Ruiner wrote:
The mind is a powerful and mystical organ in itself that science doesn't fully understand.
Who is science? Could you possibly introduce him to me? And of course you are going to introduce me to someone who does fully understand the mind, right?
Physical phenomena always have and always will exist independent of the constructs humans use to describe them. Calling something "chi" is no more helpful than calling it "Fred" or "Fuzzy Rabbit." What's even more remarkable is conversing with some folks (such as
Tim Cartmell) who are students of internal Chinese arts and can speak the language. Those folks like Tim who know both Mandarin and English and are broadly-trained students of the arts will tell you several things:
1) The way the "chi" word is tossed around in the English language by most bears no resemblance to what the original Chinese language and concepts are about, and
2) There's no need to invoke the mystical in teaching internal arts such as taijiquan and xing yi.
Tim, by the way, was kind enough to drop by this forum some time back, and he sent me a freebie copy of his book Xing Yi Health Maintenance and Internal Strength Development. Why? Because he appreciated the group's general attempt to apply reason and logic to physical phenomena rather than resorting to invoking the mystical. And the book? It is not a treatise on chi. Quite the contrary...
Ruiner wrote:
Bill seems to be a science governs all guy.. our science is primitive.
Sorry to hear about your science, mate! Perhaps you learned something more useful during frosh week, eh?
The chi (energy) is drawn from the earth and through the feet, legs, hips, arms and finally hands, just like the boxer mentioned.
It wasn't a boxer, and that wasn't what he said.
If you're drawing energy from the earth, then you're sitting on an oil well in Saudi Arabia, you've found yourself a source of yellowcake, or you've got yourself a nice geothermal heating unit. Otherwise, I suggest you check back with Sir Isaac Newton here.
It's precisely this kind of language that does nobody any good. And it's all the more reason to go back and read the original passage more carefully.
Marcus wrote:
Call it summation of joint forces , or jusr realise you can feel the result physically , either way same result , personally I beleive both are needed to get to a level beyond mere imitation .
Indeed. When you master both, then you've got the principles down and can run with them to wherever your heart desires.
I just got through a weekend working and talking with Patrick McCarthy. Now there's a fellow who can see the physical patterns in the choreography. And because he can, he can run with it all. No, his goal isn't to dis the traditional. Quite the contrary, it's to help us walk the paths that the original choreographers walked, and then send us on to our own journeys.
- Bill
