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Namaste

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on 2012-06-06 16:41

Namaste to all. I am new here, beginning my training today & am very excited. I have been looking for a legitimate school of internal martial arts for a few years now and I believe I have arrived at my destination. As the saying goes.. "When the student is ready, the teacher will appear." Besides tai chi and chi gong I am also interested in yoga, meditation, buddhism, taoism, and hinduism. When I'm not involved in these pursuits I like to play guitar. I am excited to be a part of the family here. Peace and love.

Hello There

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on 2012-06-03 16:06

 

Hello There,

My name is Kevin, & I am very glad to be a nember of Sifu On Demand.

Thankyou Sifu for accepting me.

A little about myself:

I have been practicing martial arts for many years. Originally hard styles like Karate, Judo, Kung Fu & Kickboxing.

However for several years now, I have been interested in the internal approach, after becoming aware of I Chuan & Master Wang Xiang Zhai.

Interesting experience during sitting meditation and harvesting

Submitted by jeff on 2012-06-03 09:49

Another new experience this morning during sitting and harvesting. I think I finally succeeded in diffusing my vision (seeing everything near and far and focusing on nothing) and at the same time for a short while time seemed to stand still. You know how most of the time you work at not following your thoughts, well my mind seemed to totally empty out for a very short while. No thoughts, just being. That is until I thought about how interesting it was. Then it was gone and back to watching thoghts go by.

Small realization

Submitted by jeff on 2012-06-01 08:26

I had an experience this morning that got me thinking about connecting and harmonizing with someone in a non-martial setting. Let's just say that I reacted emotionally to a situation with someone and we did not connect or harmonize. Afterward, I was dissappointed in how I handled the situation. I was thinking about the concepts of being in the present, and really connecting with the other person, and not having agendas in my mind (intent), but being open to the natural flow of the interaction.

Another new aspect of training

Submitted by jeff on 2012-05-31 22:51

I've been practicing about three times a day and extending sitting and standing meditation and my harvest times over the last month. I've been progressively noticing what I think is more and more of the meat versus the bones feeling. The last week or so it's so pronounced that it almost feels as if the "meat" and the connective tissue are going to fall off or pull away from the bones. My feet don't feel heavy or rooted, but my body feels very dense and heavy. Good or bad? Could this be due to deeper levels of relaxation?

Random thoughts from practice

Submitted by jeff on 2012-05-30 22:36

Had a particularily good set of practices today. I think more of the principles are coming together more often each day. I find myself just doing corrections without thinking about it. And fewer thoughts are snagging the attention of my mind during meditation and practice. Feels like the right path.

Here are my thoughts for today:

Sifu is our teacher, but we really must learn this art ourselves through practice and refinement.

Letting go is beautiful thing.

Bitter pill

Submitted by michael young on 2012-05-30 20:33

I have noticed that, while doing bitter pill, if I relax my hands but keep the right shape, I get an electric feeling in the hands. Its not the same feeling of a stretch that I normally get, but it sulfa produces some hardness but not stiffness. Is this an improvement to my practice? Is the electric feeling the right one?

How Did They Feel?

Submitted by princenasir on 2012-05-28 20:58

When Sifu Kelley was visiting in Nashville, one of the things he told me to start noticing when I touch hands with high level players is to pay attention to how they feel. Here is a video of me playing push hands with Mr. Fenway Yang. The video has been edited, so it does not show the places where I was trying to move Fenway with no luck at all. He felt like a brick wall, but his muscles were never tensed. Sometimes I felt as if I were stuck to him and could not get away, but I never felt like a vice grip even when he did grab me.

Buggered

Submitted by princenasir on 2012-05-27 20:21

I'm buggered-- I picked that up from an Aussie girl I used to like. As a matter of fact she was the one I was depressed over last summer. There is still a sting at how things went south there, but my friends keep reminding me that she was really a distraction that set me back on this path that I'm trying to navigate. 

Sifu's "Challenge", lol. And me looking dumb, as I promised.

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on 2012-05-15 05:15

Hey guys, sorry but I wanted to share a couple more things with you all.  As I mentioned before, I made a short vid of Sifu correcting and verbally directing my ready stance.  I will post it here for you guys to see. 

( and if anyone knows how I can turn the vid around so that it's right side up... I'd appreciate it)

General thoughts

Submitted by jeff on 2012-05-08 14:05

Hi all,

It's been quite a while since I've posted. Just very busy and trying to fit in as much practice as possible. I think I'm moving into another experience with my practice and I thought I'd share about that and just the practice in general. It's hard to put this into words, so forgive me if I struggle.

Suspending the crown

Submitted by michael young on 2012-05-07 16:37

I have found that for me to get the feeling that Sifu describes for suspending the crown it actually comes about as a result of relaxation and not really pushing the crown up. I haven't had a lot of time fordedicated practice , but I look for these things all day as I walk and move.I foundhave that if I release the traps and hold the head and not let it fall I get a rising feeling in the neck and head that just happens. The meat of the torso sinks and I get fullness in the Dan tien. I have rising in the back and dropping and the front.