. This location may be the head, the entire body, just the thoughts within our head, just our emotions or some combination Read More...
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Tai-chi Massage is a form of acupressure that is part of the Zookinesis system. Physically, it uses finger and palm pressure as well as muscle and fascial stretching. With the Zookinesis background, the masseur is able to apply a pressure along a very Read More...
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The power in Tai-chi-Chuan sparring comes from relaxation with a minimum use of muscle tension. This contrasts with "hard" or "external" styles. The power of the punch, for example, originates in the foot as it presses into the ground. Read More...
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A Tai-chi form is a way of revealing the internal dynamics of mind, attention, emotion and internal energy, in external movements. If your movements are jerky, for example, then your attentiion proceeds in discreet, segmental units. If you turn your head Read More...
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Traditionally,Zookinesis training required spending part of each year living in the wild, learning directly from animals. I had the opportunity for many years to do this and much of my teachings are an attempt to convey that training. The first thing Read More...
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My students say that the most important effect of Tai-chi and Zookinesis training for them is that it helps them to understand other peoples' behavior. They can understand the turmoil going inside other people and can see their outward behavior in Read More...
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There is often a big difference between what you hear the teacher say and what he means. It's not that the teacher doesn't explain himself well; its that his teachings have to penetrate the body of assumptions you have accumulated all your life. Read More...
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There is a point in every practice where the benefit you receive exceeds the effort you put in. At the beginning there is a lot of effort as you learn the principles and condition the mind and body. But then the creative energy of the mind and body begins Read More...
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When a student first begins learning Tai-chi and Zookinesis, the first thing that impresses him is how much his body has degenerated. The student is asked to use the body correctly and he can barely feel his body let alone make connections to it. You Read More...
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When we look at the scene around us, we are actually perceiving two spots of light, one on each retina. The area of visual acuity of each spot is an eighth of an inch in diameter. We perceive a large room (or whatever we are looking at) and can appreciate Read More...
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In most martial arts styles, technique is pitted against technique and one body is pitted against another body. In the Phantom Kung-fu system you divide the opponent’s attack into its smallest components. You analyze the structure and movement of Read More...
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The basic philosophy of the teaching method of Zookinesis is to bring back your awareness. The answers to any questions you may have lie in increasing your awareness of your situation. It is like the case of a blind man. He can memorize the placement Read More...
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There is a moment in your training when you experience the most basic aspect of who and what you are. The training is designed to allow you to drop your excess baggage, that is, the many concepts about who you are and what life is about. This is done Read More...
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An important principle in Taoist philosophy is “letting go”. Power comes from letting go. The power to take a step forward comes from the willingness to let go of your rear foot. In many ways we keep our rear foot stuck to the ground and, Read More...
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In Zen (Japanese) and Chan (Chinese) Buddhism, a “Koan” is a challenging question or statement used to bring the student to a higher level of awareness. The sixth patriarch of Chan Buddhism used this Koan, “Give your bones to your father Read More...
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A teacher can only be as good as his student. The student makes as much of a contribution to the class as the teacher. When you are invited to a dinner, you expect the host to prepare the meal. But you would certainly bring a bottle of wine or a box of Read More...
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Before beginning this week’s comments, I would like to invite everyone to participate in this website. You can contribute your views, experiences and questions to this front-page section and to the discussion forums. You can also sign up for the Read More...
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The element of metal, in the Chinese teaching of the elements, represents, among other things, the human spirit. This spirit is represented by the sword. The art of sword making refines the base ore into the refined metal, which is what we are trying Read More...
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There are chasms within us that are created by the poor condition of the body. It is hard to understand the great break between mind and body or between the emotions and the body until you begin a practice to heal those breaks. The condition of the body Read More...
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American Indians use the drum as a form of meditation and as a metaphorical representation of the development of consciousness. Imagine a hand-held drum made out of a six-inch wide ring of wood. An animal skin forms the head of the drum. A long strip Read More...
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Tai-chi-Chuan is a unique self defense system due to its basic principles. STICKING – You remain connected to your opponent, following every nuance of his movements with your own body. To him, it seems that you are like wet clothes, clinging to Read More...
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A student of any “internal” system of exercise begins his or her practice in a “catch 22” situation. He learns a series of techniques that should lead him to develop a connection of his mind and body. This connection allows him Read More...
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