The Way through Baguazhang - 八卦掌道: Recent Episodes
Peter Hainzl
There is more to martial arts than just self defence, becoming a fighter, Kung Fu master or retiring to a monastery. The Tao leads some to become a martial arts boss in search of their true spiritual identity. Perhaps by listening in, you too could discover your own guided path up the mountain. This is one man's internal martial arts journey to Bagua Shan 八卦山.
Yes. It is true. Through Baguazhang 八卦掌 journeying along the Taoist path, I am what I am: A real kungfu master and people like to call me Shifu 師傅 as a mark of respect. But… while it is a great honour, it comes with its own challenges like NOT abandoning this life for one of seclusion in the mountains like a lot of Taoists 道者. Or whether or not to continue podcasting, especially in light of the changes just around the corner regarding it. Anyways, there will always be Baguazhang 八卦掌 practice ❤️
On the one hand this episode could be another one about Mopai. But in the end I went back to what is really important: Baguazhang. It starts off with that age old question of how a person can measure qi? And the it goes somewhere else. Hey! It’s a Saturday and the garden path leads to where it wants to go. So sit back and relax into it. Enjoy ☺️
Let’s get real: Are the 72 levels of Mopai achievable? And how do you you know you have achieved any one of those levels? 🧐 Hmmmm….. ☶
Now this is an important question: Is Mopai a martial art? It reads like one in the book. And it is the source of much of the “qualified” criticism about it. Of which… I answer the question. The problem most people have and don’t want to admit is that they are seeking something that blinds them to the obvious. Something which all the internal martial arts (including Baguazhang) struggle with. ☵
Recently I read the book ‘The Magus of Java’ by author Kosta Danaos. It is a book about Mopai and its then grandmaster John Chang a.k.a John Baharudin a.k.a. Dynamo Jack from Ring of Fire fame. In part 1, I give a basic description of the difference between Baguazhang and Mopai in how qi is cultivated. ☳
While in Hong Kong I wanted to do a bit of exploring and eventually I got myself, sort of, lost. Well, not really in the larger scheme of things… but it made for an interesting day out and in the end I managed to score myself a nice new black jade pendant to assist me with my Qi 氣 cultivation while doing Baguazhang 八卦掌.So why black jade?Black jade behaves energetically like a spiritual well. It draws a deposit from all the hard work put into one’s self cultivation through the internal martial arts i.e. neigong 內功, ready to be drawn upon when needed as an extra source of inner vitality.
Hello from Hong Kong 香港.In this episode I am recording from my wife’s home town and the birth place of Bruce Lee 李小龍.It’s been an interesting experience thus far doing Baguazhang 八卦掌 and focusing on cultivating my Yin 陰修.I know that most Taoist cultivation practices focus on Yang 陽. But that is for people who’s qi 氣 lacks inner strength.But Baguazhang as an internal martial art is 👉 1) naturally yin focused, and👉 2) people who do martial arts are already usually full of Yang.Anyway this is a light episode talking about this and that while I am here. So enjoy 😉PS. If you want to see my pictures of the PakTai temple (Xuanwu Shangdi temple) I visited in Wan Chai 灣仔北帝廟, link up with me on Instagram 📸 👉 baguazhang_ 👈🙂
So recently I started my own personal journey of translating the Tao Te Ching 道德經 as part of my own Taoist experience because 1) I wanted to, and 2) because I have noticed discrepancies between what the typical English version says and what the Chinese version says. And it can get frustrating. But do not worry, I won’t be publishing it. But what would like to share in the text is this… While we have essentially two branches of Taoism to choose from:👉 道家 Taojia (Tao Philosophy) ☳👉 道教 Taojiao (Tao Religion) ☶Neither of these two are mentioned in the Tao Te Ching. The term used in the book is Taoji:👉 道紀 Taoji (Tao Discipline, practice) ☵And the term used for a Taoist is Tao-Er.👉 道者 Taoist, Tao person or Tao expert.Taoji is about practicing it as part of your ordinary everyday life. In the here and now with our lives in whatever situation we find ourselves in. Good and not so good. Okay, maybe your situation is worse but you know what I mean.
Ok… So in this episode titled: How not to do Baguazhang 如何不做八卦掌, I’m letting you know about Neidan Master Damo Mitchell’s audio by the same name. Listen to it. It’s in-depth and worth its weight in gold. It’s about an hour long but if you try to rush it and skip sections, you will miss a great deal of important stuff that will either boost your practice or stop incorrect practices that are holding you back. And before you ask, this is not a team-up with Mitchell.
Question: What is it like to be a baguazhang Taoist?The answer to that question on the daily life of being a Taoist 道者 or a Baguazhang master 八卦掌大師 is… (drum roll, please) is this: You’re a fucking weirdo. Most people have no idea what you are. Or why you would bother chasing a goal that leads to nowhere. Maybe in Asia somewhere, with its exotic locations, people and spices, it would all make sense. But in the Western world. Not so much. In this podcast I talk about how in daily life nothing much changes. I’m not sure who this podcast is for, but as they say in this city… It is what it is.
The urban environment is a tough place to practice, cultivate and master Baguazhang 八卦掌. No matter what people say. And for the most part, it is a lonely path 😩. But here’s the thing: Are you ready to become a Living Tao 活道? Are you ready to become the living embodiment of your craft as it’s ultimate personification? Even if none of us truly knows what that means. 🤔 …It’s time to enter your Wu 無!
The way of the Taoist Bagua master is one of resilience. It isn’t for everyone. It’s a lonely 😩 path filled with a lot of hardships. A lot of people think 🤔 that once they become a Taoist or a Baguazhang master, life will be enlightened bliss. Sadly, this not the case. But as my podcast reveals, sometimes while we are down, our trained body just says ‘fuck’em!’ And we keep on doing Baguazhang.
I finally did it and talked about some weird shit involving Baguazhang - environmental cultivation (of the self). And no, I don’t care that to some people it’s total woo-woo! I know my shit and it’s grounded in experience.
After cultivating 基 Ji, 精 Jing, 氣 Qi, 神 Shen and the 心 Xin (heart-mind) the next cultivation stage is 德 Te (inner power).
With the Tao Te Ching 道德經 it is usually referred to as virtue but this a Confucian ideal. And when read as such, it leaves a lot of people confused 😕 !
Te 德 or inner power, as it is more commonly referred to in Taoist language, is a kind of spiritual investment or savings which a person accumulates over time. And the way you grow it is very similar to taking care of your investment portfolio i.e. wealth creation.
Anyway, to get a stronger sense of what I’m on about, I strongly recommend the trilogy “Street Cultivation” by fantasy author Sarah Lin. If there was ever a person who instinctually understood it in a modern way, it would be her 😉! It is a very modern take on the wuxia/xianxia genre.
Do you want to be a baguazhang immortal?
Do you want to be a baguazhang xian?
- 仙
- 僊
- 仚
- 㒨
- 僲
- 屳
- 佡
Above are the 7 Chinese characters in which to write the word: Xian.
Xian means immortal. And then so much more. In this podcast #288 I discuss their different “deeper” meanings in relation to the #taoist #internal_martial_art #cultivation path of #baguazhang
xian #道 #八卦掌 #八卦 #仙
For those of you too impatient to listen to my #baguazhang #八卦掌 podcast, yi 意 is your will or intention. That’s it. For the rest of you, I finally delve deeper into the mystical side of baguazhang. This is a stage of Taoist cultivation that’s rarely openly discussed because it’s usually a very private and/or personal journey that a practitioner has to confront alone. I have also added a special message to Frank regarding Bruce. And while I normally don’t get involved in other people’s issues, this one involves Baguazhang directly, so that makes it an ongoing concern for me. Not the issue itself, but rather as part of cultivating their Tao 道…
My first episode on the Taoist Heart-Mind of Xin 心 (episode 281), doesn’t fair too well with listeners because it’s not the rosy blissful description that people want to hear or experience. But if you are a baguazhang 八卦掌 practitioners or cultivator, you’d be wise to listen because without facing certain experiential truths, it will be nigh impossible to cultivate one’s Yi 意 or come to grasp the full significance of Wu 無. That’s what this episode is about!
Tonight I’m keeping it short and discussing the mysteries of Wu 無 or nothingness. And in particular I will discuss this Taoist concept through the lens of baguazhang 八卦掌.
Again and again, it is a repeated comment that in order to cultivate the Taoist path, a practitioner of the way must have virtue or Te 德, or it is all for nought! But what is Te and how do I get some? Is it the same Te as in the Tao Te Ching 道德經？ Yes it is. And as a baguazhang 八卦掌 practitioner I will explain it to you in a way that the urban mind can know it (because you already do) and do something useful with it, without becoming a hermit in the woods.
True Baguazhang 八卦掌 cultivation can produce in the body, over time, trauma in the mind and body. The ritual of practicing Chazen 茶禪 is about more than just mindfulness. Without a way to cleanse ourselves and consolidate our “gains” we can get stuck in our progression in self-cultivation, especially if our Tao 道 is more or less locked into an urban environment. By listening to this podcast, hopefully, the listener will get a better appreciation of my earlier podcasts around the art of making and drinking tea.
Well, I’m finally doing it and I’m gonna talk about Baguazhang master Sun Lutang 孫祿堂 (1860 – 1933). Disciple of master Cheng Tinghua 程廷華. Master Sun is important because he was the first to produce baguazhang manuals (which are still available today):Baguaquan xue (A study of eight trigrams boxing) published 1916;Baguajian xue (A study of eight trigrams straight sword) published 1927.
Whether you are a traditional Taoist cultivator or you are ascending through the baguazhang path, there is a stage that must be confronted in order to truly grasp the true significance of what you are doing. And that is the stage of Xin 心. In Taoism it is traditionally referred to as the heart-mind or mind-heart, and is sometimes interchanged with either the stages of Shen 神 or Tao 道. But that is because not everything in Taoism is universally agreed upon. So in this episode, I will talk about my own experiences and how Xin 心 relates to Baguazhang 八卦掌.
Revision of the 5 baguazhang cultivation stages of Ji 基, Li 力, Qi 氣, Yi 意 and Shen 神. Actually there are other levels, but for most practitioners these are the most important and least weird.
Before a person even attempts to cultivate the three Taoist treasures of Jingqishen 精氣神, there is the beginning of Xing 形 or form/shape. The baguazhang equivalent is called Ji 基, and it is the foundation of all that is to come next. In this podcast I introduce the listener to this much neglected stepping stone.
Taoism has its self cultivation path of the three treasures: Jing Qi Shen 精氣神. And sometimes they add a fourth level of Tao 道. The internal martial art of baguazhang 八卦掌 also has its parallel equivalents of Li, Qi, Yi and Shen 力氣意神. In this podcast I will be discussing (lightly) what they are and how they match up to the Taoist version of things.
For the final podcast episode of 2022, I ask this simple question: Is doing Xingyiquan the same as doing Baguazhang internal martial arts? Both styles are Taoist in origin and both styles fall under the category of internal martial arts, but are they the same? And the answer to both questions is NO! While FaJin 化勁 may be a Xingyiquan and Taichi concept, it does not exist in baguazhang philosophy or training. What we have is called Jingong 勁功, and you can learn all about it in my book: The Baguazhang Jin of War.
In this episode I answer the question: Must I be or do I need to be a Taoist to do or practice the internal martial art of baguazhang? Listen to it, to learn further on what you signed up for. Some of you already have your answer but for others it may be enlightening, even if only in a tiny hum-drum sort of way. 🙂
What’s the difference between having rituals and having habits in Baguazhang? And does it affect my neigong practice?
Both are internal martial arts styles, but is doing baguazhang the same as doing taichi? And the answer is… NO! A lot of people, who don’t know any better, make this mistake all the time. If you are listening to this podcast, you probably already know the difference but it doesn’t hurt to go over it again.
The biggest question I get asked repeatedly is: Is the story real or true? And that’s a good question to ask and it all depends on what you are actually wanting to experience. Let the Tao 道 be your guide.
Last night I finished reading the biography ‘The Chronicles of Tao’ by author Deng Ming-Dao. Whom, some of you on the spiritual Taoist path, would already be familiar with. This book is supposed to be a loose biography of his spiritual teacher Kwan Saihung.
As a lesson in Taoist spirituality and in what the followers of the Huashan sect did to attain immortality, I enjoyed it thoroughly. And it was for me a kind of revision of my own journey: How far I have come and how far I still have to go.
As a book on martial arts, basically chronicles how much martial arts in general has changed with the modern times. What we are learning now sometimes feels like we are all just a bunch of overweight middle-aged men with delusions of by-gone grandeur.
And for those of you wondering where the baguazhang fits into this book? It only really appears as a brief style of fighting Kwan Saihung’s own spiritual teacher uses to defeat a Xingyiquan master.
This book is not really a book about martial arts and most people will find it either boring or implausible. But that line of thought is for the skeptics.
For someone like me, however, I got to cross-check events in the book with my own weird shit!
And if you are a person who is keen to walk the path of an immortal, you are just going to have to accept that there are somethings in this world that do not and will never fit into the current version of reality that modern civilisation holds so dear.
While at the same time to be fair on ourselves, from a western background, some ideas in the book are not really Taoist, but are coming from a typical Chinese mindset of what Taoism is without really knowing the full scope of Chinese civilisational history.
For example, if you go back to the Zhou Dynasty, there was essentially no such thing as Taoism as we know it because “all” the Chinese schools of thought were natively Taoist. Lao Tzu 老子 and Chuang Tzu 莊子 only professed one particular version of it. The main difference between Lao Tzu and Confucius, was that Confucius tried to bring order out of perceived chaos while Lao Tzu accepted that chaos was already a form of order in itself.
Most of the other ancient sages tended to specialise their Taoist ways towards the particular field of study that they were expert in.
Since then Taoism had been shaped and reshaped many times by outside influences. Internal Alchemy or Neidan 內丹術 developed during the late Han Dynasty with the arrival of Buddhism. Meditation, reincarnation and karma are all Buddhist ideas. Before Buddhism, Taoism was (and still us based upon) a mix of shamanism, animism and Chinese folk beliefs.
And then during the Tang Dynasty – Christianity arrived in China. Called the religion of Light 景教, it is the reason why in Taoism there is now a Chinese hell presided over by the Ox headed devil. And that the Goddess of Mercy is the Virgin Mary with Chinese characteristics. The Three Pure ones are a reworked version of the Holy Trinity. And that the last supper with the holy grail is essentially the Elixir of Immortality, that if one is holy enough, the Jade Emperor can bestow on them.
But I don’t bring all this history up to shock anybody. Rather it is to enlighten the baguazhang practitioner that baguazhang is not just a martial art, but a form of being in church and being in communion with the Divine.
I give this book 5 stars out of 5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️. CHRONICLES OF TAO - The secret life of a Taoist Master By Deng Ming-Dao, author of ‘365 Tao’ HarperOne ISBN: 978-0-06-250219-3
The proof is in the pudding. As they say. So you say I’m full of shit with my stories, even though the Genchitaofu Baguazhang was my proving ground as a baguazhang master. Rather than dismissing what I am about, I challenge others to go and have their own Baguazhang adventure and prove it to themselves what it means to be a master of this art. In this episode, I discuss how far I still have to go before I even remotely can say my life has been awesome.
When’s the best time to learn baguazhang? Well, not 5 minutes before you to go out and fight. As a martial art it takes years to master it. It looks s unrealistic to think you can learn it over night.
We have all asked the question: When is the best time to practice baguazhang? And typically you’ll get an answer that the Shifu wants you to follow. But few people ask why, and fewer still know why. But it is important to know why if one truly wants to progress further. In this podcast you will hear my answer to this question. You may have heard it before but I strongly suspect that a lot of baguazhang practitioners have only a surface comprehension of when.
Further baguazhang ramblings inspired by sifu Neil Ripski’s book: Secrets of Drunken Boxing in the Eight Shadow Style.
I strongly recommend this book to other internal baguazhang practitioners because 1) it’s good to sometimes walk a different path and gain new experiences. And 2) it contains baguazhang neigong exercises from the Ma Family style (馬家八卦掌) of baguazhang. Which I am sure some of you will be familiar with.
This was the review I intended to post in Amazon.com regarding this book. However it didn’t make the cut according to Amazon’s guidelines. Anyway, my written review starts after the five (5) stars I am giving it.
⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️
When I first noticed this book: Secrets of Drunken Boxing 3: Internal Alchemy, most of the reviews were awfully biased against it.
After reading it, I can say that most of those negative reviews were written by uninformed people who have no interest in internal alchemy through martial arts. In fact, I’m not even sure if they actually had even read this book.
While this book may look small, it is in fact full of depth that takes serious dedication to grasp even the most basic of concepts. It is no lightweight.
This is a must-read for all who are Taoist in thought. Sifu Neil Ripski has done a great service to the martial arts community by make the information in this book available to all seek it.
And while my review fails to meet Amazon.com’s review guidelines, I give it 5 stars out of five.
Secrets of Drunken Boxing, in the Eight Shadow Style Vol.3 Internal Alchemy ISBN: 978-0-9939634-4-5
by Sifu Neil Ripski Red Jade Martial Arts
redjademartialarts #NeilRipski #drunkenboxing #internalalchemy #neigong #waigong #qigong #eightshadowstyle #mafamilybaguazhang #baguazhang #馬家八卦掌
An update since my attempted review, a lot of the negative reviews seem to have vanished from sight. Which is a good thing because now the reviews are a bit more informed on the subject. Anyway, as always I leave it up to you the listener to stay informed and walk your own Tao.
In this episode I answer a qood question that I get asked a lot: Is a bagua master (八卦大師) the same thing as a baguazhang master (八卦掌師傅)? And the answer is a yes and a no, and it depends…
I thought I would take tonight’s baguazhang episode in a new direction and just bullshit my way through it. I am surprised that I’m not on ‘Bullshido’ yet, but I’m hoping that this podcast makes the grade. Anyway, let me know if there’s anything about my arts you would like to know etc, otherwise I may continue with this kind of talking!
For those of you who listened to podcast #263, you will be surprised 😯 to learn that I missed out 1 very important injury that a baguazhang practitioner may experience. It is a difficult one to explain but I hope this podcast episode will hit home!
Usually if you are doing baguazhang correctly, you should not get any injuries because baguazhang is a healing art at its core. Having said that, it is still possible to fuck things up. And people being people, no system is prefect. And so now I present to you a short list of the major types of injuries and their causes that can be sustained while doing baguazhang.
How does a baguazhang master pursue the Tao?
That’s a very good question. And the answer is…
A baguazhang master does not pursue the Tao. A baguazhang master walks the Tao.
That is what walking the circle is all about. Like a road or pathway, the Tao is a thing and not a thing at the same time. And just like the bagua circle, it only exists when the practitioner walks the circle.
But even without the circle, the Tao still exists.
I do not know how many times, but because of daily life, I have forgotten this fact. And I do not know how many times I have had that same realisation reminding me of how profound and yet how simple the Tao is.
To understand this, it requires no preaching and it requires no rituals. But they can help in giving meaning to our habits.
For me, according to my wife, I do baguazhang as if it is a full-time job. I don’t see it that way. I don’t get paid to do baguazhang, nor do I get paid to run a podcast in the subject. I do baguazhang because it is in my nature to do so. What you hear and see from me is the real-deal.
For the people who still require proof, it is for them to go out and find their own proof. For too long these people have sat on their arses rejecting everything as fake without ever once attempting to experience it for themselves. They join all the martial arts groups and then slowly start tearing it down in the so-called noble pursuit of finding the real amongst the fake.
But the real does not come from rejection.
The real comes from doing and in the process experiencing the Tao or path of whatever martial art you are doing.
And it does take a lot of gongfu or hard work to get there. If you can come to some sort of personal understanding for yourself that when your life is shit, it is a sign that you are developing your own gongfu as in becoming a gongfu master, you will find your journey a smoother ride.
And please try to stay focused on what you are doing and why you are doing it. If you call yourself a baguazhang master then you should be doing baguazhang in the baguazhang way and not something else. Stop messing around with the style! Do it like you mean it.
And the Tao will become as clear as daylight to you as it is to me.
And so I finally did it.
After months of procrastinating and going nowhere, I have finally received a call from a fellow martial artist with a simple request: When am I going to publish a gongfu book?
What?
Yes. When am I going to publish a gongfu book?
I thought I did already. But no. I have not. What’s been missing is a manual with pictures and instructions and shit on how to do baguazhang.
I said no. I’m not going to that. And why would I, when you can already get books on the baguazhang pre-heaven palms, post-heaven palms, changing and fixed palm sets, the swimming dragon form and countless other versions depending on which style of baguazhang you want to learn. I’m not bringing anything new to the table.
But then, as if nobody’s listening to me, I got asked to do a manual on one of my forms created in Australia. Again I said no because of the potential backlash from those who don’t like change.
To which the response came as: Fuck’em! Baguazhang is all about change. If they don’t get that, then they’re in the wrong house. We’ve seen what your forms can do and it’s time to come out of hiding.
So apparently now is the time, and after much further ribbing at my expense, I did it. I published the gongfu manual both as an ebook and as a paperback on Amazon.
It is called “The Baguazhang Living Tao GONGFU EDITION”. If you do go looking for it, make sure you add the phrase ‘gongfu edition’ to get the right version. It contains an entirely new form. I don’t say much about it – in fact hardly anything because it is in the practice of doing the form that a practitioner becomes one with nature.
Just a day ago I posted on social media a picture of my new 3D puzzle of a Chongqing streetscape featuring a spring festival dragon dance.
Now, because I totally suck at gluing things together, which in turn makes modelling stressful for me, I prefer not to them. However, because this puzzle has a clip together system that avoids gluing, I was all for it.
And I enjoyed putting it together with my wife very much. And before you ask, I am a LEGO fan. I just don’t have room in my home for displays, hence I gave all my LEGO to a die-hard friend of mine.
So then, what’s with this 3D puzzle of Chongqing 重庆市?
Well, the thing that really got me to get it was that it was designed to fit in a bookshelf in between books. And that is what you see in the picture: The puzzle slotted in between my collection of I-Ching 易經 books. I think it adds a nice little bit of fairy touch to an otherwise Ho-hum bookshelf.
And then I posted it to the world. The likes came in and I got my social media fix of communal acceptance. Oh joy. Happy happy joy joy! Until, of course, I go and make the cardinal sin of reading one of the comments.
Actually it wasn’t that bad. The comment was a question and the question was: Who do I think we’re the most important I-Ching masters of the past?
Honestly, I’d never thought about it nor when I think about it now do I care.
The question feels a lot like the question of who was the greatest martial arts master of the past or which style is the best?
Whatever answer is given, it will always, and mean always, be highly subjective and highly personal.
What matters when it comes to the I-Ching is how you use it and why you are using it. If I was a rapper or hip hop artist, I would hope to god that my version or copy of the book had been written by RZA from the Wu-Tang Clan. Shit! I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s using it quietly on the side right now. I mean, he does practice kungfu and he has studied on the mountain itself.
Anyway, the point is the masters of the past were concerned with warfare and being good advisors to rulers, and so the I-Ching for them was both a war manual and a treatise on the Art of Leadership and Management. While ultimately guiding the user towards Taoist immortality. The past masters are only relevant if what you seek is similar…
It has taken a decade or so, but I am now coming to the realisation that I have committed myself to the baguazhang path toward enlightenment. Which from the Taoist mountain summit, it is sometimes called being an immortal.
Immortality as it is defined in Taoism is a very broad concept that needs the clarity of having deep internal knowledge of one’s martial style and the knowledge of who you are speaking with in regards to internal alchemy.
I know that there will be people out there listening to this podcast and mocking my shit, but if a person insists on baguazhang being just a form of fighting art, then their understanding of this art will be extremely limited. For baguazhang as a defined martial art in its own right is a very recent historical development. Before anything else, baguazhang is and always will be a form of walking meditation that underpins a highly active form of qigong 氣功 cultivation. That will in turn lead to the development of a baguazhang practitioner’s jingong 勁功.
You can learn more about it in my book: The Baguazhang Jin of War 八卦掌戰勁.
Now, getting back to the topic of baguazhang immortality, in the West it unfortunately seems to mean just one thing: Living for ever, and ever, and ever, and ever, and ever, without end. While being usually framed as a kind of curse that must be avoided. Even when the hero of the story, who becomes an immortal as a reward or blessing bestowed upon them by a divine being, it tends to be coupled with some sort of burden that only they can bare.
Which is really sad, because over in the East, the idea of being an immortal is a positive attribute. Because it implies that you are generally fitter and healthier than most of the people around you. Which in turn, relatively speaking, tends to also make you appear younger than your age and as a result, it will usually mean that you will outlive most people.
Nowadays, however, outliving others is harder to experience because modern science and medical advancements have caught up. Allowing ordinary people to also live truly long lives. But remember: This development has only been around about one hundred years.
Now let’s just assume that outliving the people around you is a bit rich. Being an immortal amongst Taoists is also a kind of rank or title. And at the very least a term of respect that implies that you have reached the highest summit of whatever mountain your particular martial art spiritually resides on. While on a more practical level, it means that you have become the living embodiment of the art itself. And that you know pretty much all there is to currently know about it: You have become the proverbial ‘Old Man on the Mountain’ 仚.
And…
Even if the title still seems to be still too much for you, the third real life implication of being an immortal means that your life compared to ordinary people is unrelatable. From your perspective you are just doing what you do and living your life the way you want to live it. And you can see no reason for there to be anything wrong with it, but to ordinary folk, who don’t do what you do, you might as well go live in another country. You’re just too far out there with your weird shit. It’s one of the reasons Taoists have a habit of becoming ‘mountain men or fairies’ 仙.
And so now you must be wondering: What about me?
But the real question is: What about you and your own ascension?
Where are you along your own baguazhang journey?
I am betting that by listening to this podcast, the idea of becoming an immortal is no longer just a distant fantasy but is now a serious consideration. Something which will evolve over time.
So recently I wrote and spoke about how rare the internal martial art of baguazhang (八卦掌) is. And I have even used some rough numbers to support my claim. But, no matter what, it is always amazing how many people do not actually dig deeper into things and would prefer to argue that the martial art is one of the most popular styles out there.
I never said that baguazhang was not popular. What I said was, that relative to other styles it is quite small. And as some of you who have been to Asia know, sometimes being small is beautiful. You may not be into small things, but the thing you are chasing is! It is all a matter of perspective.
One thing, though, that is a non-negotiable fact about pretty much any martial art is that the higher you climb up your particular metaphorical mountain, the fewer and fewer participants you will find. And you will, like those Saturn V rockets that took astronauts to the moon, leave in stages a lot of your fellow martial artists behind. You can’t bring them to where they are not ready to go.
As I study more and more about the Immortal’s Path (仙人道), reading between the lines that seems to be a common feature: Many take it as a physical fact and do pack up their things and disappear. But for others, it simply means letting go of the things that do not serve us, but for which our continued interaction with, will actually hurt us.
For example: Debt, as in owing money to other people and organisations.
Money isn’t actually a real thing. It is a work of external alchemy. And because it isn’t actually a real tangible thing, the numbers around it can swing wildly (Note: Cash, as in paper money, is a form of IOU underwritten by government to give it legal worth in a given jurisdiction, which basically states that you can exchange the paper money for bits of metal in the form of minted coins). By comparison, qigong (氣功) and jingong (勁功) are results of internal alchemy. A lot of times, the two paths of alchemy intersect each other, so that a person with strong positive qi will also have a positive financial portfolio.
I mean, have you ever noticed when a money debt is finally paid off, your own inner qi cultivation gets a boost and that doing baguazhang has more ‘flow’ to it?
Now I am aware that some of you will say that money isn’t important (which we all know is a blatant lie if you live amongst other people and partially true if you have gone bush), but there are certain beliefs and faiths that do incur a kind of spiritual debt called sin. This debt called sin, you are usually born into it or it is sold to you as a way to salvation. Paying off this debt is next to impossible because the terms are unknown. And for a lot of people, they don’t even know what the sin was. Now, you may go on about a concept called ‘The Original Sin’ and let us just say that it was a real event. The question you have to ask is: What was your part in the event?
If you can answer that question with all sincerity that you were there and did ‘X’, then you, my friend, are enlightened. Unfortunately most of our fellow human beings are not. Their financial debts match their spiritual debts, which in turn match their qi indebtedness.
All is one.
And so now you may be wondering: Where does this sit with jingong (勁功) and my book “The Baguazhang Jin of War” (八卦掌戰勁)…?
Well? If you have read it, then you will kind of know. But if you are still humming and hah-ing on whether to read it, then I will not tell you. The mere fact that the real host of this podcast is going over your head means that you are not there yet.
Recently at work, while it just so happened that I was pondering on the baguazhang path to Taoist Immortality, I got asked by a coworker what type of martial art do I do?
It had been a difficult night of standing at the front door requesting for the 200th time for an adult customer’s Covid vaccination passport. Most customers are really good about it and we try to fold the rules in such a way so that everybody wins, including the government regulators. But every now and then, there will come a customer who will deliberately try their luck and they discover that they can’t come in. And it is my job to convey it to them as nicely as possible.
So when I got asked what my martial art was called, I kind of loudly replied that it was called The Art of Bitch Slapping!
We both had a chuckle at that one like Austin Powers purring on the revolving bed: Oh behave Baby!
Anyway, after the laughter had died down, I told him that it was actually called ‘Baguazhang’.
“What’s that?” He asked.
He genuinely didn’t know – he’d never heard of it. And so I proceeded to explain that we are the crazy fuckers who walk around in circles as our main kung fu thing.
“Walk in circles?” He asked.
And just like that without thinking I did a single palm change and walked the circle. And then, we were back to checking vaccine passports. I must say that the shop Lino tiles felt rather nice on the sliding footwork compared to the grippy outdoor tiles that I usually train on.
It also felt really good to get a quick reality on how rare the style of baguazhang still is. Social media and the internet is really good at tweaking the numbers so that it appears to us that we are well known and popular. But I have heard time and again from martial schools and shifus on the lack of bite for it.
But that’s just it: Most of us who picked it up and love it, is partially because it is so rare. We take it for granted because of what’s out there in popular culture, that people will know.
But it just isn’t so. Just because the internet is flooded with porn, it does not mean everybody has joined the local swingers club or even know what it is.
And don’t rely on the Chinese numbers for proof. Their government institutions will say millions practice an internal martial art like Tai Chi or Qigong, but when the facts from the practicing Taoists are brought in, reality shows a more realistic figure of around fifty thousand.
So if you are feeling lonely, there’s your answer.
And if you don’t feel lonely, these numbers also give clarity on why, at any given time, there are so few Taoist Immortals…
At some point in the baguazhang practitioner’s journey along the Tao, there comes a moment when the practice of baguazhang loses its glamour and the practitioner will quit.
This isn’t a case of things getting too hard, but rather it is becoming too easy and in a sense it loses its challenge. When this happens it is because deep down inside the baguazhang practitioner has been persisting in trying to learn the style as if it were an external martial art, where all the physical experiences come from the outside in.
Now, just to be clear, this does not happen to all baguazhang practitioners. Only to those not wishing to face the truth of what baguazhang is, and sometimes to those who have learnt a bagua form as part of a martial family or clan style.
For a real baguazhang practitioner, getting to the place where the physical movements become easy to do is just the start of what lies ahead for them, because now they must confront a world in which those same skills will be tested in ways usually not foreseen by the practice itself.
Most baguazhang practitioners will go into this situation blind, but a few will study the I-Ching 易經 and the Bagua 八卦 for guidance on what comes next.
While someone may disagree on what I have just said, the reality is that baguazhang is underwritten by the eight elements known as the Bagua. It is these eight elements and their relationship to each other, which is usually for baguazhang in a circular pattern, is what powers the bagua forms.
In order to align itself further to more traditional Chinese martial training techniques, in baguazhang the eight elements have been transmitted into eight totemic spirit animals that give a visual guideline of what the moves are supposed to look like, and in a certain sense be a key to what the given action is supposed to do.
Now, here, I must put in a special note to remind the listener that each style of baguazhang has its own variation on how a move is supposed to be done. There is no true perfect style. That idea is a myth. What matters is that the style chosen is in alignment to one’s body shape and temperament. And that the would-be practitioner realised that each style has a history to it based on the baguazhang master who created it.
And that history is only meant to take the practitioner so far and no further. At that point has been reached, it is now time to walk their own bagua path and to create in its wake a new history that others can learn from. Which means taking all that training and practice and applying it to real life.
For example: Lockdown because of the coronavirus…
How many of you stopped training because you were told to stay home?
How many of you stopped practicing because you got overwhelmed by all the news or simply wanted to be like your neighbour?
And how many of you adapted to the changing circumstances, kept on training and saw it as an opportunity to advance one’s own understanding and comprehension of this fine art?
Judging by the dwindling numbers out there, the answer is a pitifully low number. Mind you, the technicians of the arts are nearly always out of touch with practical reality, and blaming Millennials for everything is just a poor excuse. And Chinese numbers are nearly always exaggerated by the numbers of school children doing it at school as a wushu elective.
And the feeling that baguazhang is a dying art is also an illusion.
The martial art of baguazhang is not dying. It has always been a niche style, where it is just a fact of life that you are going to lose people as you get better and better at cultivating your inner alchemy or neigong 內功 as part of your drive toward your Shen-hood 神方向.
Today is not one of my better days. The humidity is up and it is reminding me of why I do not live in the tropics. Everything else I can reasonably handle but just not the humidity.
And so, just before the humidity really started to hit at around 9am, I made sure I had already done most of my baguazhang sets.
But there is still one form I still must do, but I am wavering on it because on the days that I do it, I have committed myself to doing 15 sets per day. So it is 15 sets or nothing, and my willpower is slowly crumbling.
On the upside of all this humidity is that I am slowly getting a craving for Malaysian or Singaporean food. But, then again, to go out and get some would require a bit of effort on my part that would drain some of my energy beyond what I am willing to accept.
But (and yes, this is another counter but…) I am also willing to adapt to the changes brought on by the weather, and just see where it takes me on my baguazhang journey: What I cannot do physically, I will do mentally with a bit of baguazhang revision.
Even I don’t know everything. There is a lot of theory around baguazhang that requires a practitioner to sit down, open a manual and study.
Traditionally in China, martial arts was a gentleman’s pursuit. And as such, it meant it had scholarly endeavours attached to it. Without it, martial arts in the wrong hands would degenerate into nothing more than thuggery.
Every baguazhang master taught this. If not through theory, then through technique. And if that didn’t sink in, then through the legends about them.
With me, I do it through my podcast, qigong class, and publishing six easy-to-read books around the topic of baguazhang.
And now I am learning how to transmute this wisdom through just being in close physical proximity to me. This skill is something I allude to in my sixth baguazhang book about jingong titled “The Baguazhang Jin of War”.
👉 (八卦掌的戰勁)
I won’t go into further details about it, because if you are not there yet, you will reject it outright as total bullshit. But if you are there then you will understand and move on to wherever it is you are going. And that for me means moulding my true Dan Tian in harmony with this humidity so that I can go out and get my Roti with Kuri Ayam!
Some of you may have noticed that The Baguazhang Art of War series has recently gained a new member to the family: The Baguazhang Jin of War.
Of the six books on baguazhang I have published thus far, this book has been the most challenging.
And it has been the most challenging because in order to get anywhere with this book, I have had to confront who I am, and what I am as a martial artist and where it will be taking me.
It has also meant as a martial artist, I have had to let go of other people’s opinions on what baguazhang is and accept the baguazhang path I am on, as it actually is. Which, if you have read any of my books or listened to my podcast, will know that when it comes to internal martial arts, I don’t do plain vanilla.
The Baguazhang Jin of War is about jingong 勁功, the external manifestation of a person’s internal qigong as it is usually experienced through baguazhang.
What it is not, is jinggong 精功.
Even though, with my accent, the two words sound the same, they are not the same. Although it can be confusing. Jinggong 精功, spelt with three G’s, refers to the first treasure of Taoist internal alchemy of Jing or essence as in a person’s sexual bodily fluids.
My book deals with Jin and is spelt j, i, n, and has no g.
And it is a topic I will keep mostly to my book. It is a topic that I know you will only seek out when you are ready for it. Which is usually through self-experience. Or you’re getting that sense that you are on the path. What that path is, only you will know, but if you are still trying to appreciate the Tao through the mediums of conflict: Fighting, arguing and debating like it’s a case in law, then you are still not there.
Anyway, I digress from the main point, which is to let you know that I have a new baguazhang book on Amazon called The Baguazhang Jin of War.
Since my most recent podcasts about jingong 勁功 came to air, I have been requested to give a practical example of how jingong 勁功works; for the less spiritually inclined.
For the briefest of moments, this got me thinking. And I got the feeling that maybe, just maybe, I might be overthinking it a bit.
And as it turns out, I was overthinking it. Because after I received the request, it just so happened that on social media there is a video clip going around that shows jingong 勁功 clearly.
And get this: The rebuttal video that is also circulating around, also is a very good example of jingong 勁功.
The first video shows a person trying to blow out a candle flame using either their palm or fist from a few inches away with a straight forward thrusting motion. It looks a little like the one-inch punch, but the palm or fist never touches the candle flame.
This exercise, if done correctly, teaches the mind to focus on a small target that has the ability to shift its station (by flickering). In other words the flame can move about. One’s qi in this case, is literally the pocket of air between the candle flame and the person’s hand. When the hand moves forward, it pushes the air in front (of it) forward, which in turn snuffs out the flame.
It seems easy to do, but it is actually quite hard to master because if the mind dithers, the hand wavers, and the air in front goes everywhere except where it’s supposed to. Which is to blow out the candle flame.
The jingong 勁功 part is the air moving in the right intended direction towards the target to have an effect on the situation.
If you are practicing with one of those magic birthday candles that never seem to go out, this exercise is even more difficult to master.
And the rebuttal video?
Well, it basically just shows a guy blowing out the candle the old-fashioned way: inhale air into the mouth and then exhale! And wallah, the candle flame is blown out. Again, if qi is just air and breathing, the sucking in and out part would be qigong, while the air moving to its intended effect will be jingong 勁功.
What people fail to appreciate is that blowing out a candle flame is a practiced skill, that most people started doing since they had to make a wish and blow that damn birthday candle out. Now it should be at our age easy-peasy, but there is always that someone who upturns our assumptions because they can’t blow out a simple little candle.
And, while these two examples given, may seem like a simple case of basic ‘cause and effect’, only the air being pushed forward or blown out is the cause and the candle flame blowing out is the effect. In baguazhang, a true master of jingong 勁功 will understand before any action has been undertaken, that once the candle is blown out, the final environmental state will be darkness. (Most people will only comprehend the darkness because they are in the moment of experiencing it. They will not know that the darkness is just an after-effect of the candle going out. This is why it is vital to get one’s intention straight. With a clear intention a practitioner will be able to sense which their qi is progressing and in turn come to understand better how their jingong affects the world around them.)
The hardest parts to grasp regarding jingong 勁功 is:
- It is for most martial artists uncharted waters. While it appears to be the external side of the internal workings of qigong, it is not the same thing as training in a hard or externally focused martial art. And;
- Depending on your style of martial art, your path towards understanding jingong 勁功 will be completely different to somebody schooled in another style. I do baguazhang, so that means my comprehension of it will be through baguazhang.
My role as a “Living Tao” (活道) is to give enough insights, so that if you come across this podcast or one of my books, you will get a sense of where you are headed.
Your own experience of it is vital if you want to master it. So don’t dismiss or discount your own personal martial history because your naysayers don’t want the same thing.
Actually, it’s not even that. What is really happening is reality is catching up with them, when it comes to you, and suddenly they are getting that nagging feeling that they are being left behind.
For you see, while a person is doing qigong or an internally focused martial art, it is easy to dismiss it all as just fooling around, no matter how serious the practitioner may be. It’s like they can only see the toddler in the sandbox playing with his Matchbox cars, even though the toddler is a teenager surfing around on the beach. That so called toddler has moved up and is about to leave the beach for the desert. And his toy car is now a real Toyota Landcruiser.
Jingong 勁功 is a massive scaling up from qigong. It has to be. Because in a strange and weird sort of way, it’s no longer just about the self. It is about the self in context to its surroundings. In other words: Fengshui.
A person with jingong 勁功 can move to an alien environment and within a very short period of time, that environment will start changing to reflect them in subtle ways. Even if the whole process can be denied, if their jingong 勁功 is strong enough, the people around them will start to notice the changes. And they will usually have people around them comment like this, “How come, or why is it, that whenever you go somewhere, XYZ starts appearing around you?” Or, “Where’d all these XYZ people come from? We never had them, but now you are here and they’re everywhere — it’s like you bought your whole damn tribe with you?”
If something like this has ever happened to you then, firstly, congratulations. You got strong jingong 勁功. And, secondly, that so-called tribe isn’t your family as in blood relations. No. They reflect the ancestral lineage of the martial art you have been marinating in.
At the same time this is going on, things that are not aligned with your qi start disappearing from your life. I know some of you will want to nervously laugh and mock, because it is touching on one’s self identity. But this is the meaning behind Pak Tai 北帝, the Dark Warrior washing his guts clean in the river (before ascending Wudang Mountain 武當山).
For those of you, who need a monotheistic explanation: Qigong is the process by which the martial artist uses the body to burn off the sins polluting their soul. While baptism and holy water works for some people on an external level, the process of qigong is internal and goes much deeper. It acknowledges before God that this process of cleaning one’s soul is the same as walking and breathing. Nobody can do it for you. You have to do it by yourself. Amen.
Honestly, I don’t know how the Taichi guys came up with the idea that Jingong 勁功 is a spiralling type of energy. I, personally, have never experienced it spiralling anything. It just sort of is there, coming and going depending on the size of my proverbial cup.
Most of you by now should be familiar with the proverbial cup: If you want to learn anything, you must first empty your cup.
But did Bruce Lee ever tell anyone what happens, as a matter of experience, when the cup is empty?
I guess not.
Well, here’s what happens: You’re either broke or at your lowest point or complaining that the dream didn’t match what you signed up for. Most of us, who have experienced the pain of having followed his advice, rarely talk about it because it’s kind of like a Right of Passage. Oh well… At least now I know another way, a better realised way.
Whatever the size of your initial cup, when a person goes down the internal martial art road, however full your tiny cup may be, the art of cultivating qi actually expands our cup first and then we are able to fill it with new knowledge. Imagine your first cup being the size of a thimble. Whatever was inside, once expanded out to the size of a coffee cup, it will be as good as empty. And once it is full again, the coffee cup will expand again. Maybe this time it is the size of a paint bucket. And on and on it goes. The process never ends until we chose to stop cultivating our qi.
And so, now that I have told you this, you must be wondering how I know this? I know I would want to know, as least for consistency’s sake.
Well I know because it is in my nature to find out and experience it for myself, so that when I talk about it, I am giving the listener firsthand knowledge. It is up to the listener to take what they hear and use it as a comparison to their own experience. It’s the listener’s choice.
Anyway, it continues on like this: Once your proverbial cup is full with qi, for a brief while it overflows. This overflowing of qi can be summed up as having an abundance of Jingong 勁功 and this is where the magic around us happens. Shit gets done. We’re the boss. We da Man. We’re Moses in the Land of Milk and Honey. And I know some you know exactly what I mean.
And then, mysteriously, the well seems to go empty and we’re back to cultivating our qi again.
We wonder if we had sinned, or abused our powers. How we think about these things depends a lot on our beliefs. We wonder what we did wrong but in truth all that happened was that in the background our cup expanded like a sudden growth spurt. Something likened to running on empty, but that is an illusion.
If this is what has been happening to you, then it is time to start closing the loop so that your jingong 勁功 cultivation feeds back into your qigong cultivation in a continual cycle. And it starts with realising what is happening.
When a person decides to learn the internal martial art of Taichi, they will eventually come across the term: Jingong 勁功.
Much of what is written about it almost doesn’t exist. I think, at last count there were in English about three or four books on the subject, with nearly all of them written by one person. While in China, as a martial concept, it is a vague topic that they like to keep as a secret transmission.
However in baguazhang when something is labeled as a secret, it really means that the topic is hard to explain accurately and is usually inappropriate learning material for a student that only wants to learn how to kick ass and win fights using physical techniques.
But because of who I am and where my journey is leading me, I will explain using modern visualisation techniques what jingong is. Bearing in mind, that I have given an explanation before in podcast number 156. Only this new example is a better one.
To Chinese, jin is a very yang, very masculine word. And it has connotations of success, power and force. Whereas qi would be regarded as being very yin or feminine. Hence most Chinese martial arts do not focus on jin much. Not because jin is a secret but because jin is a given in the style. The problem most styles face is that their jin lies on the surface and hasn’t been internalised.
In internally focused martial arts, a truly dedicated practitioner gets the point where all that internal work, expressed as qigong, suddenly is in need of an external outlet.
The external manifestation of qi (氣) is what jin (勁) seeks to be.
I guess this next explanation would better explain it…
The cultivation of qi through qigong is like building and operating a nuclear power station, with your body being the nearby town that uses the electricity the station provides. So far so good.
However, the side effect of having a nuclear power station is that there will be some radioactive byproduct to deal with. And it is what you do with that byproduct that is jingong.
Most martial arts masters will go down the road of inner door secrets, which in this example means having nuclear warheads. Nobody knows they have them but everybody knows they have them. Whether or not they can actually deploy those weapons is another matter entirely.
For people like me, on the other hand, I see qi like energy being stored in a battery. Once my battery is full, it electromagnetically expands beyond its physical confinement to start filling up the batteries of those around me; something like having a strong aura, or even better, being the centre of my very own feng shui map wherever I am.
I could give other examples but this is one of those things you are either gonna “get it” or not like sex after losing one’s virginity.
These days, if you search the term ‘bagua master’, you will most likely be shown a long list of definitions and websites all referring to a bagua master being a type of martial arts master of the Chinese internal kind. And more specifically the term is short for the Taoist martial art of baguazhang 八卦掌. And sometimes baguaquan 八卦拳 will come up.
This was a recent development.
Up until about five or six years ago, if you had searched the same term, you would have been given the older title of ‘bagua daishi’ 八卦大師.
And you would have learnt that a bagua daishi was something like a fortune teller. But this description is inaccurate and it only focuses on one dimension of the role, as it is more commonly perceived by the common folk.
A bagua daishi to the Chinese mind is more of a minister’s counsel or an advisor.
This would make clearer sense if a person were to look upon the bagua as a kind of compass or sextant. As such, when a martial artist decides to become a bagua master, one of the true skills they must learn is how to read the charts. And know how to read them accurately in the right environment.
For example, I live in Australia. Australia is in the Southern Hemisphere. The bagua circle was created in China. And China is in the Northern Hemisphere. Most feng shui principles do not work well down here, no matter how well the lay lines line up. And this is because most things to do with the bagua compass revolve around finding the North Star. No matter how hard you try to look, from the Southern Hemisphere this is an impossibility. Hence, in the south we use the Southern Cross constellation.
And it doesn’t stop there.
It is a bit like constantly converting feet and inches into millimetres and centimetres and back again. In the Southern Hemisphere positive feng shui comes from the north and its opposite from the south.
What I am getting at, is that while there is the aspect of fortune telling, a good bagua master who can read the weather will have a strategic advantage over their problem. To be able to move before your opponent moves because you know which way the wind is blowing. This is what I mean when I call myself a Tianqi Master 天気大師.
You can prove and experience it for yourself by realigning the bagua symbols to reflect your centre. Place yourself in the centre of a circle and mark down a Gua 卦for each of the eight compass directions. Place the Gua or element that exists yonder in the direction you are facing to reflect your world. So if you are facing a mountain range, you would use the Gen Gua 艮卦 (and if in the other direction you had the sea, you would use the Dui Gua 兑卦) rather than what the traditional sequences say (it should be).
When bagua masters do this, they discover that they have been out of alignment like hexagram 26 (Ta Ch’u 大畜) of the I-Ching, and in particular the first two changing lines.
The original pre- and post- heaven bagua sequences still matter, but by realigning your world to reflect what actually exists in your world, you allow them to teach you what they are actually about in a way no master of the arts can.
My first baguazhang book ‘The Baguazhang Art of War’ has for all its concise simplicity, turned out to be a rather hard book for most martial artists to understand. The hardness doesn’t lie in some academic drivel, but in the very fact that through some basic science and logic around baguazhang theory, I have “kept things real”.
The thing is, though, the people screaming the most about what is realistic and what is not, are in fact the biggest desirers of reality’s opposite: The fantasy.
But the thing is, when somebody becomes a “Living Tao” (活道), or more accurately a living embodiment of their Tao or way, what is realistic becomes highly overrated at its best or for a martial artist a dangerous way to live at its worst.
Many martial artists who cling to the illusion of ‘keeping it real’ are in fact chasing the fantasy of the hero’s adventure as it is portrayed in movies and books, with scant regard for the environment a hero must journey through in order to have the adventure.
This is crucially important because while the Universe may or may not give you the adventure, Mother Nature on the other hand can easily provide you all the pain through natural disasters, wars, conflicts, financial hardships, interpersonal relationships, accidents and a dozen other things when we sign up for martial arts class.
And if we get through all of these things in one piece, we sometimes discover that we have built up an addiction to it. An addiction which makes living through peace and harmony, somewhat, a tad bit boring.
That’s right guys, peace and enlightenment without the beautiful exotic location can be boring. So boring in fact, that we will do almost anything to get back in the game.
The trick is, though, is to recognise what is happening before we end up going backwards. Thankfully for me, I have my Genchitaofu Baguazhang (艮氣道福八卦掌). And if you have read my book “The I-Ching of the Genchitaofu Way”, you will know that this baguazhang form is like a massive rock propping me up by making it impossible for me to go backwards, by ensuring a physical calamity upon me while at the same time pointing the way forward.
And so I move forward.
I bring all of this up because this morning I pulled out some of my old martial arts magazines and as I was flicking through the pages, I found myself making a mental assessment of the pictures of the authors and all their martial poses. Every single one of them was trying to live the dream by being tougher than the next guy. Back then, in the past, it was all so cool but now I am wondering about the life a person must have in order to live the life they profess.
And sadly, I don’t think that they knew what they were talking about. And fighting in the ring or on the mat doesn’t count. Compared to real life, it’s still just playing around. Real life is real life. And real life is the reason why most guys quit.
You quit because of the broken leg. That’s real life. You quit because you got married, needed to settle down, get a job and pay the bills. That’s real life. You got issues. Whatever. That’s real life. And on and on it goes.
Name your reason. It’s all real life. And none of it matched the fantasy. And yet through baguazhang, I am a “Living Tao” (活道) and I am still here… I didn’t quit because the government put me in lockdown. I just added it to my adventure as another chapter.
Well, my fellow listeners, I have done it.
I have published the fifth book in ‘The Baguazhang Art of War’ series.
The title of this new volume is ‘The Baguazhang Living Tao 八卦掌活道’. And it is the deepest one yet. It contains the Living Tao podcasts plus stuff about my baguazhang life that I have never mentioned before; except to people who know me personally.
This book is about life and death.
Or more accurately about the state of transition that exists when one life dies and a new life is born. That space in between the two realities.
And once again, if a person is searching, yet again, for another Baguazhang how-to manual full of lovely posture diagrams and photos, they won’t find it here.
It’s not that I am trying to do reverse psychology on you all. What I just said before is a fact. This book is more for the person who, when they do Baguazhang, find themselves thinking a lot about the big questions and are wanting to go deeper with their experiences. They aren’t necessarily satisfied with their shifu’s answers, and their bros and mates aren’t ‘there yet’.
And while the book may not answer every question, it is hoped that my own series of little adventures and insights would help some people along their own Tao.
But that I will leave up to the reader to decide for themselves.
Have a great night.
After listening to some of my “Living Tao” (活道) podcasts recently, somebody asked me the question of being a Living Tao is a form of mindfulness?
My answer, of all things, was that I did not know.
While I still consciously practice mindfulness through Chazen (茶禪) and a slow sword form I have developed using a katana, mindfulness in Australia has over the last few years degenerated into the losers’ table filled with people who have ‘issues’. It’s a bit like the third infusion of black tea; it doesn’t matter how long you let it steep for, it will never have any life left in it.
Most people who truly practice a form of mindfulness, dread the coming of Mindfulness May. That cheesy month created by commercial interests in which everybody goes down the we-all-love-each-other spiritual path, so that those same commercial interests can turn a buck on the spiritually inclined.
To overcome this month, a lot of spiritual people will pull sickies and go on a much needed retreat, where they can reconnect with themselves, the cosmos, nature and other like-minded people.
For people like me, on the other hand, Mindfulness May becomes the season in which we test our beliefs and assumptions by becoming the go to person for those trying to ‘get’ the spiritual thing. And it is all about speaking Jesus to Christians, Krishna to Hindus and Mohammed to Muslims. Peppered with the odd Buddha here and there to Buddhists.
So I guess being a “Living Tao” (活道) is a kind of spiritual teacher. In Chinese that would be a Jingshen (精神). Mindfulness is just one aspect of the spiritual path.
But what of the people who don’t care for spirituality?
After helping one too many people during Mindfulness May, I ended up telling everyone (who came to see me with their problems) to wash their dishes. For you see, most people sitting at the losers’ table, their problems are the dramas filling their heads. Those bullshit dramas are like dirty dishes. Dishes are dirty in the sink collecting flies. When you wash the dishes, the dishes are clean. Clean dishes don’t attract flies. Clean dishes are kosher.
So if you want the Holy Ghost to sit at your table, make sure your dishes are kosher. Kapeesh?!
So what is Tai-chi as in Taiqiquan 太極拳?
Well, if you are listening to this, then you would know. It is an internal system of martial art characterised by slow steady movements that most people who seek the internal path follow. And it is usually seen being done by old people in public parks as a way to keep their qi flowing smoothly around their body.
If done with dedication, consistently and for long enough, it has the potential to dramatically improve one’s well being.
However, and whatever you feel about this martial art, this martial art is not Baguazhang 八卦掌. And the goals and outcomes between the two styles are not one and the same.
Tai-chi is grounded in the duality of yin 陰 and yang 陽. And how the interaction between the two allows for flow: Revolution leads to counter-revolution, which leads to revolution and in turn counter-revolution again. And on and on and on the wheel turns allowing (hopefully) for forward motion in life.
Baguazhang on the other hand is based on the I-Ching 易經, the Classic Book of Changes, which in turn is based on the eight trigrams commonly known as bagua 八卦.
These eight trigrams can be aligned in a line or row. Or around a circle or wheel type pattern.
While the interplay between yin and yang can and often make the wheel roll forward, a true bagua master learns (to appreciate through walking the circle) that even though the wheel is turning, it may just be spinning on its axis and doing nothing much else. It is basically the old saying of that the more things change, the more they stay the same.
The nature of being a “Living Tao” (活道) is to place oneself at the centre of the fengshui bagua wheel 風水八卦輪. And in a sense be the the axis itself.
This is not about right or wrong, but about one’s frame of reference in a given situation. If yin and yang were two boxers beating each other up in a boxing ring, no matter which way the fight goes, the ring that binds them is the bagua.
Understand this, and you start opening the gates to why a bagua master at a deeper level is by doing baguazhang also a fengshui master.
That mirror in the centre of the the bagua mirror 八卦鏡 isn’t just there to ward off demons and negative shit. It is there as the second changing line above the sixth changing line of the first hexagram of the I-Ching: Arrogant dragon has regrets. Which is ‘Dragon meets their true self through self-realisation’.
Between the two changing lines is the seventh changing line: Dragon lets go and walks their true path.
So it’s a Sunday morning and I am staring out an open window. The leaves on the trees across the road are swaying gently, and I can’t see a single cloud in the sky from my limited viewpoint. I can hear some birds and the occasional train going past. And you’d be forgiven in thinking that I am spending lockdown in Sydney in some remote hideaway like a hermit.
But I am not.
I am at home in Meadowbank, Ryde crunching my weekly income and outgoing columns, and taking stock of my financial position of where I am and where I want to be in one week’s time.
Now! I am aware that what I have just spoken about, seems to have no bearing on the nature of being a “Living Tao” (活道) but it is precisely when things stop making logical sense, that the Tao reveals itself: What we perceive as order from the human perception is in fact an illusion.
There is no order and at the same time there is no chaos or disorder. Both extremes are illusions. The Way of Virtue or Harmony is the natural alignment of things so that things just flow effortlessly.
So having said this, I am grateful for this enforced two week holiday granted to me by the New South Wales government. Okay, so it was a bit last minute and brought about by the delta strain of the Coronavirus. But still, I choose to see it as a welcome respite from city living and an opportunity to live a little differently from the usual hum-drum.
Starting with doing more of my self-created Tai-chi form.
I’d had enough of others insisting that I must also do Tai-chi alongside my baguazhang 八卦掌, when all I want to be is a baguazhang master 八卦掌師. Tao-chi just isn’t my thing.
And so reading which way the wind is blowing like a good Tianqi master 天気大師, a couple of years ago I created my own Tai-chi Baguazhang form.
And I called it (in Chinese) Tai Qi Zhang 泰極掌.
The first character is the same Tai 泰 as in Thailand. With the second character I have kept the qi 極 character as is used in traditional Taiqiquan. The final character is the same Zhang 掌 as in baguazhang because as far as the movements are concerned I am still doing baguazhang.
I am still walking the circle. And I am still doing my palm changes. Only this time much much slower with tai-chi-esque features incorporated into it.
And now?
Where am I now?
Where I am now is that I no longer have a Tai-chi problem. I am what I am.
When a person becomes a “Living Tao” (活道), the way in which a person sees things begins to change. We gain this uncanny ability to pierce through the thicket, thereby gaining a new understanding about the world around us.
Unfortunately, sometimes what we perceive goes against what the people around us wish us to see. It’s a bit like fighting a war and halfway realising that your enemy is in the right.
For example, just like the Tao is the Tao, Hong Kong is Hong Kong.
A couple of days ago my family and I went out for dinner and we chose a nearby Cantonese restaurant. The kids picked their favourite dishes from that place: Vegetarian Horfun wet, and beef and tomatoes with rice. While my wife and I chose a tofu hotpot dish.
The meal went great until, at the end, my kids asked for desert a Chinese Fortune Cookie each.
My wife, who’s from Hong Kong, was not happy about it. Citing that Chinese Fortune Cookies are not Chinese. And I said, “Yes they are. They were invented by overseas Chinese.”
She countered that until recently they did not exist in China. “So what?” I said, “Their invention was Chinese.”
To which, she replied that they weren’t Chinese. And so I asked what made her any different? She told me she was from Hong Kong and Hong Kong is Chinese.
I told her Hong Kong is Hong Kong and she’s not Chinese. That did not go down well. She thought I was being a right royal dickhead. And wanted to counter my argument.
But then I asked her to consider this: If Hong Kong and the Hong Kong people are Chinese, why then, is the Chinese government spending so much time, effort and money making Hong Kong, Chinese?
We went home and spent the rest of the evening watching a documentary on Taoism together called ‘Journey to the East’ by George Thompson from Bristol, U.K. The film is available on YouTube.
This argument we just had, I know will offend people on both sides of the Hong Kong - China conflict. But the real issue here is China the idea is far more massive than China the country, and that the opening lines of Romance of the Three Kingdoms will, like yin and yang, always hold true: Empires rise and fall…
As things come together and unify, they also expand and break apart. No amount of rectification by China can interfere with Heaven’s Mandate. Both sides will need to find a way to let go.
Every now and then, I like to read up on the baguazhang masters and learn about their adventures and exploits. It still amazes me just how far removed we are now from those days of yore, in terms of place and time moving on. But even so, some things never change like those who live by the sword still die by the sword.
Martial artists who strictly adhere to the principle that martial arts is solely for fighting, still tend to die an early death. While those martial artists who use their art to find meaning in the way live long fruitful lives and get to die in their beds; without undue complications.
While all of this may be easy to understand and easy to reject as just the ramblings of a crazy nut, the truth of actually walking the martial arts path is hard to walk and difficult to comprehend. Because with each step taken we change our very being in profound subtle ways.
And that is why so many martial artists, while starting off strong, quit after a while. Jump back in after a few years. Go hard out. And then quit again. And then repeat it again and again.
At times we may get distracted by other things but the truth is: We are just not ready to let go of who we were and embrace our new self. This is the internal answer. The external answer is that our new self is out of alignment with our environment however which way we measure it. And so we need some time and space to move where and when we can express ourselves the fullest.
While this may appear, from my words, easy to do, reality is far more painful because the forces trying to hold us back are the exact same forces trying to push us out. And to make matters worse, when the pushing and pulling are in balance, it can be almost impossible to find that certain something that will tip the scale…
Being a “Living Tao” (活道) means that I inevitably end up on a daily basis (unless I go hide in my turtle shell) helping others to find their own tipping stone so that they know which path to take. Thankfully most of the time it is about getting them to remember what it was in the first place that got them on the path, and removing the external distractions clouding their thoughts. And that is one of the things I love about the internal martial art of baguazhang. It does not matter how lost I get while walking the Tao, the Tao always comes full circle and I get to start over. No mysteries. No enigmas. I am just physically and consciously aware of the process. I am a part of the Tao and the way exists because the wayfarer moves along the way.
By now if you have been following the series On Being a “Living Tao” (活道), you would now be listening to episode 7. Episode 7? How can there be an episode 7 when the last episode is marked as ‘Part 5’?
On Monday the 18th of September 2017, I woke up and wrote down in a journal the dream I had, and like most things in life I promptly forgot about it as I moved on with my life. Then today, as I am searching for something else, I came across the dream I had back then.
Like with anything really, in the beginning there is nothing. And in baguazhang there is no circle, no ring, no girth to begin with. Everything is still virgin and it is here where a person will experience the emptiness of not being. I am a “Living Tao” (活道).
Some of you baguazhang practitioners would have noticed that for these particular group of podcasts on being a “Living Tao” (活道), I have not bothered to include the transcription...
You won’t find the term “Living Tao” (活道) on the internet or any other pervious publications prior to me mentioning it. And this is because I created it to describe a unique set of happenings that culminated into this idea.
Somebody recently asked me: How do I know that I am a “Living Tao” (活道) for myself and others along the martial arts journey?
The year that is known as 2020 has proven to be a watershed moment for the martial arts world. The arguments and bravado that raged on social media in the years before 2020, had in the chaos of the coronavirus disappeared.
The reason for this is that many so-called martial artists discovered that the standards they hold others to, they weren’t able to measure up to those same standards themselves.
They had cherry picked their way and realised that when the day came they were either unfit, undertrained, or just not committed enough to really rise above the chaos of the battlefield that had been the pandemic.
And so they quit. And hid themselves away as mandated by their respective governments and basically forgot (if they ever really knew) what true martial arts is about.
Sure, you could argue differently. But for most martial artists, their self-identity is tied up with the fantasy and not reality. If it had been based on the reality, you would have seen the pandemic for what it is: A chance to test one’s commitment to the martial arts way by reinforcing one’s training, diet and mental stamina.
Because 2020 is just a test-run for something far bigger coming in the near future. And no! It is not going to be a zombie apocalypse.
Now, if you had kept up your training or adapted it to the changing circumstances, well done! Pat yourselves on the back because what you did was rather than leaving everything behind to go climb Kunlun 崑崙山 or cloister up in Wudang 武當山, you stood still and allowed the mountain to come to you. This is the secret behind Sun Wukong 孫悟空 a.k.a. The Monkey King and his imprisonment by the Buddha in the mountain.
Even though release from the mountain in the novel Journey to the West 西遊記 is a physical act, the truth behind it is one of realisation that 2020 was and is a giant doorway that not all are able to pass through. This is why so many of us have disappeared, were left behind, and have succumbed to its fears. And it is just a doorway.
Recently, because my thoughts took me there, I found myself flicking through a Chinese book containing illustrations of Chinese southern style boxing or Nan Quan.
To be more accurate, I was more interested in the different hand shapes contained within because we have baguazhang 八卦掌 which utilises mainly palm strikes and bagua quan 八卦拳 which employs fist strikes. Two historically related groups of styles.
While looking at these images, I was wondering: Is there a baguazhua 八卦爪 or Eight Trigram Claw style?
And the answer is no.
While both current bagua schools of thought do use the claw from time to time, there isn’t one solely dedicated to the ways of the claw.
But if there was a baguazhua, what would it look like?
Already my mind envisages something quite vicious. And I doubt the person trained in it would care much for finding inner peace or proving themselves in the ring. At least that’s how I felt about it when I tried doing my palm changes as claw changes.
All I could think about was wanting to hunt down a pest and rip it’s throat out. And it didn’t feel fun. It felt necessary to survival only.
I know some of you would be reminded of tiger claw and eagle claw styles, and possibly dím mak strikes as a counter-argument but this felt different.
This feeling felt more like whatever it is you have to say about it, the first thing you should do is just stop and shut up. Take a really good deep slow breath, and appreciate that you are alive and well and safe. And that your safety and well-being does not depend on the destruction of others. You can let that negative shit go and just be who you are.
☳ Last night I dreamt that I was pouring tea for Masters Bruce Lee 李振藩 and Ip Man 葉問 at an Eastwood, Sydney yum cha restaurant, while Guan Yu 關羽 looked from his alter next to the spirits cabinet that usually is behind the bar.
☵ Which is interesting because the late great Bruce Lee will very soon become one of the first American Shen worshipped formally as a god of martial arts.
☶ Like a lot of western martial artists, I have a clay statue of Bruce Lee at home (or at least of a martial artist doing one of his classic poses with a face that looks very much like him).
☰ And for a lot of us, he was and remains our first conscious link to Chinese martial arts. So love him or hate him, our prayers go out to him because I have recently noticed that he’s been referred to as the Immortal Bruce Lee - Lee Siu Long Xian (李小龍仙) or Lee Siu Long Shen (李小龍神).
☷ And where Bruce Lee and his Jeet Kun Do represents the element of water in his martial arts fluidity, the next in line to be canonised most likely will have to be his shifu Ip Man, Grandmaster of Wing Chun, and the element of wood as represented by his wooden dummy and a certain sense of traditional quiet power that comes with maturity.
☱ Both fighters encompass ideals personified, for that is what a Shen is.
☲ It is an honour to have poured them tea at yum cha, even if it was merely a small dream.
☴ So, while I am not sure of it, I have a gut feeling that Bruce Lee’s nature will make him better suited as an American Chinatown Guardian. Which one, I don’t know for I am not the Jade Emperor. But it won’t be Hong Kong. Hong Kong already has Wong Fai Hong 黃飛鴻 of Hung Gar Quan. And if they had to pick, they would choose Ip Man. Nothing personal - Just a certain degree of spiritual decorum has to be maintained until the appointed Hour of Ascension.
These days, when I wake up in the morning I find myself pondering a lot on the nature of my personal Tao and where it is leading me. Because when a person decides to study the Tao, there happens to be a lot of stuff available.
But most of it feels like wading in a shallow pool when there is a whole ocean just over the sea wall waiting to be explored. It is vast and deep and mysterious. And like all men of the sea, I can feel it calling me to her. And so each day, with each baguazhang set done, I move a little closer.
But what is one’s personal Tao, I ask?
We can all follow systems, methods, beliefs and cultures. But these things are a group thing. Even within Taoism, there are at least three general paths available to somebody doing martial arts. The first is Taoism the philosophy, which is what most people pursue when they do not want to be in conflict with their currently held beliefs. The second is Taoism the religion. This is the path that leads to Wudang and Emei, and Chinese cultural beliefs. And the third path is a mush-mash of the first two paths plus some extra weird stuff thrown in.
Most martial artists practicing a Chinese martial art will usually resonate with the third way.
Now...
...there is also a fourth path. And that is the Taoism that comes via China’s neighbours: Japan, Korea, Mongolia, Vietnam and Thailand. These versions are like snapshots of what the Tao was way back when in time. And even though they may look different, be called something else and feel foreign, it is still the Tao.
But what is the nature of our personal Tao?
If I based it on the dreams I have been having at night, then there is a sense that my personal Tao is leading me back to the beginning. To the time before I knew about any of this.
Before baguazhang.
Before weiqi.
And before the I-Ching.
Back to the time when I was about eight years old and I used to dream a lot about visiting a place with narrow alleyways and cramped up living conditions filled with Chinese. In these dreams I would walk down an alleyway, turn and go through a door decorated with red banners on either side of it. To which I would meet a beautiful Chinese maiden with long black hair flowing straight down to her waist. She would take me down a flight of stairs into a basement area that looked like a whisky lounge. And sitting around on stools and chairs would be half a dozen extremely gorgeous Chinese women, all in their early twenties and with the same long hair style. The dream would end with one of them leading me into another more private room.
I would wake up and keep a secret journal of it as best as I could. But I couldn’t make of it at all because at that time, the only thing on television regarding China would either be on the news or ‘Journey to the West’ a.k.a. The Monkey King. New Zealand was about as far away from the rest of the world a person could get to without leaving western civilisation.
To some degree I am willing to admit that David Bowie’s classic ‘Little China Girl’ had an influence on me, but China wasn’t exactly on my radar until I met Charlie from Hong Kong in form two, when I was twelve years old. He told me that my descriptions of the places in my dreams sounded a lot like The Walled City in Kowloon, Hong Kong.
What any of this has to do with now, I do not know other than my personal Tao is leading me here like a giant bagua wheel.
By now, some of you would have realised that I am spending a lot of time playing Go with an opponent in the United States (of America) and posting the results online. And you have probably been wondering: What happened to my baguazhang?
The baguazhang is still here and I still practice everyday. There is not a single day I go without. It is my life. And that’s the good part.
The not so good part is that the journey of baguazhang brings up a whole lot of experiences and questions that are hard to explain sometimes. And as a result, I have the beginnings of an epic episode but nothing in the delivery; if you get my meaning.
And so I keep training everyday.
This is The Way.
That lonely path people keep quoting about on social media. The road less travelled. The same lonely path that whispers in the wind that the art of baguazhang is a dying art form.
But baguazhang is not a dying art!
It may be extremely rare compared to other forms of martial arts, and at times one may appear insane by going round and round in circles. But at least I am walking the circle: And so that which is truth gets drawn into my reality as represented by the circle, and that which is not-exactly-false but more on the lines of you-do-not-know-what-the-fuck-you-are-talking-about reposted online quote gets slingshotted outwards.
To illustrate what I mean, just the other day I had an interesting conversation with my opponent on the subject of enlightenment. It came up because he told me that as the primary caregiver to his children, he had won the right to receive child support payments from his former wife. In court, upon receiving judgement, she first laughed and then cried. And in that moment she received enlightenment the way most people get it: A painful experience far removed from angelic hymns. Society had conditioned her to see and expect things one way, but the law is written in another way.
Even the bible has a hidden example of enlightenment. Right there in the Book of Genesis, it says that God moved over the darkness and then said, “Let there be light”.
In that moment, enlightenment occurred.
While the light was good, God also saw that there was nothing. It is only after this realisation that the process of creation happened. Incidentally this is also the place one tries to reach through Zen.
Which is now kind of funny in a not so funny way, because many years ago when I reached this moment for the first time, I completely and utterly rejected it.
I rejected it because 1) it was just a state of pure darkness, 2) I was still expecting a heavenly paradise, 3) I was trying to keep it real and grounded, and I was still very much concerned about seeking approval from others (even if I refused to admit it), and 4) in my mind baguazhang is all about the martial in martial arts.
But baguazhang is the same.
The start of enlightenment through baguazhang is realising that the key word in the name is “Zhang” which means palm and not “Quan” which means fist. Fist implies boxing and ultimately fighting. Had Master Dong Hai Chuan wanted the art to be purely about punching and kicking, he would have called it baguaquan.
But he did not.
In a world where swords kill, it is the Life Giving Sword that reigns supreme.
Most people, despite what I have repeatedly said, will not believe me when I say that the internal martial art of baguazhang is not for the average person on the street. Unless, of course, you happen to make your way to Wudangshan and hobnob’it with them in China.
There will be a very good chance that walking the circle will be a very, very, lonely existence.
Sure, in the beginning it will be exciting as you join a local martial arts school and find common ground amongst fellow practitioners. But as soon as the decision is made to stop playing around as an evening hobby, and start doing it seriously like it really matters, things start to change.
The universe or whatever your beliefs are, steps in and begins the process of making it ‘real’. From a slow tiny problem that easily solvable, over time the hurdles start ratcheting up to the point where you either give up or become a ‘Lifer’.
I chose the latter.
And it has meant that whenever I write or talk about this stuff, I know that I am speaking from experience. Which for my audience is great. Here is somebody actually leaving a path others can choose to follow. A little bit crazy and a little bit humdrum. Sometimes I make clear and concise sense. And at other times, I seem to be talking full-on shit.
Whichever way I am swinging, I have to bear the consequences of what I am saying, writing and doing.
And that means eventually something will happen in my life where I will and must experience my own words as a real event.
But here’s the thing.
And listen carefully.
If I must eat my words, then I will eat my words and complete the circle. But when I do eat my words, I become a little more removed from the guys on the gym or dojo floor. It’s like climbing the stairs up to the next floor and with each ascent, living a new reality in the moment of that reality.
The guys on the lower floors don’t know the truth and keep making up stories. Those same stories that become ones glass ceiling, the way birds keep flying into glass panes without ever realising that they could go around it.
While at the same time, no matter how much the guys on the floors above try to help, we never seem to be able to understand until we reach their floor.
Thankfully, the circular nature of baguazhang allows us to wilfully redo our steps again, and again, and again until we have figured it out for ourselves. Which is this: Going into an event prepared in advance because of repeated experience, usually ends in not experiencing it again. Instead, what happens is that one ends up waiting for an event that never comes. And because it never comes, what was the point of being prepared?
Those at the bottom will seek the answer through blame, while those ascending will feel blessed that the internal martial art of baguazhang is teaching what the Taoist concept of ‘Detachment’ really is.
I thought that today, I would send shockwaves throughout the martial arts community and dabble in the occult.
So now that I have done it, how do you feel?
Most people won’t feel anything because physically nothing has actually been done, except making an intention through the podcast. But you know what?
Even though I haven’t done anything apart from these words, there will still be a select small group of you around the world who will throw a hissy-fit and leave in rage.
If you do know somebody inclined to behave as such, and you’ve witnessed it, congratulations! You have just witnessed the power of influence.
Sadly for me, though, I wasn’t there to witness it.
Instead I have to be content with having given you a taste of what it means to be a Shen 神. That nebulous word that means both spirit and god, and a whole lot of other things as well. But whose primary meaning is strongly influenced by the culture in which a person lives in.
In most of mainland China it means god. In Hong Kong it means heavenly being, but not necessarily a god. In Taiwan its meaning is god as well but is closer akin to a spirit. In Macau, because of Portuguese Catholicism, it implies a saint or an angel. And in Singapore it is kind of a mix of all of these things.
And then you have the rest of the world outside of the Middle Kingdom’s influence and direction. But where Chinese is the dominant culture. There the idea of what a Shen 神 is, is heavily influenced by martial arts culture. So there a Shen is something like a superhero. Not necessarily a superhero with magical powers but a person able to do things that an ordinary person will find next to impossible to do for themselves. And because the gap between ability and non-ability is so vast, the person of ability might as well be a fairy living in the marches.
Which incidentally is why from time to time, the relationship between the Chinese authorities and martial artists have been a bit turbulent. Especially when the ways of government do not reflect the Will of the People, nor the Mandate of Heaven.
In those times, the nominally independent marquees that hover on the borderlands become self-organising and launch a war of rectification. Thereby restoring the Mandate of Heaven.
And as a reward they become invested as heavenly Shen in the Taoist Parthenon, while the minor players get venerated as raised immortals.
All of this is worth considering more deeply, if one wishes to be more than just a street fighter fighting over financial scraps, and have a greater influence over one’s surroundings like a spiritual being capable of more than the average!
To understand the essence of what makes the House of Baguazhang ‘baguazhang’, it cannot be found in just on style of baguazhang. No matter how much we want to believe that the style or form we have signed up to, is the right one.
And our martial ancestor Master Dong Hai Chuan knew this.
So rather than instruct his disciples in the one true way, he instead taught them the Pre- and Post-Heaven Changing Palms. And then infused them with what they already had mastered from other Chinese martial art styles. Thereby ensuring that there would be, not one baguazhang style but many versions that allowed the student to find the right one that matched them.
Each style would have things in common to keep them under the same house, the House of Baguazhang. But would also allow for a certain degree of independence in their own affairs, so that when it came to striking out into new territories, they were able to do so.
And while in China Proper, there are the five orthodox styles of Yin, Cheng, Ma, Liang and Fu, plus some stripped out simplified wushu versions, there is still a strong ongoing tradition of new versions being created all the time.
Sadly though, over on the Western side, because of the strong Chinese disporia’s rejection of the current climate in China that goes way beyond martial arts, there has developed over time the idea that baguazhang is a dying art (which is false), and that we must preserve an unchanging art against corruption (which is also false).
For the nature of baguazhang is change.
And more importantly its essence is to transcend what’s out there and be what it is: A higher form of martial art that bridges the gap between the earthly forms and the heavenly forms.
Now, just to be clear, this has nothing to do with being better than others. So if you are thinking such thoughts then you still have a long way to go along the Tao.
So there is no need or prerequisite to abandon one’s art to embrace baguazhang.
Rather, in keeping with the traditions set up by Master Dong Hai Chuan, a disciple of, say, karate can come and learn baguazhang and then use it to create a new karate kata that walks the circle and uses palms instead of fist strikes. Or they could create a new baguazhang form that incorporates karate techniques. This example is true for all martial art styles, especially for those that lack a higher dimension beyond the physical plane of just being able to fight.
For the essence of baguazhang is not just about fighting. Fighting on its own just leads to more conflict and more fighting. Baguazhang allows those who see the world through the eyes of conflict to find a way out of that spiritual shithole, and rise up the martial mountain so that they can see the whole picture through physical action and physical non-action.
Sometimes I wish I could tell people that once you have discovered the Tao, your life will miraculously get better and that everything that has happened in your life prior to enlightenment would have been worth it.
But the truth is, the Tao professed in spiritual circles is a lot more exciting in The Imagination of Beforehand , than when you actually get there.
Part of the problem stems from seeking the Tao that belongs to other people rather than your own way. And (the other part of the problem is) from the fact that most people only have one version of the Tao as explained in the Tao Te Ching to measure against.
The Tao Te Ching is only one path of many and is not necessarily the true way. It is for some people but not everybody. For most people, the Tao Te Ching is just another path of struggle, whose rewards at the end do not compensate adequately the struggles to be had.
Sure. It’s usually at this point that somebody will say that the journey and the struggle are rewards unto themselves (true), and that the destination is only the end (also true). But if the Tao was a river, does that mean that the Yangtze River in China is the only river?
China and the world has many rivers, and they all lead to the same ultimate ocean. And the person floating down the Nile in Africa or the Murray-Darling Rivers in Australia will need different maps to survive and overcome different challenges along the way.
Sometimes, though, the map does not exist and in cross-referencing everything along the way, a new fresh map becomes apparent: This is what the four books of “The Baguazhang Art of War” series is about.
Too many martial artists are mentally feeding off the past, while lost in the present.
Too many of us fantasise over the heroics of our distant masters without actually understanding the deeper significance of their journeys, let alone being able to translate those stories into something relevant for our present situation.
I know this because if you have quit your martial art this year because the Coronavirus is stopping you from practicing your art with your mates, then you have missed the point, massively, with regards to your martial ancestors: They lived and prospered in a world riddled with nasty diseases every single day. And most of those diseases were only starting to be eradicated mid-last century.
Compared to them, our world is the fantasy world they dreamed of.
Now, if you have kept up your training, then you would now know a thing or two about your particular martial arts way toward the Tao. Even if it is only a gut feeling.
Relish that gut feeling. It is a blessing. A gift from the Tao itself: An unseen guide informing you that you are truly on the way to being one with the Tao.
Weeks, months, days and years. Our sense of time has been distorted by the mechanical clock. And in this modern world, we live in an impatient timescale. Everything has to be short and concise, otherwise we get bored easily.
It has been eighty-four days and our weiqi (go/baduk) game has been going strong through the social media platforms. But because we both only make one, single, move per day - everyday, the game has seen a trailing off and slow decline in viewership enthusiasm. While at the same time, a small loyal following has started to appear.
This second growing group pops in from time to time, to make sure that they haven’t missed much, but do not stay long because to do so would make the game too intense for them.
Too intense.
Stones on a board.
Eighty-four days of war grinding on like a pestle and mortar.
We only place one stone per day on the board. The rest of the time is filled with waiting by not waiting, studying the board or mediating over the board, peppered with lighthearted correspondence between us. These things are all good.
And then...
And then there are the unforeseen consequences of playing such a long game, that most players never have to deal with. On my opponent’s are his pets: A dog knocking the board occasionally and a cat lying on the board of play to get his attention. And on my side, it is the endless checking and rechecking to make sure the stones haven’t moved as footsteps on wooden floors tend to vibrate the stones (ever-so-slightly) off their positions.
And then there’s the dust. The endless accumulating dust... Mother Nature is always there. She does what she wants. In her way subtly messing with us and seeing if we have noticed.
I bring her up because we humans have trained ourselves up to believe that war and warfare is just between humans and what humans do to each other. This is a massive illusionary distortion created by our focus on the hero’s adventure as the man who knows everything and can do everything just like that.
And yet, just because there’s a war on, it does not mean that soldiers are fighting everyday. Maybe in their minds they are, but not physically. In between the fighting, life still goes on.
Life goes on and creates its own mess.
And so long as we only have this planet to live on, our brilliant ideas of how things should be, will (sometimes) just have to take a rain-cheque on reality and we will have to accept how things really are.
Even though I’m imparting on you a Taoist pearl of wisdom, this has nothing to do with spirituality but is just down-to-earth boots-on-the-ground reality. ⚔️圍棋戰聖 Follow on Instagram: @baguazhang_
In the Baguazhang Art of War series, there are at the moment four titles available.
The first title is called ‘The Baguazhang Art of War’.
The second title is called ‘The Baguazhang Qigong Illustrated through 64 I-Ching inspired Postures’.
The third title is ‘The Baguazhang Tao of War’.
And now there is a fourth book in the series called, ‘The Baguazhang I-Ching of the Genchitaofu Way’.
This fourth book is much larger than the previous three books, and is for the baguazhang and internal martial arts practitioner that understands the relationship between bagua and the I-Ching. This book can be read from cover to cover like the others or used as a book of consultation like the Zhou Book of Changes.
And as you can guess, it deals with the concept of change.
The concept of change is at the heart or essence of what baguazhang as a martial art is. And is a fundamental aspect that separates it from other styles; including Tai Chi. The moment a baguazhang practitioner adheres to rigidity and steadfastness, is the moment he becomes a defeated man. But by incorporating change (in whatever term it is called), that defeat becomes the seed of victory. All things in the universe, whether or not you can see it, are in a state of constant change. This is not spiritual mumbo-jumbo, but something which has been proven in science again and again.
What makes my book different to the orthodox Zhou Book of Changes is that the sequence of the hexagrams have been remastered into the order of the Genchitaofu Baguazhang Way. And, that while the hexagram interpretations may seem similar, they are in fact different and are based on actual working-in-the-field questions, not reinterpretations of what happened five thousand years ago in around the time of the Shang-Zhou dynastic succession.
While I strongly encourage you to read and use it, this book is not for the person who daydreams about using Baguazhang for streetfighting.
But it is for the person who has come to appreciate, that while streetfighting is illegal in most countries, the guys who are good at streetfighting, for them it is all about the money. And that if you were to engage in such conduct, it will eventually put you in harms way.
Thankfully, that harm (however which way it comes and is experienced) is in fact heaven’s way of testing your metal on the field of battle. It is the proving ground that comes just after you have decided to not quit the martial art you have spent years dedicating your life to. And have overcome the trolls attacking your style. And you’ve hung in there, even though your martial brothers have all jumped ship for the latest popular martial art style going.
This book, ‘The Baguazhang I-Ching of the Genchitaofu Way’ is my gift to you. Read it. Use it. And transcend the level you are at.
Well, it has finally happened.
I have died and come back.
And through it all, I just kept on playing the game with my American opponent. One move per day: One black stone for him and one white stone for me.
Now, I didn’t actually die but an attempt to shut the game down was made. It came from a source that on one level had nothing to do with the game, yet the signs were there in hindsight.
So now you, dear listener, must be wondering what’s so special about the game we are playing?
On the surface, to that question, the answer is nothing. But on a deeper level, the game represents a world in which that source (I’m referring too) has been eliminated by the fact that they just don’t exist and therefore are irrelevant.
This may seem totally ridiculous and not worth trying to shut the game down for, but imagine a world in which your whole idea of the game, for example, revolves around The Middle Kingdom and who controls it.
And then, all of a sudden - POOF! The Middle Kingdom is no longer in the middle. If your frame of reference no longer exists as an ongoing concern, what then?
What should have happened was to relearn the game and not live off the coat tails of previous sages. Instead, what did happen was that nobody was allowed to play the game on home ground.
And so nobody did or does.
Which is in the game of weiqi how you lose stones: Surround and capture.
One moment a group of stones exist on the board, and then, in the next moment they no longer exist. Sucked straight out of the game’s reality and into the basket of no return.
Except of course, if you play by the rules of “Upper Management”. These so called Shen or spirit stones have a habit of dying off the weiqi board and then reappearing somewhere else to fuck up whatever strategy or tactic was in motion.
These Shen or spirit stones exist so that The Middle Kingdom does not stagnate and die from isolation. They move and act by the paradigms that only the Jade Emperor can elect. No earthly governance can force Heaven’s Will.
So when a game of weiqi has begun, it must be allowed to play itself out to its own conclusion; least the ramifications be manifested in the physical (jurisdiction) ⚔️圍棋戰聖 Follow on Insta: @baguazhang_
I am truly glad and grateful that my baguazhang martial arts journey initially had nothing to do with qigong. If it did, I think I would either be a tree hugging peace loving hippie or trying to cultivate enlightenment on a diet of meditations, pine nuts and springwater.
But as the universe would have it, there is nothing in the cosmic rulebook that says it has to be so. Nor do I want it to be so. Because whenever the path I'm on starts going in that direction, my life starts manifesting in a very interesting way, that goes a little like this:
1) My life becomes tranquil, which means it's kind of boring; 2) Everybody starts thinking I'm cashed up, which really means my source of income is drying up; 3) I can now live off the mystical dew of a single raindrop, which really means my fridge is running low on food because I have no money to pay for food; 4) People start disappearing because enlightenment is not normal social conduct, and...; 5) Nothing happens. No adventures. No misadventures either.
And after a while it gets stressful. Really stressful. Stressful because reality is not matching up with the sales pitch. And that is the reason why I tell you guys about it.
I kind of fell into the qigong business, even though it wasn't my intention, because I dislike the way it is just assumed that because I do qigong, I'm supposed to go out and heal everybody.
That last bit is a twin struggle that my wife and I have. A real yinyang conundrum. Because she's from Hong Kong, it makes sense to her that a qigong master is like a medical doctor, and should help heal others. Yet at the same time a qigong master should not sacrifice themselves for well-being of others. Yet, at the same time still, the cures should be a hit. And I'm supposed to know what I'm doing and have all the answers, while at the same time again declare that my cup is empty.
The thing is with qigong from an internal martial arts perspective, especially baguazhang, is that one's proverbial cup is both full and empty at the same time.
When we do baguazhang, we are both cultivating the qi and drinking that qi stored in our Dantian.
At a certain point, there is no longer a need to empty our cup. When our cup is full, the cup itself grows and expands to a new larger size. And what we thought was full, now only contains a trickle. And so we start filling up this enlarged yet mostly empty cup as well.
It is a continual ongoing process, with each stage refilling being about learning something new and greater than what came before. The process never ends like a fractal pattern.
Through the path of baguazhang transformation, I now understand that the way in which the cup grows and expands is just as important as filling it. And it grows according to your goals and aims around the martial arts and qigong.
Now just to be clear: There is no zero to hero. Nobody can skip a stage of learning and realisations. Not even me. We all start at the bottom and work our way up. Even if you have been jumping between martial art styles and chasing whatever is next popular, Heaven doesn't care. It sees every style you have dabbled in as a step up in understanding and that you by your actions has chosen to learn in the way that you do. It may mean that you may never achieve a black belt or win that trophy, but you are walking your path.
For the rest of you who are a little clearer in your direction and have an expanding cup to fill, one's qigong journey is defined by the end goal you have in mind.
For example, one of my qigong goals was to drink the Elixir of Immortality, which is fictional. At the end of that journey, what I got was a Cha-no-yu ceremony at a Japanese teahouse, which of course is real. Matcha drunk during a Cha-no-yu ceremony marked an important stage along my baguazhang qigong journey.
At the time of the event, I did not know this but now I do.
So what's all this got to do with the Art of War?
Everything and Nothing.
It's been fifty-one days.
Fifty-one days of fifty-one black stones and fifty-one white stones vying for control over the weiqi (go/baduk) board. That is longer than the recent hot war between Armenia and Azerbaijan. And we are still going strong. Which is a good thing because both of us would love to drop a daisycutter on each others' asses, but the ratings seem to favour death by ninja stealth more.
And so, we take things slow and watch the intensity build as we try to force each other's hand to bend to our will.
What I find really interesting, is how much of it is emotionally affecting the viewership. Without having a direct say in how the game will progress, it is in some ways more intense for them than it is for us, the actual players.
Sure, I spend time calculating the moves. But I don't spend all day on it. In some ways playing one move per day is easier to manage strategically and tactically.
What really is trying on my nerves is the waiting game. Waiting for my opponent to make his move - play his stone - so that I can respond in kind.
Now for those of you who think it will last forever like a TV show past its use-by-date, you really are poor with numbers regardless of how nerdy smart you project yourselves out to be. The game only has 181 black stones and 180 white stones.
And yes, the English websites are wrong. You do not get an infinite number of stones. And the updated Chinese Professional gaming rules miss the point by trying to make the number of stones equal to both sides.
War and politics is never a fair fight. It is deliberately meant to be unfair.
My opponent requested the match after reading my book '圍棋戰聖: The Weiqi Art of War'. And so it is his game, his world, his establishment.
It is my job to take it away from him.
And every morning that's what happens. The game is our breakfast newspaper. No Murdoch here. No Great Wall of China, and no North Korean rubbish. This war between us is a good stuff upper lip of calculated Dim Mak targeting.
Now on a side note: True Dim Mak is the art of targeting an opponent's vital or pressure points. In an actual battle it rarely works and that's why fighters say it is fake. Real Dim Mak is more like an assassination or surgical strike designed to knock out an opponent 'BEFORE' an actual fight, so that a war is unnecessary.
But again, history has proven that it sometimes does not work.
In our weiqi game, the war is already happening. Here a successful Dim Mak strike will end it ⚔️圍棋戰聖 Follow on Insta: @baguazhang_
My articles and podcasts on the 'gong' part of gongfu, have been to my readers and listeners both clarifying and disappointing in equal measure.
For those seeking clarity, it had helped to give a distinct clear watermark on how to measure 'gong' as a definable outcome.
And for the rest, it has been disappointing because now they know that there is no way to cheat the process. Either you are in it to win or you are not.
Even qigong requires hard work and a long period of time to achieve mastery.
I am highlighting this because recently my wife asked me to write an article on how qigong can help with wrist health. You'd think the topic would be easy for me, but it isn't.
Firstly, the article is aimed at the elderly and people whose mobility requires assisted living. And secondly, true qigong requires persistent self-development over a long period of time, where results aren't as measurable as one would believe. Almost all of the so-called qigong available online to help improve a person's wrist health is actually acupressure techniques. Not qigong.
Now these acupressure techniques do work and I strongly recommend them, along with finding ways to remove the things in one's life that are part of the reason for the pain.
And as you are probably guessing, this leads to the other half of gongfu: The 'fu' part! The Chinese character is literally a pictograph of an honoured person with arms, wearing a hat.
In the west, the best comparison is the captain of the ship. You know he's the captain because he wears the hat. So in some ways 'fu' is a mark of rank. But it also means that the mark is achieved by having mastered the skill through years of study and practice.
But it comes with a catch: Even though you've received your rank, say a doctorate of medicine, you are required to practice what you've mastered in order to keep it. And as a martial artist, whatever your style, it is a lot harder to do than what you signed up for.
To live the martial arts dream means to walk in your martial ancestor's shoes. And those are some very big shoes to fill. On top of that, you have to make sense of the past and make what was created in another time and in another place, work in your present reality.
You know you are at this stage because you've stopped trying to glorify or glamourize the past. And are beginning to notice the shit bits of the story. Those bits, that once incorporated into our lives, just don't add up. And we are unable to tell others about it because they are still walking the dream as was sold to them.
Those of you who have come to accept, over time, that it's part of the journey, where you live now and what you do now as an extension of your art is your modern interpretation of how your martial ancestor actually lived their lives without the bullshit.
Your job now, is to take what you've experienced and add your chapter to the story. And help your martial art to be the real deal in the 21st Century.
Dealing with ghosts and demons - And the usage of 'spirit swords' in one's baguazhang sword form practice.
So much of martial arts these days is focused on the physical. Can a person kick, punch and wrestle to overcome their opponent (if there is one)?
Yet, as I play weiqi or Go against my American opponent, I start to understand that the over-reliance on the physical, is just a mask. A mask to hide deep fundamental flaws in one's training. And that flaw is the rejection of what it means to be human as opposed to just being an animal.
We humans are sentient beings, who have overcome our natural adversaries by cultivating our minds to such an extent, that compared to our closest animal cousins, we might as well be gods to them. For, it wasn't our physical abilities that put us at the top of the food chain.
Both, me and my opponent, do baguazhang and qigong. The baguazhang takes care of our physical realms. While the Qigong takes care of our energetic realms.
What you are seeing on the Go board is what happens when these two modalities of baguazhang and qigong are transferred onto the mental realm. And both sides are using guerilla warfare to kill each other in the dark.
But in order to do that, we both are using the game to develop our 'situational awareness' capabilities.
The capability of being aware of your opponent and their moves in advance of them being played, when one does not know their opponent well. And it is far harder to do than it looks on the board.
Imagine an opponent in the ring, who can appear and disappear at will. No matter how good you are at wrestling or boxing, you are constantly trying to figure out in advance where they will materialise, so that you can strike before they strike.
And then, not every move appears like a traditional strike from them, even though it is.
What then?
Does that mean your martial arts, including you MMA guys, is useless?
Well, that depends...
You may be the best in the ring, on the mat or in the cage, but most people are not. And so, they will not fight you directly. They will twist the battle onto the terrain of their choosing and defeat you there. And you see it all the time. Guys who are at the top of their game brought low by a situation that they have no real skills to deal with.
Coming, seemingly out of the blue, it hits them where they are most vulnerable. And as expected, the pain point is never their physical ability.
So cut the bullshit about adding more and more rules and handicaps to the game and train your mental abilities like a B2 bomber about to unload it's shit on your dumbass! ⚔️圍棋戰聖 Follow on Insta: @baguazhang_
So recently while playing against my American opponent, we both have come to enjoy the pace of our game, with each of us making one move per day. This gives us both twenty-four hours to ponder over our moves before we must place a stone on the board.
And despite the thousands of mental calculations possible, both of us settle down to a handful of possible moves. And it's really a case of hypothetical theory meets practical reality. With the facts on the ground dictating the way things will move forward.
Since this is the first time we have played against each other, both of us have gone in blind to the game. And if you've been following the game on Instagram or Facebook, then you've been witnessing what happens when two civilisations, who have been unaware of each other, suddenly make contact.
They must find a way to co-exist before the inevitable power struggle ensues.
For us, we have managed to hold off for about thirty days or sixty moves. Which is impressive in itself, given that most wars on the Go board start around the seventh stone played.
Why we are attacking each other now, is that both of us have come to realise that for this game, each stone is putting on the squeeze for both of us. And our ability to avoid conflict reduces with each passing day.
In short: When a given territory is finite, the pressures of life will eventually lead to conflict. And that conflict will happen, regardless if it's wanted or not.
It is for these reasons (and others) that the gongfu masters of yore, chose a lot of the time to live in the wild. Peace was found amongst nature. When too many masters congregated in one place for too long, the fights would start.
Essentially we are talking about turf wars. And it doesn't matter what the style is. It all boils down to who controls the resources available. And if it's of limited supply, it is valuable and worth fighting over.
At some point every master, in their way, will make their move and try to claim a piece of the action. It can be as stupid as claiming how ancient a style is or who the legendary ancestor is, even though there is no proof to the claims.
And that is what you are seeing on the Go board.
We are both arguing over mining rights, as they say, while building up our private armies for the inevitable civil war that is to come.
If you find yourself in a similar situation in business or life in general, but don't know why, the thing you must know is that your opponent wants what you have, because it is the same thing you want from them. And there's only so much of it to go around ⚔️圍棋戰聖 Follow on Insta: @baguazhang_
Thanks to the success of my little book '圍棋戰聖: The Weiqi Art of War', it has inspired people to pick up the game, and use playing the game as a way to develop their strategic thinking in business, life, war and in areas of life I would not of thought of being related.
Well actually...
When I think about it, it should not surprise me at all.
The game of weiqi (go/baduk), after all, is a form of intense qigong cultivation summed up in the whole act of committing to a move upon the board. And you can see this happening by way of how a player's breathing is altered with the intensity of their focus as the sucks them into its battlefield vortex.
But that is only the base level of qigong cultivation.
What the real aim of using weiqi to cultivate one's qi is about, is to find one's sense of detachment from the game while playing the game.
This does not mean having a flippant, non-chalant whatever goes attitude. Because that path usually leads to defeat. Nor does it mean relying on mechanical devices like clock timers to set the pace, for that is an artificial handicap. And it is a bit like relying on a semi-automatic rifle to compensate for a lack of combat skills.
True detachment allows a person to see the game as a whole entity, even of most of the focus is held up by a small battle in one area of the board from time to time, so that the real final victory can be achieved with grace and ease.
True detachment also allows a person to see what their opponent needs in order to be able to surrender with honour.
Now I know what you are thinking: What? My opponent wants to surrender?
Or it could be you thinking: What? I want to surrender? I don't think so.
But it is true.
Some people have an unrealised death-wish. But not for the reasons one would think. Many people require, like a caterpillar, to go through the act of death so that they can go through the act of rebirth, like the butterfly. And they require their opposite to deliver the deathblow in an honourable setting.
And it is through the process of dying and being reborn many times over upon the weiqi board that they discover the true power of their individual qi as it relates uniquely to them.
This is the art of qigong cultivation through the game of weiqi (go/baduk) ⚔️圍棋戰聖 Follow on Insta: @baguazhang_
I know for a fact that many of you are struggling to come to terms with the 'gong' of gongfu and qigong. I know this because my podcasts around gongfu are nearly always my worst performing podcasts.
It seems to me that most of you don't like the hard work involved to reach mastery, and you think that by listening to my podcasts and reading my books will give you the 'secret' to easy ambitions.
But here's the thing: I never said that gong means hard work. You did.
Gong only means doing the work required to master one's craft.
When you assume that work must be hard, it's opposite polarity is also true in that work can also be easy. Easy and hard are just subjective qualifiers that you have attached to doing the work.
You assumed things that weren't necessarily there. And your body and mind responded in kind.
And I can prove it.
You go to your favourite department store and pick up a five kilogram dumbell. And do ten reps on both sides, biceps and triceps, and it's easy stuff; to do in the store. And then on a separate occasion, you go to the gym and again pick up a five kilogram dumbell, and try to do the same. But it now feels like ten kilograms, and you're struggling. So what happened?
What happened was that in the store, you were probably showing off and playing around, and you told yourself it was easy. But in the gym, because somewhere within you you felt intimidated by the muscle around you, you subconsciously fell into the trap of telling yourself that it's gonna be hard. And so it is.
Now, if you need it to be hard, that's your story and you have decided to live with it. Whatever you're doing requires it to be so.
But for the rest of you, making things harder than it actually is, is just another excuse holding you back because deep down inside you are afraid to be who you are really wanting to be.
And so you live in a world that is all stick and no carrot.
And your martial arts world is the same.
And for the muscle guys in the gym, it is all carrot: They have the posters, they have the girls; they have the lifestyle. It is who they are - that is why they succeed (at the gym).
Nobody can tell you how hard you have to work.
Nobody can tell you how much effort you have to put into it.
And nobody can tell you how to do it.
But the numbers never ever lie. If your goal is to be a gongfu master as in what gongfu actually means, then you will have to face the truth and the facts.
And just because baguazhang is an internal martial art, that is no excuse for not putting in the work required. I may, from time to time, sound a bit batshit crazy and off my nut, but even I understand the rules to becoming a gongfu master.
Some people have told me that the Chinese character 'gong' as in gongfu and qigong, is a pictograph of a tilled soil line and a plough. And that gong speaks of results: Either you have ploughed the field or you have not.
With baguazhang, it's quite simple. A baguazhang practitioner who has reached the level of gongfu will display these signs: 1. They will, without forethought, stand in the baguazhang pose when fighting; 2. They will move in a circular motion; 3. They will almost never use fists, but will hit and block with palms. And all these movements will seem natural to them and their bodies will match the part as well.
All of these things do not require Daoist or Zen-like justifications. It just is so.
What gets a lot of martial artists in trouble, is their inability to face facts. Not just external reality as in being overweight and unfit, and thinking they can take down a young man in his prime, but also the internal reality of telling everybody they're gonna be a master when they train like it's just a hobby.
Because to be a master of baguazhang, you will have to: 1. Train every single fucking day including the days you don't feel like it; 2. Stop putting shit in your lungs; 3. Lay off the alcohol most of the time; 4. Change your diet because your diet nearly always affects your ability to do the moves either physically or mentally; and... 5. You will have to associate with the right kinds of people that want or have what you want.
It's all about the standards you keep, and here I am only discussing the physical part of being a gongfu master.
Welcome to the circus.
There is a rare Chinese martial art called Dog Style Kungfu or Dog Style Fist. It is an external martial art and the practitioners move around like domesticated dogs.
Now, for most of you, when I say Dog Style, you are thinking either about guard dogs, working dogs or the dogs used in illegal dog fights. But the movements are none of that.
Logically our default images make sense, but instead what you see is a bloke on all fours moving like a house pet begging half the time for a doggie snack. It's because of this that until now, I could never figure out the style. After all, they look rather comical and should be part of a clown circus routine.
And then... It hit me: I have been judging external appearances by external martial art standards. And by external standards it is easy to see why it would remain a rare style. Who the hell would want to learn such a humiliating style?
But then my internal martial art standards came forth to ask these questions:
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It looks dumb, but looks are deceiving. In China, to be called a dog is to be called a slave. It's as bad as being called a housen***er in America. So shouldn't we go deeper?
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The movements are comical like a clown's. And clown's are traditionally associated with circuses. The circus is full of people who aren't what they appear to be. Actors on a stage living out alternative lives for our amusement and in return we pay them gold. So shouldn't we be following the money on this?
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Dogs are loveable, and depending on what type of dog it is, they have a way to willingly get us to give them our plate of food. So what this means is, if you ever find yourself fighting a guy who knows and does dog style fist, you might want to watch your own hands because you could be thinking that you are punching him but the reality could be that you are actually feeding him. Could be that be the reason why your punches are hanging no effect whatsoever on him?
If you have ever seen the movie 'Snatch' by director Guy Ritchie, then you will remember the Gypsy boxer character played by Brad Pitt. In his fight scene, he sorted of acted like the internal style dog (in spirit, not in form) and then became the external style dog to win the fight (in spirit, not in form).
And that reminds me. This is for all you baguazhang practitioners out there, who want to prove your moves are shit hot. Number one: You're an internal martial artist so stop playing by other people's rules and lose the gloves. Number two: Stop claiming you do baguazhang when your posture and moves look like traditional western boxing. And number three: If you must wear gloves, don't get in the ring. It's a setup and you will lose. Danny the Dog in front of you, will kick your ass and post the video on the internet for all eternity to mock you.
So remember I'm talking about Dog Style Fist, NOT doggy style fisting. There is a difference.
Wow! It's been an amazing eight months. In those eight months, I have published four books around the martial art of baguazhang.
No. 1: The Baguazhang Art of War; No. 2: The Baguazhang Qigong illustrated through 64 I-Ching inspired Postures; No. 3: The Baguazhang Tao of War; and... No. 4: The Baguazhang I-Ching of the Genchitaofu Way.
And for those of you, who are reading them, you will have noticed at least three things about the books. The first is that the books are deliberately short and easy to read. The second is that they deal with the subject of baguazhang from four new angles that are completely different from what's out there already, and thirdly, the four books follow in order of the FuXi bagua wheel.
I know. I was as shocked as you are.
Maybe even more so, because I didn't know I was doing it until I was done, and somebody outside of the martial arts pointed it out to me; Such is the power of the subconscious sometimes - in service to the Tao whether I realized it or not.
So, now that I have published on Amazon.com these four baguazhang books, what - my fellow listeners - would you like me to publish next?
As you start to think about it, please be honest to yourselves on what it is. Make sure it is a topic that you actually will pick up and read. And of you are not a reader, admit that too. Whatever it is, it must be a topic that even if you don't read the book, then just browsing or flicking through it will make it beneficial to you.
Oh yeah, that last book: The Baguazhang I-Ching of the Genchitaofu Way, follows a completely new hexagram sequence to assist practitioners along their Tao of martial arts.
All four books are available on Amazon.com as an ebook or paperback. It's your choice.
So let me know what you want to read next.
It's been another five months, and while 2020 is turning into a stressful year for a lot of people, I have found my own experience being something closer to boring.
Okay, well maybe not totally boring: I published six books on Amazon.com, and started an international weiqi game that you can follow on Instagram as part of The Weiqi Art of War, made visual for the people who don't read or listen to anything.
And then there's the virus, the wars, the riots and the protests, and all the other shenanigans... And I'm finding it still a tad bit boring.
So while I ponder over this, I am putting on my new Red Jade Pendant - A red pendant with a carving of a Chinese Dragon encircling 'The Orb of Enlightenment' as I like to call it.
I had actually bought it years ago at the Hong Kong Ladies Market along Tung Choi street. And then, like a lot of touristy stuff people buy, I bought it back to Sydney and stashed it away never to be seen again until just a few weeks ago.
I had been wanting to wear a new pendant for some time, thou, because my other pendants are now so full of my qi, that they have become too heavy to wear. And they hurt my neck with the weight.
Normally a new pendant has no discernible weight to it when worn. With the only weight being whatever it is when weighed on a scale. But after prolonged usage, its real weight becomes its physical weight plus the qi it has absorbed from me. This can be more easily understood in this way: Compare two books that look the same from the outside, with the only difference being that one is blank and the other has words and pictures in it. While the ink in the one book can be tangibly weighed on a scale, the real weight of the book will be in the meaning of what's printed. So to cling to just the physics of the physical is a limitation that could turn into a self-imposed prison.
Qigong, however it is experienced, is meant to help expand the mind into new realms. How that is done, depends on what style of qigong is being practiced and who the practitioner is.
It does not have to be a spiritual thing. Fucking and having multiple orgasms can be just as enlightening for some people. Having an orgasm is a form of extremely powerful qi, that can heal people provided that the intention to heal is there.
For all you men, who don't believe me about that one, go and ask a woman who regularly has multiple orgasms and really listen carefully to what she has to say about it.
Perhaps it might be better to not believe, because then you won't feel so inadequate.
After I did the podcast 'Daddy..., You're just no fun anymore', I showed the transcript to my daughter. She asked me if people would listen to it, and I told her it would make her famous.
For the next few days after that, all was quiet. Peace returned to my home and I took my wife's advice to not start any more wars against my children.
Then after a week of peace: Whack!!
My daughter punched me directly in the back of the kidneys, and ran off.
Over the course of many days she kept doing it. Harmless whacks designed to bait me into chasing her like an ogre. But I held off, because while the whacks made a lot of noise like a piece of steak slapping a chopping board, they didn't hurt at all.
Or so I thought.
Two weeks after I thought peace had been made, I woke up one morning with a growing pain in my side. My muscles had knotted up so tight along my one side that sleeping became difficult, with lots of midnight visits to the toilet.
I couldn't figure out the cause of my symptoms. It was a total mystery.
Until my daughter whacked me in the kidneys again and pleaded with me to chase her.
Unable to chase her around the house, I negotiated with her a grappling session on the floor on the condition that she would later help me to stretch my back muscles.
Now here I must point out a key difference between hard style and soft style training: Modern mixed martial arts is great and all, until something goes wrong like pulling a tendon, ripping a muscle or induced severe inflammation. Then the practitioner has to stop, rest and wait for the injured body part to heal before they can get back on the mat.
With my Genchitaofu system of doing things, the healing of injuries is sped up through the assistance of the training itself. It's a bit like horses when they're sick. To stop them dying, the best thing sometimes for them is to get them on their hooves and moving around again.
So getting back to my story, there I was grappling with my daughter and a muscle in the back of my head went pop! It hurt like hell, but it also felt really good immediately afterwards. And I had a sudden realisation of where my back pain came from.
It was from all those whacks my had given me. And I had never made the connection until then.
Basically, what had happened was that the whacks were too light to cause bruises. All she had been doing was sending loud shockwaves through my body and my body reacted by tightening up my muscles at the point of impact. Through repeated shockwaves, the muscles kept tightening until it spread down to my thigh and up to my neck.
When you think about it, it's a very clever strategy and I got to learn through experience something new.
And my daughter won the grappling match against her far bigger and far heavier daddy.
And we were both finally content.
This is a long-ish podcast. About 9 minutes long. I wasn't intending it to be this long but on Facebook I was asked why I spell it with a 'T' instead of a 'D'. I hope this episode makes sense to all of you who want to know.
A thank you to Master Neil Andrew Ripski in Canada and all who purchased "The Baguazhang Art of War" on Amazon.com. I have now followed it up with "The Baguazhang Tao of War".
To answer a few questions in one hit, the Genchitaofu Baguazhang system is about allowing the baguazhang practitioner to experience baguazhang in their everyday life outside of the dojo club or boxing ring.
When I first began baguazhang, my goals centred around wanting to be a bonafide martial artist, and healing my body from the corruption of the modern consumerist lifestyle.
Compared to most people, I had a legs up on the wannabe competition because I was already doing a bit of martial arts from other styles, for over a decade I was an I-Ching master, and for the guangxi, I was married to a Chinese woman.
And...
Just like every other style or form, at some point a practitioner comes across a question like this: What's this style good for?
It's a very good question when a person takes the time to really think about it. It pops up all the time in different forms, and it has led many martial artists to end up in arguments and fights.
For me, the question came up in the form of: How can a martial art style created almost 200 years ago, during Qing Dynasty China, by guys living in a cultural society that has no relevance to my modern life in Australia help me?
People can't just go around starting fights just to work these things out. You spend years and years perfecting a specific technique, but when will you get the chance to use it?
Honestly, it just doesn't happen. Not even in the boxing ring.
And if it did, you probably wouldn't even notice it. Real life isn't a martial arts movie.
And if, through experience, what I'm talking about: Congratulations! You're part of the ten percent that has actually been in a fight. Most men typically talk a big game but are lacking in details. I say 'men' because most women tend to be more honest about real life and fighting. In fact, for men, unless they're an active participant in a zone of conflict like a war or something. Or are in a bully-victim relationship, or practice in a dojo, the chances of trying out a move are next to nothing. It's all bullshit and jellybeans.
Women, on the other hand, come across violence far too often. Case-in-point: Wing Chun.
Regardless of what you believe I think about the style, and I have been threatened by practitioners (who practice the style) to shut up and stop disrespecting it, the truth is: I respect Wing Chun a lot.
During my M.A.G.S. years, it was the going style. Everybody around me was learning it. And this was before the Ip Man movies.
Wing Chun is its own unique style. While Crane style promotes itself as light and delicate to women in the belief that women are the fairer sex. Wing Chun was created by a Shaolin nun (a woman) to help defend her disciple called Wing Chun (also a woman) from an abusive man, in the small cramped up kitchens and alleyways of a Chinese town or village.
Domestic violence is not a new thing.
To reinforce this history, it was said that a woman's place in the home was the kitchen. Well why do you think the iconic weapons of Wing Chun are the butterfly knives? Most men see butterfly knives and think short stubby swords. Women see the kitchen chopper. Not the western meat cleaver but the Chinese all-purpose chopper, every Chinese home has.
The digression into Wing Chun was to illustrate the importance of walking the circle because baguazhang is a thinking man's martial art. The circle represents the depth of knowledge and understanding symbolised by how deep the circle had become.
For most practitioners the grass has barely moved.
As the depression gets deeper and deeper, one's understanding grows deeper. Every baguazhang master of worth knows the moment of reaching dirt and realising the profoundness of it.
The Genchitaofu system of Baguazhang is meant to train a practitioner to go deeper than the superficial and really grasp their art too, by having everyday experiences that allow them to transmute their skills to some more practical worth, in the environment and times they are in.
The traditional Chinese character for qi is made up of two parts. The first upper part is the character for air. The second lower part is the character for rice. For a lot of rice eating countries, rice is the staple and represents earthly qi; earthly nourishment. And by further extension: A person's wealth.
From time to time, you will notice that I will talk about qi and wealth combined. They are interlinked. Even now, in our Western capitalist based society in which wealth and success tends to get measured by how much money we have, money is a form of energy exchange between people: Electronic numerical transactions that is only underwritten (these days) by the might of the country that prints it, if that.
The Genchitaofu Baguazhang's Qi is about fully comprehending qi in all its tangible forms. And as a result, appreciating what true reality was for the ancient masters instead of just idealizing romantic notions of the past, by having real life as the ultimate sensei.
To give you an example.
Towards the end of 2019, a guide of the Japanese Imperial Palace, posted on social media a picture by Yoshitoshi called 'Inamurgasaki no akebono no tsuki" or in english: The Promontory Moon at Daybreak.
As part of the posting, the guide wrote: I feel heartbreaking grief when I see the painting by Yoshitoshi. Nitta Yoshida (1301 – 1338) was about to throw his sword into the sea. The sword is a symbol of the samurai. To throw a sword (into the sea) means to die for a samurai.
It was a beautiful yet poinent scene. And because it also touched something within me as well, I decided to leave this comment: I love this moment. I can't tell you how many times I've experienced this moment in my own life.
I thought that would be it, but to my surprise, I got a reply: Peter-san, did you? Would you tell me more about it if possible?
Sure, I answered. If you don't mind...
Out here in the west, the samurai are seen from a highly romantic ideal. And while a lot of men and boys dream of being one, we give lip-service to it by choosing to only focus on the fantasy that never was.
To live in the modern world like a true samurai (in the original meaning of the word, first) is to confront the stark realities of everyday life.
Yes, I do martial arts everyday & yes, I practice with katanas. But it is when I'm kneeling on the wooden floor with the katana laying in front of me, that there are times when I have to confront a scene where my rice bucket is literally (NOT metaphorically) less than half full.
Yes. I kid you not. My wealth is tied to how much rice I have in my house. The day I discovered this truth was the day I was arguing with my wife about the original meaning of samurai. For her (being Chinese) it meant Japanese Bushido. But for me it means to serve. But without an earthly lord, I work for "Upper Management".
Have I come close to throwing away my katana in the trash? Many times. Usually over money issues.
But each time, I listen to my soul. Put the katana back in its resting place. And cross the river.
When I was done, I posted my reply. But she replied, saying: Peter-san, thank you. Everything starts to dream, and I am sure we are reaching a romantic ideal, slowly, day by day. Thank you. I enjoyed it!
I don't think she fully understood what I was saying. And I don't blame her. I was recounting a specific moment of my life I do not want to repeat, relive or revisit. It was part of my 'staying grounded and keeping it real' martial arts phase. Which is ironic. Because what was a painful series of situations for me, and my family, sounds to other people like a sailor's tall tale about catching the big one that got away.
But whatever you want to believe, and you're welcome to laugh on it, but I can tell you this: I will always make sure my house is well-stocked with rice.
Well, I did it again.
I published another book in this fine month of August, two thousand and twenty. Three books in a row this month.
The first book is called The Weiqi Art of War. The second book is called Suntzu's Art of War in Thirteen Acts. And now I present to you The Baguazhang Art of War.
And all are available on Amazon.com.
My latest book, The Baguazhang Art of War, is for people that want to get to know me better. And it is for people who want to better understand the martial art of baguazhang from a western science-based perspective.
Now to be clear, in this book I attempt to bridge theoretical science with everyday practical examples that a practitioner can try out for themselves.
So rather than be a dickhead about it, and dismiss everything that is not standard science as quackery, just remember this: A lot of scientists have been trained to think and do in a ridgitly confined system. And most of them are not Einsteins, Newton's or Teslas. They too need, from time to time, fresh blood to get them out of their rut.
And if you're the type that needs everything told to you by a master to your face because you're doing the master-disciple relationship thing, then this book is not for you.
Nor is it for you, if you enjoy over-verbosely 'I am smarter than you' treatises because this book is too small or short for you.
Which leads on to my next point: I don't really want to tell you why it is called The Art of War... There are a lot of martially minded people out there who discover the Tao in very trying and violent situations. They know when they are on the Tao but cannot explain it to others.
Why would they?
Most people either won't believe them or their life is too different from others. And then you have the added problem that most things to do with the Tao is centred around spiritual enlightenment. Which isn't always the case.
For example: I experience the Tao everytime I'm driving my car and there's nothing spiritual about it, even though I understand it better through physics. Essentially, when a car is in motion (and I'm in the car), I am by the human experience in the state of continuous motion and therefore to the stationary observer, I am at no fixed point. Even if the observer could point to me and say, "I am there", that would now be his past because I have moved on and I am somewhere else. And yet to me I am always in the present moment of now.
No matter how accurately you try to pinpoint my location, so long as I keep moving, those measurements are at best guesstimates. This is what lies at the heart of trying to predict in Quantum Physics.
If you can make sense of this example, then you'd start to understand (a little bit of) what my book The Baguazhang Art of War is about. The Tao is the road with the car in motion in it. It exists but cannot be accurately defined.
But that does not matter. What matters is that you get enough of an insight that when the next time in which you find yourself in a car, you will finally be able to say, "I have Tao".
For the baguazhang practitioner, the ring created when walking the circle is the symbolic essence of the Tao itself. And it goes to the very heart of what the baguazhang practitioner is doing. You are not just becoming one with the Tao but actively creating it too.
That there, is your circle. Your Tao. It defines you and you define it.
If you don't believe me, go and ask your Shifu. I bet that they have no idea of what I'm talking about. Nor do I care. Thank you very much. The Tao is the Tao. It's not something a Shifu can bestow on a student.
For those of you who want to know, this is what it's sometimes like raising martial art daughters. It just makes me proud to know that when they grow up they will hold their own. 🙂 For those of you who want a taste of the life, this is what it's like to live in a martial arts family raising daughters.
This morning I woke up my youngest daughter with the threat that she was gonna go down this morning. She got up with a start and raced herself to the bathroom.
After my ten year old daughter shut the bathroom door, I went to the dining table and ate my breakfast. So there I was, drinking my tea and eating my porridge. I was one with the universe.
When BAM!
Out of nowhere, my daughter sucker-punches me right in the kidneys and sprints off.
After breakfast, I head to the kitchen. I wash my dishes and just as I pass the sofa, she gets me with a hidden leg sweep. While she failed to bring me down, that heel of hers still hurt. She got me square in the ankle, before sprinting off again.
I told her if she didn't stop, the beast would come out and she would feel my wrath!
As I strolled towards the bathroom, it never occurred to me to check behind the bedroom door next to the bathroom. I just thought she'd be getting ready for school. Nope. As I pass the door she jumps out in front of me. In the surprise, she tries to punch me twice in the stomach but I catch those as one of shins connects with my thigh pressure point just above the knees. Oh man, did that hurt.
And then she ran off to school.
After school I went to pick her up. I had pretty much forgotten about it, but then she says while we are walking home together, "Daddy?"
"Yes dear, what is it?"
"Daddy, when we get home..."
"When we get home, what?" I'm expecting a request for something. But she just looks me in face with those sweet adorable eyes and says, "When we get home, you're going DOWN!"
And then she shin kicks me in the thigh again and runs off home. There's just no respect in this world anymore. Making her old man limp home. Tsk. Tsk. The nerve of that girl: Strategically taking out her old man in little bite size pieces over the course of the day. Makes me proud to be her daddy!
But do you know what the worst bit was?
Later in the evening, she comes up to me in her sweetest sugar-coated girly-girl voice, while deliberately batting her eyes at me and whispers, "Daddy?"
"Yes pumpkin?"
"You're just no fun anymore daddy."
"What'd you mean?"
"Daddy..., You're going down daddy!" And just like that, she's practicing a judo hold on me. A good one too. I could feel my neck cracking. 🤗🥇♥️
YAY! My second book Suntzu's Art of War in Thirteen Acts is now available on Amazon.com This book is for all you higher flyers out there who don't have the time for long winded academic sludge! This book is very short and very sweet. Written by me. A guys who actually knows what he's talking about: Experience!
Thank you Edwardo (not his real name) for your question. Why should you indeed. Hmmmm... Here's my reply mixed in with a "wait, but there's more" sales pitch! But seriously, you purchase the book on Amazon.com Just click on the link to take you directly there 👉 https://www.amazon.com/圍棋戰聖-Weiqi-Art-Peter-Hainzl-ebook/dp/B08FCLFLS9/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?dchild=1&qid=1597300208&refinements=p_27%3APeter+Hainzl&s=digital-text&sr=1-1&text=Peter+Hainzl Follow on Insta: @baguazhang_
Yup, that's right! The Weiqi Art of War is now on Amazon.com both on the Kindle platform and as a paperback. Follow on Insta: @baguazhang_
For those of you who do not like the idea that Weiqi is a war, perhaps it could be better fathomed as a dialogue between two antagonistic players, who are ready to back their words up with force.
But the skill lies not in direct confrontation.
Rather, the aim is to outmaneuver one's opponent and influence as much territory as possible before it comes to blows. It was this constant strategic maneuvering that makes The Cold War the real third world war.
So for those of you who are still waiting for World War Three to start, I've got news for you: It ended three decades ago.
After the collapse of the Soviet Union, there was a short inter-war period of relative peace. And then on September 11th, 2001 it all started up again... When we look at the global big picture we've been 'strummin'it through World War Four and nobody has noticed.
But then, that's the nature of most humans: Dreaming of a past that never existed while wishing for a future that will never come. While in the meantime, those that are aware of the nature of the game, are seizing territory all over the place. Striking deals over here while living in gangsta paradise over there.
And sadly, there are certain countries around the world that have or are becoming Weiqi boards in which players can agree to be the worst of enemies while still in other places be the best of friends.
I guess I could say that about all chess games but I am a Weiqi (Go/Baduk) player. And each chess game is based on different focuses with different scales. Western chess is strongly focused on the politics within castle walls. Chinese chess focuses on unifying a country already divided under one banner. And Japanese chess or Shogi is interesting as it allows for mercenaries – a reflection of the time when the samurai were in ascendancy.
Whatever the chess game, Weiqi is the most abstract and the most simple: A stone is just a stone and once played, it stays played. The only way a stone can leave the board or move is if it is captured. Every move is final.
If you happen to be a stone played upon your own board, it must take a lot of nerve and a lot of inner reconciliation to realise that the only way you are going to exit the game is through death?
Acceptance of death. The way of the samurai is found in death. The samurai takes each day as if it is the last. A zen precept along the Tao ⚔️圍棋戰聖
The future is not fixed. It is forever changing by the decisions and actions we make in the right here and now. Even our thoughts and feelings in the present moment can be a major factor in how it all plays out, one stone at a time.
As I am sitting here at my kitchen table, it is early morning and a light fog is slowly clearing up. I have a stick of Japanese incense burning nearby and I'm wondering about whether or not to make myself a cup of tea?
If I do, then the noise may wake up the rest of my household. And if I don't, then I have a very good chance of having this quiet moment to myself.
It's nice. Peaceful. Even the old fridge humming in the background is peaceful.
And now...
The moment has passed. The incense has died down and while I'm remembering the game of Weiqi (Go/Baduk) I played for the seventh time yesterday – I can hear the clanging and clinking of the stones as they touch the board.
The game I've been studying is a simple game. Not too many moves. Only about one hundred and thirty stones before white resigns; with just two of its stones captured.
Every game played is exactly the same. Like most professional Weiqi games: Start at the corners and then after about six moves, one side goes on the probing attack. There's a little tussle and then a break of a few stones and then a second engagement.
Maybe for the players it was intensely exciting because the championship title and prize money was worth it, but from a higher plane, humans are rather predictable. We live a very ordered life of ups and downs.
It is only when we try to control the control, or try to make more ordered what is already very much in order, that we suddenly lose the control and begin to unravel into the chaos.
I know this makes no sense to some people. But if I go back to the game I was playing yesterday, it took seven replays to have gone deep enough to find the exact moment in okay where white starts to unravel and become obsessed with control and order: It was black's turn. Number eighty-one. Not exactly an attacking move. White had options but a blind mistake was made.
When a country becomes obsessed with control and order, at the expense of agreements made, then that is a clear sign madness has set in.
Imagine a Go board being played by two celestial dragons, for that is what Xūn (巽) from the I-Ching portrays. Those two little coiling strokes at the top are dragons in heaven, while the grid below them is the Weiqi board. The Weiqi board symbolises their world. And life can only exist while they are in a state of play.
Symbolically those two little coiling strokes at the top represent the traditional Chinese character for dragon or Lóng (龍), which in fact is actually two dragons. And because they're conjoined, they happen to be two Yang energies merging to create one powerful Yin energy: This is the spiritual fengshui reason why nearly every nation or tribe that has tried to conquer China, has ended up being absorbed and becoming Chinese themselves.
But now China uses the simplified character for dragon (龙). This dragon, she has lost her mate. And is off-balance. Hence, the Weiqi board only has black stones on it. Where have all the white stones gone?
In a sense she has won. But what has she won?
Is she is gripped by the madness of her partner being a ghost? What ninja skills are these? Did white leave and play on another board? For that is what it looks like.
It doesn't take a genius to see where this is heading ⚔️圍棋戰聖
Fengshui literally means wind and water, and it is the ancient Chinese art of geomancy.
My podcast number 146 (& 135) was about the Fengshui of Meadowbank, where I live. And it's all about how great it is to live where I live.
Since that podcast, I've had people debating with me about my fengshui. And by debate, I mostly mean that the debate starts with 'I'm full of shit' and 'What have I got to say for myself?'
From actual other internal martial artists, though, the response has been for help in improving their own fengshui without being Chinese about it. Because, quite frankly, most Baguazhang practitioners don't live in China. And as most people are beginning to realise: Is that most fengshui systems are for Chinese living in China with a Chinese cultural mindset.
And unless you are married to a Chinese or living in China, fengshui doesn't really work properly, or make much sense. But then, marrying into the Chinese system is still no guarantee you're gonna get it. The fengshui of the common folk doesn't necessarily match up with the ancient texts or what they teach up in the mountains.
But fengshui is actually really easy to understand and implement.
The first thing one needs to understand is that most of the positive qi that circulates in and around where a Baguazhang master resides, is generated through the practice of Baguazhang itself. Baguazhang is a powerful form of walking meditation. And when doing it, you are doing Qigong as well.
This Baguazhang qi flows out from deep within the body and spreads out to touch or infuse that which exists around you.
You are the maker of your own qi.
The second thing one needs to know, and this is more strongly related to Baguazhang rather than the other internal styles, is the Bagua in Baguazhang!
When we walk the circle, we are physically passing through the eight changing elements themselves. And each element or gua is a compass directional point. Depending on which direction or compass point you are facing when you start your set, your qi empowers that particular gua to be activated as an expression of one's qi cultivation.
So in practical terms, if I wanted to focus on the systems of Baguazhang, I would face the direction that I have assigned for that gua (or changing element). Try it for each compass direction. You will straightaway notice how each gua affects your training.
And lastly, the third thing one needs to know, is that for any of this to really work well, you must face your fears and reorganise your cosmos by reorganising the sequential order of the eight gua themselves.
I know some of you are dogmatically following the Pre-Heaven or the Post-Heaven cycles without grasping the true essence of the sequences. And this is a real struggle.
It is a struggle because in one Bagua sequence, 'east' may be represented by water, but when you peer out your dojo window you see either a mountain range or a desert (for example).
Do what do you do?
(Answer) You take charge and be a boss about it! Replace the water gua with either the metal Gen gua or fire Li gua: Gen for mountain or Li for desert... And you do that for all eight directions.
For some of you, you will need to ask permission from your Shifu first. If you do, then you are not ready for this level of Baguazhang.
At this level of Baguazhang, fengshui is about creating a new China. An alternative landscape or environment in which those we care about, can live out their Chinese-ness without interference from the powers-that-be. If you are married to a Chinese person, you will know exactly what I mean.
So now you know the main differences between Wushu and Kungfu.
However, you will still get people who will use the terms interchangeably. And as a consequence, their martial arts journey will be long and difficult.
There is no point in arguing about it. What matters is that you now know and that you have, or are in the process of, deciding where you stand in all of this.
Wushu is more about the sport side of things and is a great pathway in China, if your career involves physical activities like being a stuntman, policeman, bodyguard or just being a career fighter.
Kungfu on the other hand can be a lonely path, that unless involves operating a dojo or being a village doctor, rarely is directly about the money.
The author Jin Yong a.k.a. Louis Cha from 'Legends of the Condor Heroes' did a great job in liberating the Kungfu way of life from ignorance and superstition.
While a lot of what he wrote was totally made-up nonsense, before he came along, many of the Chinese Kungfu masters were seen as charlatans or sorcerers meddling in witchcraft. Feared by the peasantry and seen as fools by the nobility.
And that was just the Kungfu masters who kept their hands clean.
So take my advice: Stay on the Wushu side of things. Enjoy the show and don't go looking backstage. Live in the limelight and avoid the shadows. It's just a bunch of old-timers playing mahjong.
Calling Kungfu a smokescreen is an adapt description for what is going on and is better than calling some Shifu lazy! Which, sadly, was also sometimes true. Not just with non-Chinese but amongst Chinese themselves.
Within the broader Chinese community, including China itself, there is a lot of misunderstanding around Kungfu within the martial arts world.
The third major difference is that a Wushu master teaches or instructs students in how to fight, while a Kungfu master has disciples who are schooled in more than just fighting.
To give a basic example still within the realms of fighting: The moment you learn how to set a broken arm from fighting or start dabbling in how to heal or assist the physical body with proper nourishment or herbal medicine, is the moment you have stepped outside of Wushu and entered Kungfu.
And we are still just talking about fighting. The esoteric mystical stuff comes much, much, later.
Now between the esoteric stuff and fighting is a huge grey area that could loosely be termed as Kungfu Culture. And is something like a subculture with Chinese characteristics.
To use me as an example, I am what I like to call myself as being a 'Tea Egg'. Now right there is a term most people are not familiar with. A tea egg is a hard boiled chicken egg boiled in tea. I have a brown shell from my African ancestry, Baguazhang martial arts, and the fact that I practice mindfulness through Chazen.
The egg whites come from my European ancestry and that the colour white usually refers to things that are related to heaven. Hence the I-Ching, walking the Tao and the harder stuff around Qigong.
And the yellow yolk in the middle?
I have a Chinese wife and as far as I can tell, I have been marinating in ancient Chinese culture through the I-Ching and Bingfa since my fifteenth birthday.
Guys like me, rarely talk about this part because while it may have started as a bit of yellow fever, now going to China is like going home. And we essentially know that when we die, our place in the heavenly ancestral temple is assured.
So, you can read and hear by the above example just how divergent Wushu and Kungfu can be.
What is the difference between Wushu 武術 and Kung Fu 功夫?
To most people around the world, there is no difference. They are one and the same thing. Chinese Martial Arts or the Chinese way of boxing: Zhong Quan Tao 中拳道.
But there is a difference.
The first major difference is territorial. Within China proper martial arts is called Wushu, because Wushu is the literal translation of the term. Wu 武 means or implies things to do with warfare and can be loosely translated as martial while Shu 術 means the arts or craft as in warcraft.
Everywhere else, outside of China proper, the term Kung Fu is used.
Now to be clear, by China proper, I am referring to all the lands under direct jurisdiction of the People's Republic of China and where the dominate Chinese dialect is naturally Mandarin Putonghua. Places like Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macau, Singapore, southern China or even Shanghai have got their own dialects and terminology.
The second major difference has to do with historically inaccurate translations of what Chinese martial arts actually is. Chinese martial arts is just that: The fighting arts. When you go to learn boxing or wrestling, you are learning Wushu. Self defence and closequarter combat fall into this category as well, whether you are learning it for sport, self defence or career meal ticket.
Kung Fu is a much broader term, which literally was used as a smokescreen word to cover up what was really going on. Whenever a non-Chinese person asked a Shifu what they were doing, the Shifu would reply "Kung Fu". Meaning hardworking. In one sense, the Shifu was telling the truth. Learning martial arts is physical hard work that takes a long time to get good at it. But that term can refer to any skill that leads to craftsmanship mastery. At the same time, by not calling it what it is, the Shifu avoided answering the real truth.
It is this avoidance of the real truth, that gives people the impression that something is up and that the Shifu is keeping secrets. While there are martial schools that sell themselves on being secret, many Shifu are teaching more than just how to fight and it is this part that leads to the third major difference.
⚫ Would you believe me, if I told you that I haven't played a game of Weiqi in over two weeks?
⚪ Would you believe me, if I told you that I haven't played a game of Igo in over two weeks?
⚫ If you are of the calaber, I think you are, then you'd be wondering: What's the difference?
⚪ Is there a difference?
⚫ Not really.
⚪ Unless, of course, like a lot of small-time players, extra rules keep being added. All in the name of a fairer game. But that's like living a sheltered life indoors when we know that the real world is outside in the great yonder.
⚫ I know that there are people who have no idea of what my podcasts are about. No matter how many times they listen to them. Every episode is a real mind ending headscratcher.
⚪ And then there are people who get what they need and move on.
⚫ Weiqi or Go is like that: It reveals itself to the viewer; whether player or observer where they are at, in terms of their relationship with the outside world. And the sad truth is, if you're one of those people who loves to add rules in the interests of being fair, then you are just deluding yourself.
⚪ You are not being fair. In fact, adding extra rules is like putting up walls. It is those very same walls that makes one blind to what is going on, on the other side.
⚫ Which is sad, really, because we are the first living generation to be mentally and consciously aware of the global changes around us as they are happening. And they are accelerating at a pace that makes them irreversible.
⚪ But present for the Weiqi player in the throughs of mastering the Art of War undreamt of opportunities.
⚫ Do the calculations for yourself.
⚪ Play out a game of doomsday and see it for yourself: Are you The End or are you The Beginning?
⚫ Or are you a stone on the board making war against your neighbours?
⚪ I do not judge. War is the sharp human end of sudden changes that we sometimes must endure, just so that we can get to the promised land, because peace isn't always the opposite of war.
⚫ The alternative is more often a slow grinding down between a pestle and mortar existence.
⚪ We can have peace but that does not mean that the wars will stop ⚔️圍棋戰聖
🐲👉 Some of you may be aware that I have been spending a bit of my time drawing black and white Baguazhang illustrations. Every night I do one illustration and then the next morning post it out yonder.
Upon completion, there will be a total of 64 of them. One illustration for each hexagram or gua in the I-Ching or Book of Changes.
The character I created for the images has been mockingly nicknamed "Melonhead" by my wife. To her, Melonhead represents, in a modern setting, The personification of The Art of War itself because almost a decade ago, I had used him for another project. That project involved compiling all the various Art of War treatises on the internet into a handmade handbound book.
Yup. You heard correctly. Handstitched with the hard covers covered with real leather. Smell that exquisite leather. Mmmmm..... And then I promptly gifted them to close friends in Auckland, New Zealand.
If my memory serves me correctly, there should be four swimming around in New Zealand: One in Palmerston North; One stolen from a friend, who "hopefully" still has the replacement second book I gave him; And one either with my parents in Riverstone, or it's with one of my brothers. If it is with one of my brothers, then it's either in England or Canada.
The fifth book is with me. This book, instead of a leather cover, it has a furry soft toy [fabric] cover. You wouldn't know it was the Art of War by just looking at it. In fact, when most guys see the book, they refuse to pick it up because their boofheads think it's something gay.
Gay guys on the other hand recognise the deception as a profound lesson in the Art of War: What lies on the surface, does not always match what lies underneath.
These Baguazhang illustrations are the same. On the surface they're just some fun drawings to keep me busy for 64 days. And it's great to share them with others through Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn.
But underneath the surface layer, each drawing is a gateway to the deeper levels of Baguazhang and its connection with Qigong. Another way to put this, is that I've been teaching you how to cultivate your own qi through Baguazhang movements. And your brain has been picking up on the cues without you even being aware of it.
No. Wait!... That's not entirely correct.
A few of you have noticed by either being "inspired" again to walk the circle or noticing the subtle improvements to your technique.
So get it in quick and download your copies while they are still free because once I'm done, I will be selling them as a book on Amazon.
And please, remember, to send me a quick note of thanks, if you have a copy of the illustrations.
In a world obsessed with the tangible like solid matter, those things that do not easily fit into a construct made up of three dimensions plus one of time, usually gets dismissed as quackery.
For most people, when it comes to things like Qigong, this thing we call "qi" is mostly accepted provided that it stays within the bounds of breathing, meditation and sublime stretching exercises. Anything more and the fear of the unknown kicks in.
Most of these fears are based on ignorance of the unknown.
We like to believe that because we live in the 21st Century, and in a first world nation, operating the best technology and have access to knowledge never before witnessed in the history of the world, that somehow we are more advanced than our ancestors.
But our ancestors knew from working experience that just from human perception alone, there are more than three spatial dimensions: length, width, height, depth, girth and breadth.
The reason why I am using dimensions as an example is because Qigong is not just mystical juju. Although, when it comes to Martial Qigong, giving the perception of mystical juju works in its favour until, of course, someone who actually knows the Qigong Art of War turns up.
And shines the light of truth on what it actually is.
The Qigong Art of War is not better Kung Fu. Kung Fu is Kung Fu. And fighting is fighting. The art of fighting belongs to the fighter. That's their job.
Here the Art of War is about eliminating the Ignorance of Darkness. And battling against the fears that lead to enslavement. A slavery that gets planted deep within our souls first and then grows like a weed outwards until we have lost our way.
Losing our way cuts us off from our Tao and stops us from experiencing the natural flow of qi around our body as a real physical sensation. And so, we dismiss it as charlatan quackery. Even though our bodies fall into illness and disease.
The ancients referred to this as being possessed by unclean souls or demons that felt like being in a waking nightmare that never seemed to end.
But please take note: This is not about good versus evil. This is about cutting back the deadwood, so that one's light can shine forth without effort. Thereby allowing one's qi to just flow again, even through the Land of War with grace and ease, if need be.
And now, something a little different.
This morning at breakfast, I was asked by wife, if I have ever come across a book called "The Buddha and the Badass"?
I said "No".
Apparently it's a new book that's just recently come out and is making traction in the self-development world. How new? I don't know. But then, I got asked what I thought about the title?
I told her, she being Chinese, that if I were to write summary, it would go something like this: A boring Western man living a boring 9 to 5 life, decides on a whim to go on a Thai holiday. A lush vivid paradise of beaches, sex and booze – memories for a lifetime. At some point in the story, things turn dark as his past demons masquerading as the Thai underworld reappear. Enter more sex, harder drugs and very stylish neon lights surrounded by dodgy electrical wiring in pay by the hour hotels. Somehow overnight he becomes a master of Muay Thai boxing, finds Buddha, has a shootout using a gold plated gun etched with mystical Thai sayings in Thai (for that authentic look) and wins his war against his demons.
And all of it is the author's analogy for finding redemption through God, Buddha and enlightenment.
So then she asked me if I would read it?
I said "No".
She asked me "Why not?"
And I said "The title sounds like an overused cliche. And besides, why does finding Buddha require a shootout with Thai gangsters?"
Anyway, it turns out that I was completely off the mark with this book and my little adventure isn't in the book. And that's okay with me. Sometimes we have to get off the path we are on to actually be able to see the path we are on. This act of getting off the path we are on, is the act of somebody on the path of enlightenment. Provided that we recognise it when we are doing it.
"The Buddha and the Badass" comes with the subtitle of "The Secret Spiritual Art of Succeeding at Work." And is authored by Vishen Lakhiani, founder and CEO of MindValley, a personal growth education company with more than two million students worldwide. This guy is huge in the growth mindset world. And as he rightly points out through the archetype of the Buddha: Our illusions or delusions start in our minds. No external adventure will ever truly come close to healing the shit we got going on internally. We built the office cubicle in our minds, long before it became our reality. So it is in our minds we must change the story first.
Ask yourselves this: Are you truly at the helm of your inner ship; commanding your own seas?
If your answer is anything other than a strong yes, then I recommend this book as a good place to start. And then get back to enjoying good Thai hospitality the stress-free relaxing way with a five star package deal from your local travel agent.
For further details: The Buddha and the Badass - The Secret Spiritual Art of Succeeding at Work, by Vishen Lakhiani ISBN 198482340X, 9781984823403
Even if you care nothing for Baguazhang internal martial arts, or the game of Go/Weiqi, or even the Art of War and just want to find inner peace through the tranquil art of Qigong, the sad fact is: If it involves other people, the you have to play the game.
What game, you ask?
Truthfully, there is no game or at least there shouldn't be. Qigong is the inner cultivation of one's life force through external actions. This is what separates it out from meditation and sitting still like rock. And even if you were to disagree with me, eventually a person's qi grows so big that whatever shit you got going on the inside of you will find itself projected on the outside of you.
And the people around you have a way of becoming active players in the game that is your reality... (Suddenly, that mindfulness retreat amongst the birds and bees isn't so peaceful after all.)
It is this disturbance, this interplay between polarities that leads to the true cultivation of qi into something that can be tangibly experienced. Both as an external physical sensation and as an internal development that goes way beyond just correct breathing exercises.
So perhaps there is a Qigong Art of War.
While Martial Qigong seeks to use qi as some sort of mystical weapon, and is constantly being either ridiculed or proven as fraudulent, the Qigong Art of War works on the premise that a person has weak or low qi because their Yin and Yang are held in a constant state of civil war. And just like a real civil war, the two main protagonists don't actually do the actual fighting. It is left to their minions to do the mutual slaughtering.
And while a master of Martial Qigong seeks an external opponent to fight against, the master of the Qigong Art of War knows that their external opponent is just an outwardly projection of the civil war raging within. It is the same thing that sometimes happens when two alpha-male lions fight over a pride. Hyenas get drawn in, and they will attack whichever lion loses.
In fact, outward displays of overt power and excessive internal control are a dead giveaway that one's qi is extremely weak because Yin and Yang no longer flow smoothly between them. Neither side sees value in keeping the union going but feel compelled to keep the status quo out of a mutually shared wounded ego.
All of which, the master of the Qigong Art of War knows is total bullshit.
Compared to humans, most animals live in the now. Even if their concerns are for the coming winter and being able to survive it, they still pretty much are mentally and emotionally in the here and now.
Humans on the other hand are always thinking about a better tomorrow or fearing it, while spending most of their energy trying to get back to the past and living the way life used to be.
So I am glad on a number of levels that when it comes to physics, time travel for the most part, is a mechanical impossibility. Because if it were possible, we humans would totally fuck things up.
For most people can't even handle multiple opinions and need just one view, one vision, one reality. And it is in this mind-frame that the beauty of Qin Shi Huangdi 秦始皇帝, the first emperor of China shines through: All under heaven, one land, one country, one people, one everything!
When we practice Baguazhang, the constant whirling and twirling around, trains the brain to stay alert from multiple angles while mentally stitching together a quilt that makes visual sense out of a patchwork of confusing signals.
Done repeatedly over a long period of time, this ability to sow seemingly conflicting ideas and paths into one Wayland that can be understood, gets incorporated into other areas of our lives that might have nothing to do with martial arts.
When this happens to a master of Baguazhang, a lot of what the master says, starts to sound like grey when the question was black or white. And that is just the start to the proverbial "There is no black or white" answer.
To give an example: There are many versions of the Fa Mulan story. There is the Disney animated version which is different to the live action version. Both are different to the original Chinese poem. And none match the Wuxia versions floating around. To most people, only one of them is the right version with all others being wrong. There is only one Mulan in one universe. Case closed.
However, to the Baguazhang master, all versions are correct and all versions get read or watched. Each Mulan exists in its own reality. And by doing them all, the brain compares notes on their similarities and differences (however tiny) so that when something in our own world is "off", we become highly sensitive to those changes before it becomes a major issue. Thereby allowing us time to quietly adjust without alerting others because a lot of the events that affect the world now are only the tangible proof manifestations of what's been going on for years under the cover.
It is this Baguazhang ability that allows us to jump between different opposing realities like a game of draughts or checkers, without the weird multi-dimensional paradoxes that are so popular amongst sci-fi writers.
Going back to the Fa Mulan example, what we are looking for is: If Mulan's world has these cultural and physical parameters governing it, the Mulan's life would most likely be like 'x'. And by extension, if I were living in 'y' country, doing roughly what I'm doing now, my life would only change by 'z' amount. Therefore, it would be reasonable to assume, given that humans like a fair degree of certainty, my life wouldn't change that much.
Unless an unforeseen factor is brought in to disrupt it like an act of God event.
That whole last statement is both reassuring and disappointing at the same time, because more epic shit is on its way — each event being a step up from the next. May God have mercy on us all.
For most people, if they know the game of Weiqi (or Go, as it is more popularly known) is just another strategy game. If they do get any good at it, then maybe they will choose to go professional. For this is the path proscribed for most people in Japan, China, Korea and Taiwan, wanting to master the game.
However, if you are listening to this podcast or any one of the other Weiqi Art of War podcasts, then you, in your deepest of hearts are wanting something more.
And the name of that game is "World Domination".
The game of Weiqi goes beyond just money and consumerist satisfaction. You are here because you want more. Much more. And you dare to dream big. Really big. And you are here because you need a way to express this desire.
When two people decide to play Weiqi, what they see is not just another board waiting to be played but an untouched world; A blank slate waiting for one player to be the dominant force at the end.
Maybe some of you can relate to this sensation, even if it is not literally thee world, or a continent or some country somewhere. It could just be your world as defined by you.
And so, while we prepare for world domination, we use Weiqi to test our battle theories. Not against people who think like us, but against people who want different things and are prepared to get in the way of success. We deliberately face-off against opponents like these, so that we have a simple way to test the beauty of our plans while watching them crumble in the face of some of the most mundane human stuff out there.
It helps to think of it like this: Your Weiqi strategy is to play with moves that resemble high powered boardroom takeovers, and you're prepared for either hostile takeovers or counter-coup-d'états.
But your whole strategy starts to unravel because your opponent's strategy is based upon their reality of going to the shops to buy a loaf of bread. Your strategy is unravelling because their reality is different to your reality and in the process of living a different life to yours, their car crashes into your car and you're delayed for your showdown.
Same planet but two players living in two different realities.
By being a simple game of stones on a board that only gets played once, it forces us to confront these contradictions.
While the example given is a bit extreme, it highlights why these days most wars tend to drag on way longer than needed. And why very few leaders can match their grand words with grand actions.
If there is to be another world war, the lessons from the Weiqi (Go/Baduk) Art of War will reveal it to be highly exciting in the movies, but a ho-hum letdown in real life; Saved by a guy in traffic eating a meat pie, who's life will forever stay unremarkable ⚔️圍棋戰聖
Since my adventures with the energy pendants, I have been consistently wearing the Bagua pendant everytime I hold a Qigong class as part of cultivating the dantian qi within it.
After six (6) months of wearing it, I have noted a slight buzz feeling over the area on the chest where it usually tests upon. And if I wear it for too many days in a row, a pulling heaviness settles upon it.
The heavy pulling sensation is more of a nagging that precedes a thought or vision around the ideas of Qigong and energy cultivation, that if I follow it, usually leads to interesting places — Adventures, if you will.
One of those nags eventually turned into me curiously wondering how many of the American martial art magazines I've collected over the years, had articles to do with Qigong?
I found two. One was supposed to have been about WuQi 武氣 or martial energy. It was a poorly written article that started with the roots of the Chinese character of Wu which means martial or "to stop a spear". But maybe it was a printing error or something but it had nothing on qi or even what WuQi 武氣 means. Honestly, I had trouble finding information on it, on the internet. Even in Chinese.
The second article was about a qi style called "Jade Egg Qigong". It is a very intimate form of Qigong that involves the healing energies emitted from a stone egg craved from Jade.
This led to other references from other cultures and traditions on energy fields surrounding pendants and specially craved necklaces, and so forth...
Then, on a nice weekend morning about a month ago, my Chinese wife, who normally doesn't care much about my shamanic dalliances, asked me how my adventure was coming along?
I told her. And she asked me if I had contacted Fonda Lee, the author of "Jade City"?
I asked her why and she just told me that it would be good to connect, seeing how we got something in common: I'm doing with black Jade in real life, what she's expressing in fiction.
And so I did. Connect. It took about a couple of days but we connected. I introduced Fonda Lee to my podcast and the episodes related to her. But don't expect any more than that. Fonda's in America and is a cool author. And I'm too unconventional.
Most people have a hard time believing the stuff I talk about until they actually meet me. Which at times is hilarious. People meet me. Realise I'm for real. Have a little freakout while I'm struggling with my own life getting a little boring.
Jesus... I'm starting to sound jaded. A ha-ha...haaa... Seriously folks, is there anybody out there who has experienced this concept called WuQi 武氣? Or maybe I should quit the energy pendant business: Put on a square suit and return to the cubicle. What do you think?
In Baguazhang 八卦掌, when a practitioner comes upon a wall of resistance, the strategy is to change direction and go another way. The trick is to see the wall of resistance before it sees you and change direction before it has a chance to react. The thing is, most of the time that wall of resistance only looks like one, when you are right there having to deal with it.
Despite what most people say, it is actually quite difficult to recognise the signs beforehand. And even if we've had the training and practice to recognise and deal with the problem in a timely manner, often the wall of resistance does not look like a wall, nor is it resistant.
In fact, humans being humans, the wall of resistance sometimes grows out of our actions to combat against it.
So does that mean we do nothing?
I used to think as a small child, that employing Jesus's saying of "turning the other cheek" meant doing nothing. And only once, just once, when I was around eight years old, I tried that strategy to spectacular failure and humiliation at school. After that incident, I went home and told my mum. She promptly told me to fight the bullies after school, outside the school grounds. If there were any issues arising from the new strategy with the teachers, she would deal with it.
And so I learnt to turn the other cheek, followed up with backhanded and the right amount of bitchslaps to make it known to all bullies that this four eyed git comes packin'!
The point of all this is that before a person can go off and cultivate spiritual enlightenment, we need to make sure that our earthly concerns are first taken care of. In fact, in the art of Baguazhang, spiritual enlightenment comes directly from how we deal with earthly problems.
Sometimes, though, we change direction and spin another way. At other times we deal with it through Deflection. We twist this way and that. Becoming an unstoppable force of nature because Baguazhang has this thing about it that makes mastery of it, the walking embodiment of the Art of War itself. Not in the sense of egotistical bragging, but in the sense that Baguazhang is an internal martial art.
And that the nineth (9) meaning of internal is Yin 陰 .And that the Art of War is a Yin energy 陰氣 activity. Not Yang energy 陽氣 as popularly believed. (Hence, the Baguazhang Art of War)!
About two weeks ago I had an unusual dream, even for me. I dreamt that I got elected by the Roman Catholic Cardinals to be the Pope. In the dream I saw myself wearing the Pope's white habit and white skull cap. I know this because in the dream I saw myself reflected in a mirror with full lucid clarity.
A couple of days after the dream, I told a friend about it and just for fun he started calling me: Papa Pete.
At first calling me Papa Pete was just a bit of jesting. But it only took about a day for my mind to pull up the names Papa Doc and Papa Luanda.
While I don't know if there is or was a Papa Luanda, except to say that Luanda is the capital of Angola, Papa Doc, on the other hand was a real person. His real name was François Duvalier, former president of Haiti from 1957 to 1971. He got the moniker Papa Doc because rumours had it that he was a Voodoo priest. Not in the same league as Papa Legba or Papa Ghede, but powerful enough with the right connections to wield both spiritual and temporal powers.
Now to be clear, I am not a practitioner of Voodoo. But I was asked again by another friend to elaborate on a deeper level regarding Baguazhang as an internally focused martial art.
And just as there are eight elements in bagua, there are eight meanings to the word 'internal' as it relates to Baguazhang.
The first (1) meaning is that Baguazhang is Taoist as opposed to Buddhist Shaolin; the second (2) meaning is political, in that it originated from within China; the third (3) meaning is that Baguazhang can be used as a kind of walking meditation; the fourth (4) meaning is that one looks within oneself for self-healing; the fifth (5) meaning of internal is that it is a reflective art emphasizing fluidity over ridgetity; the sixth (6) meaning of internal means that it is a killer's art in the darkness versus a fighter's art in the light; the seventh (7) meaning of Baguazhang as an internal art, is that a lot of what needs to be learnt to really get good at it, comes from the experience of living the life of a martial artist and ultimately discovering what it means to be a fully realised Gongfu master!
The eighth (8) meaning to which you can verify for yourselves by learning about the early Baguazhang masters, is that much of what a Baguazhang master has to deal with, has got nothing directly to do with martial arts and yet has everything to do with it.
It is this last meaning that has me talking about Voodoo, being a Yinyangshi, or even just truly grasping the essence of cooling like a snake or swimming like a dragon throughout the Bagua circle.
So believe or don't believe. It really doesn't matter. You could dismiss this all as woo-woo nonsense, but then, you would never be able to fully appreciate why the Taoist god Xuan Wu Shang Di 玄武上帝 is the dark lord of Chinese martial arts!
When the tides of fortune are flowing in your favour, problems can now be resolved. Even if a situation has reached a stalemate because too many obstacles stand in the way of further progress.
This is because the other side's condition is not in their favour anymore and they have decided to make a strategic withdrawal, even though, they appear to be in a stronger position.
For observors of the game, the situation upon the Weiqi (Go/Baduk) board has reached crisis point. There is a sense that the pressure is of such magnitude, that something has to give. And yet, any hope of success means taking huge risks!
Situations like these come and go all the time. And yet, very few of us are able to take decisive advantage. Even if we have repeatedly experienced it. And unless you have access to the nuclear option and are willing to use it, the popular slogan of quote - taking massive action - unquote, is just not a card option on the table.
So what's to be done about this betting connundrum?
The answer is to employ Suntzu's strategy number thirteen regarding spies.
Placing stones on the Weiqi (Go/Baduk) board in such a way, that one's opponent unwittingly reveals their hand or at the very least is forced to change their strategy and tactics. And by staying aware of the changes of states between the before and the after, this is the Art of Mindfulness when it comes to the Art of War.
If you don't believe me, in one of the books I'm currently reading, which is called "The Physics of Wall Street: A brief history of predicting the unpredictable", by James Owen Weatherall, there is a line on page 95 (of my version) under chapter four called "Beating the Dealer" which says: Information flows and your money grows. And it has to do with an equation called the Kelly criterion or Kelly bet size.
Now I won't get too deeply into this book except to inspire you to read it for yourself. Through the book's influence, I have started teaching my children the card game Blackjack or Twenty-one to help them get better at mathematics, spotting patterns as it relates to information gathering and how casinos work the numbers to always stay in profit.
Without me having to do anything much, my children very quickly discovered that they enjoyed being the dealer more than betting their Easter eggs.
As I've told my kids on numerous occasions, casinos very rarely go bust. But if they do, then something else is at work. The weaker white stone challenger is meant to, by the deliberate disadvantages place upon it, find creative solutions to beating the black stone master. While the black stone master's role, if he or she is not a teacher of the game, is to find the resolve to stay number one without imploding into civil war.
This is partly done by using your eyes and ears to feel the pulse on the ground by learning a little about the physics of Wall Street from a higher plane of fortitude ⚔️圍棋戰聖: For further details the publisher is Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing, or in Oceania by Scribe Publishing ISBN 9781921640452
Recently while playing a bit of Weiqi (Go/Baduk), I had for the fourth time come across a dilemma that only reveals itself when a player repeatedly plays a certain game.
This dilemma is the inexplicable sensation one gets that while the end result remains always the same, just like the starting plays, there is a sense that during the game the sequential order of play keeps rearranging itself.
I know this sounds crazy and in the tangible, if you are hearing this, nothing physical actually changes. It is the perception of what is happening that keeps changing. And that constantly changing perception is what is confusing the brain and leading to the alternate reality of things floating about in water.
I bring this up because the wars fought on the Weiqi (Go/Baduk) board are very much about the two strongest realities: Yin and Yang deciding which will be the dominate reality to come.
For most of human experience, Yin and Yang are best viewed as influences. Unseen hands that move in mysterious ways. Taking turns to hold sway over each other that for the most part have no direct bearing on our lives. The seasons come and go like night and day.
But then a stone gets played on the Weiqi (Go/Baduk) board with such impact that it's repercussions are eventually felt by all the other stones on the board. Eventually.
The stone that got cast over Wuhan, China, was such a stone. And while we are still self-isolation and doing what the powers-that-be want us to do, it may be too little too late. I say this because all the hardest hit countries lie between latitudes 30° north and 45° north of the equator in a nice straight line.
What this could possibly mean is that the virus is floating along a jet stream air current in a band around the earth and drifting down. So right now, the United States is being hit hardest. And as this invisible cloud drifts westward along the North Pacific, it will eventually reach Japan and re-infect China all over again.
And yet none of what I'm saying makes much sense unless it is understood that in an alternative reality Wuhan is a volcano and the virus is an ash-cloud encircling the earth. Something of which I will leave for sci-fi freaks to enjoy.
But in this reality of which we exist in, I am just playing a Weiqi (Go/Baduk) game in which the bottom half of the board has shapes that remind me of North America, Europe and Asia. While the upper half of the board has this massive landmass that I just can't make heads or tails of.
What to do? What to do? ⚔️圍棋戰聖
☳ Because the Baguazhang 八卦掌 master moves in a circle, Heaven blesses the master with the ways of the sky. The Swimming Dragon form embodies the typhoon. Round and round it goes; this way and that. So that when the master has learnt the ways of Qigong ☳ 氣功 and Gongfu ☵ 功夫, the next level is Tianqi ☶ 天気 mastery.
☵ To be a good Tianqiren or Weatherman, a person must be good at reading the weather and then be able to plot the future direction of one's current state of affairs to a profitable outcome.
☶ This is more than just predicting weather patterns and seeing weather forecasts on the nightly News - It is about knowing where the storm will hit and to what severity, so that when the king asks "How will it impact my kingdom?" The Weatherman can follow up the most likely scenarios with the potential opportunities to follow. Which is what the king actually wants to know.
☰ Cyclonic weather patterns, freakish electrical storms, and plummeting celestial fireballs traditionally heralded the end of kingdoms and dynasties, the world over. While it is easy to hide behind modern science and dismiss these things as superstitions. Very few people realise that the underlying motivations of why scientists like to study these things is that 1) It gives them a certain amount of power and authority in these matters, and 2) For the government of the day, to ignore the warnings these events bring, can spell calamity. For, it is not the disasters themselves that are the concern but the direct impact on the people themselves and in turn their reaction to the disasters, should the government be seen as incompetent.
☷ And it is here, where the Tianqiren diverges from the weatherman of the nightly News. It is the Tianqiren's role to be able to read The Will of the people and know like the ocean currents, how the people will react, by when and by how much. And all of this is born out of repeated observations of how people actually do things and not what they say.
☱ Like here in Australia for example, after two weeks of social distancing, the word on the street is that people are starting to have had enough of the "we're in this together stuff" and there is a feeling of being under some sort of voluntary martial law. Which means that the restrictions - while meaning well - is starting to remind the men of the days when Australia was a penal colony. And for the women, it's starting to feel like social rejection because social intimacy is not allowed (except immediate family). On top of that, some medical experts are starting to suggest that anybody who is outside must wear a mask at all times, which sounds a lot like certain countries around the world.
☲ Now at the moment, nobody is advocating anything extreme but a good Tianqiren knows and would advise their boss that trouble is brewing when people start calling for heads to roll. And given that I am only using the Coronavirus COV-19 as a real-life working example of it having existed for only 5 to 6 months, the change in the kingdom's state of affairs has been shockingly fast!
☴ I understand that for most Baguazhang practitioners, the term Tianqiren is a new one and I have to admit that I first came across it in author Fonda Lee's novel 'Jade City', but given that Baguazhang is of Chinese origin, it is a better term to use than the Mafia's consigliere or the Chinese word for sage Zhi 智, which can also mean Saint. One of the best historical examples was Zhuge Liang 諸葛亮 the strategist (181 - 234AD). A veritable great mountain in his own right.
Sometimes in order to succeed, we have to let go of our preconceived notions and trust in the unknown. And that means stepping off the established path and walking one's own Tao. Which for me is one of the principles of being a Taoist, even though I do not see myself as one.
While there are many slogans and feelgood quotes out there heralding the virtues of living or training like a true black belt, very few people are able to let go of their earthly tethers and surrender themselves to the weird ways of heaven.
Because to surrender unto heaven or whatever your beliefs are, means one has to confront their friends, family and peers with the challenges they bring in order so that the Taoist may know who they truly are. And at other times it may be the painful inner self-reflection required because at the end of the day there ultimately is nobody but themselves to deal with... (Last night I had a dream involving Fonda Lee, author of 'Jade City' and 'Jade War'. Listen the rest of this podcast to learn about the fourth Dantian and what it means to take Qigong up to a higher level.) Are you ready?
Neigong 內功 is the internal practice of developing one's inner strength. In layman's terms, neigong deals with the flow of qi 氣 around and within the practitioner's body. And on a much deeper level neigong is practiced in an effort to harmonize what Chinese call the three treasures or Sanbao 三寶.
The three treasures are called: 精 Jing or essence, 氣 qi or energy, and 神 Shen or spirit.
While to Chinese these three treasures are three separate and distinct things, in English it can get a little confusing because we tend to use the same word "spirit" interchangeably. And so for the western English mind Jing, Qi and Shen are sometimes one and the same thing.
To give you an example, when I am talking about a person's spirit, it is usually taken to mean a person's soul which equates to Shen 神, as in a person's spirit went to heaven after death. Or indirectly to energy as in Qi 氣 when I refer to a person being full of spirit and lively.
But the word spirit comes from the Latin word "spiritus" which originally meant the male life force that is given to the woman to produce life; in this context spirit means Jing 精 or semen.
Now the practice of Neigong is also strongly associated with Daoist thoughts and beliefs, and so neigong has come to also mean the Tao 道 or the way itself. And so, when one learns neigong, they are in principle a Daoist. But I must add that while in China and to most people Daoism means the religion by the same name, one does not need be a Daoist to follow the way. For that is a grave misconception: The Dao or Way is simply the path you walk.
In Baguazhang 八卦掌, the practice of Neigong is an integral path of the Bagua forms. Over time a Baguazhang master comes to the understanding that walking the circle while doing the palms, one's internal spirit is activated by the will to learn these things.
The neigong part of Baguazhang comes into its own when the practitioner stops desiring for an external physical manifestation of their skills and abilities, and instead surrenders themself to the process of walking the Tao 道.
29 March 2020 wealth meeting. A little different from the usual profit and loss, and cashflow statements that we analyse.
As Coronavirus COVID-19 spreads around the globe, a growing number of people can't help but wonder if the virus is man-made?
So far the numbers of people directly dying from the disease has been extremely low compared to the overall world human population. And yet, the virus has managed to induce such a dramatic response that whole economies are shutting down and countries are in lockdown.
On top of all that, the rhetoric used to justify these responses are starting to sound more and more like the soundbites used when a country is about to go to war with another country.
Now it could be that the virus is a completely natural mutation without any man-made manipulation. That at some future point would have occurred anyway, based on statistical probability modelling. But the fact remains, if it were all natural, and I was inclined to want to conquer the world or just a neighbouring country, this virus is a gift from the gods.
It would constitute a first strike without having a first strike, because in the interests of self protection we have unwittingly exposed our weaknesses and created a downward spiralling situation that few people in authority are paying attention to.
While I might sound like a molehill trying to act like a mountain, this situation in its many varied forms had been played out in countless sci-fi and thriller novels of the 1980's and 1990's. With those, having read these novels, being subconsciously or unconsciously influenced enough to heed the early warning signs without realising it.
So with each passing day in self-isolation, I am learning of martial artists, Weiqi players, I-Ching and Qigong masters who are starting to become aware of the hundreds of tiny changes they have been making to their lives so that they can effortlessly sail through this situation and be ready for second strike. Which is increasingly looking like third strike brought forward.
Second strike was supposed to have been the collapse of the financial markets brought on by either poorly executed decisions by people infected by a virus or the system directly infected by a computer virus.
Whatever the case maybe, the lessons from "The Weiqi Art of War" indicate that the Coronavirus is one of a number of forgotten stones played at the start of the game, but only comes into play when it is too late because it links enough unrelated stones nearby into one coherent front that suddenly tips the balance over ⚔️圍棋戰聖
The Coronavirus COVID-19 is related to the common cold. It is not the virus itself that kills people, but the added complications cause either by the onset of a secondary virus, and existing illness or lowered immunity cause by either diet or lifestyle factors.
What scares the health authorities a lot is the fact that: 1) China and Iran covered up their initial findings; 2) The virus has been in circulation for a month longer than first thought; 3) The is a growing concern of under-reporting by countries around the world because they are unable to test their people; 4) And there is a bit of gambling involved regarding countries that are able to respond, in the hopes that the extreme measures taken will offset any deaths caused by indirect association.
For point number four, what I mean is, say, the measures get too hard for a health care worker to assist the elderly. If the health care worker is a volunteer they may decide to abandon their station in favour of their own family first. For the elderly in need of constant care, this could be an indirect death sentence.
I know this because as a Qigong instructor for elderly and retired, I have been going to infection outbreak trainings. And I've been observing the responses of volunteers to these new quarantine measures.
I have been asked twice in the last two weeks alone, if I wish to continue the Qigong classes? I have informed the community centre that I will continue to run them until my students tell me otherwise. Because is about staying healthy and actively fit. And in these testing times it gives all of us hope in the future and hope from the past, in that many of the Qigong masters and Gungfu masters lived during times far worse than now.
So I implore you to keep doing your forms and katas, and delve within to the answers you seek because a form or Kata is a 4-dimensional manual on how to prosper in times like now. Right now one's health is at a premium and typically in China at least, a Qigong or Gungfu master tended to be healthier than those around them.
For those of you, who only want to fight as a martial artist or dream everynight of being the hero in some war, how about using your martial training to take care of your families and neighbours first. Your inner strength and fortitude makes you a Pillar.
My own experience is firstly like most people. As we get older, we become more and more in contact with people with dementia. Either through friends and family and others we know. While it is a terrible disease to be witness to, it is also a growing sign of getting older.
The second way I have been a party to people with dementia is by way of volunteering my Qigong services at my local community centre.
Most of the time it is by hanging around the elderly, but occasionally I find myself teaching Qigong to someone with dementia as part of a group.
The great thing about people with dementia is that if they still have some capacity to learn, they tend to learn like slow moving toddlers.
They do not resist but just do the moves as best they can. Their only limitation is physical due to their wearied age or as a result of an accident.
The simple Qigong I teach, is easy to do and quickly opens up the energy channels around the body so that the practitioner can experience tangible energetic sensations in their hands as they manipulate their individual qi balls.
This process, whether you believe it or not, involves a lot of brain power and the brain is forced to start rewiring neurons in order to make sense of this new sensation and what it means.
People with heavy dementia from a Qigong experiential perspective tend to have a lot of empty space in their heads. It's like somebody removed a picture from a wall and ripped out the electrical wiring behind the wall with it. A fertile ground ripe for re-development provided the support structures are in place. For when a person with dementia does Qigong, their primary carer will also be doing Qigong beside them.
Hence a lot of the learning, comprehension and understanding will be done by the carer.
Generally speaking Baguazhang makes no claims to be good for reversing the effects of dementia.
As a martial art style, it has only been around for about 160 to 180 years. So most of Baguazhang study revolves around the fighting arts for most practitioners.
Any higher levels of learning usually involve the spiritual, esoteric and with the understanding that at some point a practitioner may start delving into traditional Chinese medicine or Qigong as part of their healing arts.
This can be a formal path through a medical school of sorts or by way of happenstance. The happenstance path for an example, can be as simple as a practitioner breaks their leg, practitioner gets their leg fixed and through the process learns how to fix legs. And because they know how to fix legs, they become the go-to person to have legs fixed.
This process is also called the "Paradox of Martial Arts" because the practitioner originally learnt martial arts so that he could break the legs of his enemy. The path of harming becomes his path to healing.
In the previous podcast "Qigong, TaiChi, Baguazhang & Dementia, part 1", I had listed eight factors that help a Baguazhang master to ward off diseases like dementia. The first two: Continual study and exercise is straight forward. Study and exercise help to rewire the brain through stimulation just like learning a new task. The third, diet and fourth, belief are harder to do because things like diet and belief go right to the heart of who they are. For some people changing diet means changing culture, tribal affiliations and/or religion. Or simply who they associate with on a daily basis. Hence the added difficulty with changing beliefs.
The fifth which was social position, may still be relevant in some countries in that your social position meant you had better access to health and ways of living a healthier life. Traditionally a lot of martial artists in China came from well-off families that could afford the best. Which also meant that as in number six: One's occupation, they could afford to avoid work that put them at greater risk for dementia and so forth.
So as martial artists they moved from fighter to teacher and then to possibly healer, hence number seven: Medical training. Coupled with number eight: The experiences in life, that medical training would be of a superior quality compared to an ordinary doctor.
How this relates to dementia in ancient times was that it was rare for people in positions of power to just develop dementia. More often than not, the cause could be traced back to some sort of power struggle. Which probably meant the use of toxic herbs and poisons. Or even the benign act of drinking wine out of lead cups as was the cause of the insanity of the last Shang Dynasty ruler King Zhou. This would not have been possible for a slave or peasant.
For peasants and slaves, dementia would be more likely caused by dietary and biological contamination in their food and drink. Something of which is still experienced in many third world environments, and first world environments with high degrees of poverty.
Recently my wife asked me if I would be interested in doing a piece around Qigong or Baguazhang and Alzheimer's Disease, and in association with dementia in general. I pointedly refused to get involved because I am not a qualified medical practitioner nor did I have any interest in the field.
Now to be fair on myself, I do have a passionate interest in neuroscience, psychology and whether or not a martial artist realises it: The battle of the mind (the way of strategy) is a key battleground that must be won before any physical battle (the way of tactics) can be won.
With this understanding martial arts in general has had a very, very, long history in studying how the mind can be defeated and how a fighter's own mind can be fortified against attack. And by way of this route, I guess from a martial arts perspective I might have a few words to say on the subject. Which is what I am doing right here.
So let's begin... Generally speaking, relative to the majority of the community a martial artist lives in, most masters tended to live long and fruitful lives devoid of disease like dementia, Alzheimer's and Parkinson's because of several factors that may seem independent of each other but actually end up working together to guard against these diseases.
These factors include and are not limited to: 1. continual study ☳, 2. exercise ☵, 3. diet ☶, 4. belief ☰, 5. Social position ☷, 6. occupation in society ☱, 7. medical training ☲, and 8. the experiences brought on by life in general ☴.
Most of the clinical trials involving martial arts centres almost exclusively around Tai Chi. This is because Tai Chi is the default Style when people seek and know of an internal martial art. And is also assumed to be good for elderly because that is the age group most people see doing it. Tai Chi is also picked because it is an internally focused art meaning there is a lot to do with the mind and spirit.
It is also noted that most of the studies involve patients with early onset dementia that can still be reversed provided that the patient is willing and able to make the long term changes required for the positive changes to occur. Something of which isn't always possible. Nor desirable. Given that for most people pills and drugs seem to be just as effective.
Qigong on the other hand has an entire field called Medical Qigong and it falls under the category of Traditional Chinese Medicine or TCM for short. Most Tai Chi masters who claim Tai Chi is good for dementia are actually TCM doctors or Qigong masters to begin with. And are aware that it is not just Tai Chi alone that helps. Hence it is through Medical Qigong that somebody can find the most extensive information and remedies, provided that a person can read and understand traditional Chinese in both it's literal and symbolic senses.
Baguazhang I will discuss in the next podcast following.
The life of a Baguazhang master is a varied experience depending on where the master is living. And while we all try to follow the same success path, the experiential truth is that for each person success is different.
The first three differences are based on where the baguazhang master is living. These differences are history, cultural influences and the natural environment. To give some examples, if I am looking for direct commercial or financial success by being a martial arts master, my best bet would be to work in America. And if I want to find success by more traditional means by focusing on heritage and tradition, Asia is the place to be.
But what happens when a person is unable to live in these two places? Europe, Africa, Australasia and South America? By living in Sydney, Australia, this is the question I'm confronted with everyday.
In one sense by not carrying the baggage of America and Asia, I am free to create my own path and be a Baguazhang pioneer by answering physically everyday the question: What does it actually mean to be a successful Baguazhang master in Australia?
So far, for me it involves podcasting. And expressing as best as I can what Baguazhang and Qigong masters go through, in such a way that those who might be considering this martial arts path can get a better handle of it all.
I have tried a number of times to quit doing what I do. But after each time, I get called back and asked to keep going. What I find most perplexing is that the request to keep going usually comes from the people who spend all their time rejecting what I talk and write about. I am not sure what it is exactly that they reject. Nor do I know what keeps them hooked.
But what is definitely clear to me is that when I meet other martial art masters, they quietly thank me for having the guts to express those things that usually are kept private. It lets them know that they are not alone in their experiences. And you'd now be wondering: What could be so outlandish that they feel they must keep quiet about it?
The answer to that is based on a person's perspective. Most people think they are an okay car while the master's experience is like somebody claiming their car can be used for boating. Normally this isn't true but then some armies have got vehicles that can do just that. To many martial art masters the perspective is kind-of flipped. The master sees their abilities and journey like an ordinary car, while most people have bodies and abilities that would fail the legal minimums required to just be allowed on the road. That car rusting away in the backyard may not even believe there is such a thing as a motorway, having never seen it for themselves.
Hence, the baguazhang master is a sweet ride on the freeway and you'd never know it.
Nineteen by nineteen is the grid. Followed by 361 points of connection. After being told yet again how great and powerful artificial intelligence is at winning over human competition, I have been tempted to give up the game.
But the thing is, for me the game of Go or Weiqi is more than just a game. It is a multidimensional window into the workings of the human mind. And more specifically my opponent's mind.
Artificial intelligence can only learn, adapt and mould its response to changing circumstances. It cannot by itself create a new reality out of its environment. And must adhere to whatever programming its creators put into it.
In short, artificial intelligence is an illusion. The Go master is tricked beforehand into believing it is real. Yes, it is real in a tangible mechanical way. But it is not real in the way the mind is real. The illusionary trick is the insurance policy enacted by the programmers masking the fact that it is the programmers playing the game of Go against the master.
And it is not just one programmer, but a group of programmers working in concert to take the master down. In other words: Defeat by Committee.
Had it been one Go board per programmer, the situation would favour the master. But by going through a computer program, the rules are circumvented, in that the master is facing all the programmers simultaneously in that one move.
Nor does the master know how many programmers are involved. The variable probabilities are just mind-blowing. It's the mental equivalent of being thrown into a ring with half a dozen fighters, who all attack you at the same time. Good luck in surviving that one.
In the end the Go master is defeated through slow mental exhaustion. Death by a thousand little cuts. The prey taken down by a pack of hyenas ⚔️圍棋戰聖
Even though I am a master of Qigong, I still have to deal with the everyday like everybody else. And sometimes during heights of euphoria over achievements and successes, I can just as easily find myself in the ditch again.
Unless I decide to go live somewhere without other people around, that's just the way life will have to be played out from time to time.
To give an example, just the other day at Qigong class, my students and I, had reached the milestone of separating one Qigong ball into two Qigong balls. One for each palm. Flush with excitement from the success, after the class, I failed to stop at a stop sign while driving through some back streets.
Out of nowhere, a policeman on traffic patrol pulled me over and I got booked with a $344 fine and the loss of three demerit points. If a person loses ten demerit points then they lose their driver's licence. At least I hadn't been speeding or drink-driving.
I find it interesting how the mind keeps replaying the past because I just can't figure out where the cop was hiding. I should have seen him if I was only doing 30km/h in a 50km zone. The whole thing feels like I created my own problem just to get me off the euphoria I had been feeling because of the Qigong event.
So here I am. A couple of days later and definately feeling grounded. And facing reality again. But reality is an illusion just like fantasy is an illusion, so what is the difference?
For a lot of martial artists, keeping it real means staying grounded: But if a chicken lives in the real world, what then is the eagle doing when it is flying in the sky?
This is the war that tugs at an internal martial artist deep within themselves. The eagle's desire to be an eagle as eagles are meant to do, is constantly being reigned in by the chicken on the ground. And all the while, the chicken can't seem to understand why the eagle doesn't live with the same fears that the chicken has.
As this whole podcast illustrates, this civil war has got nothing to do with other martial artists even when other martial artists are involved. External events are just projections. But that does not mean the difficult situations we face aren't real. My traffic fine is real. My demerit points are real. And the government does everything in its power to remind me of the consequences should I fail to stop at a stop sign.
It doesn't really matter how lenient the rules are in the game of Monopoly. Unless they get rid of the "Go to Jail" square, at some point in the game you are going to go to jail. What internal martial arts tries to tackle is the little slight of hands that we unknowingly do to ourselves to speed up that process. And turn this bad habit into positive advantage. Positive advantage in Monopoly would be something like waiting out your three turns in jail, while you collect the rent from the other players. Sure, you did not pass go and get your $200. But your rental income may be more than enough to cover your shortfall.
There was a time once, in the Western world that if you worked hard, it would get you somewhere in life. Then the rules and systems changed and working hard wasn't enough. In America, the doctrine of working hard got reworked as hustling for a living. While in Australia, some people try to persist with footy slogans like 'Go hard or Go home!'
As an energy worker by way of Qigong, I find myself questioning these sayings and beliefs by asking, what do they actually mean?
What does it mean to live by them, day in and day out as the norm? And can a person live true to them if nobody else does?
It turns out that most people, especially those that love to quote these sayings, tend to live by them superficially. They pay lip service to them in the hopes that others will do the hard yards instead of them. I know this because I'm one of those people who like to post the slogans on my bedroom wall while committing to experiencing what it actually means to live by them.
To live by them, it sucks. And it sucks because in order to live by them, one has to change their reality so that it can hold true. For example, if you believe hard work is required to get ahead, it means that to be true, your work must be hard. It can never by its very definition get easier. In fact, as you get more successful, the work only gets harder.
Now, if by some chance the hardness of the work stays the same, the work relative to your skill level will seem to get easier. So in order to hold up the virtue of hard work, you end up consciously or unconsciously creating situations where the work becomes hard again.
If it's a conscious thing, then we can define the parameters in which to live it. And then like rock climbing for rock climbers, it can be a way to excel. However, most people do not have defined parameters and are conditioned to live it unconsciously. Which means everything becomes hard work including the things that a person would love to remain easy.
As a master of Qigong, when I actively cultivate my qi, the people who are closest to me become proficient in qi as well. Albeit in a more passive form until their own qi is large enough for the effects to be experientially noticed by those around them.
When that happens, we become highly sensitive to our beliefs and how we want to experience the world around us. For example, recently I had to drive my wife to work and one of my daughter's to school. In the morning drive, we allowed plenty of time to do both and because of the Coronavirus, traffic was meant to be 'light'. However my daughter became agitated because the usual routine wasn't adhered to. As a result, the more worked up she got the heavier the traffic got. It got so bad, that her mum had to tell her off with extreme language so that my daughter would stop her fretting. Once she realised what she was manifesting, she calmed down and the heavy traffic melted away and everybody got to their destination with time to spare.
The best bit about the experience, was that it was measurable by counting the number of cars on the road during rush hour and how long one had to wait at the traffic lights. The difference between cars jamming up and there being hardly any was significant. Significant enough for me to be ending up telling you about it.
Now just to be clear, not being hard does not mean being soft. Nor does being easy mean you are lazy. Soft is soft and hard is hard. Understand these things and what I've said previously will make better sense.
In this moment I chose to delve deeper into the mysteries of war. And to understand that, which is not easily understood.
A lot of things to do with war is an admission that those who are fighting it, have lost control of that thing we call reality.
In peacetime, reality is the ability to hold sway over one's surroundings to the degree that what we hold to be true is a reflection of what we want.
War is the undeclared admission that we are not absolute in that ability.
For most people this makes no sense. Especially when we come from cultures and societies where violence is just an everyday occurrence in our homes and on our streets.
As an internal martial artist, most of what we experience around us, is a manifestation or reflection of the war raging within us; a vast sea that separates us from who we are meant to be. A being that resides at our centre. The sea is calm and sailing it is a breeze, and yet by the rules of our respective cultures and societies, we become blind to what we see and instead experience the maelstrom as we go to war with ourselves.
And so, you may argue that your enemies are real and that you bleed when you get cut. True. You do. But have you ever noticed how much your enemies fulfil a role that must be played out like a specific chess piece for the conflict to have meaning?
Perhaps it's just a game where the players are nothing but pawns, or an endless cycle on the Monopoly boardgame. Does the shedding of blood get you any closer to the original reason of why you got into war?
People who go back to their original reasons, tend to make the decision that it's time to leave the game and get back on the path they're meant to be on. And as a result, their inner sea calms down and they drop anchor at their centre. The subsequent stillness they experience gives them gravity.
In martial arts and war, gravity is the force, that by its very existence bends reality around them. There is no need to force one's will upon others because gravity will draw into one's sphere of influence what wants to be influenced.
The sages, gurus, prophets and other wise people of the ancient past knew this. Like measuring the stars, they measured the influenced around them. And so knew in advance, that should they die, their war was already won. And that death was just a spiritual door that leads off the lower game board and up to a much higher and larger game above.
I've heard that someone is claiming that Sun Tzu' classic The Art of War is a book about peace and avoiding war. I have mixed emotions about the claim. It makes me wonder if that person has actually read the book - all 13 chapters. Because it is only in the first chapter that Sun Tzu cautions a ruler to reconsider. And that caution is based on the damage it could do to a king's country and people.
Chapter two and onwards delves into the logistics and the mechinations of war, insofar that wars can be fought swiftly with the least amount of pain and suffering involved.
The last two chapters deal with using fire and spying. Pause for a moment and think about it...
These two chapters are last. And fire deals with the part of war glory-seekers don't want to accept. And that is this: When all else fails and you can't take the castle, burn it all down, regardless of who's left inside because compassion by the standards of war is about killing the few 'inside' so that the many 'outside' can live on.
And then you have the chapter involving spies. Spies represent that, which is never acknowledged but can be the critical deciding factor in the outcome, of whether or not countries fight an actual outright war. Until then it is all incognito and secret.
Martial arts is the same. Internal martial artists usually end up seeking the way of peace because internal methods are rarely just about having fights. While fights can seem glorious, they have a way of becoming a never-ending cycle of tit-for-tat. It never really solves the problem unless somebody is profiting from it.
Fighters only ever see the next fight. Which may or may not be their next pay-cheque. There is more to martial arts than self-defence. It isn't even about being tactical. There is this part of it that only a person who's been there and done that, can grasp.
To illustrate what I mean: There is a story that is famous amongst entrepreneurial groups regarding the begetting of money. Money is a little bit like butterflies and most butterfly catchers use a net to catch butterflies. While this image can look poetic, the truth is, after a while this way of catching butterflies can get exhausting. So rather than chasing butterflies hither and thither with a net, which is what hustling is, the smart entrepreneur will cultivate a garden that naturally attracts butterflies.
Now up to this point the story for the entrepreneur ends. And ours continues. The thing about butterflies is, is that they lay eggs and those eggs turn into caterpillars. Nothing wrong with caterpillars except that those same butterflies tend to lay their eggs in places they shouldn't.
Outright good old-fashioned war is like the gardener using pesticide over everything. Caterpillars die, the soil becomes toxic and eventually that toxicity builds up in people and so forth. So, in order to avoid this, war is conducted with chopsticks. The farmer searches under leaves and picks the caterpillars off as he finds them. Once he's got the caterpillar held between his chopsticks, he throws it over the fence onto his neighbour's garden. Over time neighbour's yield depletes while our gardener reaps in extra profits at the market. End of story.
Done over a long enough period of time, our farmer may end up in a position where he can buy his neighbour's farm as an act of commercial compassion for his suffering neighbour.
☳ The funny thing about the Art of War, in a not very funny way, is that when you are in it, you tend to learn it very fast and things have a way of changing perspectives very quickly.
☵ You learn strategies and then you try out strategies. Sometimes they work and at other times they don't. But through all that pain and violence we learn who we are.
☶ We gain an affinity with the poetries of war. With some of us even writing them before a major event to help us calm our nerves, steady our hands, and keep us on target.
☰ While the Universe may use our demons to attack where we are weakest, the constant focus on that area of our lives means that we do what we must to get stronger in that area. An example for me would be that at one point in my life, I had like most people that sit too much, severe back problems. It got so bad one time, that I found myself lying on the floor and making a deal with God that I would "climb the mountain finished".
☷ With the only condition on my part being that I would do it through kungfu. And so, long story made short, baguazhang became my chosen route. And for the most part, my back has been stronger than what it was when I was playing rugby for my high school.
☱ On to more recent times, and where I am weakest (like most people) is in the money and finances department. In particular, that thing we call cashflow. Sometimes I'm on profile and winning, but other times, it hurts more than I wish to experience. But I find ways to turn a negative situation into the fuel I need to do it like Jonah Lomu to my opponents.
☲ This constant backwards and forthing regarding the flow of money, means that a lot of martial artists are in the armed security business and relish the mercenary work involved. They understand when countries fight it out like gangsters in places that switch hands regularly. Because its all about the money for both sides: He who has the gold makes the rules.
☴ So when you hear things like World War Three is imminent, don't be fooled. That war ended with the collapse of the Soviet Union.
☳ The Art of War. Military strategies. Or Bingfa 兵法 in Chinese, is a topic that will come up eventually in martial arts training. And for an internally focused martial artist, it is required study. Especially if your path, your Tao 道 is the Way of Martial Arts.
☵ I have been challenged by many practitioners that it is just all theory and not required to be a good fighter.
☶ But I always point out their habit of asking their Sifu or Sensei on elaboration or further detailed instruction as the same thing. The doubter just doesn't like reading and would prefer to have it transmuted from teacher to student.
☰ This self-imposed student limitation, is one of the many reasons why it takes years for a disciple to become a master, if they ever do. For many students wait year upon year to become a master, only to give up and quit before the appointed moment.
☷ Thankfully, I have come to understand through my Baguazhang of the Genchitaofu, that there is a third way. This path is the painful way but it leaves the Baguazhang practitioner experienced in the Art of War.
☱ What most internal martial artists don't realise is that the founders / creators of their internal martial art were fighters and soldiers first. These men and women were living the Way of the Sword long before they became martial artists. Martial arts was their way of passing on skills and staying prepared long after the last war had ended. For war and peace was a never ending cycle that came and went with the seasons.
☲ They understood that many students couldn't read or write. Nor were they always able to organise fights to test their skills. And many students were nothing more than thugs. While we dream of being the hero, the truth is that a lot of martial artists are using their skills in unsavoury ways.
☴ And then you have the yinyang situations where hero and villain are the same thing. The events cancel each other out and we are left with the average or what I call the Vanilla Life: A cup neither half full nor half empty. And always waiting for something real or eventful to happen.
☲ And nothing much ever happens in the Vanilla Life.
☱ So as a result, the martial artist turns inward upon themselves. We internalize the fights and battles. And the Universe sees this and sends us our demons to battle. Our real world problems get magnified or intensified until we deal with them like the martial artist we train to be.
☷ The thing is though, most of our real world problems look nothing like we wish them to be and those demons always attack the point where we are weakest. Points that usually have nothing seemingly martial arts about them.
☰ We are forced to turn our physical training into mental, emotional and spiritual training.
☶ And this is the secret or reason why so many of the martial art moves have nothing directly to do with kicking and punching.
☵ As hard as it may be to believe, some boxing matches are won on the strength of the doctor's ability to keep the boxer well enough to keep going in the ring, rather than on the fighting skills of the boxer.
☳ It is these "unseen" or "secret" martial art abilities that make it also internal. And it these topics that get discussed and taught using Art of War strategy books. The only difference between unseen and secret is that calling it a secret is a very good sales pitch to use. People love secrets. And spies will always have a job.
They say sometimes losing is a form of winning. Who they are, I don't know. But experience has shown me many times that it's not the losing that is winning but that we sometimes have to lose first in order to win second.
Now to be clear, I do not recommend this strategy unless you know what you are doing and have a clear goal that justifies the means. Otherwise you are liable to get labelled a loser. And I've never heard of a guy getting a free fuck because they're losers. It just doesn't happen.
And yet at the other extreme end, when we are winning all the time, the ground below can shift without us being aware.
Recently I played Weiqi (Go/Baduk) with my close friend Andy. It had been more than nine months since our last game, of which I had won. That had been a rare victory against him. In the vast majority of our games he'd win because his winning formula is to always play defensively until I'd run out of novel strategies. And as anybody familiar to the game can attest, nine times out ten, playing defence is the stronger position. So it won't be surprising when I say that Andy's chosen career is IT security.
So here we are, at our latest game together. Aware that Andy will take the defensive line and probably win. So I thought to myself, why bother attacking all the time? While it helps him with his work, I am currently in transition and don't feel like being the aggressor. For the first time in my life I decided to play defensively, and see what happens.
What happened, was that only half of the board - my half got played before I surrendered. I fought for every stone and sacrificed none, thereby losing any means of winning the war. On his side of the board there were only five stones and all of them were his. A one-sided whitewash.
On post-analysis of the game, it became clear just how much he needed me to play aggressively and push him to breaking point. He never gets that playing online amongst players obsessed with ever increasing rules and handicaps. Not to mention how many people are leaving the game because artificial intelligence and it's perceived unbeatability. As he put it: I'm a General and should act like one!
And for me... I went home. Lit some incense from Mount Koya in Japan and performed Chazen in front of an alter I keep handy for moments like these. Inhale slowly. Exhale slowly. And allow myself to brush a Haiku. ⚔️圍棋戰聖
Sometimes life is grand. We are winning every fight and achieving every goal. These are the moments we want to remember and be remembered by. We are having our proverbial cake and eating it too, because we've figured out how to have both. And we wish it to go on forever.
But forever is a very long time. And slowly but surely boredom creeps in. It usually masks itself as "being jaded" with one's lot in life even though that life looks like paradise to other people. It's kind of like the expat who's gone to live the white man's dream in Thailand and ultimately ends up spending his days in an English pub by the beach nursing a slow beer because he's been-there-done-that and is waiting for something to happen.
What that 'happening' is, he doesn't know. Nobody knows. Because it wasn't in the plans. And I have come across this kind of situation many times through doing martial arts. But it is only now, after more than a decade of martial arts that I have come to appreciate the deeper significance of what is going on.
Boredom is the sign a martial artist is about to go through a life and death transition between levels. We are bored because we are riding the elevator up a level. And for action orientated people, standing around waiting, counting numbers can get painful.
But this not life and death in that somebody will die and get reborn (unless that is your life-path). This is about letting go of a level because it has ended and allowing oneself to begin anew on the next level above it. That new level may in spirit look the same as before, but there will be significant differences over the course of the adventure to let it be known that you are indeed seeing things from a higher perspective.
If your journey happens to included an internally focused martial art like Baguazhang 八卦掌, then you are lucky because if you haven't noticed yet, by walking the circle, you are physically and symbolically repeating this situation again and again and again, everytime you do the circle walk.
So how do we move up the levels?
Speaking from the Baguazhang 八卦掌 perspective, to truly excel in the style, a practitioner must have a grasp of the I-Ching 易經 and the eight trigrams 八卦. It's a bit like driving a car. To drive a car, one must first know they are driving a car. You can't drive a car by treating it like a horse! Because every adventure, every situation is linked to a trigram. Know the trigram and know the sequential order of the trigrams, and one is able to know what came before and what is to come next. And this is true of every single Baguazhang 八卦掌 or Baguaquan 八卦拳 style out there.
Life is neither black nor white. It isn't even shades of grey. Although, you may not believe this but grey is the highest vibrational frequency we humans can see in terms of colour. At least some of us can. It's a shade of pastel grey that resides just above violet.
So now you must be wondering, if grey is above violet, what's below red? The answer is brown. In fact the full colour spectrum I can see from low to high in terms of true colours are: Black; Brown; Red; Orange; Yellow; White; Green; Blue; Indigo; Violet and Grey.
Argue with it if you want, but my colour palette is richer than the standard colour theory model out there. And what it means is that in my reality, I am able to see a lot more of what's going on around me than an ordinary person. And this is because, not that I'm somehow better, but that most people have put limitations on themselves of what is possible.
We live by rules and theories created by people who claim to be experts but in truth don't know what they are talking about. And martial arts is the same. And by way of the pot calling the kettle black, you could throw me in the same basket.
Except... Except that when somebody points the finger at me and claims that I don't know what I'm talking about, or I don't know what it's like, I start manifesting in my life the conditions required to experience the accusations labelled against me.
I subconsciously start living a new reality. And then I know the truth. More importantly I know the truth from the lie. That truth quantum leaps me from a lower vibrational state to a higher vibrational state. "Staying grounded" or "Keeping it real" are just lies most martial artists tell themselves to cover up their own self-imposed limitations.
And I can say it because I did the staying grounded and keeping it real stuff. And it was a shit life of hardship and unreasonable pain. In fact my Baguazhang development went backwards. On top of that, God comes calling and starts throwing bricks through the window: Stop trying to be a fish when you are a bird.
Jump! Make the Quantum leap when it's time to. Let go of your earthly tether. Allow your qi to flow through your palms as you do your Baguazhang. Stop hiding behind your master, waiting on every proclamation. Stop trying to fit in and be ordinary when you got real game.
As a Baguazhang master, your job isn't to get your head smashed in the ring. Your job is to walk the path and create a new version of reality that others can follow. Maybe it does mean a new way of fighting. Or it could be about incorporating martial arts into your business somehow that has nothing to do with running a dojo. Who knows?
PS. Black and white are colours and not shades. When referring to shades, the correct terms are light and dark. The black of a black hole isn't black - it means absence of all light, so that it cannot be seen. A person can see the colour black. And it's not a hole either. If it had a shape, a black hole would look a ball the way stars, planets and moons do. And at the other extreme end of the shade spectrum, what is known as white, isn't white. It has no colour but to look directly at it would make you go blind.
Because I am a practitioner of Baguazhang, I always love it when I see it displayed or used in martial art stories and artwork. I like other styles too, but I am only human. Sometimes a little too cocky and sometimes a little too timid in the martial ways but always seeking the truth. Even if it is biased towards Baguazhang.
So it comes as no surprise to those who enjoy what I profess, when I tell yet another story about Baguazhang featuring yours truly. Like always, it starts with a high expectation of hearing about some fight that took place in some back alley that nobody's heard of. But eventually it ends with nothing of the sort.
And that's just the way things are. We want to be the hero of folklore but we must deal with the daily fact that our martial arts life is overwhelmingly the empty spacetime between adventures that never gets recorded...
Welcome to the boring everyday world of Quantum Reality. We see a particle-wave jump an empty gap and go "Wow!". Wondering how it could achieve such a feat? Never realising that if the particle-wave were the main character in a story, it simply jumped from one story to the next because there is no spacetime in between. No reality between the two stories in which it could exist and so it does not.
Many people don't realise this but it is true when I say that at a certain level of proficiency in Baguazhang, when a person does Baguazhang, they are simultaneously also doing Qigong. The two mediums are at this level one and the same thing. Provided that the practitioner wants to go to that level.
So what is the relationship between Baguazhang and Qigong? And how does it relate to Quantum Reality?
It relates like this: When a practitioner rejects the spiritual language of higher levels of martial arts, a practitioner typically has no way of progressing forward in their development and so tend to get stuck in the reality they are in. At first this is okay and may even be enjoyable. But there always comes a point in the story where the glorified bruises turn into marks of shame and regret. And the only way to transcend up to the next level may be through an extremely harmful event.
And so, in comes Quantum Reality to fill in the void left between those wishing the physical path versus the spiritual stuff. It's all just a subtle mindshift. A tiny shift in thinking that opens the door into the world of Qigong and qi as a real tangible thing that a Baguazhang practitioner can wield into something useful.
Recently I came across a manga titled "The Way of the Househusband" or Gokushufudou 極主夫道 by Oono Kousuke. It is a comic serialisation about a fictional Yakuza named Tatsu, who for reasons that are not spelled out but are inferred to, is now a househusband 主夫.
It is a lively read, that a growing community of male martial artists can in their private way relate to. Well, maybe not the Yakuza part, but definitely the change of occupation part of it.
While it is still quite small as a group, around the world there has been an organic movement for martial artists to do more with their art than just being a hobby or a business in the sense of running a dojo. Nor do these men want to commit to going down the path of doing their martial art as a sport or fighting for the money.
These men are dedicating their lives to figuring out what their respective martial art means to them as a way of life.
I am aware that there are women who are also doing this, but I am a man and this article is about being a Househusband dedicated to living the way of martial arts.
While there are some people out there who insist that the man is supposed to be the breadwinner, very few of them know anybody in this situation as described above. Interestingly, most of the criticism comes from women. And not men. Men, more often than not, tend to wonder how it is possible to live such a way?
In brief, it is possible to live like this if circumstances dictate it to be so. But when it is optional, then usually the man has income coming in from sources other than from the misses.
In my example, yes the wife goes out and works while I stay home. But I also operate an online business and receive financial tokens of appreciation for quietly helping others using my Qigong and other expertise. On top of that, I teach Qigong twice a week at a community centre and I manage the household which gives me plenty of time to dedicate to the martial development of my daughters. Plus countless other activities that just would not be possible while working for others full-time or even part-time.
Even being a boss has its limits where staff management is typically a full-time occupational hazard. So by not having a traditional job as such, we are able to quietly play a much bigger role within our respective communities. And I'm not talking about being a 'role model'. Fuck that imposed bullshit. I mean turning up and playing the game we want to play in the way we want to play it.
I love doing my Baguazhang 八卦掌 internal martial art every day. And if I ever get back to working for somebody else, it will not be at the expense of my way of life. Especially now, that all the cool stuff is starting to manifest in my life.
For those of you still struggling to come to terms with your circumstances and are not about to talk about it. Yet. I recommend that you get yourself a copy of this manga "The Way of the Househusband" or Gokushufudou 極主夫道 by Oono Kousuke. And have a good enjoyable read. Perhaps you'll get a few pointers from the Immortal Tatsu on how to improve your palm changing technique?
For further details, the publisher is VIZ Media LLC, ISBN13:9781974709403
Compared to the hopes and dreams of wannabe martial artists living off a constant diet of martial art movies and books, my Baguazhang life is plain vanilla. I have the same good and bad times like most people. And just to illustrate how run-of-the-mill my life can be, recently my online tea business has been going through tough times.
Tough times brought on by what's happening between America and China. And the constant negative media courage of the Australian economy, which is particularly sensitive to the collective mood of the public.
But I manage to cope. So long as the bank gets their monthly 30% cut of the earnings, I will have enough to cover the rest of the outstanding debts incurred more than two years ago by trying to play big the entrepreneurial game.
It's one of the reasons why I say 'Thank God for Baguazhang'. While it may not look like it and at the time, the reason why: Baguazhang, when I think about it, has been one of the smartest business decisions I have ever made. For over sixteen years it's saved me a ton of medical bills and expenses that having a business can generate; physically, emotionally and mentally. Firstly by keeping me gently fit and secondly by bringing me back up when I've been brought low.
And occasionally, Baguazhang has taken me to places that to me are ordinary events that I believe everybody has been through until I start sharing it with others and discover that may not always be the case.
About eight years ago, the difficulties in my tea business started to mount up to the point where I couldn't increase my staff's wages as was the annual custom in Australia. In fact, I had to let some of them go and do the work myself. On top of that, the signs were showing that soon I would need to relocate the business to a cheaper lease, regardless of the money saved from selling my house. You get the picture. It was also at this time that I applied for my first business loan.
And everyday I kept doing my Baguazhang sets. Taking it all in my stride and keeping it real.
Until one day, while visiting family in Hong Kong, I got invited by my sister-in-law to a beauty salon with my wife. It's typically a nice facial beauty treatment followed by a massage. My wife went first and then it would be my turn. At the end of it, I would feel refreshed and cleansed — all stress related pimples from too much heat in the system gone.
Except that when it was my turn, right after the hot towel was put on my face to soften my pores, the beautician left the room. She may have only been gone for a few minutes at most, but my body - starting with my feet - began rising up off the bed. I couldn't stop it. While my head stayed firmly put, my body kept rising up off the bed. I tried telling but I couldn't make a sound. It was as if my mouth had been glued shut. What the hell was going on? I couldn't speak or control my body. On top of that I found myself naked. This did not look good. And yet the weirdest part was my calmness through this situation.
So when two you women entered the room and began discussing my situation in Cantonese and I understood, I knew something was seriously wrong because I can't speak Cantonese and I shouldn't be calm.
They grabbed my floating legs and gently drew me back down onto the bed. Holding me down until the feeling of unbearable pressure subsided within me. And the pull of gravity felt normal again. After that the two women left the room.
The beautician returned to the room. I asked her who the two young women were and she told me that there was nobody else here, apart from my sister-in-law and my wife chatting in reception. In fact she said she had found that I had stopped breathing but thankfully some strong shaking had got me to breathe again.
Call it what you will, but I believe to this day that the situation would have ended differently had I not been doing baguazhang! And it has also marked me with the knowledge that certain ways of solving problems are not open to me.
You know... A funny thing about people that say martial arts is all bullshit, is that they are some of the biggest consumers of martial arts literature and artwork. After having been told countless times about all the fantasy stuff and how it's not real, it amazes me that afterward I still get asked if any of it is actually real?
I usually answer that a lot of it is written by people who don't do or know any martial arts for people like themselves to enjoy. And I try to leave it at that.
But then now you must be wondering: If I've left it at that, why do I write so many articles and have a podcast series?
I do it because I enjoy sharing my experiences. And by sharing, I continue to grow as a martial artist, walking the path to wherever it leads me. A path both like Baguazhang 八卦掌 always circular and like the I-Ching 易經 always changing. It's never static. And as it evolves, I find in the method of podcasting a way to bring clarity to some of the confusing aspects surrounding the experience of living Baguazhang 八卦掌 every single day.
Remarkably those daily experiences, which to me can be quite ordinary, I'm finding it easier and easier to discuss with others on the martial arts path versus those who are not, because non-martial artists can't relate to my world without using references from Wuxia 武俠.
For me, like so many other western martial artists married into the Chinese community, the unwritten yardstick tends to be 金庸 Jin Yong's Wuxia 武俠 novels like Legend of the Condor Heroes 射鵰英雄傳. If it's not the Kungfu 功夫 then it's the Qigong 氣功. There's always something that makes one never being able to measure up.
Until of course, somebody like me comes along and thinks: Okay. So his stories are what I'm being measured against. So let's read his stuff... Bullshit. Bullshit. Not real. These characters piss me off. What kind of story is this. You're kidding me, right? Hey, this stuff is pretty good. Lightness Kungfu, what's that? I wonder if any of it can be done in the real world?
And then a magical thing happens. At least that's the way I want to portray it: That impossible yardstick disappears.
It disappeared because the truth is that when we are living our martial art, we are literally writing our own Wuxia story albeit set in the here and now. Every training session, every fight, every direct or indirectly related experience is building the legend that is your story.
And something internal also happens. Maybe it's an internal martial arts thing, but by reading those novels we become a part of it and it becomes a part of us. The deeper allusions make sense to us in a way not understood by those who don't do martial arts. And we become the translator of the finer points. Those finer points, once deeply grasped accelerates our own chi cultivation in ways few of us can truly comprehend except place a milestone that reads "Been there, Done that".
☳ Because Baguazhang 八卦掌 is a martial art that utilises physical palm changes and sudden circular directional turns, it can be difficult to make sense of what's what in the cyclonic tornado that marks the style.
☵ Staying focused on the target is not always easy to achieve when confronted by multiple moving distractions. And therefore something needs to help the brain process information faster, with reasonable accuracy, than the body's instinctual responses are able to.
☶ Back in the days when computers didn't generally exist, and most martial artists weren't the academic type to sit still and study all day, playing Weiqi or Go 圍碁 was used.
☰ Rather than studying theory all day, the higher levels of strategy could be taught in a fun way in just a couple of hours. And because Weiqi 圍碁 is about encircling stones, it was a natural side-dish to the circular movements of Baguazhang 八卦掌 itself compared to the more square startegies and tactics of other board games.
☷ And through repeated playing of the game, the brain is able to rewire itself at a more deeper instinctual level before testing it all out in the so-called Real World where most martial artists, from overthinking in the heat of the moment, are typically unable to survive the blitzkrieg strategy usually employed by more seasoned fighters.
☱ For those of you not into chess of any sort, the nearest "going around in circles" board game would be Monopoly. The game of Monopoly is about money and property investing. And as such it has its own rules to winning.
☲ In those rules to winning, there is a strong relationship between those good at the game and good at turning a buck through property. And the level of property wealth is directly proportional to how well they grasped the game.
☴ While it is popular to use the phrase "keeping it real" or "staying grounded" as the alternative saying to the same thing, those who have actually experienced what it means to keep it real, there is a strong desire to NOT be grounded too much. But to actually find a way to rise above the muck before the need to do battle is no longer optional because once it is no longer optional, the resulting consequences can be fatal.
☳ Originally the divide between internal and external martial arts was socio-political. "Internal" meant it came from homegrown Taoism, while "external" meant it's origins were Buddhist, which originally came from the Indian subcontinent. Later as the Qing Dynasty was coming to an end, many of the internal masters were actively involved directly or indirectly with the Qing government.
☴ This involvement sprang from being a high ranking martial arts instructor teaching princes to running armed private security firms. Hence the current obsession by Asian governments to keep a watchful eye on martial activities.
☵ And while it is tempting to claim that martial artists have always been honourable in their dealings, the historical facts show that once in a while ambitions go way beyond mere turf wars between rival schools and become full-blown wars like the Taiping Civil War of the 1850's.
☲ One can also try to claim that their masters were nothing but healers. But he who knows how to heal also knows how to harm. So while MMA fighters know how to fight in the ring and win, they are not practitioners of death. Winning means they get paid, and ultimately as their fighting careers come to an end, they get access to job opportunities not available to non-martial artists. They need to fight and win to put rice on the table.
☶ In Asia, being a martial artist is more than just fighting and money. It's about having a position and role in the community that at times feels more like a burden than a privilege. You are expected to hold up certain values and ideals by your very being. And unlike in the West, namely America, it is not optional. In Europe, where titles still matter, upholding that office of rank is still expected.
☱ A lot of what has been learnt in the West regarding martial ethics or Wude 武德, has been modified through American culture. And so there is a widely held belief that Wude 武德 can be conveniently ignored.
☰ I have learnt through experience of practicing my Genchitaofu Baguazhang 艮氣道福八卦掌 form, that Wude 武德 is the proving ground between what happens in the dojo and what actually happens out there in the real world with the people and environs we in habit. And it is in the experiencing of Wude 武德 that we find out what our martial arts is actually for.
☷ Sadly most martial artists nowadays when confronted with the challenges of Wude 武德 tend to quit and give up martial arts. Sure, one may argue about money and family et cetera. But these are all part of the Wude 武德 experience. They exist to prove to yourself and those around you whether you are for real or just playing around...You can win fight after fight in the ring but if you cannot master Wude, martial arts will forever be just a fairweather hobby.
There are people, who despite their efforts in staying grounded with their martial art, are in fact standing on shaky ground. They give the veneer of being tough, solid, but even a lonely butterfly has the ability to set them off.
They get into the most popular martial art styles going around and do their darn'dest to make sure everybody's on board and toeing the line. Anything else is heresy.
So when things change, and they do, they're at a loss to why. Their numbers still stack up - They have all the followers and members. Engagement is still strong by the loyal, and yet stagnation has set in. When it comes to converting the numbers into something meaningful, it's as if their house of worship is empty.
All martial art styles have gone though this. Baguazhang is no exception. The only saving grace has been for Master Dong Hai Chuan to realise early on, that Baguazhang is not a style for the masses because that would be bad for business.
Where a lot of the martial art styles in the late nineteenth century were either related to religious sects or family secrets practiced on the side of whatever the main business was, the masters of Baguazhang recognised through fortuitous events the business potential of Baguazhang to generate a real income that goes beyond operating a martial art school.
The business of my Genchitaofu Baguazhang form is just that, my business. Not as in mind your own business, but a form income generation so that I do not have to work for somebody else. Nor do I have to teach Baguazhang in a dojo to make a living. That's not my job. I teach and guide others as a way of giving back to the community provided value is exchanged in some form of appreciation.
So how does it work?
Well, first things first: If you can't stomach my version of reality, I'd rather you stop reading or listening now, then get angry and punch a wall. Anger only feeds the demons harbouring within.
So how it works, is that Baguazhang at the highest levels is a contract between you and your Ultimate Truth. For most people that means God or Allah or your version of Divinity. For Atheists, in their way the same contract applies. But it has nothing to do with religion. It is all about becoming a Samurai Shen 侍神 in the original correct meaning of the title.
Forget about the Japanese warrior image. The original meaning of samurai 侍 is 'person who serves' and not armed henchman. And the original meaning of shen 神 is 'messenger of the gods' and not god.
There are countless examples throughout history of people who did this. And they were all associated with some mountain or hill. And I bet there are people listening to this and know exactly what I mean through personal experience but might not have been able to articulate it. Until now. And if you are one of those people, I also bet that your Baguazhang has gone beyond the point of being able to explain what you do so that other people will get it. It just is. And you are a Samurai Shen 侍神.
Every now and then I wonder if I had gone off the deep end with Baguazhang? And when I think that I have, I am pleasantly reminded that despite my weirdness I am still quite grounded. Everything I have tried to express has been an attempt to make it easier for the ordinary person to grasp this style, provided that they are doing martial arts and are willing to transcend the levels up.
The levels have nothing to do with being graded by a shifu. But everything to do with where a martial artist is at, with regards to their focus. For example, a person focused on self-defence is of a lower energetic frequency to a person focused on fighting. This is because self-defence is about survival. Whereas fighting is about wanting to win. From wanting to fight, broadly the levels go up as teaching, physical healing, spiritual guidance and so on.
With the internally focused martial arts like Baguazhang, there comes a point where doing Baguazhang and doing Qigong are one and the same thing: It just is so. And nobody can dispute this fact.
With the Genchitaofu Baguazhang, it happened to be an exact number of sets done: four thousand and ninety-six sets. The reason for this number is specific and it is directly related to Bagua and the I-Ching. And I will leave it to you to figure it out... It shouldn't be too hard.
So now I get into that weird and wonderful subject of Chinese martial power or Jingong 勁功.
On the internet, it is quite a rare topic with vaguely defined parameters. Jingong 勁功 is even harder to understand than Qigong. And this, despite it being the yardstick by which Chinese martial artists outside of Wushu measure themselves. It isn't even understood my martial artists themselves. A lot of it being masked as family or style secrets only handed down from master to select initiates. Rarely discussed. Or more openly displayed in Wuxia literature as "Lightness Kungfu" 輕功夫.
"Lightness Kungfu" 輕功夫 is the stuff that defies nature and physics. And is awesome to watch in the movies. While being in direct opposition to the guys obsessed with being grounded.
So here goes with defining Jingong 勁功 as far as Baguazhang is concerned: While Qigong is the work or art of cultivating one's qi, Jingong 勁功 is the ability to generate one's qi at will and project it outwards externally. And it is this Jingong that allows somebody to experience qi as a tangible sensation.
In terms of it being a mysterious gift a master can give to a select disciple, I find that ludicrous given how many Qigong masters use Jingong to heal people, and that strong Qigong masters naturally radiate qi the way a strong aura can influence its surroundings. And here in Australia, we use qi as a medium between masters to get to know each other. Something which we happily share, to the shock of newly arrived Chinese masters still in the old mode of keeping secrets from others.
So if you have ever gone to China, and found yourself being "tested" on your internal martial art abilities by an old mysterious Chinese master appearing out of the blue and you've felt weird energy sensations during the encounter that are hard to explain to people who are not part of your martial world, then your Jingong 勁功 is the reason why.
""Empty your tea cup. Allow your life to be fill’d. Cha Zen: Stillness found.""
When I created the Genchitaofu Baguazhang form I was aiming to achieve a number of goals through one system that was easy to do everyday and would by itself lead me up the mountain. Now, I had mentioned before that by becoming the mountain I would not need to go visit the mountain - something of which, a lot of neijia practitioners eventually find themselves doing. Nor in the realisation of doing it, the mountain would be coming to me, even though it is said in the Bible that faith can move mountains.
The mountain is a stubborn element and I have stubbornness issues. And in that, I and the mountain see eye to eye and I have found inner peace on this matter. But that does not stop me from growing and climbing the metaphysical mountain that exists in all of our heads. Like the one that goes for a lot of budding martial artists: Which style is more effective in combat? Which style is the hardest? And who is number one? Well, you can’t get harder than the Gen 艮 element. It is so hard that it does not and cannot move. Hence its main promise is to help a person find stillness and ultimately true rest.
In the beginning I did not focus on that. I chose Gen because it is linked to matter and for humans matter means tangible things like rocks and boulders: I wanted upon the earthly plane to have tangible results that I could prove to all the wankers and tossers around me I was living proof of what was possible.
That was more than sixteen years ago. I was still in that mindset and in that world most martial artists find themselves in. And the tea 茶 and zen 禪 parts? The tea was a separate commercial enterprise in doing business like an entrepreneur. While Zen 禪 and Tao 道 and all that stuff, just wasn’t in the picture at all. In the beginning it was all go hard or go home stuff.
So you can imagine my surprise one day, when through bizarre circumstances, I found the ground coming up towards me and my hardness got me bedridden for a month. Unable to move I had to confront who I truly was and let go of wanting to prove myself to people who were mostly imaginary, but had been kept around with me (in my head) as part of what happened when I migrated to New Zealand as a six year old child. The first few years of school in New Zealand are mostly memories of fighting all the time with Pakehas because I could only speak German and World War Two still loomed large. Or I was being whacked around the legs with a ruler or something in front of the class by the Pakeha teacher for whatever accusation was being thrown at me. In fact, for most of my schooling in New Zealand, fighting other boys either in school or after school was a far better option than the other side of being constantly teased or bullied. Which also did happen all the time.
So there I was, lying in bed and desperately wanting to get up and do my Baguazhang while having to confront the fact that I survived and that I am still around, when from time to time I get the news that so and so has committed suicide.
It pains me still to discover, that a lot of these boys (for back then Mount Albert Grammar School in Auckland was a boys only school), were being bullied just as much or worse because when I saw them around, they were part of the cool kids. And I was just trying to survive.
So when Kiwis ask me why I don’t want to return to New Zealand or cannot, there you have it. The place has filled me with a good dose of paranoia. At least here in Sydney, Australia when I look up at the sky I can see that it is blue and sunny and filled with the freedom that comes from wide open expanses. I no longer have to fight all the time. And when I look at people, there is peace and love. And the sense that my Baguazhang is for something greater - A kind of greatness that comes from the intangible. An intangibility that has been expressed many times through Mindfulness and Chazen 茶禪 or what I call Tea Time equals Me Ti
The funny thing about living your own brand of truth, is that you get to a place where what we perceive as the ordinary collective reality we all share with each other, may in-fact seem to be a collective delusion we hold up to avoid seeing what is really going on.
I use the conditional word ‘seem’, because for each and every one of us doing Baguazhang, whether by ourselves or in a group, we are all walking our Tao and trying to discover what that means.
You do not have to be a Taoist to be walking your Tao. For the Tao is simply the way, the path, the direction you have chosen to walk.
Some of you are lucky, in that you have resources available to help you cross the great nothingness from where you are to where you want to be. And some of us have the blessed fortitude of being somewhere, where things must be figured out through experiences that help us to comprehend with depth what it is all about.
For me, and maybe also from time to time for you, experiences do occur that are just a little out of the ordinary. And these events rarely get shared with others because quite frankly they put us on the weirdish spectrum of life. Until, of course, we meet other fellow Baguazhang practitioners who have ‘been there done that’ and we feel good again to know that our path isn’t that lonely.
Recently, I had the good fortune of catching up with fellow baguazhang master Sean, who practices and resides out of Bondi, the suburb famously known for Bondi Beach out in eastern Sydney. We met up in Chinatown one morning and he took me to a real old-fashioned Cantonese tea-shop stuck in 1970’s decor, where you can still get a Hong Kong Lai Cha for three dollars fifty. We ate lunch together and compared background notes. To which we both realised that while we live in very different places to each other, some experiences were similar enough that we could advise each other on how best to move forward in our inner development that leads to outer development.
This meeting was actually our first time meeting face to face. And came about because while we were already connected via social media, it had never occurred to me that we were spiritual neighbours. Literally just a train ride away, and not far away overseas somewhere. Which is good, because I am at the stage in my development where physically connecting with other Baguazhang and Qigong masters is becoming a must like the neurons in the brain wiring up.
To assist me on my path, over a decade ago I created eight new Baguazhang forms. One for each trigram or gua. The one that allows me to grow energetically upon the earthly plane in which we all exist is called the Genchitaofu 艮氣道福 Baguazhang 八卦掌. And it is my Gen gua 艮卦 form. In brief, it allows me to be the mountain itself so that I do not have to go to the mountain and the mountain does not have to come to me. If that makes any sense. For the more spiritually inclined, it means that my inner child is no longer an inner child. That which was an inner child of around 7 years old is now a 25 year old inner man. Whose growth will by the end of this year matching my outer age of 45 years old. But I digress…
After our meeting, I mucked around for a little bit at my favourite Japanese bookstore: Kinokuniya before taking the train home. I boarded the train at Town Hall station. Riding the T9 red line to Epping which goes past Burwood.
At Straithfield, the following station, the train stopped and the doors to the carriage I’m on opened. Normally, I don’t pay too much attention to who gets on and off, except that this time I heard a very loud thumping sound slowly being repeated with each second step of whomever was making it. Thump. Thump. I looked up and saw this young man with long blond dreadlocks in green robes slowly ascending the steps to the upper deck of the carriage of where I’m seated...
While recently I have been adventuring around the fringes of qigong, regarding pendants and how to use them to facilitate the acceleration of qi cultivation, I kept as always my baguazhang practice going alongside my i-ching.
To me, baguazhang, i-ching, qigong, chazen, weiqi and bingfa or the Art of War, are all just pretty much one thing. Just like seeing with the eyes different objects but knowing underneath it all, it is just energy; Energy expressed in different forms.
So in amongst my little adventure, I found the time to play some weiqi. Black stones and white stones circling each other again and again, until a pattern emerges. Or even better, a fundamental realization that can be shared with my readers and listeners...
The Art of Weiqi War is about conducting warfare by using weiqi as a guiding tool. This is its origin. It does not necessarily mean one needs to actually fight. Because fighting is seen as a last resort when all other options have been exhausted.
I repeat: When all other options have been exhausted.
However, with the way things tend to go with some people, it seems like fighting is the only option available. And so, winning without harming others is an impossibility for them. And this impossibility, which is a creation of the reality they wish to live in, is also their prison. The violence they project on others, becomes their attempt to overcome or control the beast they have created.
Which is funny in a not good way, because the greatest strength the game of Go has to offer is how to place massed troops around a given territory so that if war comes, winning is easy. The Art of Weiqi War is about having military bases strategically located here and there.
At the same time, the use of troop deployment becomes the subtle art of putting the squeeze on one’s opponent in an effort to get them to either capitulate to one’s will or force them to trip up in such a way that one remains clean, while having the moral right to defend oneself against a supposed aggressor.
And the whole enterprise is an art. Something that cannot be easily deduced through rational thought, science or mathematical calculations. For, not all decisions are made by the head. A lot of it is done by the heart or crutch. Nevermind the spiritual stuff.
Although for people who do things on base instincts, everything above the waistline can seem like spiritual woo-woo. I had a reminder of it today when I was in a beautiful park and I listened into a group of loud teenage boys strolling past me. Almost three quarters of their conversations, no matter how mundane the topic kept turning into threats of violence against each other or quasi-insults that led to threats of violence. I say, quasi-insults because half the time what one person perceived as an insult to me sounded more like either a compliment or just a typical everyday question. But I could be wrong. Things change. Energetically I felt nothing. No charge or need to do anything but let it pass.
If it had been a weiqi move, then I guess a stone was placed too close for comfort and I was being put on notice. At least that is what somebody thinking loud and obnoxious would do. Until of course it is my turn and I’m wondering what the obnoxiousness is distracting me from?
I would go after that instead...
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⚔️圍棋戰聖
It is Tuesday morning and bucketing down heavily. And cold. Sydney CBD, which is normally humming with people, is unusually quiet. And as far as energy work goes, I had had enough of the Blue Kyanite Pendant. While it is a beautiful pendant, something about wearing it is a little off, and spiritually speaking, the weather would only get worse if something positive wasn’t done about it soon.
And so I had found my way to Paddy’s Markets in Haymarket at the bottom end of Chinatown. Yes, Sydney has its very own Chinatown replete with all the things a lover of Chinatowns around the world could love. Except that in Sydney, Chinatown is mostly for the tourists. The true heart of Little Chung Guo is a little further out west in Ryde.
To make a long story shorter, at Paddy’s Markets I bought a black jade bagua pendant inlaid with a bit of gold colour so that the black bagua symbols can clearly be seen. I paid the amount due and put it on. The rain stopped and I made my way back up George Street to Kinokuniya Japanese bookstore. Where I spent the rest of the day mucking around.
It has been more than a week since, and if the weather has been anything to go by, then I would say things have improved dramatically in the right sunny direction.
Except that, by whatever algorithm Google uses, I am now getting article and video suggestions that imply that I have gone bonkers with all this pendant stuff. Normally I would be concerned about such a labelling, except that I live in a world where results matter. And consistent results matter even more. And that while the talkers regard me as bonkers, those that want proof tend to pay me a friendly visit.
You see, the thing is about qigong, like anything else, is that you have to have the intention to have qi in order to be any good at qigong. And… Everytime you do qigong, you set the intention of what kind of qigong it is and why you are doing qigong.
Most people do qigong for better health and that is exactly what they get. And most people only do qigong up to the point where it aligned with them. Once it goes beyond their perception of themselves, then we get into the unknown.
To hide behind science, is just putting up walls of ignorance. What most people regard as science isn’t even science. But unverified hand-me-down assumptions and commonly held beliefs. Real Science is always progressing by questioning and testing its own theories.
So, now that Google, in its infinite algorithmic wisdom thinks I am bonkers, what will be the course of future events?
Well firstly, I will continue to do qigong, baguazhang, weiqi and the i-ching and continue to grow. And that is a fact.
And Secondly, my life will continue to become more beautiful and prosperous because of it. That is also a fact. Because ladies and gentlemen, we are always in a state of creation: The reality you experience - love it or hate it - is yours and no-one elses.
If you resonate with this, you are always welcome to drop me a line through LinedIn... linkedin.com/in/peterhainzl/
“So does it need to be jade?” Steve asked.
“It depends. Yes and No.” I answered. “I’m not really sure.”
It is a truism in martial arts, that the higher we go, the less we know. At some point along the journey, the well paved road disappears from view and it takes a while for us to realise just how far we’ve ventured into the woods.
Yes, we start off with learning martial arts for self defence. Then we move on to wanting to win fights like a real fighter, either for pleasure or for profit or both. From here at some point we may decide to teach as well. Some martial arts go further and have a level dedicated to the healing arts or may even delve into the spiritual and philosophical side of things.
It is always up to the practitioner to decide how far they want to go.
Because of my background and the general direction of the path I have chosen through Baguazhang, I decided a long time ago to go all in and experience the truth behind reality itself, even though reality is on the one hand an illusion and on the other hand the point where two opposing polarities meet.
By now I had passed on two pendants and it is Saturday. Even though I wore the Green Bagua Pendant for Qigong class, I couldn’t help but feel something missing around the area of my heart. While at the same time I could sense when and how the pendant was being used. While I am glad to have passed it on, you wouldn’t have known it by the way I kept talking about it. My wife kept telling me that I was having withdrawal symptoms and needed to find a replacement quick.
Because of Saturday activities around my kids and issues with timing, I settled on a couple of crystal shops. The first shop was too wicca and every pendant looked like women’s jewelry, not to mention how much crystals have gone up in price over the last couple of years.
The second crystal shop was found in Parramatta Westfield. It had some interesting rocks and eventually I settled on a small piece of blue kyanite. The lady who owned the shop tried to sell me the virtues of kyanite being good for clearing chakra pathways, but I really just liked the colour and shape of it.
When I held it in my hands for the first time, I felt nothing. The only time I felt something was when she tied it around my neck and I felt her energy course through the back of my neck down to my lower back. A spot that from time to time requires a bit of T.L.C.
And so from Saturday afternoon. On Sunday through to Tuesday I wore the Blue Kyanite Pendant and recording the results. Of which I am happy to share as follows: One, any qi felt from the crystal was due from having been in that lady’s shop and absorbing a bit her qi. Two, whenever I focused on the subject of qigong, the kyanite would start to warm up. Three, even though I had the crystal hidden from view, a lot of women around me, kept staring at the point of where it was located on my body. And lastly, somehow the crystal is able the amplify and reflect back my own qi so that I can feel what others feel when they experience my qi. And I have to admit, even I can be a little too much for myself at times.
Something in the experience of it being slightly off, is giving me the strong impression that what kind of material worn matters a lot. And while it is a beautiful pendant, I don’t think I will wear it often. For me it will have to be jade - it matters. There is a reason why in Chinese martial arts it is meant to be jade. And the only way to know is for me to get another one... Liked what you heard & want to connect with me? Join me at… linkedin.com/in/peterhainzl/
So Steve asked me, “Does the pendant need to be jade?”
I said that I wasn’t sure. I would have preferred it to not matter, because after I had passed on the Black Dragon Pendant, I started wearing a green bagua pendant.
This green bagua pendant was also bought in Hong Kong but this time from a street kiosk at the famous Ladies’ Market along Tung Choi Street. With the bagua on it crudely hacked into it with the green stone being of supposedly jade. At the time of buying, it was more of a tourist impulse buy that I told myself that one day it will come in handy to justify the expense even though it was cheap as.
That one day did eventually come by way of my qigong community service at the North Ryde Community Centre. I wore it to every qigong class as part of my kung fu uniform, up until last Friday. With Friday being the day after my visit to the Jade Healing Centre in Penrith.
One of the reasons I also visited Steve, was because for a couple weeks up to the visit, when I wore the green bagua pendant, I got the feeling or sensation that maybe it was time to pass it along to the next person.
On the one hand, that sensation was a good one to have because it meant that I have been imparting my growing qi into it and that whoever was the recipient, they would be getting some very focused qi around qigong.
But on the other hand, I kind of didn’t want to part with it. There was the practical issue that on Thursday when I was visiting Steve, I didn’t have a replacement pendant and nobody seemed worthy enough to get it.
But that was Thursday. On Friday, at the start of my qigong class, I found myself after telling my class about my visit to the Jade Healing Centre, passing the green bagua pendant to my strongest energy worker. She happens to the star volunteer at the North Ryde Community Centre and had with her sister just returned from the Philippines as part of a family visit. Her qi after doing qigong for about a year or so, is very strong and can be felt passively radiating around her of about two feet radius.
And so I gave it to her with the same conditions attached: Once the pendant can no longer be felt as nothing, it is time to pass it on to the next worthy recipient. Doubly stressing that specific point, so that nobody gets the idea that pendant is a love token. Of which it is not.
After Friday’s class she quietly came up to me and said “Thank you”.
It turned out that her qi had also tanked some-what because she had spent some time in the Philippines showing others her qigong, as I had cautioned her before the trip that may happen. Extended family and friends are what they are. Always wanting to know but not really believing any of it, unless somehow you can do ‘miracle work’. Which is another ball-game altogether that I strongly advise my students to avoid like the black plague because while you are giving all your qi to others, nothing is coming back to fill the energy tank. Even if you were brought up with the belief and that it is holy and noble to help others, qigong requires the practitioner to abstain from being a martyr. Of the one hundred percent that comes in, a part of it is for self nourishment and wellbeing first. It is only what is left, after a practitioner has expanded in qi, that it is used for the betterment of others.
Which makes some people wonder just how big energetically I am to be able to put qi into a pendant? The answer is very, very, big. So big in fact, that my energetic presence can be felt by energy workers around the world.
So, then, does the pendant need to be jade?
The answer is yes and no... Liked what you heard & want to connect with me? Join me at… linkedin.com/in/peterhainzl/
As a good podcast host I am meant to tell you that this podcast will be longer than my usual podcast episodes. Which are normally averaging around three minutes. This podcast will be longer. Maybe 10 minutes or so. If that is too long, now is a good time to stop and listen later when you have more time available.
The second thing, I need to tell you, is that the subject matter may be a little difficult to comprehend. In brief, I am going woo-woo and breaking all boundaries regarding qi and energy and how to use it (in a very specific way).
The third important point, if you haven’t switched off yet, is that I am selling as in that phrase I sometimes come across from time to time about not buying what the person on the youtube video is promoting. But don’t worry, no money will be exchanging hands. However, if at the end, you feel that you need to argue or strongly reject what I am about to tell, then you have essentially bought my stuff.
What that means is that in order to take a position, you must first hold what I say as being real for you. And that in some form what I say is the truth. If it is not your truth, then what will happen is that you will simply switch off and forget all about it. And therefore this article just won’t exist. Nobody every argues against something that does not exist.
If you are, by now, still with me… Let’s begin:
Once upon a time, which happens to be just last Thursday, in a land far far away, which happens to be Sydney, Australia. I decided to travel from my home in Meadowbank to Penrith, out in far western Sydney. By train, the trip took about an hour and ten minutes. It always amazes me how much the scenery changes from lush green to very brown and dry. Penrith sits on this side of the Blue Mountains - The Outback, as people have come to know it, is a few more hours away on the other side of the mountains.
By the time I got to my friend’s clinic The Jade Healing Centre. My friend Steve was having lunch with two other people. One was a hypno-therapist, who was going through a difficult patch dealing with clients and their issues, and needed a way to get a boost. And the other person John was giving an account about another person who had this crazy idea of starting a fuel importing company called Unicorn Petroleum and selling the fuel to the airlines. Apparently this guy was told that he didn’t need a licence and that is was going to make him rich. Because for him this was just another day in paradise, John had already decided to pass Unicorn Petroleum over to another friend of his, who handles government compliance issues.
So amongst this, I stroll in, out of the blue. We greet and hug, and I take my place in the spare seat between Steve’s two friends.
Now Steve, is an amazing character. He uses qi as part of his chiro practice and can switch a person’s energetic flow on and off at will. The first time I saw it, I was amazed because Penrith is a working man’s town and he gets some of the blokiest guys, I have ever seen coming in; Builders, tradies, sportsmen, guards and the like… Very working class. They come in with problems and they go out fixed. Just no nonsense straight talking, get to the point, stuff. So when we compare notes, our notes on qi are always based on results. He does Tai Chi Quan and I do Baguazhang. And together we help each other to develop Qigong in a way that the western mind can understand and use everyday without the fluff. Although a lot of what I will say next, will sound very fluffy.
After having told him that I am there because he energetically called for me, I am also there to show him how I run my qigong classes. My main goal is to consistently be able to take an ordinary person off the street and teach them qigong. But not just the breathing exercises and meditation stuff. But to experience qi as a tangible thing. In my classes there is no touching, so all qi generated, is by way of the person themselves. And so far my results have been consistently abo..
I finally got the chance to face one of my fears in martial arts. A blessing I want to share with those who are ready to receive because they know. Thank you... Liked what you heard & want to connect with me? Join me at… linkedin.com/in/peterhainzl/
Either you will 'get' this podcast or you won't. There's no point in arguing about it. If this doesn't ring true to you, then let it drop. But when you are reafy, come back to it and compare it to your own martial arts experience... Liked what you heard & want to connect with me? Join me at… linkedin.com/in/peterhainzl/
The Feng Shui of Meadowbank. An update on the last podcast by the same name. While I talk about me, this is what happens and is why as you do your internal martial art, you are noticing changes in your environment to what you desire: Your outer world becoming in congruence with your inner world... Liked what you heard & want to connect with me? Join me at… linkedin.com/in/peterhainzl/
In Gay Hendricks' book "The Big Leap" it says that when a person has reached their upper ceiling limit, their bodies will start showing signs of ailment to hold them back. So this podcast is a way for me to break through my own limitations by announcing what I've become to the world: a 天気人... Liked what you heard & want to connect with me? Join me at… linkedin.com/in/peterhainzl/
In hoc signo vinces - est modus in rebus (Latin)... Finding your centre, the statement speaks for itself: either you will get this podcast or you won't... Liked what you heard & want to connect with me? Join me at… linkedin.com/in/peterhainzl/
When Qigong and business from a financial standpoint meet, someone like me starts doing it from the deep end. When it comes to real Qigong... Liked what you heard & want to connect with me? Join me at… linkedin.com/in/peterhainzl/
I am always amazed at the thoughts that play in my head when I am playing Weiqi (Go/Baduk). The world around me gets put aside, and both me and the world get a bit of me time: Time out from all the weekly bullshit circulating around.
If there is a cup of tea beside me, then it becomes the more tranquil moment of "Tea Time equals Me Time". And in that moment, while I am playing – clarity shows up.
It's kind of cool to know that while the world is preparing to bash itself silly, I have a way to transcend the looming world war. A war, that if seen from above the drama, actually may be a profitable enterprise for both sides.
Several months ago, I replayed an interesting game in which neither side drew any blood, even though eventually one side did win by causing the other side to resign.
When I played it on my own plastic mat, it just didn't make sense. Where was the turning point? What caused the capitulation? What was I searching for?
The answer eluded me. When I played the same game on my new leather mat, the change of terrain suddenly opened the possibility of being able to see the answers to those very same questions I had been asking.
Now, I should be relating weiqi to the art of war, and if you listened carefully you will notice that I am staying on key. The art of war is more than just bullets and guns. Sometimes it's about the numbers — The real numbers.
By playing the game for a second time and just letting go of the desire of trying to control the outcome, the numbers start lining up, and the path toward profitability starts showing itself. Now to be honest, the path was always there. The only thing that had changed was the way in which I played the game.
The game will always be the game. Politics, economics and war will always be what it is. And they come and go like alternating stones on a Weiqi board. But how a person choses to respond to the circumstances, as they are, in the moment of play is what makes the difference.
I chose to take myself out. To leave the board for a while. And in by doing it, the great game went from bigger than me to something just sitting there on a table waiting for the next move. I drop out and then I drop back in.
To those locked in the game and who choose to stay through the drama, people like me behave like ghosts – coming and going. Doing what we do. And if you understand what's been said, then at some level you are playing your game in a similar way... Connect with me @ linkedin.com/in/peterhainzl/ ⚔️圍棋戰聖
While most Qigong is used for healing, is there a real martial Qigong?... Liked what you heard & want to connect with me? Join me at… linkedin.com/in/peterhainzl/
When it comes to the art of qigong, this planet becomes a very interesting world to live in. And I have found myself on a wondering journey that involves me discovering all the different versions of qigong out there.
And the more I look, the more I find.
And in this adventure, I have come to appreciate with much growing happiness that qigong is not just an exclusive Chinese thing.
It has existed throughout the world since the Dreamtime in different cultures, customs and tongues with different names. And depending on the mood of the society it exists in, sometimes it is practiced openly and at other times has remained hidden.
But usually it has remained just too far out there yonder for ordinary folk to grasp.
In my community qigong classes, my role is to assist people wanting to experience qigong, how to do it for themselves. And to discover what their element is, so that they can use their growing qigong abilities to the fullest.
In this class, I have an Aussie guy who is on track to heating his own cup of tea. With his ‘thing’ being that he feels heat in his hands and recently he’s become adapt at warming a metal spoon without touching.
At the same time Another person, his wife, feels intense coolness (in the palms of her hands); She’s an artist and together they’re like harmonious opposite battery charges.
And then there is my most advanced student: A Filipina Chinese lady who is the star of the community centre. I hadn’t been aware of just how good she is at doing qigong until when we tried the telekinetic spoon bending test. Not the magic trick that involves heating a spoon between two fingers, but the real one that involves no touching, that apparently only a handful of people around the world are able to do.
Now to be clear: No spoons got magically bent (or twisted) in our test. But....
But it became a test to find out which version of reality one lives in. With both versions being true: Is the spoon a solid metal object as we experience it, and can prove through classical physics or is the spoon 99.99...% empty space as stated by nuclear physics?
So which one is it?
Mostly solid or mostly empty space?
The answer lies on what you decide upon, which will in turn also define your reality.
In the test we conducted, when we placed the spoon in the gap between her hands without touching, her qi stopped flowing. The spoon acted as a circuit breaker blocking the energy flow from one hand to the other even though we were all focused on seeing the spoon magically bend.
But here’s the interesting bit, when I got her to ignore the spoon as not existing like empty space, her qi flowed through the spoon with increased vibrational strength. It was so strong that I could feel her qi from three feet away.
Now was the spoon there?
Yes it was. But the future implications of what just happened will be quite profound for her.
Last month I promised myself that if I had a highly successful and profitable tea business for that month, I would reward myself with a new Weiqi mat.
And so, I made my financial targets for that month and at my local Taiwanese bookstore I bought a new Weiqi mat. Beautiful: Bold black lines printed on soft brown leather. Just beautiful.
Finally I put aside my old Chinese-made plastic mat and let go of the symbolic elemental meaning of plastic.
Plastic represents that, which is man-made and cannot be naturally found in nature. It represents the need for control over the forces of chaos. And so symbolically to play on a plastic Weiqi mat is to be either order/control or chaos.
Now, I do have a beautiful wooden board, but because of its bulk, I rarely like to play on it. I prefer the portability and mobility of a leather mat. And I particularly enjoy the way the marble stones quietly hit it. There is a certain elegance in doing things softly like a powerful lion in the tall grass. Power and grace coming together for the kill!
And so that was my month.
This month I endeavour to exceed my targets by a couple of thousand dollars. And all to be done with grace and ease, while using the new may in the form of an abstract map to help guide the way forward.
Already I have found the new leather mat to be better at differentiating the black and white stones into clear patterns of give and take. Something of which was hard to see previously.
This fluidity-in-motion reminds me of Aikido, the highly refined Japanese martial art of being in union with the way of energy.
Which in layman's terms means to grasp which way the flame is burning, regardless of the fluxing commentaries, because the master is above the immediate dramas that tend to captivate and then drown its victim ⚔️圍棋戰聖
Every now and then, Heaven sends us messages concerning mankind that trumps whatever bullshit of a war we got going, and it's time to listen. Heaven couldn't give a rat's arse about morality and all that stuff. It has its way. And we (no matter what you believe in) will be made to hear... Liked what you heard & want to connect with me? Join me at… linkedin.com/in/peterhainzl/
To win without fighting, is there a moment in reality when it's possible to experience it?... Liked what you heard & want to connect with me? Join me at… linkedin.com/in/peterhainzl/
If your ethos is about fighting and winning fights, the Dao is something to be avoided and listening to this podcast may be hazardous... Liked what you heard & want to connect with me? Join me at… linkedin.com/in/peterhainzl/
If you have visited or are living in Meadowbank, Ryde, Sydney and have always wondered why the Feng Shui is so powerful there? Here is the true answer... Liked what you heard & want to connect with me? Join me at… linkedin.com/in/peterhainzl/
What does "keeping it real" in martial arts actually mean? To many of us say it like a slogan, but few actually live it... Liked what you heard & want to connect with me? Join me at… linkedin.com/in/peterhainzl/
While the upside of Baguazhang is that a fighter gets to fight outside of the ring as something like a phantom. The downside of Baguazhang is that war is fought on the individual immediate level: Every experience is felt personally and direct. There is no room for abstraction.
When it comes to the I-Ching and the I-Ching Art of War, one is in the set-up stage that happens way before any inkling of war has dawned on the smartest of people. Here we are making decisions and making moves that can easily be changed, if circumstances dictate it.
There are very few masters around the world who are able to win an I-Ching based war. As we are dealing with forces far beyond ordinary people's comprehension. And while the law of cause and effect, and physics still hold true, many of the imports and corresponding outputs are hard to explain with plausibility.
But it works. For those not sure, it's best to view the I-Ching as a close-counsellor helping you to make policy. And by consultation, you engage in the process of defining the very war you seek to engage in.
Now, the Weiqi Art of War lies somewhere in the middle of the two; Where Baguazhang is tactical, Weiqi is strategic. And where the I-Ching is consultive, Weiqi is the tangible moves born out of those consultations. It is war fought, when there is no war being fought because the tit-for-tat moves are played out too far apart.
A modern example of this would be the dispute between Iran and the United States of America. While there has so far not been a traditional war between the two countries in which the soldiers can use their combat skills, the Weiqi Art of War has been in play since at least the Iranian Revolution of 1979. Shorten the time lapses between events and it would start to look very much like war.
So now you may ask, why not just make peace or just get the war over and done with? Well, that would be like quitting the Weiqi (Go/Baduk) game. As hard as it may be to believe, but sometimes being enemies is good for business.
In business it is called competition. And while it is supposed to benefit the consumer, very few of us notice the cartels running it right in front of our faces. No conspiracy theories here. It's just the way things are at the moment. And as long as the money keeps flowing, it will remain so. And that is where it will end: No more stones to play – empty and run out of moves. Only then will it be time to switch to the Baguazhang's version of war ⚔️圍棋戰聖
So here we are again, Taichi vs MMA, and what it takes to win. At least as a Baguazhang master I know I go around in circles. But do you realised it?... Liked what you heard & want to connect with me? Join me at… linkedin.com/in/peterhainzl/
During the 1990's and the first decade of the second millennium, martial arts as a whole saw a massive resurgence around the world, thanks to better movies and in particular the internet.
For those of us, who started Baguazhang as a lonely niche style, we are pleased to be able to finally connect with other practitioners of the style around the world.
While not all connections have been pleasant, it has allowed us all to compare notes and in the process allow for the updating of stagnant ideas and experiences. Thereby renewing the martial arts pledge to remain relevant to the art. And relevant to the times we live in.
It has proven through numerous medium to be more than a museum relic of a by-gone era. And in fact, many Baguazhang concepts have shown themselves to remain consistent with current scientific findings.
However Baguazhang has found a weakness in the lack of masters able to translate what the original masters discovered into a simple language, by which the modern man can understand without rejecting everything they hear, see, and read as mumbo-jumbo woo-woo.
For Baguazhang has gone international and now lies beyond the confines of Chinese sensibilities: For a Baguazhang master in the heart of the Amazon rainforest, couldn't care less about what happens in Wudang Shan. His Baguazhang deals more with Spirit Jaguars than Ghost Tigers.
By working to update the collective storehouse that is Baguazhang, we are even as a group helping to rebuild up what was lost during the Chinese Cultural Revolution of the late 1960's and early 1970's. Bringing back to China a way of life that to many there and abroad is only known as fiction.
While the agreed upon five orthodox styles remain and continue to grow, the trend around the world is to create new Baguazhang styles that directly answer the needs and circumstances of the master in question; however outlandish or mundane they may be. Master Dong Hai Chuan be proud!... Liked what you heard & want to connect with me? Join me at… linkedin.com/in/peterhainzl/
I never wish this upon anybody, but to be truly good at managing crisis situations, a Baguazhang master starts off by seeing life as one big long crisis. Over time, this view gets less and less as the craft becomes third and fourth nature.
To truly live the baguazhang dream is to get out of the martial arts dojo and start living the baguazhang way. No more theory. No more practice. Everything becomes an expression of the martial art.
When it comes to war we say, "War? What war?"
We see through the bullshit that has everybody so enthralled on the nightly News. While trying to not sound like a protesting activist, a hell of a lot of what we humans perceive as reality is manufactured to fit into what we think should be normal. And what's funny about it, is that the more we do it by controlling our environment, the more our world shrinks. And the more our world shrinks, the more those things left outside become what we call "crisis".
At the highest levels, a Baguazhang practitioner becomes a ghost to other people. And they start living a life that is richer and more vibrant than other people's, even though nothing has changed.
And so that being the case, you may ask, "What crisis?"
And that's just it: There is no crisis – it's a designed situation created by you and others to get you to focus on things other than what's in your little box.
But once outside the box, there's no going back in. The situation had changed. Because if there's one thing I have experienced countless times, is that as a Baguazhang master, most crisis tend to vanish as soon as I focus on how the crisis situation benefits me. And that starts by asking the question: "Dear God, universe (or whatever you believe in), as a Baguazhang master, how does this crisis situation serve me?"
You'd be amazed, by saying out loud while pondering, how many things just disappear. And if you ask others about it, it's as if you're gone a bit crazy and they don't know what you're on about. Because we all know "secretly" that the hunted just became the hunter.
In podcast number 127, the Art of Weiqi (Go/Baduk) War, I spoke generally about the differences between the Weiqi Art of War and Suntzu's classic by the same English name but what is known in Chinese as "Sun Tzu Bing Fa".
By studying the two versions, it broadly allows the master of war to win from a strategic vantage point. In other words, you're learning to play like a boss as a boss would when having boss issues.
Baguazhang on the other hand puts things in another realm, yet again.
And it can get a little confusing, depending on who or whom you ask on the matter, if they even know what they're talking about. To cut through the confusion, is to decide on your niche speciality. And this is something only you can do!
So let's begin: In the Baguazhang Art of War, the first and most important decision to make is "Do you play off-field or do you get tactical on-field?"
To highlight better about what I mean, in the game of soccer/football, Bagua isn't hard or aggressive enough to be a striker. And when one reads up on the history of the masters, it seems most were either a goalie or more likely a defender; able to defend and do all those things required to NOT lose.
So then, if playing the field does not lead to the money shot, what then, will?
The answer again lies with masters and the deeper levels of understanding within their Bagua forms. Which is, that when a movement does not directly relate to defence or attack, then the master was imparting other knowledge. That deeper knowledge, once realised is like playing off-field: Your job is to be that ghost that goes beyond the battlefield – the player who's not bound by the rules but who gets shit done.
He or she may look like the waterboy who brings on the halftime oranges. But that job only exists so that they can get paid like the rest of the players. The rest of the time is spent watching the players' backs against off-field attacks that have a way of destroying a good solid team just before footie season starts. Or doing the same in reverse.
Like all games of chess, from whatever country or culture they came from, the end result or aim is always the same: Dominion over one's defined territory.
That "defined territory" is marked by the outer borders of the game itself. And both players elect by the rules of the game to stay on or within those marked lines.
Hence, people who are good at Weiqi are also very good at fighting civil wars. The stronger the player, the better they are at turning the fears and uncertainties of the chaotic situation into a profitable exercise.
So if that is the case, why then, do civil wars last far longer than wars between two or more countries?
The simplest answer, that which I have seen, observed and experienced through Weiqi is that the strongest player plays a powerful defensive hand. That's right! In all forms of chess - playing offensive is the weaker hand.
While it may not seem obvious, when the master in black, who goes first always and is gifted one extra stone thereby having a two stone handicap, places their black stone on the board, it is a powerful statement declaring: "That this board is mine!" And "I challenge you to do something about it!".
The degree of offensiveness to the challenger is marked by how close the stone is placed to the physical body of the challenger in white.
Most players, who dream of one day becoming professional - play for money - weiqi masters, the lesson is to play close to home and follow established principles that in the professional world have proven consistently reliable in the long run. And when playing on a board that's typically about 50cm squared, this opening shot is hard to see.
But as soon as one plays on a board larger than the standard size, and witnesses the black player leaning over to play their first stone then it starts to get noticed.
And it is at that moment of needing to start covering up their moves, that the two masters go beyond the battlefield of the board itself and enter the realm of the Chinese Yinyangshi 阴阳师 or the Japanese Onmyoji.
Forget what the official texts say on the matter. Official texts deal with ghosts the way the ancient Egyptian pyramids were falsely built by aliens from outer space. Here we are talking about that mysterious office employee that's never around but somehow gets paid more than you! Is he a ghost on the company books to hide disappearing funds or an office ninja, who's role is to put the opposition at a disadvantage? ⚔️圍棋戰聖
門 Every now and then, I get a very good question that deserves answering: What is the difference between the Weiqi Art of War and Sun Tzu's classic by the same name?
☴ The main difference between the two is one of focus, mindset and who the intended receiver of such profound wisdom was.
☲ Sun Tzu's beautiful work of art, was in response to a king's questions regarding war and the making of it. Sun Tzu, being a sharp fella, realised very quickly the flipancy in the king's way and needed a diplomatic way in advising the king on not making war, but if push came to shove, then the king should/would know what was required to win.
☱ The opening warnings on war are deliberate and the first few chapters purposefully go on and on about the numbers, logistics and all the tediously boring stuff. If you've felt put off by it all, you are meant to feel that way.
☷ In martial arts, we keep hearing about being grounded and how important it is. Well, that's what Sun Tzu does from the start and it's not fun! It's not meant to be: In war people die. Permanently like forever. There is no reboot button like in the movies.
☰ Those of you that live the martial arts dream as a way of life will know from continuous experience what I mean. Real life sometimes only looks exciting in the retelling but not when you're actually in it.
☶ Now the game of Weiqi was actually created to be a teaching tool to help budding princes learn how to rule and fight wars. It comes with the assumption that as a prince, you were born into it and so, you've got no choice in the matter. So you'd better get good at it or else.
☵ You fight wars because you have to and not out of flights of fancy.
☳ Weiqi is about maneauverings and posturings. And as you start out, there is the strong possibility that you may be on your own without money, men and guns, nor a vast state ready to die for your goals.
門 It's about placing your stones on the board in such a way, that could be miles and years away, that when actual battle commences, victory is swift and complete. That's the theory. The reality is that lesson 1) there's always somebody who's come before you - hence the master starts first, and lesson 2) life isn't fair and that's why they get one extra stone. And finally lesson 3) as the board fills up with stones, so too as with real life complexities that we love to call "drama" ⚔️圍棋戰聖
My podcast number 125 is called "Ghosts of Shanghai" and that is the title of one of the books I'm currently reading. For most of my listener's, that podcast is like a pleasant diversion, most enjoyed the way some people get all their sleeping done on long-distance flights.
It's fun to listen to, but it has no bearing to their lives. In fact, it's more like the helmsman has left the wheel and his second-in-command is praying that the ship doesn't run aground in some godforsaken place run amok with headhunters.
In the game of Weiqi (Go/Baduk) there are places like that. Situations in which a player is forced to bring out their best.
While we can see all the stones on the board - and - the places where there are no stones, as physical points of fact like the way castles dominate the land around them, the situation moving forward has for at least one of the players become a fog on the bog!
Whatever nightmares they carry around with them, they are finally having to face them in a sweat that kind of looks like a fever. And I know, at that moment, up until that point, Weiqi had just been a fancy nerdy game. Nothing more, nothing less. Despite all the talk, they either never knew or realised the powerful implications of Weiqi being an "Art of War" manual.
So here is where the men separate from the boys, and the ladies from the girls.
Will you keep playing the game, even if you knew that every stone placed upon the board is powerfully changing your present-future reality around you?
Will you dare to experience a life in where the people around you are Weiqi stones waiting to be or are being played?
On that last question, it is not about manipulation. For nobody can actually be manipulated. People buy into the game to bring excitement to their lives. A life otherwise devoid of true meaning because most of the impulse to succeed has been fizzled out by modern living. That is why you see people living "off the grid", going native, and doing alternative lifestyles et cetera.
To be so-called normal is to go plain vanilla everyday. starring at an empty Weiqi board that never gets touched. The board just sits there in silence waiting, waiting, waiting.
Drip... Drip... Drip... Drip... Drip... Drip... Drip... Drip... ⚔️圍棋戰聖
I would have never picked up the book, if I had known otherwise. But I took the chance because recently I had reached a certain level of proficiency in manifesting wealth around me as a bagua master.
The rules were simple: 陽氣 Yang energy projects the manifestations in an outwards direction so the wealth and environment I seek to have, happens outwardly around me. While 陰氣 Yin energy draws what I want, to manifest in towards me. Non-fiction books are yang and deal with consciousness, while works of fiction are Yin and allow the subconscious to create a new reality.
After that first division, the next level down is male authors are yang and female authors are yin. A fictional story written by a female author is a double yin, meaning that what I'm pulling into me is twice as strong. And just to anchor it in triple strength, the main leading character has to be female as well.
And there was a book that I borrowed from the Chatswood library that had it in spades: Fiction (check), female author (check), female main character (check). And it was set in China, which is yin (check again). And set in the past but not too far back in time – something still relatable, 上海 Shanghai 1926 (check again).
If it wasn't for all this Yin energy, I normally would bypass the book because the subject matter is about ghosts and being a ghost hunter. But since I'm starting to kind of dabble in the mystical realms of a yinyang master 阴阳师, I thought "What-the-heck. Why not give it a try? It's a kid's book. Maybe I get some added bonuses in the form of sweet Kungfu. What would be the harm?"
Well it turns out, that after reading a bit of it, somehow the author's name changed from Julia to Julian.
Normally, when I'm confronted with a situation like this, it's typically certain key sentences and phrases that will change within a book to reflect my growing understanding of a topic important to me. It is as if a deeper layer kept hidden, now allows me to know it. The words themselves literally are different. And I'm aware some people hearing (or reading) this will have the hairs on the back of their necks standing up on end.
So I asked my daughter why this could be so: Julia Sedgwick becomes Julian Sedgwick? And she reminded me, that if it had been a man's name on the cover, I would have never borrowed the book from the library. Both the book and I need each other to allow whatever needs to be manifested, to be manifested.
Oh okay, I said. That's good enough for me. "Ghosts of Shanghai – 上海的鬼" it is then...
For further details the publisher is Hodder Children's Books ISBN13 9781444923902
Do I talk about the I-Ching art of war or the Weiqi (Go/Baduk) art of war, or get back to using Alchemy to make money? What's a Qigong master to do?... Liked what you heard & want to connect with me? Join me at… linkedin.com/in/peterhainzl/
A rarely asked yet valid question which is dependant on how you see life... Liked what you heard & want to connect with me? Join me at… linkedin.com/in/peterhainzl/
The final step with a special guest appearance from my pals Tom, Dick and Harry... Liked what you heard & want to connect with me? Join me at… linkedin.com/in/peterhainzl/
This podcast is about asking the right kinds of questions that truly helps the enquirer... Liked what you heard & want to connect with me? Join me at… linkedin.com/in/peterhainzl/
How to use the I-Ching, part 2... Liked what you heard & want to connect with me? Join me at… linkedin.com/in/peterhainzl/
Step by step instructions on how to use the I-Ching as an art of war manual (part 1)... Liked what you heard & want to connect with me? Join me at… linkedin.com/in/peterhainzl/
Once upon a time, there was a moment in history filled with perilous and excruciating tension as soldiers from the thirteenth Roman Legion stood massed in the bitter dark.
It was as if time was starting to stand still. As just in front of them flowed a narrow stream that marked two worlds.
On one side, their side, was the province of Gaul and eight years of bloody campaigning. And on the other side, the road that led to Rome.
To cross it meant civil war but to not cross it meant certain death. For those were the terms handed down to their general.
When we first learn how to use the I-Ching, we are advised to ask only certain questions in a particular way with a strong reverence to the divine. Because of these limitations the I-Ching rarely gets used as a tool for everyday concerns. In this way we become instruments of enlightenment but without a useful purpose.
For those needing a more easily understood example: Jesus could turn water into wine, but wine does not pay a bill wanting it paid in cash.
Today, when once upon a time, became the reality that is now, my earthly Chinese wife looked upon a way to get through to me because nagging doesn't work, and asked, "This government business tax that must get paid, what I-Ching hexagram does it remind you of?"
I answered, "Hexagram fourty-seven."
"Good! And what hexagram do you want it to be?"
"I want it either to be hexagram seven or hexagram fifty. And for both having changing lines five or six, but changing line six is better."
We both knew that the next question would be, "What am I going to do about it to change what I don't want to what I do want?" So I took a pen and paper and marked down the hexagrams with arrows leading from one leading to the other. And I drew a long vertical dividing line between the two: The arrows showed I had crossed my Rubicon.
A new way of consulting the I-Ching revealed itself to me.
A threshold had been breached. I saw the two lines that needed changing to get me what I wanted and my world of the Qian (heaven) gua quantum shifted over to the Kun (earth) gua.
When becoming an I-Ching master, a person becomes a master in the art of transformations and change.
The physical process of becoming an I-Ching master is a long and winding journey that sometimes feels like detours.
Part of the reason for this, is because most of the literature around the I-Ching is so heavily 'spiritualized' that unless a person is into spiritual stuff, the I-Ching is useless.
This is what it's like on the Western side.
Over on the Eastern side, the I-Ching or Classic Book of Changes, has been used since the Xia and Shang Dynasties to council kings as China's first war manual.
The first 32 hexagrams are about building up a country internally rich, powerful and strong so that it cannot be conquered by others.
The later or remaining 32 hexagrams are about conquering external enemies.
When we do an internally focused martial art, we tend to fall into the trap that it's all about the internal stuff and nothing else. This is just the same with externally hard focused martial arts but the other way round.
While, for a while this is okay... For a while... The reality of internally focused martial arts is that when you are doing it, you are also cultivating your qi: It starts with breathing, moves down to what you eat and drink, and then eventually leads to pure inner energy work.
When that happens, our qi starts to grow and eventually expands outwards beyond ourselves.
This is the moment where it ceases to be 'internal' and becomes about our relationship with the world beyond us. We have shifted from being in hexagram 32 over to hexagram 33.
The shift is instantaneous just like electrons doing a quantum jump.
For hard style external martial artists the shift goes from outside to inside.
When and where it happens is different for everybody but we can feel the energy shift as it draws nearer and nearer.
The snake feels like it's slowly suffocating under its own skin and wants out. The story it has created to be it's life has become limiting and a new bigger brighter story is waiting in the wings (of its skin shedding).
Then the search is on for that thing or event that can make the first wee tear in one's restrictive past so that the future can exist.
We all have a story or lots of stories. Some of them we don't like very much and want off. May this story help some to push the button that says "Push button to alert driver you want to get off at next stop"... Liked what you heard & want to connect with me? Join me at… linkedin.com/in/peterhainzl/
My question for today: what's the difference between a Baguazhang hobbyist and a Baguazhang amateur?... Liked what you heard & want to connect with me? Join me at… linkedin.com/in/peterhainzl/
In business we test and measure to know our yardsticks, but in some fields there are no yardsticks except for the ones we make... Liked what you heard & want to connect with me? Join me at… linkedin.com/in/peterhainzl/
A lesson from the game of Go (Weiqi/Baduk) to help Baguazhang practitioners see Qigong from a non-spiritual angle... Liked what you heard & want to connect with me? Join me at… linkedin.com/in/peterhainzl/
While most baguazhang masters are also qigong masters, not all qigong masters are baguazhang masters. In martial arts, qigong starts with breathing and goes up to energy manipulation. What form that takes is up to the practitioner and the path they are on... Liked what you heard & want to connect with me? Join me at… linkedin.com/in/peterhainzl/
If there ever was a secret lesson in Baguazhang, might it be a lesson from the eagle circling above?... Liked what you heard & want to connect with me? Join me at… linkedin.com/in/peterhainzl/
In the so-called "real" world, you maynot like the answers, for the teachings of Baguazhang go beyond the fightclub. Are you ready to face the challenge?... Liked what you heard & want to connect with me? Join me at… linkedin.com/in/peterhainzl/
Only one baguazhang path leads to enlightenment. And it is there for those practitioners seeking it. If it not your path, could it be better to stop rejecting what is woo-woo and start walking the path that actually matters?... Liked what you heard & want to connect with me? Join me at… linkedin.com/in/peterhainzl/
Baguazhang is an internal martial art with a lot of woo-woo in it. By keeping it real, the woo-woo gets rejected. But could it be, in the process we are missing something?... Liked what you heard & want to connect with me? Join me at… linkedin.com/in/peterhainzl/
So you have listened to the podcast "8 Easy steps to improving your internal martial art" and are wondering why I abstain from the topic of techniques like most websites? Here might be your desired answer... Liked what you heard & want to connect with me? Join me at… linkedin.com/in/peterhainzl/
Yes, that's right: here are 8 easy, yet difficult to impliment, recommendations on how to improve your internal martial art and conquering your sandbox. DO NOT listen if you are easily offended by anything other than what your master has told you...Liked what you heard & want to connect with me? Join me at… linkedin.com/in/peterhainzl/
A well known dish for the shifu cultivating their qi or need boosting of their qi to help manage the forces draining it around them... Liked what you heard & want to connect with me? Join me at… linkedin.com/in/peterhainzl/
I have decided to continue "The Art of Weiqi War" sub-series because I like the topic and because last night in my dreams I got a visit from Ip Man 葉問.
Ip Man was a master of Wing Chun Kung Fu 詠春功夫 and I've spoken about him in my very first podcast: Ip Man drinks tea.
In my dream, I found myself entering a warmly lit Hong Kong street cafe. The kind that served Chinese fried Cheung Fun alongside more western spam and scrambled eggs. Real scrambled in a wok eggs - not the microwaved egg stuff most cafes in Sydney like to serve.
I couldn't see outside of the cafe but I guessed it was dark. Inside the cafe, it was busy and most people were enjoying Hofun rice noodles in soup. And the lady at the cash register next to the front door motioned me to sit at the only available free space opposite Ip Man.
Now, because I have already had my choices experience dealing with the dreamworld in my teenage years (with dreams being just another path along spiritual transcendence), I could sense that I was in a dream and that Ip Man was now a part of the afterlife. But still, to be sitting with Ip Man was a martial arts blessing I wish to share with my fellow wayfarers along the martial arts journey.
He was sitting with his Gaiwan and had in front of him a Weiqi board that stood empty except for a single black stone placed upon it. In the dreamworld, you don't really "see" with your eyes, so I didn't know where the black stone was. I just "knew" of its existence and that the next move upon the Weiqi board was mine.
Seated opposite him, we saluted in the Kungfu style: Closed fist inside a clenched palm. Sun and moon combined.
"So, are you alive or are you dead?" Ip Man asked me. What an unusual question. I am dreaming and because I know I am dreaming, I'm trying my darnedest to not wake up. I placed a white stone on the board. I "think" I know where I placed it upon the Weiqi board but if I were to tell you now, it would be a fabrication.
So which was it? Dead or alive? Do I even remember walking into the cafe or did I just move through the door? I couldn't think straight. The background sound of a Wing Chun practitioner training on a wooden dummy was distracting me. Ip Man just smiled and I felt that pulling sensation one gets just before they wake ⚔️圍棋戰聖
Normally after eight articles on a topic, I would stop because I would have covered one article for each of the eight hexagrams from the I-Ching. And that would be that.
Life would move on. I would go and collect my metaphysical paycheque for a job well done. And then I would settle down to a life that most people can comprehend and accept as being normal.
For a while, things would be going okay except for the fact that I am living outside of my Zone of Genius, or what is more commonly referred to as being “Not in the Zone’ or outside of ‘My flow”.
And steadily, but surely, I would see my turf being encroached upon, with players making moves upon the Go board without a response. I don’t believe in handicaps except for the ones given in the original form of the game: Black will start first and will get one extra stone to play with. White is the challenger and must earn their stripes.
But here I am, giving away freebies to the competition.
As you can guess by now, I am talking about the game of weiqi and at the same time I am talking about real life. There is no accident here. The two worlds overlap. You can see it on the board itself when observing two players dueling. They are fighting over turf and territory: The player with the most territory at the end makes the most money.
The key principle here is to find a way to transcend the game itself and be like Vince Mcmahon, C.E.O. of W.W.E. and play both sides of the game. If you are already in that position, congratulations. Whether your title says it or not, you are probably in a position of authority with money being a reflection of your success rate.
Stay in flow and what you are earning is a one hundred percent return rate. But all too often, we get enticed by the glamour of being a player and hope back down into the game. When we do that, our rate of return gets slashed by half back to only fifty percent. Which totally sucks! Fifty percent isn’t even break-even point. One hundred percent is! So focus on becoming a two hundred percenter ⚔️圍棋戰聖
The journey to Bagua Shan is fraught with difficulty.
In the first part of the journey it is difficult because those on it, do not even know they are on it. And this is because there is hardly nothing written on it. If there had been, most of the martial arts literature of the nineteenth century is buried in what nowadays would best be described as fairy-tongue.
Most martial artists these days are men and young. And want to fight. They rarely have the time and patience to delve into the true mysteries of their respective martial art.
These young men prefer to wait upon their masters for hand-me-down answers.
A part of me wishes that I could say that I was the same, but, I never was. Set aside from guys of my age I always have lived a dualistic life yin and yang.
And this is the sixth (6th) reason for Baguazhang being an internal martial art. To truly live it, the baguazhang master tends to live outside of what is perceived to be normal.
Experiences typically come from the most unusual ways. On the surface of things, they do not always have anything to do with martial arts or Kungfu. But on recalling them years later, we can see the connection.
To give an example, when I was a young boy of around ten years old, I was already kissing girls with the tongue behind the school sports shed. This was my "yin" life. While at the same time, if anybody was trying to look for me, they would find me at the local public library reading as much religious literature I could find. This was my "yang" life. All the other boys I knew, just wanted to play football.
But don't worry guys. I did play soccer and rugby in high school. I was okay at them. They just weren't my preferred activities. I was more interested in deciphering fairy-tongue and getting in the good graces of the girls around me.
The only problem is, is that way is a misguided strategy. Guys, I don't recommend it. Girls my age [because of this strategy] tended to come to me with their relationship problems like I was some sort of doctor or counselor... So while I was not scoring points with the girls my age much on account of being too mature, I tended to do far better with older women.
For example, back when I was still ten years old, I had to visit the school dental nurse for my biannual oral check up. On my special day, I discovered that my dental nurse was Japanese in her early twenties. And very beautiful. She had a package so tight, that I had my first stirrings of manhood.
The bit that I fondly remember is the intense sadistic way she glossed my teeth... Up real close and smelling of flowers. Somehow able to take me to extreme levels of pain that when flossing stopped, it made the relief exhilarating, over and over again.
I don't know what got into me but when she was done and walked away, I found myself making a mental note that I'm gonna marry a woman like her one day.
Now that mental note did not come to pass but if the subject of S&M ever comes up, she had to be Japanese for me to buy into it.
So now you are probably wondering: How can I be talking about Japanese women giving S&M to a ten year old boy, while going on about mystical martial arts mumbo-jumbo in regards to baguazhang?
And that's just the point! If you want to have a real adventure, you may have to let go of the five star package deal. And I was being polite with my real life example. So remember: You're shit days are the days you are doing baguazhang outside of the dojo or club. Your problems are your opponents manifesting in another form so you can take your baguazhang to the next level.
While the first four reasons were explained in podcast 99. 8 Baguazhang questions answered with tea. The fifth is explained here. Reason 1: it is Taoist coming from within China. 2: practitioner focuses mostly within themselves. 3: the art is mostly self-defensive. 4: it is self-healing. And for the 5th reason you will have to listen to this podcast to find out!... Liked what you heard & want to connect with me? Join me at… linkedin.com/in/peterhainzl/
It happens to everybody but few get to learn from Mother Nature her lesson... Liked what you heard & want to connect with me? Join me at… linkedin.com/in/peterhainzl/
Enjoy 8 different type of tea while pondering over the 8 questions i typically get asked about Baguazhang martial arts... Liked what you heard & want to connect with me? Join me at… linkedin.com/in/peterhainzl/
Avocados become popular and I make a song and dance over it. Ae?! You be the judge... Liked what you heard & want to connect with me? Join me at… linkedin.com/in/peterhainzl/
The pattern to our lives will emerge when we know ourselves... Liked what you heard & want to connect with me? Join me at… linkedin.com/in/peterhainzl/
The 37th hexagram or gua of the I-Ching is called Jia Ren, and here are the first 5 spiritual shackles blocking the way... Liked what you heard & want to connect with me? Join me at… linkedin.com/in/peterhainzl/
So here we are in the Weiqi game: The place where - how we end things - is most critical to the successful outcome of the game.
Unlike real war, where people tend to actually die a hell of a lot, the business of business warfare is like a grinding millstone that never ever ends. Yes, we are sold the dream of victory and success through wealth and riches, but those materialistic goals tend to leave a bitter taste after a while.
And so, there comes the point where we start to daydream of taking off the crown, removing the signet ring, getting if the throne and stepping down the dias.
As we do this, everybody in attendance is watching in awe and shock at such a scene, because just a few moments prior it seemed like you're an old hardass bastard who's hand couldn't let go of his sword; even if he wanted to.
But in that, how we end the game lies freedom. The freedom to walk out the main door and out to the white light of victory: True Victory.
Not that I am going anywhere.
By studying other games that is what one notices: After the tipping point comes. The point where you know it is over. And everybody is just waiting for it to be over. In sports that's usually when the clock runs out. But in Weiqi this ending can drag on and on (almost indefinitely).
I say almost indefinitely because novices tend to think that the game is bound by a machine that measures time by counting down the hours, minutes and seconds. It is nothing of the sort. A true master of the game knows that time is measured by the alternating placements of black and white stones until they are used up.
With time between placements varying from a few seconds to weeks and months. And those spacings in-between - the lull, the set up, and executions having the exact value as zero. Now there's a piece of real human quantum entanglement played out on a human level ⚔️圍棋戰聖
The stones go clank on the weiqi board. Or do they go clink. Some people argue that they go clonk. Or was that clunk? However, which way, a player hears the sound of stones being placed on the board, they can be as sweet as a gentle stream out in the middle of nowhere.
And just hearing myself, say these things, makes me wonder about the significance of the thoughts I am sharing with you.
Perhaps through the game of weiqi, I am seeking freedom. Even though at the core of my being I know that I am already free. Or maybe, more accurately I’m on some kind of journey to spiritual enlightenment. Despite not having the intention of actually visiting this place called Enlightenment.
But that’s the weird part about higher games of weiqi. At some point in one’s evolution through the game we become a vessel to the Spirit of Enlightenment.
It sucks us into the game so deeply, so intensely, that the game becomes the only reality.
It is all there is. And when we are there, we experience a lifetime’s worth of us in which we know ourselves from birth to death. We play ourselves out to the fullest. And we are not totally sure if our opponent actually exists as a true individual or a manifestation of our own opinions, thoughts, feelings and beliefs.
So when we are brought back to the now we can feel a little bit disorientated. Wondering what just happened. As we try to get our composure back, we rapidly start forgetting where we’d been.
It is only years later, in the grips of powerful deja-vu when we try to piece it all together, that there is a chance that while we are trying to be at one with our yang dominated ego, that we come to know the other half: our yin dominated shadow.
Here enlightenment is the unification of ego and shadow into one complete wholeness, that allows a person to see the space enclosed by that unification.
Gladly: This is just spiritual talk telling you that your opponent is your opponent so that you can get to know your true self ⚔️圍棋戰聖
Upside, downside, it's all about being profitable in the desert... Liked what you heard & want to connect with me? Join me at… linkedin.com/in/peterhainzl/
Truth be told, I did not go super-niche with selling loose leaf tea. I became super-niche as a result of Australia’s unique set of circumstances.
To give a good example, I need to firstly give a disclaimer and let you know that you are welcome to believe or not to believe but the story I give next is true. No embellishments or special effects.
I have a very good friend out in greater western Sydney who does tai chi quan and qi gong as part of his chirotherapy business. Right across from him, is a massive mixed martial arts gym and a couple of other smaller gyms, so business overall for him is good. Some of the guys that see him are the blokest you will ever meet; tradies and the like.
When I visit him, we talk martial arts and family stuff. And drink coffee together before fixing my chi. What I like about him is that he actually know how to do chi manipulation. Real chi manipulation. Not that bullshido on the internet, where a master practices on a compliant disciple, and the visiting critic can poke holes through the event.
Nah!
My friend is a true-blue Aussie of Italian descent. And the guys from the MMA gym come to him to be fixed. I’ve seen grown browlers starting weeping as he goes, Peter watch this: “Wax off” the guy lying on the table can’t move because his chi is blocked. And then “wax on”, he can move again when he unblocks his chi. And my friend hasn’t even been to China yet.
He is a true martial arts healer. Who’s had to develop his chi through trial and error like me because, here, Australia does not have places like Shaolin or Wudang, or an ancient martial artist around every Chinese street corner.
The wax on and wax off, isn’t actual a technique per se. It’s just joking around because we both have seen The Karate Kid movies from the 1980’s. But like I said before. You do not have to believe a word of what I have said. If you can afford the plane ticket, pay my friend in Penrith a visit and experience it for yourself. Liked what you heard & want to connect with me? Join me at… linkedin.com/in/peterhainzl/
Recently, in order to bring more financial stability into my household, I have begun applying for jobs online. It’s been sixteen years, since I last worked for someone else for a steady paye cheque. And boy, has it been a rude experience so far.
I should have listened to the taxi driver, one evening a decade ago, when he was driving me from Chatswood to Castle Hill. Sometimes it’s true, when they say that the only people who know how to really run a country properly are all driving taxis.
A couple of years into my tea business, I got the idea that it would be a good idea to go niche and carve out my unique brand around loose leaf tea. And it seemed like a very good idea, given the rapid growth in online e-commerce websites, and, more importantly, the growing number of businesses selling tea in Australia.
But Australia has its advantages and disadvantages that cannot always be seen. Unless you know where to look and who to ask. Hence, enter the Taxi driver and his words of wisdom in doing business in Australia.
In Australia, it does not matter what you read, see or hear, all you need to know is that there are two Australias run by Aussies. There is the Governor and his men. And there is everybody else. It has been that way since the convict days. So just chill, relax and try not to keep moving house further and further out from the city centre. Because each step further out makes it harder and harder to get back in.
He gave me some examples about Aussies going native in Papua New Guinea to highlight the point. Those guys have been so long gone, that living in a place like Sydney or Melbourne is not an option, even if they are on some Pupuan’s death list for accidentally killing on of his prize pigs.
Going niche in Australia because of the small population base is like relocating to the Outback. It can get a bit too remote and sometimes it can feel like I am running a kiosk in the Sahara. Even if I am the only oasis for miles around at a key crossroads, there aren’t that many travelers. Going niche can be challenging.
So then, why for heaven’s sake did I go super-niche? Liked what you heard & want to connect with me? Join me at… linkedin.com/in/peterhainzl/
Welcome to the world of the Super Niche.
According to internet sources a.k.a. Google and their competitors, selling loose leaf tea is in the same category of niche-ness as being an uncut diamond smuggler living his lifestyle dream in the jungles of west Africa.
Who would have guessed, that the second most drunk beverage on earth after water, had become super-niche.
On one level, it means that as a product I am not as a tea merchant, going to win any popularity contests in the foreseeable future. On the other hand, it means that the company I keep is getting very exotic. So that, probably means (and I am guessing here) that if you read or listen to my stuff, then at some level, you and your life would make a decent fictional character in the right novel. And I bet, you’ve had moments worthy of that classic phrase: “You can’t make this shit up.”
Or even better: Seeing a scene on the television or movies, and suddenly realising that it mirrored an event in your own life. But you just can’t tell anybody because they would never believe you.
And all I really do is sell tea online. A boring product that I try to dress up with my own honest experiences. Which is not an easy thing to do. I mean, just look at me: I am a loose leaf tea drinking, baguazhang martial artist who plays weiqi. And, who’s idea of family entertainment is visiting the local library for a few hours or taking the family to my local Hongkongese Chinese restaurant.
Not very inspiring. And yet…
For some strange reason I cannot fathom, I’m super-niche. But if being called super-niche is anything similar to when I was in high school and getting labeled a super-freak before the term got popularized, then I would say that my loose leaf tea is about to do that ka-ching thingy my phone does when I make a premium sale... Liked what you heard & want to connect with me? Join me at… linkedin.com/in/peterhainzl/
The life of a Weiqi master goes like this: The masters have a game of Weiqi. At the end they put the board and stones away. And spend the rest of the evening reminiscing about how great or poorly they played the game. The end.
Between games, the Weiqi master does not exist. He or she lives as a dream within the mind of a person doing a nine to five job that they may or may not like.
The life of a Go player is pretty much the same, even though the name of the game has changed. The only difference is that one lives in China and the other person lives in Japan. And the Baduk guy lives in Korea.
They see the soap opera of people's daily lives as an outwardly manifestation of what is happening within themselves.
So when they walk past a television screen and see the news and witness that one country is at war with another country, over whatever petty reason, they will tell you that that was yesterday's game because the idiots in charge are living in the past. But that is politics and war. Not Weiqi.
The true secret is knowing when we are trying to make it work.
Sometimes we don't even know we are doing it.
Many years ago, when I first moved into my apartment, we used to park our car in the space that we thought had been assigned to us. Then after a year of parking there, we got those 'move it or else ' letters that people sometimes leave on car windscreens. At the time, as you can imagine, it was a bit of shock and we duly blamed the real estate agent who sold us the place. But with all contracts, the buck stopped with us and we had to find out from strata where our carpark space was.
As we drove to the space, I was still in the past trying to make it work. But when I saw the new space, I was gobsmacked. It turned out to be right beside the elevator and spaced out so that the doors on all sides of the car can be fully opened. The only other guy with a space remotely like mine drives a Lamborghini. God bless him ⚔️圍棋戰聖
Around about the time, when I get that thought in my head of why are things getting so hard again, in my life, people start asking me, “What do I do?”
I usually reply with, “What do I do what?”
To which I get the proper question of “What do I do for a living?” I already knew that that was what they meant, but I wanted to be sure. After all, when a person commits to living in the now of now, that question of what do I do implies the moment of right now, which is speaking into a voice recorder.
If I am not doing this, then I am doing my baguazhang, playing weiqi, or selling loose leaf tea online. Which surprises a lot of people who don’t know me. They assume, because they don’t see me busy in an office somewhere or working in factory, that I must be some sort of layabout.
But I tell you now. I am none of that. I simply have committed myself to fulfilling my role as a “Living Tao” (活道) for myself and others along the martial arts journey. And when I do that, I get remunerated by the powers that be so that I can continue to do what I do.
So what does being a Living Tao mean?
It means that when I see somebody ‘lost’, I gently help them find their way again by pointing out the map to them. It can be as varied from the very literally lost to the symbolically lost. And I only bother myself with those who wish to have my help.
Interestingly, rarely people ask me: Why I do what I do.
I have gotten critics, Nay-sayers. And people who can’t believe. I have even been blessed with those online trolls, that by their very presence, let you know that you are a Somebody. But rarely the why question.
My wife says, we attract the people that come to us based on who we are. And that, if I just stopped sometimes attracting trolls because I sometimes love fighting, I would realise that I am, as she puts it, a Jia Ren (家人) - a Man with a House to run. A chief. A tribal elder of sorts.
If you are listening to this, then she would tell you, that in your own special way you are same. And that the person giving you the most grief, is the one that needs you the most - the yin to your yang. The Griefbringer is your gift from Heaven, so that you may grow and become a higher version of yourself. In other words, we sometimes have to lose the battle in order to win the war. Accept the loss and move on. Things are getting hard again in your life, because you are three feet from gold. ...Three. Feet. From. Gold... Liked what you heard & want to connect with me? Join me at… linkedin.com/in/peterhainzl/
Once upon a time I visited a Japanese Shiatsu massage centre, actually run by Japanese with delicate Japanese sensibilities.
Originally I went there because I had a good couple of hours to spare and I wanted something different to the usual Chinese or Thai massages available in shopping malls.
I remember as I walked through the main door, that I saw beside reception a glass teapot full of Genmaicha tea gently brewing away, as it stood on top of a glass warmer. It was just sitting there, and I thought while I waited, I might as well enjoy a small cup of tea. Afterall, that’s what you are typically given while you wait for your turn.
Unfortunately, in that sweet Japanese way Japanese women are able to do it, I found out that the tea was not to be touched. Instead, I had to make-do with a cool cup of water. There was no “Can I have some Genmaicha with my Shiatsu”.
So then, I wondered, what was the Genmaicha tea for?
It turned out that the tea was for putting me in a state of tranquility - the kind found amongst softly breezing pine trees around the time when the pine cones start falling from the branches. It was only while during the deep slow rythmic strokes, that put me to sleep, that I understood the powerful aromatic effect the Genmaicha tea was having on me.
I don’t know how long I was asleep for..., except for what the Japanese masseuse told me. And the dream of being at a Japanese Dojo overlooking a small pebbled beach. It felt so real, so alive, it made me want to hold on to it rather than wake up. I can still see, as I recall the event, the smiling Zen nun in the dream quietly serving me green tea.
After the massage, while I sat beside reception I realised that they actually had another pot of tea for serving to their customers. They offered me some. And I accepted the kind gesture. That tea turned out to be Genmaicha as well.
Despite all the dismissals and finger pointing as superstitious witchcraft nonsense by scientists, they too want to know the future. They too, are starting to engage in fortune-telling and prophecy, as witnessed by the growing number of articles on quantum computing and its ability to predict the future.
And no matter how much these geniuses in the ivory tower say they know their maths, they too want to know next week’s lottery numbers.
Playing weiqi (go/baduk) is infact a form of partnership between you and your rival: a delicate balancing act in which two opposing sides use the leverage of competition to form a new reality. It is in this process of creating a new reality that at a certain level the future can be foretold.
The desire to know the future is really a desire to cause order out of disorder. It is not about hearing or seeing what you want to happen. Although there is sometimes a feeling that the answers given are biased towards what we wish.
True chaos hides in the fact, that most people do not actually know what they want. They say that they do - but that would be like a weiqi board in which there is only one type of colour on the board. People need opposition to prove to themselves that what they want is actually what they want. And the more uncertain they are, the more opposition they attract into their lives.
And yet, within this chaos resides the seed of order.
And that is where I typically come in. I have friends who are better than me at the game of weiqi. But every now and then they lose themselves to the politics of the game and start to feel disenfranchised. So in order to get back their mojo, they invite me to an evening of family dinner, tea and a game of weiqi or two. I have been described as a category six super cyclone in my style of play. And I play like it is their last day on earth. My theory on that, is that when I was younger I read too much Judeo-Christian literature about Judgment Day. So for that game, I AM hell on earth.
During the game as I am throwing fire and brimstone at them, wave upon wave, I see their version of reality unfold. Yes, they elected to play the defensive game. It’s the only real way to beat me. For those of you familiar with the game, playing defence is the stronger overarching strategy along with the combined strategy of holding out for as long as possible until the attacker runs out of mental ammo.
I’ve had guys at the end of a game thank me, because just like the beautiful rainbow that comes after a storms’ passing, they again have perspective and clarity as to what truly matters to them. Even if they cannot articulate it because it may just be a sense of knowing based on an inexpressible feeling.
And if they are up to it, I will show them their future based on the way they played the game. Which isn’t so airy-fairy as it seems: Most people play weiqi the way they live their lives and perform their occupations. They just need guidance in seeing it for themselves. And maybe a stiff drink or two, to help wash the lessons down ⚔️圍棋戰聖
The Art of Weiqi (Go/Baduk) war is more than just surrounding stones on a board with yet more stones.
The game is about finding an opponent's tipping point and then gently nudging your opponent over the line. Ideally it is done in such a way that the opponent must react to you move with maximum firepower while all you did was put a stone on the board.
How this is achieved depends on how well you know your opponent. As Suntzu said, " Know thy enemy - know thy self".
People who are pre-set to committing seppuku have a really hard time in getting good at playing Weiqi. Hence seppuku is forbidden in the game.
Seppuku is self-defeating victimhood. Seppuku means committing suicide.
One only has to look around the world and realise that the overwhelming majority of suicide attacks and acts of terror are committed within the terrorist's own country and community. It is the ultimate form of selfharm that does nothing to address the abuse done from without.
So in Weiqi (Go/Baduk) seppuku is forbidden.
The game (by the rules) forces you to play somewhere else, and try another move that may seem counterintuitive. It only does it for one turn. But that one turn, while seemingly like a retreat, may infact be the excuse needed to make the move required to win the war and win the game. Whether you knew it at the time or not.
The real art of war is the ability to look like you are retreating because the rules force you to, and using the mask of retreat to be in truth attacking somewhere else without arousing an opponent's suspicion.
As the saying goes: He who let's go shall have and he who has shall have nothing ⚔️圍棋戰聖
Going against the herd in letting go of entrepreneurship and becoming a real businessman...Liked what you heard & want to connect with me? Join me at… linkedin.com/in/peterhainzl/
A thank you story to my brothers and sisters at Wilder Newswell Talkshow and Mo. Enjoy... Liked what you heard & want to connect with me? Join me at… linkedin.com/in/peterhainzl/
Does Genmai-sama deposit his spiritual royalties with the Bank of Hell?... Liked what you heard & want to connect with me? Join me at… linkedin.com/in/peterhainzl/
The game of Go is an abstract board game for two players in which the aim is to surround more territory than the opponent.
Weiqi is the Chinese name and Baduk is the Korean name of the same game.
For most people, who are aware of the game, the game is the dominion of geeks, nerds and unkept guys who need to take better care of their physical health.
To truly play Weiqi well, the mind (through the body) needs to be well maintained. Especially, since the line between what is game and what is life can get blurred.
Thankfully, most of these players are unable to visualise the game beyond black and white stones on a board. Least its relevance to war.
Baguazhang is one of the three traditional internal martial arts of China. The main difference between Baguazhang and Weiqi is one of strategy and tactics.
Baguazhang is about tactics and Weiqi is about strategy.
True mastery of the game is like being up on the 57th floor of a tall tower and looking down upon the world below.
But first we need to ride the elevator of success to get there. We hop on at ground level. The doors close and we as we begin the ascension, soft elevator music starts playing in the background. Every now and then, the elevator stops to let people on and off.
These are the dozen or so, beginning moves.
Then at some point, two shady guys enter the elevator. Their presence makes you a little uncomfortable. They're cutting off your exit. But why not three guys? You wonder.
What's the perspective?
As you ponder on it, the phone rings. You act cool. Put the phone to your ear, and in the sweetest female voice you have ever heard, you hear a voice recording in Mandarin Chinese telling you to pay up or else they'll be trouble.
You've only reached the 42nd floor! Bullshit, you say. War's come early. It's at this point that the Baguazhang kicks in and most of you know how the scene unfolds and it is awesome to behold.
Come 57th floor and we all know who's steeping out of the elevator, and it is not the thugs ⚔️圍棋戰聖
It is said that the way of bushido is found in death. I never believed this statement until...
During one Weiqi game played years ago...
A certain stone was placed upon the board.
Placed upon the board with the traditional two finger placement, it went clunk! And I knew that The Rubicon had finally been crossed.
And with that, the dragon that had placed the stone on the Weiqi board quietly sipped their cup of tea. Before returning back into their posture of contemplation.
The dragon in opposition sat in discomfort but with the possibility that their divine grace could be saved. Sadly though, while it couldn't see it clearly, those observing the game, could see the power of balance shift against it.
It is tempting to record here, play for play, of what actually happened so that the listener (or reader) here can savour every moment for themselves like some television drama. But a true master of the game has already taken the title of Imperator in accordance with the game.
Death has come to the weaker dragon in retreat and every play from that moment of when the river was crossed is a brushstroke upon its death poem.
It was only one stone in time that nobody could foresee unless played.
In the art of war, we learn, practice and strategize. We get good at what we do. And then with all opposition collapsed, we find ourselves entering Rome as if all that went before it had been just a very, very bad dream ⚔️圍棋戰聖
The flow of positive qi at its greatest is like a raging wind bringing fresh clean air into a stale house.
When a person has internalized the art of war, whether it be through Suntzu or Sunbin or both, life for the person takes on a whole new perspective that makes the Middle Kingdom insignificant to the larger scheme of things.
I had not yet internalized them, but by 1994 through the Heart of Africa, I had begun to feel it's effects upon the destiny I was treading by way of the Weiqi (Go/Baduk) game.
Only those people who have met me in person or have been in my house, know what I am talking about. Because it is not something easily understood by others nor do I have the language for it.
Or maybe I do: Laugh! If you want, but I am a "Living Tao for myself and others along the martial arts journey".
When I play the game of Weiqi (Go/Baduk), the world moves from blocked to a clear flowing stream again. And those most aligned with my qi find relief in a lasting way.
Too many Weiqi (Go/Baduk) players drown in the rules and technicalities of professional play. Without never knowing their own inner dragon. A dragon that wants to manifest and create.
The flow of positive qi at its greatest is like a raging wind blowing fresh clean air into the stale house. Everything it touches is transformed ⚔️圍棋戰聖
Mankind desires peace in his time, but the evidence shows that the ideal of peace is not actually what he wants. Mankind finds peace to be like an endless paradise that is slowly turning into drought.
The summer of abundance becomes the space in which boredom sets in. And he actually starts to crave the uncertainty of war.
Mankind does not explicitly say so, but rather wraps this desire in positive images that can be sold to the rest of humanity. Small messages and clues – small little acts that eventually will lead to the same outcome: War.
In playing Weiqi (Go/Baduk) from a higher plane, every stone placed on the Weiqi board - whether it be a black stone or a white stone - is an act of war.
Acts of war fought from darkest winter and despair, back into the warmth of summer and peace and harmony. The very thing mankind was trying to end.
From war to peace. And then from peace to war again. From order to chaos and then from chaos back to order again. Like the cycle of the seasons: Autumn, winter, spring and summer.
Rare indeed is the Weiqi game in which no stones are captured and the cherry blossoms do not bloom ⚔️圍棋戰聖
Are you feeling stressed and don't know how to slow down? Allow yourself to unwind with this tea mindfulness exercise... Liked what you heard & want to connect with me? Join me at… linkedin.com/in/peterhainzl/
Once upon a time, when I was a child, I used to look up at the puffy white clouds and wonder about what life would be like from up there. Those clouds, as they brought the rain, looked ever-so-tempting.
Many years later, I quietly discovered Baguazhang 八卦掌 and learnt that the way of martial arts can sometimes be very mysterious. Maybe too mysterious. It ought not to be, but compared to the ordinary everyday it usually is.
I sometimes wish that there could be a better way, but the moment a person decides to truly go into the tao, the majority of the people we know and hold dear stop “getting it”. And we somehow become remote like living in those puffy clouds.
I love my Yunnan red tea quite a lot, I realise now. With a slight smoky accent it can be a great alternative improvement to what is typically offered as (English or Irish) Breakfast tea. It goes particularly well with those deliciously sweet mini lotus mooncakes.
Yunnan Red tea or Dianhong Cha 滇紅茶 as it is known in China, is one of those rare Chinese tea that can be drunk with milk; it sets the tone of the day just so, before I go off and do my Baguazhang.
To do Baguazhang is to do what is not popular with the masses - living differently, even in the face of social pressure. A person only has to browse the internet and compare it to MMA or Tai-chi to get a picture of what I mean. No criticism on them. I am aware that it is a two-way street.
Only recently have I started mastering the internal stuff that lies beyond the typical physical mechanics. Most of what I deal in now, is typically sidelined as fiction or myth, and could not be believed by a person unless that person has experienced it for themselves.
For example, what would a person make of it if I said that Yunnan red tea has a lot of chi in it from Yunnan itself and that to drink it is to bind one’s chi with the place? And that to drink it is to manifest the same Yunnan weather for a day and night over one’s home? Without searching deeper into the true mystery of what has been actually prophesied, this last paragraph would most likely be rejected. Perhaps for most people it is better to live a life of working, shopping, taxes and debt.
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The Goddess of Mercy, Kuan Yin 觀音 transcends both Taoist and Buddhist belief. Hence the distinction between what is internal and what is external holds no meaning with regards to her.
Oolong 烏龍茶 in general is the Chinese tea category in between black and green tea. Whether light or dark, this accidental black dragon has become its own thing. One does not need to believe in dragons or Kwan Yin to have an appreciation for Ti Kuan Yin Oolong 鐵觀音烏龍茶.
The Wudang Mountains are in Northwest Hebei, China and is home to some of the most formidable martial arts collectively known as Wudang Quan 武當拳. All are dedicated to the Way - the Tao. And all are associated with the Chinese God of Martial Arts Xuan Wu 玄武.
The symbolic relationship between the two gods is like fire and water. And the nearest Western equivalent is the old story of the policeman married to the nurse. Hence when one learns a martial art for fighting, one also learns it for healing.
Which has sometimes been referred to as the Paradox of the Martial Arts. But there is no actual paradox. The paradox only exists in the minds of the one dimensional. A condition fueled these days by our need to live in a world of certainty.
We want everything to be just so. And when it gets disturbed, we tend to react quite aggressively. Hence it can be quite a challenge to fully grasp the subtle complex taste and aroma of Ti Guan Yin Oolong 鐵觀音烏龍茶.
Not everything martial can be taught by way of the fist, no matter how good the fighter. And money does not a fighter make. The great masters knew this. That is why they practiced kungfucha 功夫茶 alongside their Wudang martial art styles.
These days in China, any martial art not associated with Buddhism and the Shaolin Monastery is generally referred to as Wudang Quan 武當拳. This isn’t totally accurate. But then these distinctions get lost on those not familiar with real martial arts or real Ti Kuan Yin oolong.
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Typically at Yum Cha there are three options to the tea: jasmine green tea, chrysanthemum herbal tea and Sow Mee tea 壽眉茶. Sow Mee tea is classed under the Chinese tea system as a white tea, alongside Pai Mu Tan and Silver Needle.
Depending on who you talk to, the rules on what makes a white tea can vary. But the general consensus is that it is a tea with the least amount of handling by people. Ideally the leaves and buds are just plucked and dried.
Of the three grades of white tea, Sow Mee is the tea of the common folk because it is cheap and can still be brewed into a strong dark liquor. Hence the name Sow Mee 壽眉: poetic licence to let buyers know that old folks love it.
Qigong 氣功 is on the most basic level focused breathing exercises designed to increase a person’s inner energy. On the next level up, it is essentially for most people light aenorobic exercises that most people can do on a daily basis.
Done daily, both the drinking of tea like Sow Mee 壽眉茶 and qigong are more beneficial to the body than not doing them at all. Traditionally when a master was in repose, they were typically engaged in them and as such can be viewed as a form of wushu leisure.
Martial Qigong 武氣功 is the ancient discipline of using qigong as part of a master’s martial art practice. A lot of it is hidden in secrecy, mystery and wuxia literature that makes the line between fact and fiction a little more than blurred.
But to dismiss it as outright mumbo-jumbo would be to miss the truth that some made up stuff is deliberately misleading to keep the “real secrets” hidden from prying eyes. The secret maybe something quite mundane and right in front of the observers’ eyes, but may represent a strategic and tactical advantage to its bearer.
Sow Mee tea 壽眉茶 on one level has got nothing to do with Martial Qigong 武氣功. Then again, they share the same roots and there are Qigong exercises that involve little cups of tea being moved around the body.
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These days it is easy to get a matcha latte. But few realise that what they are drinking isn’t matcha anything. What they are actually getting is finely ground down green tea powder. Not real matcha 抹茶.
Real matcha 抹茶, depending on your perception, ranges from the sublime down to an acquired taste.
And in the course of experiencing Chanoyu, one comes to have a deep appreciation for what is real and what is not.
Aikido 合気道 is unique, in that it is a modern Japanese “internal” martial art. Its way is based on the concept of flowing water around an obstacle. The interplay between hard and soft. With a strong philosophical focus on the tao through Zen 禪. Ultimately, the graceful movements become an expression of self-cultivation.
This self-cultivation is the tao universally expressed by all enlightened beings. Aikido does not seek to be a better martial art at fighting opponents. It only seeks to transcend the Aikido master to higher awareness that allows a negative situation to be self-defeating.
Many Aikido masters are also Chanoyu masters. One art flows into the other. Chanoyu helps the master to find the stillness required to understand their opponent, while Aikido helps the master to overcome their opponent.
This in turn is the true essence of real Matcha 抹茶 - overcoming the bitterness so that one can appreciate its sweetness.
As Morihei Ueshiba O-Sensei once said, “There are no contests in the Art of Peace. A true warrior is invincible because he or she contests with nothing.”
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Zhu Cha 珠茶 gets its English name from the way it looks (small gunpowder pellets), and from the way it smells (the after-smell of a used pistol). And as such, Gunpowder tea invokes feelings of a bygone era when pistol duels were permitted as a way of settling scores.
Because of this, the Zhejiang produced tea is popular among Western men wanting a greener healthier choice of tea without milk, that retains its manly perspective in the heat of business warfare.
Piguaquan 劈掛拳 (or Piguazhang 劈掛掌, as it is sometimes called) traces its origins, by way of preceding wushu styles, on Taoist principles. This aspect makes it an “internal” martial art. While at the same time on the other side an “external” style.
This “external” part is partially due to the fact that it received high praise during the Ming Dynasty by General Qi Jiguang, as an effective method employable by soldiers wearing full battle-armour. Something that is rare amongst most other styles, which generally assume that the practitioner is a genteelied warrior-scholar able to afford a better quality of life outside of war.
Hence the relationship with Gunpowder green tea. A tea that reminds us that life isn’t just cafes and lattes. Even for the tea drinkers out there. Because as they say, business is business. And that said, business needs to be taken care of. Effective immediately. And possibly over a longer than expected period of time.
To most modern observers, Piguaquan 劈掛拳 tends to look over-extended with its movements. Suitable only for wushu competition. This is because the practitioner is not wearing full body armour as was originally intended.
But just like Gunpowder Green tea 珠茶, what is on the surface (the smell and look) is usually just a smokescreen. The over extension of limbs builds muscular tensile strength without the need for bulk - Being strong internally without appearing strong externally.
So here we are, at a teahouse somewhere, invoking the image of a black leather jacket wearing man, drinking gunpowder green tea. It might be you, or it might be someone else. The tea is easy to drink yet hard to appreciate. The style easy to learn but hard to master.
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Tradition holds that on the day Bajiquan 八極拳 arrived in Hong Kong, a mighty typhoon struck. And the first cup of tea bought, happened to be a cup of Puerh tea 普洱茶. A final act of service before the tea-shop closed in advance of the typhoon. The master was well pleased, before spending the storm-drenched night at the Jamia Mosque in Hong Kong.
Modern folklore, by way of the movies, holds that Bajiquan arrived in Hong Kong, after a glorious kung-fu fight at a barber shop. It could have been alleged that there had been a misunderstanding about a simple financial transaction between concerned parties. Maybe so. Those were the days after all. And as a tea merchant in Australia, selling puerh, one has got to respect it for what it was.
When the first list of internal martial art styles was compiled, many people assumed wrongly that the denominator ‘internal’ implied soft style or cultivating one’s chi. But internal originally meant that the style in question originated from within China by way of Taoist principles, as opposed to coming from the ‘external’ Shaolin Buddhist martial art styles. And as such, Bajiquan was kept off the list because it was known as an Islamic ‘external’ martial art - Huijiao 回教.
It was only years later during the revolutionary period that the masters began to codify the internal principals as we know them today. With Bajiquan sharing many internal aspects with the other three internal styles: Bagua, Taichi and Xingyi.
Chinese muslims, having been a part of China since before the Tang Dynasty, are usually referred to as the Hui people. Regarded as a official minority group, they traditionally have kept their wushu a closely guarded secret.
Nowadays, however, while many still privately practice Bajiquan - the explosive art known for its close quarter elbow and knee strikes, the traditional form of it is gaining popularity with professional security wanting something dynamically effective, yet retaining traditional cultural wushu elements that help to cement it in the wielder’s consciousness.
Puerh tea, the master’s prefered tea, comes from Yunnan Province 云南, which was once an independent muslim kingdom before permanently joining China in the middle ages. This tea under Chinese categorization is classified as a true black tea, meaning that it has gone through the oxidation process completely. And after a long aging process of two years or more, the tea is generally regarded as being caffeine-free. Stimulant free, this means that for Chinese muslims, Puerh tea is Halal.
While chi is sometimes seen as a uniquely Chinese thing, chi is regarded by the Hui as the same life-force that was breathed into Adam by Allah. And that to cultivate chi is to be in communion with Allah. And since Bajiquan holds that all parts of the body are connected either physically or spiritually, the drinking of puerh is just a earthly extension of this concept.
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Controversy can be a challenging word around the Yum Cha table. Even when all the dishes being pushed around by the Yum Cha girls are all so temptingly delicious.
It can be a little humbling to discover that what gets served with the rice is usually Jasmine Green tea: the typical ordinary default choice for most people.
During the Southern Song Dynasty, there was a General named Yue Fei 岳飛 who came to represent the epitome of loyalty in Chinese culture because he remained loyal, right to the end of his life when killed by conspiracies within the imperial court.
Thankfully nowadays, as they sip their cups of Jasmine Green tea, most people never have to experience such a controversial life. Rather, we are blessed by an abundance never known by most people living before us.
The martial arts of Xingyi Quan 形意拳, like its acclaimed ancestor Yue Fei 岳飛, is an internally focused style that also carries its fair share of controversy. Whether you believe any of it or not, Southern Song General Yue Fei created a style for his officers and soldiers to use in the heat of battle through the use of explosive internal chi by way of the fist or spear.
Passed down from Yue Fei to Divine Fist Li - Li Luoneng 李洛能, the style has become rich and varied in our time, just like all those yum cha dishes.
Hence something easy on the palette has to be drunk to cut through it all; practically and effectively. And Jasmine Green tea is what cuts through all of it. It is like a bitter-sweet refresher that allows one to enjoy all the dishes in their respective turn, just like a Xingyi fighter taking down one opponent at a time with explosive grace and ease.
Controversial this may all be. The style of Xingyi Quan 形意拳 has always been so. Within the form resides the mind: within the complex reside the simple. And that is why the humble Jasmine Green tea reigns at the Yum Cha table.
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Once upon a time in a land far far away, it was and still is a common sight to see an ancient tai-chi master gently practicing his forms - at peace and at one with the world around them.
Perhaps, the master has disciples imitating the moves as they try to come to grips with the deeper aspects. Perhaps… Or maybe the master is alone in their pursuit of The Way through the flowing dance of Yin and Yang.
Long ago, this sight would have been hidden from curious eyes. But now, it is a regular scene carried out throughout the world, in the early morning mist, wherever the finer aspects of Chinese culture have taken root.
And as all this takes place, somewhere, somebody is boiling water. Ready to be poured into a teapot filled with chrysanthemum flowers.
In China, chrysanthemum 菊花, is a symbol of long life and good luck in the home. And has been traditionally used as a herbal remedy for many common ailments that throughout the long years of training, a tai-chi master incorporates into their repertoire.
The Way is light and unassuming and Tai-chi is flowing and graceful. When the morning session is done, the tai-chi master typically visits their local teahouse and is waited upon with a pot of chrysanthemum tea 菊花茶.
While many martial artists seek to go tough through the hard way, very few realise the power resonating behind the gentle. They see the chrysanthemum flower as the mark of the sissy and the weak, not having understood the fundamentals behind chi - the life force that flows through everything.
Which is an easy mistake to make, when given that this tea is so easily available at Cantonese Yum Cha and is caffeine-free. But a rock cannot move without help. It can only flow when there is water, and that is why the true tai-chi master remains as gentle as a chrysanthemum in their movements.
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The game of Go or weiqi is an interesting game. On the surface it is as logical as a cold hard scientist in love with nothing but mathematics. You have a board containing exactly 361 co-ordinates or points. And exactly 361 stones that fit nicely on all of those co-ordinates.
And yet, a simple rule guarantees chaos – You can never have it all. Either you never touch the board or you must learn to share it. For most people in the world that is life. And the sharing of things lead to problems that need resolving.
In the world of absolutes ruled by black and white, WeiQi or Go should be the perfect game but it never stops to amuse me, how many people get stuck on the very first move. All their mathematical concepts of logic breakdown before their very eyes. And what was so orderly just seems to vanish into nothing.
Which is interesting, because the game still follows some very basic rules of physics like ‘for every action there’s an equal opposite reaction’. For every one stone placed on the board, the opposing player will place its equal opposing stone reaction.
But where is that stone? You may ask as you see that the counter-move doesn’t exactly mirror the first move.
Indeed, like a stealthy ninja, the stone is there, waiting to be used in the future elimination of a stone that hasn’t even been thought of yet. In this the game is more than just stones on a board.
It is a reflection of life itself trying to resolve itself by way of moments in time and not minutes in time, as two opposing dragons fight for the right to claim the board as part of their respective individual reality.
One good example of this, is the novel ( La Joueuse de Go) The girl who played Go by the author Shan Sha.
Set in Manchuria during the 1930’s, it is essentially a basic story of two people from two different worlds and opposing countries, who through the powers that be, meet and play a game of Go (weiqi) and ultimately romantically die together.
While the actual game of Go or weiqi within the book is okay… There is another more important game of Go being played in the book that some people have noticed, but tends to get missed in the reviews.
Looking deeper, beyond the obvious, each chapter alternates between the two first person viewpoints. The girl’s chapter starts first like a black stone on the board. The second chapter belongs to the boy. He is the white stone. Within each chapter, the first couple of paragraphs give a strong indication of what the move would look like on a go board had the board been Manchuria.
Shan Sha is the Girl who played Go and her novel is the game laid out symbolically in story form, as two logical entities with their own versions of logic, battle and sometimes love within her for domination. With the end of things having nothing to do with the numbers, mathematics or science. But resolved by its own final pattern.
☰ A couple of years ago, I came across the term “Bossing it”. Meaning basically that a ‘non-pro’ person can be or do as good as a ‘pro’ in whatever they have set out to do. The term gets used a lot on the internet. While it feeds upon the fantasy of what life is like for bosses, the truth can be so different from expectations that I just have to laugh.
☳ Yes, being a boss gives you access to perks not available to non-bosses. But those same perks come with the price and responsibility of doing what others will not do, and making the decisions that others will not make.
☵ This is what it means to be a Baguazhang Master 八卦掌師傅 at the highest of levels: Recognising that the money 銀錢 only flows when the master 師傅 becomes the boss 老闆. Hence I do what I have to do in order to stay on top of my game.
☶ And if you are also a Baguazhang 八卦掌人 practitioner, then I know you are are also doing what you have to do to stay on top of your game. Whatever it takes. Because we all know that our rivals play the dirty game. The dirty game. What is that? You may ask. Well, I give you a scenario and you be the judge because these kinds of shit games do happen...
☷ After years of practice, you get to the level of master (sifu/sensei) and because somewhere you picked up the idea that it is your civic duty, you decide to start a small Taichi class for senior citizens. Nothing too hard. Just basic forms that they can do. Now you know that there are other Taichi classes held around your area by masters of higher ability. But all-in-all everything should be a-okay, given that you are not stepping on anybody’s toes. So you advertise and do all the stuff you need to do to get sessions going. People come and it’s a nice little class. Well done.
☴ Then one day, in walks a couple of elderly Chinese men or maybe it’s a man and woman. I’m pointing them out as Chinese in this example because sadly, they do it a lot. They join the class, watch you a bit too intently and then ask if they could take a video of your “performance” because they claim they want to learn at home. Or they may ask you to heal a part of their body, that you know, even if you were a trained medical doctor, could not be done ‘just like that’.
☲ Suddenly, even though the requests seem legitimate, something about them seems ‘off’. If some of you are married to a Chinese or Asian, or have close Asian friends, you go and tell them what happened. And you learn that 1) That the couple was sent by another Taichi master to check up on you. What the fuck? You ask. Isn’t Taichi supposed to be all peace, love and happiness? No it’s not. Those masters can be quite territorial. 2) The couple won’t be coming back. And 3) If they are coming back, then it means they are there to assimilate your style (just incase it ever leads to something more physical).
☱ Now if you are wondering why this feels familiar, even if it has never happened to you, it is because that it is how the international game of politics is being played out, with at its base money 銀錢 underwriting it. Not exactly tactical this or tactical that. More like hide-and-go seek chess.
Many years ago, an exhibition of the famous Terracotta Warriors visited Auckland, New Zealand. Eager as always for these things I went with my wife to see them. While it was only a snippet of a small show I enjoyed it very much.
But something happened on that day that I won’t forget: While wandering past the many statues I was struck by a freezing cold shiver up my spin by the presence of one statue. I froze and stared back at the statue of a bearded general with a great sword at his side. Who was this general?
While officially it is said that nobody knows, I had a profound vision that I knew: General Xiang-Fei of the Wu clan 烏翔肥. He lived the life worthy of a good hardworking man trying to get ahead but stuck in middle-management during the Qin Dynasty 秦朝. As a loyal general he did what he was told, yet he had a bit of a stubborn streak to him. And as such he always had the nasty job of commanding his troops into the waiting enemy army. Perhaps it seems he was destined to be forever fighting a losing a battle as it was always impossible to get some glorious action while hopelessly seeing his men being speared like marshmallows over a campfire.
Eventually in life, 烏翔肥 became so disheartened with the way his career was going that he politely quit before he too ended up like his troops. He resigned his commission and ensuring that his wife and family were kept well-off, decided that his best way to improve his status and fortunes was travel the land in search of a true military sage that can show him how to avoid pointless frontal assaults.
烏翔肥 traveled far and wide, but found nobody. And his journeys were marred by news of his wife’s infidelities. But he would not give up his quest. In fact, the only thing in the end blocking his path was a huge mountain range of white peaked tops. He paused to catch his breath and the spectacular view before making his way to a small village at the base of the mountain range.
Upon arriving at the village 烏翔肥 was met by a messenger from home informing him that he and his wife were now divorced… (Things do happen in strange ways.) Furious at his misfortune, he tried to go straight through the mountain and only became the butt of the villagers jokes. He tried to go over the mountain but failed in that too. Upset and angry of being unable to move the mountains out of his way, he settled down in the village and took a local maiden to be his new woman.
Funnily enough, the interesting thing about him was that when travelers came to the village and asked what was the best to get to the other side of the mountains, he would tell them to follow the road that goes around them. It was only after his simpleton wife pointed out during one of their arguments what he was doing, did it finally dawn on him that he had his long searched-for answer.
And there was now a new dynasty around: The Han Dynasty 漢朝. Unable to return to court, politics being what it is, He decided to write down his profound insights in a book called "Circling the White Mountain".
☳/☴ In a world filled with illusions and virtual reality, the art of making and drinking tea is for tea drinkers real. They use real utensils, water and tea. And it is done in real space and time. There are no what-ifs or maybes.
☵/☲ In the practice of Chanoyu 茶の湯, this realness is brought forth as the practitioner seeks to add the secret ingredient of spirit or soul into what they do.
☶/☱ In Kungfucha 功夫茶 it is the same thing. Even if it does not on the surface seem like the same thing because the actions are different... Different cultures express the same thing in different ways.
☷/☷ For non-tea drinkers, this pursuit of the tea spirit 茶靈 does not appear obvious. In fact, on one level there really is nothing there. Hence what they see is the slow boredom that resides deep inside of them as they try to grasp something intangible.
☰/☰ I could use a hundred and one religious or faith-based examples, but that would turn this into a sermon. And that is NOT what this is about. So perhaps a martial arts analogy would be better...
☱/☶ When I first became a part of the martial arts world I was like most people: Watch the movies, read the books, dabble in different styles and idolise the great masters from afar. Then one day I dived full in and devoted myself to a way of life that lead me to here.
☲/☵ This way of life through Baguazhang 八卦掌 has its ups and downs. Fluctuating at times between monk and hero. Warrior and scholar. But mostly in need of a rest, now and then from that thing we call the human existence.
☴/☳ That is why doing Tea Time equals Me Time can be so helpful in our daily life. The spirit of tea 茶靈 is open to all like a twenty-four hour teahouse. Reject it and the traveler may have to sleep on the street. Accept it and that same traveler might find themselves with noble company enjoying Yumcha 飲茶.
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☰/☴ Today as part of Tea Time equals Me Time, I will quote the poem from Guru Laghima...
☷/☲ "Let go of your Earthly Tether.
☴/☱ "Enter the Void.
☳/☷ "Empty.
☵/☰ "And become One."
☲/☶ Which was explained further by Zahir: When you base your expectations on only what you see, you blind yourself to the possibilities of a new reality.
☱/☵ Both Guru Laghima and Zahir were fictional cartoon characters. And yet they knew more about reality than most people in the modern world do.
☶/☳ So here we were, fighting to hold on to what we perceive to be real. And yet even Albert Einstein understood that reality is an illusion that we construct in our minds to make sense of happening. In a sense, drinking a cup of tea 茶 is a reality in itself. And through Tea Time equals Me Time, I have been honoured to share a bit of the journey through the I-Ching's 64 hexagrams 易經的六十四卦 up to the top of the Bagua Mountain 八卦山. Not the traditional orthodox sequence of 8 x 8 = 64, but the one that goes 8 x 8 x 8 = 512. And so, into the Tao 道 I go. Liked what you heard & want to connect with me? Join me at… linkedin.com/in/peterhainzl/
☴ (魂) Reaching the top of the Bagua Mountain 八卦山 is the anti-climax of a long drawn out process in which our soul takes over the captaincy of our martial arts path 武術道. This has nothing to do with the style being practiced or a person's beliefs. In other words, the pilot has switched off the autopilot and is flying the plane again.
☲ (靈) I am aware that there will always be people who just don't "get it" and will do whatever they can to attack, complain, argue and generally try to debunk what they see as "charlatan magic".
☱ (道) But three times I rejected the Tao 道 as laid out through Baguazhang 八卦掌 (I am not a Taoist, nor a Buddhist) until I asked the question: If the pilot's seat is empty, then who is flying the plane?
☷ (彖) For the vast majority of martial artists, none of this matters. Most are just trying to figure out how to move up from economy to business class. So what is said here is the difference between the soldier 兵 and the general 將 of the army. So I'll put it another way...
☰ (無) I once watched an anime アニメ where a samurai 侍 from ancient Japan got transported into the present era, and when he found his lord's castle, he was stunned to discover it empty.
☶ (禪) When Zen 禪 is a cup of tea 茶, it is just a cup of tea 茶. A trophy is essentially just a cup as well. Does the liquid in the cup give it meaning?
☵ (帝) On the field of battle 戰場 we want to be number one against all contenders. To prove our worth and be counted as a leader of the pack. Or do some just find meaning when they are going against something? I guess it is easier for some to fight for the pilot's seat rather than actually sit in it and pilot the plane.
☳ (龍) Ultimately, the tao 道 of the Dragon is to find one's emptiness and be okay with it. An empty teacup, an empty space without confinement. That is why the Dragon in the I-Ching 易經 rises up into the sky. While level six mentions regret, at level seven the "Dragon walks their true path"... Liked what you heard & want to connect with me? Join me at… linkedin.com/in/peterhainzl/
☴ Mindfulness 正念(靜觀): What is that?
☳ And Tea Time equals Me Time: What is that?
☲ In the great journey that is our life, we sometimes find ourselves needing to get off one train and rest for a while at a station for the next train that will take us to where we need to go.
☶ If we are in luck, the station will have a teahouse 茶館 or somebody offering refreshments. This scene is repeated all over the world, whether we are traveling by train, plane, ship, car, coach or even by foot or horse.
☰ Mindfulness 正念(靜觀) is that rest stop. Tea Time equals Me Time is just the means by which we take that rest. It's that simple. Perhaps some people do get to have esoteric experiences while being mindful with a cup of tea 茶.
☷ For most ordinary folk, though, it just means having a break.
☱ Then again, is there a possibility where a person, having a cup of tea 茶, can just be in a state of mindfulness 正念(靜觀) without anything esoteric or mystical happening, and still have the experience of a lifetime?
☵ In the midst of stress, anxiety, worry or whatever else is giving a person pain or grief in their life, would they allow themselves to be open to such events? Perhaps. Just the thought may be enough to allow it to happen before the next train arrives.
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☰ Make yourself a cup of tea 茶, gently sit down and mindfully start practicing Tea Time equals Me Time for what I am about to tell you is this: I have been told once or twice that Baguazhang 八卦掌 is the martial art of the Gods 神. And that the Grandmasters 大公傅 of Baguazhang 八卦掌 are the high priests 大祭司.
☷ On the surface of things, this may or may not be true. But as I gaze upon the Go 碁 broad I am playing, it does make me wonder about the deeper significance of what it actually means.
☳ For some, the shocking statement 震聲明 I just made, is a distraction to what is important to them. For others, they may need "a cup of tea 一杯茶 and a bit of a lie down".
☴ And yet still for others more, this is just what they need as a distraction from their daily stress and problems to get into Tea Time equals Me Time from a higher plane of existence.
☵ If you do not believe me, then check your palms. If your inner palms 手掌 are starting to tingle or "hum", then your chi 氣 is activating at the idea being proposed here. It is like going into a war that you know you will win.
☲ Your only wish is that your opponent will show up, so that you can hide the fact that you have already won without fighting, for as Suntzu 孫子 is often quoted: The supreme art of war is to subdue the enemy without fighting.
☶ The bit about palms "tingling" is a physical effect of what it is like to be a Qigong master 氣功师傅 and is something to look forward to.
☱ Now back to the Go 碁 game and my tea 茶. What most people see is just a bunch of black and white stones on the board, and a person drinking tea 喝茶. That's fine. But what I see, is a person who allowed themselves to delve further than usual into the world of tea 茶 and kung fu culture 功夫道. And that's great! ⚔️圍棋戰聖
☰ Today Tea Time equals Me Time can be done anywhere. There is no such thing as the perfect location.
☳ Sometimes the modern human life can be overwhelming and all-consuming. And the ritual of Tea Time equals Me Time can help in the coping of it, just like exercise, good diet and proper sleep.
☶ But then, sometimes, none of it helps and we need to get away from civilisation and be in a place where we can feel humbly insignificant to the great vastness around us like the desert 沙漠.
☷ The desert 沙漠 allows us to be small and big at the same time.
☵ To sit under the Milky Way drinking tea 喝茶 with fellow travellers. To realise that nobody is actually lost but just living with chronic stress and daily pain inflicted by our modernness. Perhaps it is time to stop, have a cup of tea 茶 and save the over-achieving for another day.
☲ Perhaps... This article could very easily take a religious tone. But for most people, they simply need a break: The words of God are for those who seek such things.
☱ In the desert 沙漠 Tea Time equals Me Time is a person's chance to "Be" again.
☴ Through a cup of tea made and drunk slowly we can reconnect with who we are. This is Mindfulness 靜觀... Liked what you heard & want to connect with me? Join me at… linkedin.com/in/peterhainzl/
☰ In martial arts 武術 we sometimes live by our memories. Some are good and others are bad. And all are open to interpretation. In our minds and hearts the past seems like a topsy-turvy adventure.
☳ But as I now look back upon old photos and pictures of the person I was when started this journey to the top of martial arts 武術, I do not recognise that man. I remember and know him. But I am not the man I used to be.
☵ If I were to travel back in time to help guide my earlier self, would he have recognised me? I always imagined that he would, but now I am not so sure. I am not so sure anymore if I would recognise my future self either.
☶ For the continual path up the Bagua Mountain 八卦山 is the Art of Self-realisation as a Shen 神. That is spiritual meaning behind walking the circle and deserves a massive cup of tea 茶. Drink the tea 喝茶 slowly and let these words be digested by the soul. This is something that those who do not do high level martial arts 武術 mock at, thinking that being a shen 神 is like being a god and that is impossible.
☷ The sporty do not make good martial artists 武術人. This is not a sport. Nor is it a war but warfare is a big part of it. It is the same when I say Kung Fu Culture 功夫道 is a part of Chinese Culture 中華培養 but Chinese Culture 中華培養 is not Kung Fu Culture 功夫道.
☱ Tea Culture 茶道 is the same.
☲ Everytime tea 茶 is drunk or somebody engages in Tea Time equals Me Time, they are saving their own life from a fate worse than worth experiencing.
☶ ...And so Shen drink tea 神喝茶. Liked what you heard & want to connect with me? Join me at… linkedin.com/in/peterhainzl/
☰ Dong Hai Chuan 董海川 is the founder of Baguazhang 八卦掌. After him there are five official orthodox styles. Followed by countless other lesser known forms and styles. And in China 中國 at least, they keep coming up with new ones. It's very impressive.
☲ The martial art of Baguazhang 八卦掌武術 is known for swapping direct confrontation for vulnerable openings. We walk the circle to help us develop circular strength, allowing us to handle multiple opponents: Eight against one.
☶ And then there is the meditative side of things. Qigong 氣功 anyone?
☱ Many years ago, I was living in Shatin Heights 沙田嶺, Hong Kong 香港, doing my Baguazhang 八卦掌 and enjoying life. I remember sensing one night after having done in the apartment eleven sets, that there was somebody in another apartment with amazingly strong chi 氣. It was strong enough that I could almost see what he was doing: An elderly man doing full form Tai Chi Quan 太極拳 in his living room as taught by traditional kung fu schools. Not the stripped down old people tai chi seen typically in parks nowadays.
☳ His kind of cultivated chi 氣 is harder to come by in Sydney, Australia. Because the city is vastly more spread out with a less dense population doing less martial arts 武術 or qigong 氣功.
☴ The elderly man in Hong Kong 香港 wasn't alone. In that apartment building alone I sensed at least three of them, all in different apartments, energetically communicating with each other.
☷ I dismissed the whole affair, back then, as probably being Mah-Jong 麻將 buddies or something, and went back to doing my Baguazhang 八卦掌 sets. I only got halfway through the twelfth set, when I found myself being instructed to change the way I hold my palms during one of the changing palms, even though I wanted to do it my way. but I was open to improvement.
☵ But because I was open to improvement, that one small change made a world of difference to the way I see things now... Liked what you heard & want to connect with me? Join me at… linkedin.com/in/peterhainzl/
☰/☴ Today I watched an episode of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and in it Leonardo 彊獅 (yang 陽) was having a tea party with a sweet little girl (yin 陰). He could have been out saving the world from his home in the gutters but instead he gave a little girl a little bit of joy in her life.
☷/☲ As a consequence I am feeling "the love" again from a martial arts 武術 perspective, if you know what I mean.
☵/☱ And that, in itself, deserves a big cup of tea 茶.
☲/☷ The scene, while mostly comical, is in fact highly symbolic to high level martial artists steeped with tradition and deep ritualistic meaning that loses its meaning if it is done with coffee, water, alcohol or any other beverage other than tea 茶.
☳/☰ The sharing of tea 茶共享 between the two main rivals before the conclusive final fight is on par to the Last Supper with Jesus and his disciples.
☶/☶ A scene which shows the two rivals are of equal rank and ability, even if they are from different backgrounds or styles, sharing a common bond that the world around them fails to see.
☴/☵ I mean, why would anybody want to drink tea 喝茶 with their enemy (and in mutual respect)?
☱/☳ But that's precisely the point. To get really good at martial arts 武術 we have to let go of the "us versus them" mentality. If we don't, we become pawns of those who can't fight but want to use us for their own agendas that are bit more messed up than simply good versus evil... Liked what you heard & want to connect with me? Join me at… linkedin.com/in/peterhainzl/
☴/☳ Today I woke up feeling unusually tired and glum. My bones ached and I seem to have pain flowing throughout my internal systems. While I was at an energetic low point, outside the weather and locale seem at their perkiest.
☲/☵ At the breakfast table there was a bowl of matcha 抹茶 waiting for me. I drank it up slowly but felt compelled to make myself another one: A scoop of matcha 抹茶 in the bowl, a little bit of hot water and I whisk the matcha 抹茶 with the chasen 茶筅. I do it slowly. Very, very, slowly.
☱/☶ I whisk it until I can smell the matcha 抹茶 gently around me. It is only after this point that I add some more hot water and drink the tea 茶 very slowly.
☷/☰ This slowing down of the body, is one of the first signs that we have pushed ourselves close to breaking point. Usually in the pursuit of over-achieving a goal we have set for ourselves...
☰/☷ All Qigong Masters 氣功师傅 go through this. The excitement of reaching new energetic heights compels us to keep going. But the body is our vehicle and it needs servicing from time to time. Everybody goes through these state of affairs in their lives - work, pleasure or both. We just call it different things depending on what we are doing at the time and how intense the sensation is.
☶/☱ What really sets Qigong Masters 氣功师傅 apart from regular Kungfu Masters 功夫师傅 is the sensation of having one's energy sucked dry by those with very low or negative facing chi 氣 because of how they've lived their lives. It is like a black hole that sucks or feeds. In Wuxia stories 武俠故事 these people are usually personified as demons with toxic essences that can pollute the cultivated.
☵/☲ Hence, if you live near or in an area that has typically an outdoor Taichi 太極 class, you will see from time to time, the taichi master 太極师傅 disappearing from their group. The group will seem devoid of chi 氣 and the master 师傅 only seems to return when certain members have moved on to another master. This weeding process is important to allow new life energy to flow through the group and to allow the master 师傅 to recharge.
☳/☴ This is why, sometimes, only a few elite disciples are allowed to partake of kungfucha 功夫茶 or chanoyu 茶の湯 with their master after class. It has nothing to do with being "worthy", but everything to do with having reached a point in their training where their martial art 武術 is their qigong 氣功. Liked what you heard & want to connect with me? Join me at… linkedin.com/in/peterhainzl/
☰ In Zen 禪 it is only a room. Nothing is in it. Except for the tatami 畳 mats. And some walls, and me holding the camera. But you don't see me.
☳ The room is supposed to be full of potential. Staring at it allows myself calmness and sanity to flow back into my life. I drink a cup of matcha 抹茶 and that is my chanoyu 茶の湯 session.
☵ To find oneself here is to admit that one's war 戰 is over... Years of toil and stress to make ends meet financially and materially.
☶ Matcha 抹茶 is an interesting tea 茶 in that the drinker is actually drinking the finely powdered tea leaves rather than just steeped liquid. And the best way to make it is in a calm state of mind. Not tranquil as in Zazen 座禅 or Mindfulness 靜觀, but just pleasantly calm.
☷ In a world of quick fixes and magic bullets, this way of letting go doesn't seem right. We are meant to work to the bone so we can pay for the holiday that will fix the problem caused by working to the bone. That's the story, right?
☱ To say that having a little bit of Tea Time equals Me Time is a little far fetched. When has drinking tea 喝茶 ever helped somebody?
☲ Has Tea Time equals Me Time ever helped you?
☴ There comes a point in everybody's life where we have to sit down, brew that cup of matcha 抹茶 and honestly admit to ourselves that the cavalry ain't coming. And that cup of tea isn't going to drink itself. The closest to heaven we are going to get, is the beam of light dazzling us through the window. So why keep fighting? Liked what you heard & want to connect with me? Join me at… linkedin.com/in/peterhainzl/
☰(無) Tea 茶 has many benefits. In conjunction with regular exercise and a healthier diet, the benefits listed below can help to reduce the need to end our days in the hospital.
☳(龍) Using a holistic approach to life, by way of Tea Time equals Me Time, these health benefits can include:
Reduces the Risk of Heart Disease.
Helps Fight Obesity and Promote Weight Loss.
Lowers Risk of Cancer.
Diabetes Prevention.
High in Disease-Fighting Antioxidants.
Decreases Inflammation.
Supports a Healthy Brain.
Prevents Bone Loss.
☵(帝) So why then, do so few people benefit from tea 茶?
☶(禪) The truth is that for most people, our lifestyle, environment and social grouping is subtly more harmful to us than what we try to do to fix it.
☷(彖) And we are none-the-wiser about it because as a group we are all in 'it' together.
☱(道) To make the changes needed means to leave the tribe. And that can be worse than the demons we project "out there" to exist; real or not. And the benefits aren't as immediate or direct as engaging a hot babe drinking tea 辣妹喝茶, which by-the-way is for most people pure fantasy.
☲(靈) Tea 茶 however, is a real tangible thing. And drinking tea 喝茶 is a real tangible act. These two things are all that's required to make a positive change towards going in the right direction without making any sacrifices, or betraying who you are.
☴(魂) Tea Time equals Me Time because we make it to be so. And it is through the act of drinking tea 喝茶 that we allow ourselves to start receiving the benefits listed above. Liked what you heard & want to connect with me? Join me at… linkedin.com/in/peterhainzl/
☰(無) For a lot of martial and (0) non-martial artists, martial arts is just a hobby or amusing pastime. Anything more than that is open to derision. It is like only allowing oneself to drink tea 喝茶 on special occasions rare and far between.
☳(龍) The first (1) level of doing martial arts (as a hobby) is like drinking instant powdered tea. Instant powdered tea may seem great at first, but a tea drinker soon realises what's put in the powdered tea (usually anything but actual tea), and it is time to move on.
☵(帝) The second (2) broad level of martial arts, is the level of the amateur. This is like drinking tea made from cheap brands. In those teabags is usually dust or Fenning, and there isn't enough in one tea bag to have a decent cuppa. So it always tastes washed out or weak. Hence, tricking the tea drinker to use two teabags or more. One's money seems to be ‘the name of the game’ in martial arts.
☶(禪) The third (3) broad level of martial arts is the level of the semi-pro up to the professional. The tea drinker is using triangle silk tea-bagged tea. The tea used is usually superior. But the problem lies in the tea bag itself. It blocks some of the aroma, taste and strength from getting out. There is a point in the equation where the physical price paid to win outweighs the rewards.
☷(彖) The fourth (4) broad level of martial arts is the level of the life-styler. The tea drinker has moved up to using loose leaf tea and is engaged in the process of learning the "Art of Making Tea". The martial artist is finding ways to incorporate martial arts into their daily life outside of the dojo/club/gym.
☱(道) The fifth (5) broad level of martial arts, martial arts is the way. The Tao of Martial Arts 武術道 is a total statement in itself. A tea drinker now just does the Art of Tea Making. Here the very act of judging the skill of the brewer is limiting. From sunrise to sunset everything is martial arts. Only those at this level understand the full ramifications of what this means.
☲(靈) These basic five levels plus the level of the non-martial artist at the beginning make up the six changing lines of the I-Ching 易經 (Classic Book of Changes) from bottom to top. And are the energetic and/or experiential lessons that a Baguazhang 八卦掌 master goes through going up the Bagua Mountain 八卦山.
☴(魂) There are other levels beyond what was commented on here. And levels further down than just being a non-martial artist. But just like drinking tea 喝茶, those other levels are like drinking tea with spirits or cream, or going yinyang 陰陽: Tea mixed with coffee. For Tea Time equals Me Time.
☳/☱ Hot off the press: Dudley drinks tea ダッドリー喝茶 and bashes heads!
☵/☷ Tea 茶 is a man's drink. And that is why British Pro-boxer Dudley drinks it.
☶/☲ Even though Dudley is a fictional character from Capcom's Streetfighter universe, I challenge any man to go twelve rounds with him in the ring. Are there any takers, or do you know of any other manly men out there who drink tea 喝茶?
☰/☵ For a lot of people, tea 茶 is falsely regarded as a woman's drink: Weak and feeble. Lacking in machismo. But if this were true, why then is it the second most drunk beverage in the world after water?
☷/☰ In the quest to define Tea Time equals Me time, the strongest men are actually those most at peace with themselves. Drinking tea 喝茶 is just an act that does not define them.
☱/☶ Their inner power comes from knowing that they define themselves. The world around them revolves around them. Not because they forced it to, but because in their reality it just does.
☲/☳ And that is the key essence of the tea 茶 in Tea Time equals Me Time: Allowing the ritual of drinking loose leaf tea 茶 to be calm, still and centred like a mountain 山 so that everything else moves around it.
☴/☴ This concept is called "Quiet Power". And is a defining quality wanted in a kung fu grandmaster 功夫師公. Liked what you heard & want to connect with me? Join me at… linkedin.com/in/peterhainzl/
☰ I've been doing Baguazhang 八卦掌 martial arts full-time for more than sixteen years. And that for me has literally meant doing it everyday whatever the weather conditions or locations.
☳ And while I am this and that now, I have reached a place where it's getting harder and harder to express or explain the journey I am on, because the Tao 道 can be truly a weird place.
☵ Instead, those experiences are only easily expressed amongst martial artists who have mastered or are mastering their inner-game; And who know that Tea Time equals Me Time is not just about drinking tea 喝茶 - It is about conducting martial warfare from a higher plane.
☶ In this higher plane, victory comes from transcending warfare itself.
☷ It is like the lowly pawn making it to the far-side of the chessboard. And instead of becoming another major piece in the game, decides to go off and do something else.
☴ Hang on a minute, someone may say. That's not our cup of tea 茶碗! A pawn doesn't just leave. The pawn's role is to fight and die for the game... And it is this same kind of rubbish thinking that traps good people in very bad situations, doing what they were taught by others to be right and is in-fact not right. But harmful to all concerned.
☲ The pawn in our example isn't stupid. It realised that there's more to life and death than just being another pawn. It's the difference between chi 气 (air) and the chi 氣 (energy) in Qigong 氣功.
☱ Now my cup of tea 茶碗 needs refilling, so I will leave it here for you to ponder over this as you come to grips with your own martial tao 武道. Liked what you heard & want to connect with me? Join me at… linkedin.com/in/peterhainzl/
☰ Many years ago during a particularly stressful time in my business I felt the need to get away from stresses of big city living and took a three day weekend down to Wollongong - A small seaside city about 1 to 2 hours south of Sydney along the coast. And I stayed at the Novotel hotel.
☳ Since that time, I have gone back at least two times. And both those times were spent at the Novotel. The hotel is right on the beachfront, quiet and when I go, I am usually lucky enough to get the jacuzzi all to myself while my family plays in the main pool.
☵ And all the while I am thinking about my business, my baguazhang 八卦掌 and what is happening in my life. The first time was particularly acute because if I hadn't gone with my wife's insistence, I would have surely had another one of my collapses from over-exhaustion.
☶ Not exactly Tea Time equals Me Time. I had to be convinced to go. And what made me want to resist? Easy answer... There is a popular saying amongst guys which goes: "Go Hard or Go Home!"
☷ That saying is supposed to be motivational footie slogan. I learnt it at a business coaching seminar when I thought doing okay in business wasn't good enough. But the thing is, 'going hard' just leads to more hardness.
☱ The body can only take so much abuse before it rebels; Just thinking back on it, feels like a losing boxing match.
☲ In martial arts, the first sign something is wrong is the sudden unexplained tiredness that hits, even though we are getting enough sleep, nutrition and exercise. The second sign something is wrong is the world becoming one's enemy. And that's a bad place to be. Really bad.
☴ All of this I only started learning after I took myself out of the game and rested at the Novotel hotel. And realised I needed more Me Time... ...Tea Time equals Me Time. Liked what you heard & want to connect with me? Join me at… linkedin.com/in/peterhainzl/
☳/☱ Somebody once asked me if there is a way to learn an activity and get good at it without using a teacher (of sorts), books, school (of sorts) or any audio-visual aids? ☵/☴ As a martial artist I have been pondering on this as part of my Baguazhang 八卦掌 practice because for me, martial arts is my way of life.
☶/☶ As a tea 茶 trader I have also been wondering about it, because, let's face it: Most business people have not gone to business school. It is all on-the-fly learn-as-we-go. And even if we did go to a school, there is always the part called: Experience, the getting there of.
☰/☳ Which means for tea drinkers 茶酒徒, that in order to get good at making our cuppa, we must go through the pain of getting scalded (hopefully just once), over- or under-brewing, or just plainly sucking at making a decent cup of tea 茶... Eventually though, with persistence that suck-job turns into something close to divine.
☷/☲ For martial artists it is the same. Only instead of a scalding, life becomes the House of Pain. And the beatings never come from the place where we want them to come from. No. That would would be too easy and as martial artists that would be playing into our strengths. It's the funny reason why after we have learnt to protect ourselves, nearl
☱/☵ Instead the House of Pain is delivered to where we are weakest in our lives. And for most people that would be either our relationships, finances or both. Yes, there are others. But for most people it has something to do with money in one form or another. A thing that is real (陰 yin) and not real (陽 yang) at the same time and is at the centre of our daily lives whether we admit to it or not.
☲/☷ So stress, don't stress. Enjoy Tea Time equals Me Time, or don't. Experience is teaching me to face the pain anyway and learn what needs to be learnt. Which is that life doesn't really care how we learn it, so as we choose the method of learning rather than let it decide for us. For example, I have a friend named Josh. He's always complaining about his cashflow being negative even when he's doing everything right. It seemed like the world was out to get him. And this had been going on for years. So one day, I says to him: Since your problem is always about cashflow and I know this because that is the word you always use to name the problem, why don't you try just reading a book on cashflow? Just start reading and see what happens. And sure enough, a week or so later, he started seeing an improvement to his cashflow.
☴/☰ So what happened? Not much. Other than he took a stand on his life and started the process of consciously taking control of it, just like he did with his martial arts. Now Josh is open to meeting people who can advise him on getting and keeping a positive cashflow. Freeing him from a huge part of his daily stresses. And the moral of the story is: Yes. There are other ways to get good at one's craft. But sometimes it is better to just learn in a pleasant teacher-student setting, where there is some pre-defined outcome parameters, rather than going in cold!
With the ascent of coffee, for a lot of people, tea 茶 was relegated to a quiet drink in the afternoon shared with nobody. Or tea 茶 drunk quietly at home in the evening; in private.
In those quiet moments alone, a lot of people are actually in their way practicing Tea Time equals Me Time, even if they didn't realise it.
It is in these private moments that some of our daily pressure can come off and we are able to unwind, let go and de-stress in a gentle way. And when ready, take an account of wars we've been through.
While I cannot speak much on the female side of things, for a lot of men the pressure to save-face, be-a-man and win against the odds can take their toll: Mentally, emotionally, physically and spiritually.
I got reminded of the importance of Tea Time equals Me Time just the other night during a family reading session of Mulan 花木蘭. Not the Disney version, nor the traditional Chinese version but another version which should have been called...
Mulan 花木蘭 goes to War and what she learnt there: Leadership Lessons for the Aspiring Business Woman.
And what I learnt was that in the worst of times, sometimes that simple cup of tea 茶 is all that we have to keep us going. A small break, allowing us to rest and make sense of it all. Wars will come and go. And we don't always get a chance to celebrate our victories, no matter how good we are... Going hard all the time will make us brittle, unfeeling and uncaring. This is one of the reasons why so many martial artists eventually quit before reaching their peak - never to self-realize their inner warrior.
Mulan 花木蘭 drank her cup of tea 茶. And she returned home victorious. I know from experience that business and life isn't so simple. It just grinds on and on and on. Until we demand enough is enough and say: You know what? I'm going to make myself a cup of tea. Let that be the start of a new direction! Liked what you heard & want to connect with me? Join me at… linkedin.com/in/peterhainzl/
☰ People have been drinking tea 茶 for about 3000 years. And in that time for those in the tea business it have been profitable.
☷ The only downsides were mostly to do with the weather and pests, if you were a farmer. And then maybe robbers or the government.
☳ These days the government tends to support us. Robbers find no value in tea 茶, and ripping people off just isn't worth it commercially. The weather and pests are still an issue for the farmer. But all-in-all, life in the tea industry goes on.
☴ So then why do so many teahouses fail in this lucrative trade?
☵ It's because we have lost touch with the consumer. We've become incongruent to what tea 茶 is about: The drink that soothes the nerves and calms the soul, without the regret (of alcohol).
☲ People nowadays are so disconnected with real life that they will do anything to feel excited and alive. Even if it means living with chronic stress and pain. Not deliberately, mind you; It's just more exciting than the everyday boring plain.
☶ And so tea 茶 has also become the boring everyday plain to a lot of people who would drink it. But it only takes one mishap for it all to come tumbling down. And the forgotten teahouse will be right there helping the lost and confused to pick up their pieces.
☱ Tea Time equals Me Time is not about being boring. It is about giving help to those who need a break from all this stuff we call the modern lifestyle. Not all of it. Just the bits that wear us down.
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☰ Matcha 抹茶 drunk au naturel with a straw and iced. A Russian Spy in Ginza, matcha 抹茶 with vodka 伏特加酒. Great drinks to have while out partying late on a Friday night with friends. Life can sometimes be totally sweet.
☷ On the weekend it is about recovering from the hangover, taking it easy and/or making amends with the Big Boss upstairs about the sinning. All-in-all, weekends can be just as good as Friday.
☳ And then there's Monday: The alarm clock goes off (the first shock). Got to get out of bed (the second shock). The news is always bad on a Monday morning (the third shock). Have a triple caffeine hit on the way to work (the fourth shock). Start work (the fifth shock and possibly more shocks following)!
☵ This is how most city-folk live their lives. And the only differences between people in different cities is language, food, custom, and population density. Otherwise it's all the same.
☶ By Wednesday, we are feeling jaded with it all and want out of the system. Most don't make it past the wanting. Our habits and routines are just too strong.
☴ So when a person like me turns up out of the blue with tea 茶, and starts preaching Tea Time equals Me Time. You're wondering if this guy is just a bit off?
☲ Yes. I tell you without batting an eyelid. I went off a long time ago. Being jaded is one of the first signs that something is wrong with the life a person is living - the real price being paid for the acquired lifestyle now exceeds the benefits of it.
☱ The second sign that something is wrong, is the subtle chronic feeling of being under pressure. And you can't blame the work for it, no matter how much you want to. So I would ask, if you could just for 5 minutes take time out from all this, would you take it, even if it was to give Tea Time equals Me Time a try? Liked what you heard & want to connect with me? Join me at… linkedin.com/in/peterhainzl/
☳/☴ Tea time equals Me Time. By now everybody that reads my posts knows this. Tea time equals Me time is the simple art of taking time out from whatever is the issue at hand and using tea 茶 to find the still centre that is our power-base. Very useful when we can't meditate or do our martial arts.
☵/☲ But is it possible to do Tea time equals Me time and make money at the same time?
☶/☱ To find out, I consulted the I-Ching 易經. To most people the I-Ching 易經 is a book of fortune telling. But to those that use it in their daily life, it is a compass based upon its own paradigm logic. That once learnt (the hardest part), it is easy to follow.
☰/☷ The I-Ching 易經 is at the centre of all Taoist thought. And is at the very heart of Oriental conceptualisation and a fundamental tenant of Baguazhang 八卦掌: Change 易.
☷/☰ In martial arts, a Baguazhang 八卦掌 practitioner is the personification of the idea of change itself through the movements and forms themselves. It is what makes Baguazhang 八卦掌 unique form other styles.
☱/☶ So back to the question of Tea time equals Me time making money, the I-Ching gave Hexagram 卦 48: The Well ䷯(井卦), with no changing lines. Which means yes, provided that the well has been cleaned up and made possible for others to see and visit.
☲/☵ Here the well is referring to our inner well (unless you do have a teahouse, cafe or pub/bar). What we experience outside of us is just a inverted reflection of what is happening inside of us. Lost to the world of materialism, we make poor bedfellows of ourselves with ourselves.
☴/☳ In Laymens' Terms: When we are stressed and polluting from the rubbish we take in, we become blind to the truth around us, biased in our actions and make poor decisions that later down the line become the source of our next set of experiential and/or financial pain. By going to our well 井 like practicing Tea Time equals Me time, we elevate ourselves from the chaos and allow spacetime itself to show us a new way to our goals (which could be money).
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☰ Today I had a lesson in Mindfulness 正念: The practice of being aware of your body, mind and feelings in the present moment and/or thought to create a feeling of calm.
☱ It came like a gentle wave that almost went past me without me ever knowing it was there. The proverbial feather from Heaven that did not come from meditating, martial arts or any of the typical mediums people use.
☲ I was at my local community library. The library is divided up into studying, reading, learning and community activity areas. As I sauntered past the community section, I heard a mothers' group clapping and singing baby-songs and nursery rhymes while the babies kept crying and wailing loudly.
☳ As soon as the group stopped clapping and singing, the babies stopped crying. There was peace and all was good in the world again.
☴ So what's the lesson?... For those who get it, you can move on. But for those just starting out or who do martial arts as just a physical thing and do not believe that there is a higher plane of existence, the lesson for me was this:
☵ At some point in our training, from time to time, we get stuck in trying to prove to others how truly awesome we are at our styles (If you don't believe me, just google your style and look at the images that usually come up). And in that "stuckness", we end up doing and doing and doing to prove we can do it. While usually involving a problem that we are trying to fix.
☶ Here, Mindfulness 正念(靜觀) is about stopping the doing and paying attention to what is actually going on. In the story above, the mothers were trying to help but were by their actions actually fuelling the negative situation with their babies. Causing stress to both mother and baby.
☷ I am aware that not everybody can meditate, do yoga or martial arts at work, so Tea Time equals Me Time is a viable alternative to helping facilitate Mindfulness 正念(靜觀): Ninja!. Liked what you heard & want to connect with me? Join me at… linkedin.com/in/peterhainzl/
☰/☳/☵ Today I was asked if tea 茶 (Tea Time equals Me Time) can help during painfully stressful difficult moments at work?
☳/☵/☰ And the answer was yes. But saying yes is hard for me because I know what is coming next: The follow up question of How so?
☵/☶/☶ Truth be told, while tea 茶 can help a person, the tea industry itself is a difficult one that lacks the pizzazz of coffee, the pleasures of alcohol and the get-shit-done kick of energy drinks. And if sales don't match expectations it's easy to go broke.
☶/☰/☴ Many years ago I used to get called Laoban 老闆 by my staff and times were good. Then the GFC hit, the lease shot up, taxes needed to be paid, and staff wanted a hefty payrise... that last one was hard to swallow, given that I drove an old Honda while they were driving the latest BMW's and Merc's. The stress alone of staying positive in the face of these challenges pushed me over and after a week of being bedridden with illness and assessing the situation, I had to let most of my staff go.
☷/☷/☱ That meant I had to man the office, pack the tea 茶 and deliver the goods. Which while for a brief moment brought financial relief, it was having a toll on me physically and mentally. Thank God Almighty for my Baguazhang 八卦掌. That just gave me the strength to keep going...
☴/☱/☳ Until one day, a close friend introduced me to my now dear friend Amy. She came in and seeing my stress et cetera, decided to join my company because as she would later tell me, I was close to the edge. God bless her.
☲/☲/☷ The first thing she did for me was make me a cup of tea 茶 with milk. Gave it to me in a mug. Told me to go upstairs, sit at my vacant boss desk and drink the tea 茶... slowly.
☱/☴/☲ In that moment, that cup of tea meant more to me than chasing the money in business. I reconnected with what I love about tea 茶. And it slowly but surely lead me down the path to where I am now promoting things like Tea Time equals Me Time. So yes. Tea 茶 can help but you have to let it help.
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☰ Who remembers Bryan Adam's song "Summer of '69" from 1984?
☳ Remember it now and savour that cup tea 茶. It's all good!
☵ Those who can, will remember the words. Some say it was about the music. Others say it was about the sex. For me it was about a bunch of friends getting together and starting a band. And then disbanding for reasons outside of their control even though they promised they would stick together.
☶ The song had all the hallmarks of yinyang 陰陽. It's supposed to be a happy remembrance song - yang 陽. But then those memories are also sad - yin 陰.
☷ So what's this got to do with tea 茶 and martial arts?
☴ For the tea part, Bryan Adams drinks tea 茶. And the martial arts part? I have met lots of martial artists who have given it up for work, business and/or family. They have made sacrifices by doing the right thing according to their peers et cetera, without realising that it is possible to have both.
☲ Even after injury, where training may be a bit of an issue, being a martial artist is still possible. If you feel you are stuck in this false paradigm, reach out to the higher level masters around you that have mastered or are mastering the inner game. Their very example is proof that what I say is true and tangibly real!
☱ Tea Time equals Me Time, that we know: I keep talking about it. But did you know that tea can actually help a person to reach a higher understanding on these matters?... I kid you not, it is a real problem in martial arts culture that I believe we can all do something about. Change is here and we are at the forefront of that martial arts change. Tea Time equals Me Time.
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☰ The Way of Tea 茶道 can lead a person to interesting places. Especially if that path is about reaching out to others for a nice cuppa and maybe a good game Go (Weiqi/Baduk) 圍棋.
☳ Such a time and place of bonding happened recently with my oldest daughter.
☵ What I like about the game of Go 碁, is that it can suck players into a world of infinite possibilities at the beginning and lead them to a place where no moves are left possible.
☶ And at the same time teaching strategy, tactics and observation from a higher plane of existence. And allowing me to teach what books and kinesthetics sometimes fail to do.
☷ While not mentioned in Suntzu's classic The Art of War 孫子兵法, in folktales involving him, it was said that during battles of critical engagement Suntzu 孫子 was known to take mindful observations by playing Weiqi 圍棋 and drinking tea 茶.
☴ By noting this, perhaps there is something in it for us?
☲ Who knows the answer to that? But those who know, know. Such is the way 道 of things.
☱ Perhaps the next time you are being mindful through Tea Time equals Me Time, the person sitting beside you could be just such a person. Reach out. Get connected. And allow the act of pouring a cup of tea 茶 for them to be the start of newfound friendship. Liked what you heard & want to connect with me? Join me at… linkedin.com/in/peterhainzl/
☰/☵ Once upon a time in a land far far away called Japan 日本國 during the days of the Samurai 侍, there lived a man named Genmai 玄米.
☷/☰ In those days, Japan 日本國 was divided into feudal estates ruled by powerful lords called Daimyo 大名 (矦). These Daimyo lived by the sword 劍 because in those days it was a very violent country, always at war 戰.
☵/☶ And Genmai 玄米 was a lowly servant to one of these Daimyo.
☲/☴ Now it happened one day that his lord was having a meeting with his samurai to discuss war tactics and strategy. And it was Genmai's job to pour the tea 茶 and keep their cups filled.
☳/☱ However, Genmai couldn't handle the long periods in between tea pours without snacking on rice crackers that he kept hidden up his sleeve. Rice crackers can be a bit crumbly and as luck would have it, some of the rice pieces crumbled into his sleeve as he ate.
☶/☳ So when it came to pouring the tea again, some of the rice pieces fell into one of the samurai's tea cup. Suspecting that poor Genmai might be an assassin, the samurai pulled out his sword and cut off Genmai's head as other samurai moved to protect their Daimyo.
☴/☷ Upon checking the tea, it was discovered that the crumbs in it were only toasted rice pieces and not poison. Realising that Genmai was not an assassin but had made a foolish error in his ways, the Daimyo decided to name the tasty tea in honour of his servant: Genmaicha 玄米茶 - げんまいちゃ.
☱/☲ And so Genmai transcended up to Heaven as a successful tea spirit, while we below are ever grateful for his mistake; And that is how Genmaicha 玄米茶 - げんまいちゃ came to be. Liked what you heard & want to connect with me? Join me at… linkedin.com/in/peterhainzl/
☴ I once visited in Hong Kong 香港 a tea master named Master Chan 陳師傅.
☲ To learn the Way of Tea 茶道 from him was a very humbling experience. Lots of tea and lots knowledge from teacher to student.
☱ Amongst all the cups of tea, he told me a story of how from time to time, people from around Asia would come to him in search of the oldest and rarest of tea. To which he had great access to.
☷ Now at that time I was not into Qigong 氣功. I had no working knowledge of it and was not interested to learn further. All I wanted to be was a bonafide martial artist who could win fights. Honestly, I was only listening to him because I had a business interest to listen.
☰ But I loved a good story. He told me that these people were not in search of rarities to savour but wanted to cheat the process of cultivating their chi 氣. For it is believed among some that very old tea like Pu-erh 普洱 has as much chi 氣 as one would cultivate with a hundred years of Qigong 氣功.
☶ However, you can't cheat the process. Nor can you throw money at it. Puerh 普洱 can help with some conditions but there is more to it. Believe or don't believe. A Qigong master 氣功師傅 knows this to be true.
☵ So now through Baguazhang 八卦掌, I do Qigong 氣功. It was not the path I intended. But Master Chan 陳師傅 knew and was in his way guiding me in the direction I ultimately needed to go. It just took ten years to get here.
☳ Perhaps today when you are practicing Tea Time equals Me Time, his words may be worth pondering? The Way of tea 茶道 is more than Kung fu cha 功夫茶... He told me at the end that his martial art was Chen style Tai Chi Quan 陳氏太極拳. Liked what you heard & want to connect with me? Join me at… linkedin.com/in/peterhainzl/
☰/☷ Let's face it: Too much coffee can be bad for you. Coming from a coffee drinking family, I had to find it out the bad way. Not from others but from my own caring body... When enough was enough, it said enough was enough.
☳/☰ And so to make a long story short, after eight years of doing Baguazhang 八卦掌 I learnt the hard way, that for me at least, Baguazhang 八卦掌 and coffee were not compatible and the coffee had to go.
☵/☳ Letting go of coffee is not for everybody but I have learnt over time that what we put in our bodies can either limit or excel our aspirations in the Way of Martial Arts 功夫道.
☶/☴ So now I drink tea 茶: No more guns, no more suits and no chimps playing politics. It is all Tea Time equals Me Time and the blissful serenity of living in wabi-sabi 侘寂 (mostly).
☷/☵ By letting go of the coffee, I learnt to let go of the latent aggression that seems to simmer just below the surface of things. And truly grasp the Mafia concept: You can't make money with a gun in your hand.
☴/☲ Which when one thinks about it, is a bit of a paradox for most non-martial artists when they realise what we do. It's only a matter of degrees between BJJ and Qigong 氣功.
☲/☶ For martial artists there is no paradox. What happened to me, has happened to countless others seeking the way, their Tao 道. Mine just happened to involve tea 茶.
☱/☱ If this resonates with you, then you probably have already found your inner-peace. If not. Then that's okay too. Tea Time equals Me Time.
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☴ Recently, during a bit of Tea Time equals Me Time, I hit upon a bit of good fortune... To find it, it only took about four (4) months of toil. And then within a couple of hours, poof! It was half gone.
☲ So there I am, staring at the Matcha Mille Crepe Cake. And noticing it starting to tilt slowly over because the real cream used between the layers was starting to melt in the warm weather. Hence the fork in the picture propping it up.
☱ To most people, my lifestyle looks like this cake. Too beautiful to resist. But the truth is: It is a little weak in its fundamental structures. That gold fork was the good fortune come into my life at just the right time. And thankfully I did not fall over.
☷ So what the hell am I talking about, you ask?
☰ I am not totally sure myself, but that is a nature of the Tao 道.
☶ When you are in it: Like walking through a dense fog because there is nothing in front of you. No path. No coming before you. All the paths lie behind you. We are free to let it go and eat the cake. On the morrow we can get back to our toils.
☵ And because I was a stubborn fellow, it has taken me fourteen years to figure this out. I guess I could have gotten there sooner, but being around martial artists a lot, I tend to want to have the proof to back up my facts. But there are no tangible facts once you go past the physical plane of existence. The mental and emotional planes lie within, while the spiritual plane lies without.
☳ That cake went down well with black tea. It was a nice treat. Helped me for about 15 minutes take my mind off business and work. And when it was finished I went back to business and my baguazhang 八卦掌 culture through qigong 氣功.
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In the movie Red Cliff 赤壁, there is a scene where warlord Cao Cao 曹操 is served tea 茶 on the eve of the battle for which the movie is named after. I love the scene, after all I am a tea drinker.
It just so happened during that scene that I received a mobile text message from a beginner martial artist, who wanted to know why we do katas and forms 形. Why indeed - why do we do them?
Those who are mastering the inner-game may know the answer and can expand on this further. But there is a simple answer to this best explained through a story I was once told by my wife.
Once upon a time warlord Cao Cao 曹操 and his army found themselves in a bit of a tight bother: To advance meant almost certain defeat and to give up meant the whole campaign was a waste of time. To top it off, one of his strategists called the situation "Chicken Breast". Meaning that the chicken breast meat was on the one hand bland to eat and on the other hand too good to throw away. Cao Cao 曹操 executed the strategist.
To most people, what Cao Cao 曹操 did was a rash decision. But in actuality he executed the strategist because his flippant comment was destroying the morale of the army. In the Art of War 兵法 morale is one of the key deciding factors in winning.
Cao Cao's decision was not rash but well thought out in advance: If A happens then B will be carried out.
The moral of the story is, katas and forms 形 are drills designed to prepare us for future situations that we cannot foresee but need to be prepared for in the case that they may occur and can act upon them without needing to think about it.
Tea Time equals Me Time. Go out, enjoy your katas and forms 形. And work on your own definitions and meanings on why you do them. It can be enlightening.
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☵ The sword most powerful is the sword least used.
☰ "To win without fighting is supreme victory." As loosely quoted from Suntzu's book The Art of War 孫子兵法.
☶ It seems for a lot of us, during our daily grind, we are constantly at war. Who and what the enemy is, is often poorly defined. And there never seems an end to it. So we get up in the morning, go into battle and then come home in the evening exhausted.
☴ The next day, we do it again. And all the while our inner soul shrinks a little bit more as we ignore its yearning for self-expression; self-fulfilment and true inner joy.
☱ For those practicing Tea Time equals Me Time, the art of making and drinking tea 茶 is the respite we need to ask questions like: Where is the Way? Not the Tao 道 question but the ones that go like: What the fuck is going on? Is this what we signed up for? And who's running the show?
☳ The answer may lie at the bottom of the tea cup and then maybe not.
☷ For those not into Tea Time equals Me Time and prefer a drink other than tea 茶, this is the time to sharpen your blunt sword. Study the Way 道 and know thyself.
☲ The master who truly experiences the Art of War 兵法 can put away their sword because they have found inner peace.
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Once upon a time there was an elephant that wanted to be a lion-turtle. Now every animal had heard of lion-turtles and some even looked up to them as wise, noble and holy, but the problem was that no animals had seen, heard or met a lion-turtle.
The elephant had the added problem of being so small as far as elephants go, that the other elephants sometimes dismissed him for being a guinea pig. Which pained him endlessly because he was at least a hundred times bigger than a guinea pig.
Unable to find any animal, great or small, who could help him become a lion-turtle, he decided to leave the elephant herd and find his own path toward becoming a lion-turtle.
The elephant had a sharp mind and knew that all animals left tracks behind them as they walked. And he studied the tracks for what he was looking for and discovered where the lion-turtle tracks lay and what they looked like. These tracks had been dismissed by the other animals as natural land formations because of their huge size. Undeterred, the elephant set off on his quest to find and become a lion-turtle by following the lion-turtle tracks.
Now it happened one day that the elephant found himself arguing with a well-meaning pig about his lion-turtle quest. By now the elephant had grown so large that he had become bigger than a giant amongst elephants. And the dirt on his back had grown hard and started sprouting small plants because he could no longer bathe like the other elephants. The pig being much smaller and loving to get wisdom from elephants had noticed this. In the pig's opinion the elephant was growing arrogant in his stature and so decided to put the elephant back on the right path of humility like the rest of the elephants.
"Hey elephant!" The pig called out. "How dare you be so large. Are you trying to be better than your fellow elephants?"
"My dear friend pig. I am on a quest to become a lion-turtle." The elephant answered.
"A lion-turtle?! A lion-turtle is a work of fiction. A myth. Nobody's ever seen one." And with that the other animals who had come to see what's going on laughed and jeered at the elephant.
" Little pig." The elephant called back. "Perhaps you are right. But just because no animal alive has seen one, how do you know they do not exist? Our old stories are full of them."
"I know," The pig said. "Because I've spoken to the mouse - He's wise and noble and knows everything there is to know. He's so wise he gets to send time with humans!"
"The mouse?" The elephant said.
"Yes! The mouse! He knows more than you."
The elephant stopped, paused and looked back upon the path he'd been walking. And then he looked back to the pig and said as gently as he could, "When I walk the ground quakes. When I speak the sky thunders. I have seen your wise mouse. He lives in a maze, spending his days chasing cheese for the bemusement of humans. I will not seek guidance from a circus rodent." And with that the elephant started on his journey again to become a lion-turtle.
Upset at what he had said about the mouse, the other animals jumped up and attacked the elephant. But it was useless. The elephant had grown so big and powerful that even the other elephants had started to look like pigs to him in size. And that the pig looked like a mouse in size.
"Tiny pig!" The elephant bellowed down. "Stop being so small in thought. You take advice from a mouse therefore you look like a mouse to me. My legs are bigger than mighty tree trunks and you call me arrogant. I am so large now that I can see and hear the other lion-turtles. And they are beautiful."
"Bah! I don't believe you!" The pig yelled back. Barely could the elephant hear the tiny pig add, "Prove it!"
The elephant smiled at the other animals and simply said, "Look upon me and then read the old stories. There you shall find the proof."... (Listen to the audio to find out the rest of the story!)
☴/☳ The Way of Tea and Martial Arts is sometimes like chasing a pretty goal up the escalator of success; Always just out of reach but close enough for us to keep going. Some take it slow and others race to where they need to be to win. Neither way is good or bad.
☲/☵ I know that for some people, coffee is their drug of choice. And I get it because I too, came from a coffee drinking background. However the requirements of being a Qigong Master 氣功主 meant that I had to leave that way of life behind.
☱/☶ I did not choose to be a Qigong Master 氣功主 nor did I choose to give up coffee. But coffee was one of my addictive earthly tethers that my body was starting to dictate against.
☷/☰ And just for the record, Australians do not drink American style filter coffee. Here it is double strength espresso full-on European style. For those going light it is cappuccino or flat white... And for those that can stomach it, it is hard-on Lebanese coffee.
☰/☷ That was my past.
☶/☱ Now I walk a new path 道. This path 道 involves Kung Fu Cha 功夫茶 and Chanoyu 茶の湯. But for most people, who are interested, I recommend sticking to Tea Time equals Me Time: The simple act of making and drinking tea 茶 to de-stress, calm down and regain their centre once more.
☵/☲ So while some may feel under attack from my Tea Time equals Me Time and feel the need to resist, this feeling is far from the truth. A drink is just a drink. And we are all entitled to our preferences.
☳/☴ These are the choices we choose to make and it is by those choices that we live our lives. Nobody can be 'forced' to live a certain way. But we can, if we are open to it, be guided along an easier path toward our goal(s)... Liked what you heard & want to connect with me? Join me at… linkedin.com/in/peterhainzl/
☴ Tea Time equals Me Time. This morning I forgot that. Not exactly Qigong 氣功.
☲ All I wanted to do for a Monday morning was to find out what's been happening in the world. And Boom! My world turned dark.
☱ At that moment, in front of the screen, my world was definitely not Tea Time equals Me Time. It was something else. What happened?
☷ I went outside, did some of my Baguazhang 八卦掌 forms a few times. Enjoyed the sunny view from my balcony et cetera, while pondering on what was going on. And all the while, a tiny voice in the darkness was reminding me to just practice what I preach: Practice Tea Time equals Me Time.
☰ So I got up and made myself a cup of loose leaf tea 茶. It took about 3 minutes, more or less. Nothing special. It was just me having a cup of tea 茶, practicing my own words.
☶ I would say in that moment I experienced a minuscule bit of nothingness 無. And I felt great. Free to walk my own Tao 道. Free to be, and free to see the world as I choose it to be.
☵ So I forgot my own words. Do I now beat myself up over it? And if I did, would 'the money flow' as they say? I doubt it. Any yet we live in a world that would have us believe otherwise contrary to real life experiences. So rather than continue with this train of thought, I drank my tea 茶.
☳ I let go: I Practiced Tea Time equals Me Time. I reduced my Monday stress levels and allowed my own chi 氣 to simply flow again in bliss. Life was good again. Yin 陰 through my left palm. Yang 陽 through my right palm. All things were right in my world again. And so too in yours.
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☴ We, who live in the modern world, live in a hectic busy life of constant doing, doing and more doing. To the extent where we may have forgotten why we are doing what we are doing. And this can be draining on our chi 氣 reserves.
☲ Here I use the phrase 'Chi Reserves' because for ninety percent of the people on this earth, that is what they rely upon to live. Apart from the other immediate necessities of air, water and food.
☱ The other ten percent are doing something to replenish themselves by the various mediums available to us. My own small examples are Baguazhang 八卦掌, Qigong 氣功, Tea Time equals Me Time and Wabi-Sabi 侘寂.
☰ By promoting Tea Time equals Me Time, I am in a small way opening up the door for those not doing mindfulness, yoga, meditation, martial arts, et cetera to also replenish their chi 氣, without the need to depend on a vice.
☷ In the television series The Last Airbender, the loveable Uncle Iroh 艾洛, mentor to Prince Zuko, symbolised this way of being. And introduced thousands of people (especially younger people) to this higher vibrational way of life without going too hippie or woo-woo about it.
☶ While not all martial artists like the show and feel it being too light in depth or unrealistic in what can be achieved, reality can sometimes be a hindrance in what is actually possible. While grounding is important, too many have turned it into an earthly tether rather than the bedrock of power it is meant to be.
☵ Whenever Prince Zuko lost his way 道, it was Uncle Iroh's 艾洛 gentle guidance, usually through tea 茶, that helped him find his bearing again. Now it took at least three seasons for it to happen, but it did.
☳ While I cannot speak for other styles, these words above may help in walking the way of Baguazhang 八卦掌道, because there is a point somewhere in it where the practitioner becomes the living embodiment of Baguazhang 八卦掌 itself. And when that point is reached (you will know it) allow Tea Time equals Me Time to help guide you on... Liked what you heard & want to connect with me? Join me at… linkedin.com/in/peterhainzl/
☰ Nigori sake drinks tea 濁り酒喝茶 literally... And then... Tea Time equals Me Time became Tea Time equals Matcha Sake 抹茶酒 Time.
☷ Sometimes in life, as we look to ways to make our lives easier, a person like myself may look towards the 'old' ways and embrace things like Wabisabi 侘寂 or Chanoyu 茶の湯. Things that have helped me to find my sanity in a world that tries its best to be not so sane.
☵ At other times in life, it can be found in 'new' ways by playing around a little and doing something different from the usual like mixing ceremonial grade matcha 抹茶 into Nigori-style sake 濁り酒.
☲ I enjoyed my little experiment. And because I made the cloudy sake 酒 at home I can't tell the percentage of alcohol, but for somebody who does not regularly partake of beer and wine, I was totally drunk after two glasses while the matcha 抹茶 kept me awake way past my bedtime.
☳ So here I am being less than noble: Promoting stuff that probably should not be promoted as an upright martial artist, a pillar of the community, a role-model... No wonder so few martial art practitioners want to be masters. The life of a master is bound by responsibilities that few of us expected or wanted.
☶ So here's what I propose about Tea Time equals Me Time: Make it your own time and your own space that does not require others. And by such allowing oneself to be themselves again.
☴ Put in the rituals. Allow the ceremony to guide you, just a little, so that the outside world cannot intrude on your privacy. This is meant for you to be at peace. That is what tea 茶 is about. For if we are to find inner peace, we must first make it a part of our personal dominion.
☱ There is no need to sacrifice one thing over another. Nature allows for mixing, so why can't we do the same sometimes? Allow Tea Time equals Me Time to bring clarity to your flow. Enjoy life.
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☰/☳ Tea Time equals Me Time. For me, whether it be through Baguazhang 八卦掌 and/or Tea 茶, this concept pervades everything I do now.
☳/☵ Today, just happens to be one of those days in which I am not really here. Physically I am. Materially and energetically also. But spiritually I have succeeded in ascending my Baguazhang Mountain 八卦掌山 for the fourth time in my life.
☵/☶ Every time I am about to reach the peak, I wish for the bounties of earthly life. Instead I am greeted by the reality of nothing. I brew a cup of tea 茶, sit down and ponder on what is going on: Has the journey been worth it?
☶/☰ It is quiet. I am alone. Perhaps the closest experience I can relate to others is like visiting a place of worship with no tourists nor fellow worshippers around. It is all just you. In your seat of power. Being at one with yourself. For the fighters out there, think of it as being in the changing room by yourself after you've won the fight.
☷/☷ I use the term mountain 山 because in Taoist circles, martial arts is sometimes referred to as 'Climbing the Mountain'. Some take it literally and end up becoming a mountain hermit or joining a retreat. Others take it symbolically, and after having wrestled with the fact that the mountain will not come to them, decide to 'Be the Mountain' itself.
☴/☱ Baguazhang 八卦掌 spiritually is like lathing; round and round we go until it is refined into Nothingness 無. We see our Tao 道. Nay. We are confronted by the Tao 道. Do we refill the teacup or do we accept that Tea Time equals Me Time is done (at least for now)?
☲/☲ I am not alone in this. And it is not just a Baguazhang 八卦掌 thing. Any path taken can reach this goal, if the person has chosen to take on such a path. The type of tea I am drinking makes no difference to the fact I am drinking tea. And so it is with you.
☱/☴ For those wondering about the gua 卦 at the start of each paragraph and know what they mean, the front gua 卦 is to be placed upon the second gua 卦 to make the hexagram, the paragraph refers to in the Book of Changes 易經. The I-Ching 易經 is the map 圖 upon which Baguazhang 八卦掌 is based upon. To know it, is to know where you are going with life.
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☰ Recently while enjoying Nigori-style saki 濁り酒 and oolong tea 烏龍茶 overlooking a beautiful garden, I found myself ruminating about what Baguazhang 八卦掌 means to me.
☵ And then as if a little nudge from heaven decided to join in, a dear close friend of mine asked me why I like to mix martial arts with tea 茶?
☳ Shouldn't I just play it straight and stick to the path laid out by the masters that came before us - Am I not content to abide by the system?
☶ And why, for god's sake, do I keep referring to the board game of Monopoly as an analogy for walking the circle?
☴ Too many questions. I take refills on the saki 酒 and tea 茶, and continue our Tea Time equals We Time session. The truth is, only recently have I started noticing how much my life through Baguazhang 八卦掌 mirrors symbolically the four corners of the Monopoly board game. And they are related only because both in my mind are about going around in circles. One Baguazhang 八卦掌 set equals one turn around the Monopoly board. It is all a matter of paradigms and mixing alcohol with tea 茶. Kids don't try this at home.
☱ In fact: Stay clean and sober. Do your martial arts straight. Stick to the way of the fist and listen to your sifu 師傅 or sensei 先生. Leave the crazy stuff to the crazy people who would ponder on a crazy question like: If through my forms/katas I am about to pass go and collect $200, what does that mean in terms of my baguazhang and life in general?
☲ Heck, what does the 'Pass go and collect $200' look like when doing martial arts as a daily occurrence in our lives?
☷ In the end, just like walking the Tao 道 or practicing Zen 禪, nothing 無 was attained. Tea Time equals We Time ended blissfully and I went back to doing my daily Baguazhang 八卦掌.
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☳ Has this ever happened to you? (I am sure some of the highly stressed players out there can relate.)
☵ I wake up. The phone rings. I pick it up and answer. It turns out to be the credit card company (one of many such calls): Late. Overdue. Way overdue. Christmas without sales spells sleepless nights for business owners, bosses and executives.
☶ I have a chat with them about what's going to happen next and things are all sweet again. It's the nature we are all in... The Game of Business continues.
☰ I forget to have breakfast and don't even realise it. I start looking at bills, bank statements, auto-debits and what comes next. The mind starts to wander... Breakfast is getting cold.
☷ Go on social media because it is the modern newspaper. While browsing, start thinking about bills again. Ignore the spouse. Only one question comes up: What's to be done? I can't run away - That fantasy is not an option.
☱ I'm off my game. In chaos and the spouse notices. I mean, how could they not? I have been either ignoring her or away with the fairies again. And these fairies are turning into a forest of inner demons.
☲ And then: BOOM! She hands me an extra large mug of tea 茶. She's a good samurai wife 奥方様. She looks at me and says: Tea Time equals Me Time - Stop swinging your sword around Xuan Wu 玄武 and drink your tea 茶, eat your breakfast. Three feet, Baby, three feet!
☲ What the hell does 'three feet' mean? Three feet means three feet from gold. It comes from a story I read in 'Think and Grow Rich' by Napoleon Hill. I put the sword away. Sit down at the breakfast and drink my mug of tea. The three feet codeword is my reminder to myself, that when things get hard in business (including my baguazhang 八卦掌 et cetera), I am close to achieving a desired goal.
☴ I stop fighting ghosts and allow my chi 氣 to flow through, around and of me. There really are no demons. It is just me in the moment meditating beside The Spirit Gate 靈門 up somewhere high, inhaling, exhaling, the cool fresh air. And all I was meant to do was face the gate and walk through it; allowing myself to receive the solutions needed. My muscles relax and I am able to do my baguazhang forms 八卦掌形 again with grace and ease.
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☳ How many have heard the saying, usually between a master and a disciple: In order for me (the master) to be able to fill your cup, you (the disciple) must first empty your cup. Or words to that effect?
☵ In the movies it is usually accompanied with the scene of the disciple holding his cup while the master keeps pouring and pouring until it overflows. The hot liquid scalds the disciple and suddenly the disciple has an awakening.
☶ Training gets easier for both master and disciple. We see the glorious highlights and the rest is a foregone conclusion. The disciple wins the fight and we wait for the sequel.
☰ If this has ever happened to you, please remember to quietly congratulate yourselves: The deeper meanings behind tea 茶 and Gung Fu 功夫 can be quite profound. Every cup of tea 茶 can be a realisation in itself.
☷ Reality, though, is more like a teacup 茶碗 that never fills up. It is always being on-and-off filled. And more often than not, the cup is closer to empty than full. It is akin to feeling rundown by the external forces that govern our lives rather than anything to do with our martial art way of life.
☱ Hence the "Me Time" of Tea Time equals Me Time. Call it an excuse to take a tiny daily break from the usual. It is literally just a cup of tea, that on one level just fills the body with tea. Then again, it could be a whole lot more.
☲ And to think, what I write is from a teacup 茶碗 that I am just about able to keep regularly half full. Whether it be business, personal life or other stuff.
☴ Which does not mean much because for those you advanced in Reiki 霊気 and Qigong 氣功 et cetera, you will know that as a person's chi 氣 grows, the metaphysical vessel that holds it also expands.
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☶ Recently I wrote a blog that was all about being mightily powerful around tea.
☵ The blog was meant for the people that love that sort of thing. However, it also had a negative side effect: Those same people that love that sort of stuff rarely buy and drink tea.
☳ They want the false reality of success without the pain. But the pain always comes. The tea gets brewed too bitter. And life becomes, well,... "shit".
☷ In my current temporary position I regret that I wrote the blogpost. But I did and have to live with it. Has the lesson been learnt? Don't know. Can I move on? I don't know but I sure would love to....
☰ I lost my way and found myself in the blur of fog. Those that truly need resonated with Tea Time equals Me Time disappeared.
☴ Where is the Way?
☲ So I will make a financial business decision right now: Since these players will never truly believe in it or even try Me Time equals Tea Time, then that blogpost will be the last time I bother to associate myself with them.
☱ I am going back to my true self. The one that loves the tranquility of inner peace. And just like the Japanese woman kneeling in the picture above looking out of the tearoom onto the peaceful garden, I am at peace again because I know that I am bigger than my problems.
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☰ Tea Time equals Me Time. That we know. But what has the Japanese concept of wabisabi 侘寂 got to do with it?
☷ I love my business Teas.com.au and I love what I do in it. It is a great little livelihood that has a mission of spreading to ideas throughout the world. The first is: Tea Time equals Me time; And the second idea is: The loose leaf tea lifestyle.
☴ Both of these concepts makes sense to me and the people that interact with us like our customers. And most, in their own way have found their little slice of paradise through these concepts... Fitting really. Since a paradise originally meant a walled garden protected from the harsh environment beyond it.
☳ Wabisabi 侘寂 has been translated into the western world as something complex that non-Japanese find hard to grasp. Most of those translations come from Americans who find Japan like some alien place. But in fact, wabisabi 侘寂, is about finding the beauty in simple natural things. And about letting go of the superficiality of show-offy things. Finding beauty in plain things may seem boring to some people. But every now and then when invoke wabisabi 侘寂 in our actions.
☲ For example, when I was a young adult, Japan was all about bright lights, big city, girls, anime and living the souped up life... ...live fast, make fast money, die hard.
☵ Now, roughly twenty years later, when I got to Japan, it is about the quiet spaces, calming down and letting go of the mounting stress I feel living in a city like Sydney. I do love Sydney. And it isn't the city itself. It is the tiny subtle things and pile on top of each other.
☱ But running off to Bali or Japan is not always possible. So now at home, I put time aside each day to rest and recharge and use the concept of wabisabi to instil Tea Time equals Me Time just where and when I am.
☶ It is liberating. Without rejecting the outside world.
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☳ I seriously need a cup of tea 茶. Any type of tea 茶: Green tea 綠茶, black tea 紅茶, oolong 烏龍茶 or pu-erh 普洱茶. I think it is time for my own bit of Tea Time equals Me Time.
☵ I have just come back from yet another regular session of Baguazhang 八卦掌 and I discovered a note on my desk which basically reads that I have been living in a glass tower: A show-pony going nowhere.
☶ I have been doing Baguazhang for as long as there has been Avatar Aang 降卋神通 and The Last Airbender show. The series was what got me into it. I really loved the accurately animated martial moves of Baguazhang 八卦掌, Tai Chi 太極拳, Northern Shaolin 北少林拳, Hung Gar 洪家拳 and Southern Praying Mantis 螳螂拳.
☰ Back then, I thought, if I stick it out and do as much as they do in the Chinese wushu schools I also would be able to do amazing feats. That did not come to pass. Instead I became a qigong master 氣功主.
☷ Did I manifest my own version of Avatar Aang becoming an energy bender at the end of the his ultimate journey?
☱ And if I did, am I now manifesting the next stage along the journey?
☲ These are big questions that will in time get answered, like why do I keep switching between simplified, traditional and rectified Chinese characters?
☴ Perhaps I enjoy spinning in circles. I used to do that a lot in primary school before I even knew there was a martial art called Baguazhang 八卦掌. It always made me be free like floating on air... Silly isn't it. But that is the first experience I can share about Baguazhang 八卦掌 and quantum physics. In very basic terms: The centre of time is the same point as our centre of space. What happened in our past is only a reflection of what will happen in the future at equal distances. Actually its the other way round - Our perception of it is back-to-front. Ponder on that. You will now need that cup tea. Because I bet that as soon as you have read this paragraph, your mind will start racing to connect the dots for you.
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☰ The start of the year gives us a chance to reflect upon the Tao 道. In particular our own path.
☳ There is only one ultimate Tao 道 but for many of us that realization is too far from our daily experiences.
☵ And for even more of us, the Tao does not equate well with the medium of our times. And that is money: Its pursuit, earning and holding of. Not too mention the ever present force to spent it.
☶ In an effort to be still, where things like meditation are difficult, and holidays a wee bit tight on the budget, I promote Tea Time equals Me Time.
☷ All it is in essence is making a well-deserved cup of tea 茶 and using the excuse of having a cup to tea 茶 to chill, relax and find our centre again.
☴ It is that simple. And yet for a lot of people so hard to achieve. And why?
☲ Why indeed? Is the need to have spoon-fed instant results coupled with outlandish promises that no master can fill? And even if they could, would they want to? I doubt it very much.
☱ If anybody feels forced to drink tea 茶, or even feels forced to read these posts, then it is not for them. To live in a state of conflict where progress only comes with a stick and/or carrot is not mastery. The disciple is still beholden to outside influences. Let go of the arguments raging within and make your choices for once. Tea Time equals Me Time is about that. Liked what you heard & want to connect with me? Join me at… linkedin.com/in/peterhainzl/
☷ Wei Xiao Huan 魏小歡 does Baguazhang 八卦掌 in the movie: All People Film 全民電影. She is an actress and this is a slapstick Hong Kong movie. You've gotta drink some tea 茶 to that!
☰ So as I am drinking tea 喝茶, I got to thinking: Since I am a boss and bosses do what bosses do, what would my life be like if I had an assistant that can do martial arts to fend the fort?
☶ What kind of a business would I be running if I had it in the staffs' contracts that they must do a martial art and actively be maintaining it?
☱ It seems like a silly stipulation until one realises that a lot of para-medical professional practice some type of martial art separately or in conjunction with their clinics. After all, there is a lot more to health and wellbeing then just prescribing pills.
☵ While some martial artists out there find this speculation pure fantasy and not helpful to the arts, I find it worth a good cup of tea 茶 and thought provoking.
☲ I mean, why not? Just to push the envelope further I could see myself running the enterprise in Hong Kong 香港, while having all the Hong Kong Lai Cha 香港奶茶 I could want.
☳ And since this is a Hong Kong situation, am I the only one getting hungry around here?
☴ For afternoon tea I recommend scrambled eggs and ham on toast HK style with your kick-ass assistant that knows how to do Baguazhang 八卦掌.
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☴ Dear stressed executive, Suntzu 孫子 was a great sage 大智 who knew the Tao 道 and tried as best as he could to guide kings in their bloody warfaring.
☲ His book, The Art of War 孫子兵法 got around places. And for those too stressed to buy his book, perhaps you would consider his book printed on your favourite tea cup?
☱ The tea cup would say a lot about the determination of its wielder to make things happen. At least passively. I mean, imagine going into a negotiation and your opponent was drinking tea 茶 from such a cup. I doubt the negotiations would go in your favour.
☷ And in the mayhem of battle, what type of tea 茶 would be served?
☰ As a tea merchant having to supply tea to an aspiring executive, I am guessing it is a tea that, while expressing the flavours of over two thousand years of bloody Chinese warfare history, it would have in its soul some chi 氣 to invigorate the mind, body and spirit.
☶ Therefore, based on my own experience, I would have recommended a good ginseng oolong 人參烏龍茶. Not American ginseng but Siberian ginseng. In TCM, American ginseng is known to restrict blood-flow. Siberian ginseng improves blood-flow thereby strengthening the mind and certain key vital organs; Best drunk first thing in the morning before breakfast.
☵ So now, a sharpened up executive would wonder: Hang on a minute, isn't he some sort of qigong 氣功 master? What's he needing ginseng 參 for? Can't he just make some chi 氣 out of thin air 气?
☳ Well... For all those questions, the answers comes best experientially. In the meantime, I would recommend for the down-to-earth fighter Pu-erh 普洱茶. The same stuff they serve in Yum Cha 飲茶: It's dark, low caffeine and goes down well with any low qi 氣 sapping fried food.
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☰ Suntzu 孫子 is the author of the Chinese military classic: The Art of War 孫子兵法. He has had a profound influence on military thought. And on anybody wishing to learn leadership ☳, strategy ☶ and tactics ☵.
☳ So the question to ask is: What does Suntzu have to do with tea 茶? Officially, nothing. Historically, nothing. Unless, say, you happened to be a highly stressed professional wishing to make this year a year of conquest, acquisitions and profitable endeavours. With profitable meaning at very least, the risk is lower than the reward.
☵ Tea Time equaling Me Time is more than just taking time away from the cause of the problems. Tea Time equals Me Time can be used to sharpen one's business tools for effective executive slicing.
☶ Yes. Business is the war that never ends. It's going to get played whether we are there or not. And unlike a board-game, where we can see all the moves from the vantage point of being outside of the board itself, business is a full-on immersive experience.
☷ We are like the pieces on the chess board ever-changing to meet circumstances and never sure of the actual rules of the game. Hence the stresses inflicted upon us. That is why we recommend using Tea Time equals Me Time as a way to gain advantage.
☴ Suntzu 孫子 in his sagely wisdom outlined in his book some of the most important rules, that if adhered to, actually make sense and do work. But time and space must be given to its learning.
☲ While he spoke in terms of countries and armies, an open mind knows that, scaled down there is truth for the individual wishing to get ahead. It is all a matter of comprehension within one's personal reality.
☱ For those with a much deeper understanding of The Art of War 孫子兵法, his book was also a work on the Tao 道. And on how the Tao 道 related to martial concerns... While I have kept this posting brief, I think it is time for a cup of tea 茶. Boil, brew, sip and ponder over this.
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☰ Somebody once asked me if there could be more to taking time out from work, family and other stuff to practice Tea Time equals Me Time?
☴ Sometimes I wish there could be more to it. But the truth is always simple. How much bling does a person need in their life to feel congruent?
☶ Strangely it is not about drinking tons and tons of tea. Nor is it about being a tea master: If you were to ask me the finer points on tea, I would fail the test.
☷ In fact, with tea I am getting to the place where I am continually at with my baguazhang 八卦掌: The more I learn, the less I know. And the less I know, the freer I am.
☳ In both fields of endeavour there are esteemed masters that know more than me. Compared to them, I am like a baby trying to walk, that sometimes needs a tea and a nap, more than the people I post these out to.
☱ Perhaps it would be easier for the highly stressed to see Tea Time equals Me Time as their chance to step off their playing field to reassess their goals: Their real goals. The ones that got lost in the chaos of the previous year(s).
☵ That's what I sometimes use it for. Tea has an amazing way of changing one's perspective on things. Even when I get a little stuck in my martial art, I use tea to help me reconnect with my flow.
☲ In my experience as somebody who grew up in a traditional coffee drinking family, I never experienced this with coffee. In fact, the more dependant I got on coffee, the harder the coffee became - The drink of politics and work!
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☳/☰ In the 2014 Chinese-Hong Kong movie The Crossing 太平轮, there is a scene in which a lady sits pondering over the Kung Fu Cha 功夫茶 table. In brief the movie is a war drama and disaster movie rolled into one. Directed by John Woo 吳宇森.
☵/☳ The movie is set in 1949, on the eve of the Communist victory in China. This marked a period of stagnation for tea culture in China as well as Kung Fu culture, which until then had hundreds of years of unabated gradual development.
☶/☵ Now, as we near the third decade of the 21st century, both tea and kung fu is on the rebound - growing in strength from strength to strength. For those of us who are now practicing either Kung Fu Wu Tao 功夫武道 or Kung Fu Cha Tao 功夫茶道, these are exciting times, in that we know this is the time and place to strike our fortunes (as the saying goes).
☰/☶ How many of us have stopped to ponder on this? ...What does this mean? For you? Me? Us?
☷/☷ Some of us are still grappling with the concept of: Is it enough to just keep doing? Or When will my master reveal to me those things, he's kept from me for so long? et cetera...
☱/☴ These questions have been asked of me during my Tea Time equals Me Time sessions. To which I usually reply from the Kung Fu Panda II movie: You lack inner peace. This is manifested in constant anger directed at the world. Usually passive-aggressive anger. But mostly the inability to accept different truths toward the same thing.
☲/☲ We all start out on our martial art journey, very much the same: We walk ☳ the path of our respective school, then enter the combative ☵ stage of which school is better than the next, before stopping to rest ☶ and actually ponder on where we are going. Some do it through meditation. Others through yoga. There is also Reiki 靈氣, Qigong 氣功, and a whole host of other helpful mediums.
☴/☱ I happen to do it through tea. Whether it be Chado 茶道, Kung Fu Cha 功夫茶 or simply practicing Tea Time equals Me Time by stopping the insanity and making a cup of loose leaf tea... Just remember: It is far far easier to serve your master a cup of tea 茶, then it is to beg your way into the backroom. Some secrets are only secrets because you have made them so. Let go. Release your inner demons and let your master share his pot of tea with you.
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☰ Recently, while enjoying a bit of Me Time equals Tea Time with some of my Taiwanese friends, I was given a movie to watch called Lei Wulong Baguazhang 雷武龙八卦掌.
☵ Now I know what you are thinking: What's this? An obscure style I've never heard of before? His circle's getting a little irregular! Guys save him from his heresy!
☱ Settle down petals. It is not what it seems. After a big pot of tea 茶, Chinese politics, some deep fried ghosts and congee, I watched the movie with them and afterward proceeded to dig deeper.
☳ Lei Wulong 雷武龙 is a character from the Tekken fighter games. And his moves are mostly based on Northern Praying Mantis 螳螂拳 with a bit of Jackie Chan thrown in. What he has to do with baguazhang is purely fiction. His name just sounds awesome from a Taiwanese perspective. I mean, could you imagine fighting a guy with a name like that?
☶ It turns out that in the movie a woman did, and she used baguazhang 八卦掌. She defeated him. Thrice.
☴ The whole short movie was fictitious, and her non-baguazhang style bits in the battle was pure re-enactment. But when she started the baguazhang sequences, it was clear that past the clothes and make-up was a hidden dragon who actually knew the moves from rigorous practice. Even with the movie's crudeness, a true master cannot hide their skills for long. It will show itself eventually.
☲ As the saying goes: Never judge a book by its cover. The cover attracts the potential student. As masters we do not waste our time asking whether it be real or not, but whether the student actually wants to put in the time, effort and resources to become the real thing.
☷ So the movie ended. I drank up the last bit of my high mountain oolong tea. Left my empty tea cup on the table. And I was happy that our baguazhang 八卦掌 world just got a little bit bigger.
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☵ We seem to live in a world of the chronically stressed, get-there-itis and the sense of always being on the losing end of success. These are supposed to be the best of times, full of opportunities, and yet so many people are lost: Internally and well as externally. The Way 道 has become a messed up bowl of spaghetti.
☰ And so, highly stressed professionals come to me. While still dis-believing that Tea Time can equal Me Time, they ask me how it can help them. Not all are martial artists, for martial arts is only one of many paths leading to the same Chakra of Enlightenment.
☶ Stan Sakai's Usagi Yojimbo 兔用心棒 also had this dilemma as he trained to become a samurai 侍. His mind was always thinking about this move and that. No amount of practice could help Usagi overcome the foreboding feeling that he was destined to be nothing more than a third-rate bouncer.
☴ His teacher Katsuichi-Sensei, admonished him for his false mindset by saying: Adversity can strengthen one's character, Usagi. It depends on how one deals with it.
☱ Like most people, Usagi didn't understand. So his teacher made him boil three pots of water. And when the water was boiling, made him put in the first pot a radish, in the second pot an egg, and in the third pot some dried leaves.
☳ When the three items were cooked, Usagi was instructed to take them out of the boiling water. As he did so, Katsuichi-Sensei said: Boiling water represents life's hardships. The radish went in firm and strong, but the water has rendered it soft, weak and mushy. The egg, on the other hand, was once fluid in its shell. Though outwardly it looks the same, the inside has hardened. Adversity has changed both those two.
☷ When Usagi got to the third pot, he wondered about the leaves floating within, that to him did not seem much affected by the water other than being wet and difficult to scoop up. Upon seeing this, Katsuichi-Sensei said: The leaves have changed the boiling water into a savory, aromatic tea. Not suffering for the worse, they changed the very circumstances that would have brought pain. In the face of adversity, which of these three are you?
☲ This is what Tea Time equals Me Time offers - A respite from the doing, so that we have the space and time to actually ponder over these things... A metaphysical form of being at the peak of one's mountain looking down on the landscape around them. It is worth five minutes of your time to be good to yourselves and enjoy that cup of tea.
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☴ Welcome to the recently held Sydney Japanese Matsuri Festival 祭り at Darling Harbour. A beautiful day of all things Japanese including cosplay コスプレ and tea 茶.
☲ My family and I got to try several grades of matcha 抹茶 at different stalls. And I have to say, that once a person goes ceremonial grade, it is very hard to drink the lower generic commercial grades on offer to the public.
☱ Most of the matcha 抹茶 on offer, were served as Ready-to-drinks in beautiful packaging like the cosplay kids running around the field looking cosplay-ish.
☷ It was a great family day out and I even got my own tarted up cosplay girl to pose with me for a photo. I had no idea what character she's trying to be, but I do remember the black crescent moon pendant that she wore. Perhaps somebody out there can enlighten me?
☰ What I found most confusing for me, was when I met this boy running around in a Jedi costume with a homemade wooden Katana. He seemed nice and I wanted to ask him questions on his outfit, like if he made it himself, et cetera.
☶ However, while he was fumbling with his wooden sword, all I could say was "May the Force be with you".
☵ To which he replied "It's not the Force. It's called Kai power!" And then he stormed off. So there I was, a bit humbled in that Star Wars has changed much since I last watched one of the episodes.
☳ And feeling a bit weird because standing right there in front of him was the closest thing at that moment he would come to regarding this Kai power: A real Qigong 氣功主 master/practitioner. Which does make me wonder, how many masters I have met in real life and I never realized it due to my own ego and shadow?
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☰/☳ Baguazhang 八卦掌 is a fighting system designed to take on multiple attackers while maintaining focus on the principle target. It does this by being circles within circles.
☷/☵ In the picture we have Yi Weiqi 弈圍棋 (not her real name) playing Go 碁. She sits pondering over the board as the stones of black and white are arranged in a roughly circular pattern. Off to one side there is a cup of tea and she could be having her daily Tea Time equals Me Time. But you aren't sure. And you are wondering what Weiqi 圍棋 and the game of Go 碁 have to do with Baguzhang 八卦掌?
☵/☶ For those who are unfamiliar with the game of Go, it is about isolating the head from the body and eliminating it from the game. Divide and Conquer. Which seems simple in theory until we realise that at its very simplest, it takes at least four stones to surround one opposing stone. Yes, I know. There are the corners and sides...
☲/☰ At the strategy level of the army general 將官 this makes sense. But what of the tactical foot soldier level? In Go, a player is not allowed to 'suicide' a stone. A good rule designed to stop mindless tit-for-tat stone-losing moves, which I will let others explain or comment on... But in real life it is done all the time with at its worst: Suicide bombers. And at its best: Employing SAS or Navy Seals.
☳/☷ If Go is a hurricane (cyclone/typhoon), then baguazhang would be a tornado.
☶/☱ As a high-end promoter of tea and the concept of Tea Time equals Me Time. I am sometimes confronted by multiple targets first thing in the morning as part of running my business. Making decisions before I have even truly woken up. Solving problems that need immediate solving. And there isn't a boss or higher up in sight to complain about or to, because I am upper management.
☴/☲ Most people think tea is for old people and ladies... But the lion prefers to wait for the storm to break before striking at zebra, rather than just mindlessly going about hither and tither. Killing the zebra is easy. Isolating the zebra from the herd is not so easy.
☱/☴ Hence Tea Time equals Me Time: An effectively simple way to take back control of the game. Take back our space, our time. To stay focused on the long game while enjoying the immediate action. Liked what you heard & want to connect with me? Join me at… linkedin.com/in/peterhainzl/ ⚔️圍棋戰聖
The conclusion to Master Dong's little adventure... Liked what you heard & want to connect with me? Join me at… linkedin.com/in/peterhainzl/
☰ Dong Hai Chuan 董海川 is the founder of modern Baguazhang 八卦掌. From him all forms of Baguazhang (recognised and unrecognised) stem from. And while only scant evidence remains of his life that can be documented, he was a lifelong tea 茶 drinker.
☷ This is most strikingly revealed through Baguazhang's teacup exercise. This exercise builds "fluidity in motion", while promoting "calmness within the liquid vortex". It takes lots and lots of dedicated practice to get good at the exercise. And is a humble reminder that as martial artists we are here to serve others 侍: Whether it be a prince above us or the people below us.
☵ In all my acts I strive as best I can to humbly remember this. Even when I have to really slow down and meditate with a cup of tea beside me, because the realization of my thought gets too much: We are all disciples of Master Dong Hai Chuan.
☲ This is where my own path or Tao 道 has led me. For in the walking of the Tao 道, I see as I practice Tea Time equals Me Time, that I have been on this Baguazhang journey for far longer than actually doing Baguazhang itself. Some things are "obvious" 陽 like doing the I-Ching since I was 15 years old. And some things "not so obvious" 陰 like being a waiter or bartender in my earlier years.
☳ The relationship to Dong Hai Chuan is that in being in service to his lord, he was also a waiter. And it was through serving food to others without spilling was how he got noticed.
☶ The second example relates to a little known story outside of China, that goes (in brief)... Once upon a time, up in heaven, three masters were merrily drinking tea and philosophising on the Way of Kung Fu 功夫道. One of the three masters was Master Dong. All three knew the way; they all had lived it, experienced it. But it had been six hundred years or so, since they had last walked the earth and were keen to find out how things were going on down there.
☴ So with the Jade Emperor's permission, the three masters re-entered this world. From birth to death they lived. And when they returned to heaven, the Jade Emperor asked of their accounts. To which they replied: When we entered the earth, the world was covered in banners. Some follow the way, some do not. Some say they do, but they remain in the material, hence gravity has power over their souls. There is no right nor wrong in what they do. It's just going to take some longer to get here than others.
☱ The Jade Emperor took account of their deeds and in the end, while they drank tea together, asked Master Dong: Knowing all this, was the journey worth it? To which Master Dong replied on behalf of the other two masters: "It was a wonderful holiday".
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☰ Recently during a session of Tea Time equals Me Time, I was asked an interesting question: What is the business of Baguazhang 八卦掌?
☷ Now that threw me off. Baguazhang 八卦掌 is my business and so I should know the business of Baguazhang 八卦掌. And we are not talking about teaching it for money, nor being a professional fighter, nor a semi-pro prize-fighter.
☵ Jeremy Puffin (not his real name) wanted to know how it is I am able to do my martial arts all day every day and still bring in the money?
☲ Jeremy Puffin wanted to know how I can be here at home and over-there at the same time, wherever over-there is?
☳ To answer him, I asked: If he knew he was following the white rabbit down the rabbit hole? He did not. So I sat him down at my dining table. Got him to breath in and out deeply; four seconds inhaled, eight seconds holding, seven seconds exhaling, nice and slow. Then I handed him a big mug of tea made from loose leaves using a strainer and not the cheap tea bagged stuff.
☶ Tea Time equals Me Time. Tea Time is Me Time. And it is also Baguazhang time 八卦掌時. Just like a crazy dog chasing its own tail around and around and around. To do Baguazhang is like mastering the art of tea stirring. In this example, realization comes when the master has stirred enough to reach the bottom of the cup without spilling any tea over the tea cup rim, while retaining focused clarity by what they see.
☴ If Jeremy Puffin didn't understand, that's alright by me. It is not supposed to make sense. It is supposed to be understood through experience. However, in these words is the way forward (one of many) in practicing the business of Baguazhang. I told him, I could answer his question plain and simply, but then he wouldn't believe a word of it.
☱ The moment went quiet. We sat there drinking our tea and enjoyed it for its own sake. I was told once by an old master of Baguazhang that Baguazhang is the martial art of the gods. I believe it to be true. But not in the way the phrase implies... I told Jeremy Puffin, when he had finished his tea, that the physical path starts and finishes at the ends of the book followed.
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☳ Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon 臥虎藏龍 is one of my favourite wuxia epics. The title is a martial arts term, that people know from the ancient Chinese poet Yu Xin (513–581), who wrote: 暗石疑藏虎, 盤根似臥龍.
☵ Which translates to: Behind the rock in the dark probably hides a tiger, and the coiling giant root resembles a crouching dragon.
☶ And refers to a belief among Chinese that most kung fu masters prefer to go about their lives incognito. The true master rarely reveals their talents until a situation worthy enough calls upon them to do so.
☰ As I watch in the movie Michelle Yeoh drinking tea 楊紫瓊喝茶 with Chow Yun Fat 周潤發, I sometimes ponder on this and how it relates to my own life. Because in the west there is always great pressure to reveal our skills and then have them constantly tested by others to prove our worth. Nevermore so, since the advent of the internet and its sister mediums.
☷ When I am promoting my other business: Tea Time equals Me Time, I also ponder on this. How does one balance the western yang 陽 part of me with the eastern yin 陰 part of me?
☱ To this question I am reminded by my Chinese wife that the sword in its scabbard is the most powerful when it is not drawn. At some point a warrior learns that proving a cake will eventually lead to not having any cake.
☲ Michelle Yeoh and Chow Yun Fat both excel in this concept in their movies, hence their consistent preference as martial art role models over the late Bruce Lee among Chinese. While he was one of the best fighters that ever existed (May he rest in Paradise), his track record shows that he died proving himself.
☴ Sometimes the path to mastery lies outside of the fight-ring. Neither Michelle Yeoh or Chow Yun Fat actually do any off-screen martial arts. And yet, they excel at it in ways that few real martial artists can grasp. I know. This last bit is difficult to digest. But it is worth pondering over when you next enjoy your bit of Me Time equals Tea Time.
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☴ Tea Time equals Me Time. I get this. I practice it. I promote it. It works for me and countless others as a way to give ourselves the space and time we need to be ourselves again.
☲ I typically write about Tea Time equals Me Time through the medium of martial arts.This is what I know and experience everyday. But is it only relevant to martial artists?
☱ The answer is no. Meditators, Yogis, well-being practitioners and pretty much anybody can benefit from Tea Time equals Me Time. So why the rub? Why the sticking point?
☷ Our lives are chaotic. And for a lot of us unbalanced. And quite frankly tea for most people is boring. And on top of that, when we strip away the wuxia 武俠 and movies and stuff, martial arts is boring too... We are people looking for excitement in a world where there is no excitement. Hence, we make it up and then go chasing the illusion. That is the power of the economic monetary system in place now. Without the chase we have nothing to do. Nowhere to go: Zen 禪.
☰ Recently I was invited, by a friend Tai-san, to partake of 15 minutes of Zazen 座禅 before doing Chado 茶道. The bronze bowl was gonged and I just sat there. All calmness left me as I sensed within me that I was not calm. Infact, my "doingness" around my Baguazhang 八卦掌 and helping others with qigong had left me drained. I was sacrificing my very being for the greater good of all that was around me.
☶ What Tai-san (of samurai heritage) provided me was true Wa 和 so that I could practice my own words for myself. For those on the journey of being samurai 侍 this a truth we all must realize to be in harmony with the Tao 道. All the mountain wishes to be is still. And let go of the "doingness".
☵ So today... I go against the need to do and to have, and just be.
☳ My own experience of Chado 茶道 is always tender. In that moment of drinking the matcha I think about the trips to Japan I have had and all the people I have met and the lessons I have learnt. And most importantly I give grace and thanks to my wife, who while she is not Japanese, she serves matcha 抹茶 every morning just before breakfast: a powerful reminder that being samurai 侍 is more than sword-fighting. It is about serving. And in particular serving ourselves first. Only when that has been done can we move forward again. Domo Arigato 有り難うございます...
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☵ Recently I got accused by a martial artist, whose name I won't mention, for being a sham. And that Tea Time equals Me Time is just hocus-pocus used to peddle my pseudo-martial arts. He also made it very clear that tea has no place in the fighting arts, whether it be to help people relax or improve their skills.
☳ I pondered on that and the next accusation that Tea Time equals Me Time is only great going when life is good. All good points. Challenge accepted. Which, to my surprise, turned out to not being as easy as it seems... Until today.
☴ Honestly, today was a shit day. The sky was glum and grey with heavy drizzle for most of it. Business was down and frankly I could have spent it in bed. Be truant on life. While that is not the way I operate, a part of me wishes that it had.
☰ To answer the first criticism, it is on our worst of days that we truly discover what we are made of. This is not a martial arts thing but a universal truth. We progress and advance most when we don't want to.
☷ To answer the second criticism, I used Tea Time equals Me Time today to pick myself up off the floor and keep going when today's shitty weather threatened to do me in. Something in attitude Jackie Chan would be proud of.
☱ So I decide enough is enough and make myself Hong Kong Lai Cha: Strong black tea with one-sixth evaporated milk. But not just any black tea. It's typically a mix of five black tea combined with each tea chosen to achieve a particular effect on the senses.
☶ Then I found a picture of Jackie Chan doing the tea thing and saluted the man who has to pay out-of-pocket all his stunt men because insurance companies won't insure him. That in my book is totally cool.
☲ Jackie Chan drinks tea 陳港生喝茶. Jackie Chan is a martial artist. Jackie Chan knows how to get out of crazy situations. Does he have bad days? Sure he does. But he just keeps on smiling. And proving all of us critics wrong one crazy stunt at a time...
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☴ Wushu 武術 champion and Taichi 太極拳 master Jet li 李连杰 drinks tea. So far this is the best image I could find of a man, I cinematically, greatly admire. It shows him in his prime, holding that calmly focused gaze that is admired by Chinese of their kung fu masters.
☲ As I drink my cup of tea, I salute him and some of his iconic movies. In particular these three: The One because he does Baguazhang 八卦掌 in it. Dannie the Dog because it still gives me bad vibes. And Hero, a Chinese Epic set during the Qin Dynasty.
☱ For a lot of professionals living around me such as doctors, lawyers and accountants et cetera, their lives are a mix of the three movies. While they may or may not be martial artists, I have borne witness to how much they are affected by their surroundings. Seemingly at the top of their game and yet living under constant chronic pressure.
☷ While I want to say, guys, chill out. Practice Tea Time equals Me Time like me everyday. It will help. Breathing space and so on... Blah, blah, blah. It is only until they are ready, that those of us who support them can quietly be there for them.
☰ If there are any professionals reading this article, a simple yet effective way to truly get into the flow before doing Tai Chi Quan for example is to take time out and enjoy a bit of Tea Time equals Me Time. Allow the art of enjoying tea to support your state of mind before beginning. Some of you know what I am talking about.
☶ Allow the mind to settle down, so the heart can calm down. And the body can do its thing. If the moves are difficult it is because within us there is resistance. And why?
☵ Why indeed, keep fighting the war within our minds and hearts until it manifests into a cancer the body must battle within itself? It's not even sparring on the mat.
☳ The answer for the individual may not be answered here, but Tea Time equals Me Time is a start on the path of self-healing, love and peace. You don't have to love others but be good to yourselves and at least love yourselves within. And your chi 氣 will flow all by itself.
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☰ Since I have started posting my experiences on Facebook again, I have been asked to share my thoughts on Tai Chi (Quan) 太極拳 because for some inexplicable reason I attract a lot of Tai Chi practitioners around me, even though my preferred style is Bagua Zhang 八卦掌.
☷ I know and realize that these two styles are brothers and sisters along the Tao of Martials Arts. The very act of doing these two styles at a given place and time is the realization of what some non-practitioners refer to as good Fengshui 風水.
☳ In 2013, Keanu Reeves directed the movie Man of Tai Chi 太極俠. It was his first directorial role. And in the movie he played the bad guy. Tiger Chen played the hero. But all I seem to remember is Keanu Reeves. And in my my mind he is Man of Tai Chi.
☴ I bring this up because while he is not known as a practicing martial artist (I could be wrong), the higher consciousness around me keeps mentioning him as my Tea Time equals Me Time subject. Interesting choice.
☵ Perhaps I sense he may have crossed the threshold of cinematic kung-fu over to real kung-fu. These things are possible. The martial arts way is open to everybody.
☲ Or it could just be that I resonate with the image provided as I sip my tea in my tea cup. Perhaps all I have just written is a means upon which to ponder over something more mystical so that our minds and hearts can have the space to enjoy this brief moment in its beauty, before we get back into whatever we were doing before this rest stop or starting something new.
☶ The world can wait. All its problems are like sweeping the floor. If we don't sweep the floor now, it will still be there tomorrow. For now, let us take care of ourselves. Close our eyes and savour the tea's aroma as we inhale and exhale deeply.
☱ Man of Tai Chi 太極俠 is an action movie. And most people focus on that - it's what brings in the money, the medals, the praise and the honey. True Tai Chi practitioners focus on the letting go of these things so that we may have these things already because we already have them.
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☰ Nobody needs time. Nobody needs space. These things like our quest for things we desire: All just illusions. We do not even need Tea Time quals Me Time. And yet... I practice it everyday.
☳ Why? Why give ourselves timeout from our struggles when everything around us is constantly reminding us of the struggle: The struggle of our pasts, the struggle of our present, and the struggle of our futures.
☵ If you are reading this, then you have pondered on many occasions if the hype is living up to the dream. As I drink my cup of tea, while typing this, I am in this moment practicing what I preach and doing Tea Time equals Me Time.
☶ In this or that moment I am still and calm like a rock within. Everything else can for this brief moment encompass me. Behind me is my dojo. In front of me is the tea I am drinking this morning: Golden Tippy Yunnan Black Tea... Combining work with play - rest with action. And what's at the centre of me? Me.
☷ Me or you in your work, play, life. It is always you. When we lose sight of that, we become mere pawns in the modern world of chaos. This is one of the insights that eventually all Tai Chi Quan 太極拳 practitioners come to self-realize. It is from our centres that we find our flow in the cosmos.
☴ And so after I have posted this blog post, I will go outside and do my Baguazhang 八卦掌. I will walk the circle. I will change the palms. I will do this all day everyday (with breaks in between).
☲ The people who come to live near me because of the good Fengshui 風水 in my neighbourhood, will look up and see me. My chi 氣 will flow out towards them and life will be magnificent. This is happening because the mere thought of chi 氣 now makes my hands vibrate with energy. It is a warm vortex-like sensation reminiscent of when somebody is lightly drawing circles on the inside of one's palms.
☱ By doing Tea Time equals Me Time, I am able to share these martial art insights with you in a sharing loving atmosphere. And I am personally better prepared to cope with the qigong 氣功 challenges awaiting me. We have the time. We have the space. Be good to yourselves. Enjoy that cup of tea 茶.
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☳ Somewhere at a certain level all tea tastes good when it is made well. When we find that place, it seems as if our whole life has suddenly been summed up for us in a single cup.
☵ Most of the time when we talk about Tea Time equals Me Time, we are referring to an informal practice involving tea to help us cope with the modern stresses and strains of life. And at other times it is steeped in high ritual like kungfu cha 功夫茶 or Chado 茶道.
☶ But there is a middle way. It is casual yet highly ritualistic. Formal yet simplistic in its tones. The black dragon on his summit coiling upon itself: An entire life's journey in that cup of oolong tea 烏龍茶.
☰ The image of Wing Chun master Lu Weide of Hong Kong being served tea by his wife Li Yuanfang, shows this in action. A moment in time few people outside of the martial arts world, or tea world get to see or experience.
☷ Despite the long years of service to a cause greater than himself, the black dragon is yang 楊 enough to humble himself before yin 陰 and let her serve him tea.
☱ In Jinan 济南 the City of Springs 泉城, China, he has found his peace. With his wife and with his martial art.
☲ I reflect upon this as I practice my own form of Tea Time equals Me Time. It really is, most times for reasons of habit, just a mug of black tea with a bit of milk. But at other times, like breakfast these days, it is a tiny cup of ceremonial grade matcha 抹茶 made for me by my wife to bless me and my health on the day ahead as I get ready for business.
☴ To refuse would be like cutting the flow of qi 氣 between us and what we stand for. To accept is qigong 氣功 at another level beyond the physical action. This is my own lesson on the image of Wing Chun master Lu Weide accepting tea from his wife Li Yuanfang.
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☵ Donnie Yen drinks tea 甄子丹喝茶. Yup, that's right. He drinks tea... He also drinks coffee, beer, wine and boiled warm water. But for tea drinkers he drinks tea.
☰ As a martial artist and actor he does a wonderful job in balancing the two polarities rife in the martial arts world: the physical and the spiritual. And this can be seen in his movies. One group is all action and stunts. And the other group goes deeper into things, like when he did the Ip Man trilogy.
☶ So what does tea have to do with all of this, and or him?
☴ In Chinese wuxia novels and movies, tea symbolises the spiritual aspects of martial arts. More than just visual props, they are the two hexagrams of Well 井卦, and Cauldron 鼎卦, of the I-Ching 易經 combined and manifested in key events in the story as one idea or thing. It is a way of expressing those higher concepts that are sometimes difficult to explain like our belief in Tea Time equals Me Time.
☱ The phrase Tea Time equals Me Time, seems obvious to us because we practice it every day, but you would be surprised how many martial artists don't "get it" and hence reject it. Until their master sits them down and serves them some tea.
☳ They must take a sip or their master will not speak. This is the part of their training referred to as the Inner Door Schooling. This is the part where Bruce Lee says, "I cannot fill your cup until your cup is empty". Or as Avatar Aang said to Avatar Korra, "When you are at your lowest point, then you are open to the greatest change".
☷ In space and time I am also on this journey with you. I practice Tea Time equals Me Time everyday alongside my Baguazhang, I-Ching and Qigong. All different aspects of the same thing. For some it could be Chado 茶道, but for most it is just about stopping the manic headlong rush to somewhere and nowhere, and sipping that beautifully brewed cup of tea!
☲ There are other ways to find one's spiritual side in martial arts. This just happens to be easier than meditating for those that love to move about. It is quick and slow at the same time and can be done with others.
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☰ Ip Man 葉問, Wing Chun 詠春 Grandmaster and Bruce Lee's sifu. Drinking tea in an unnamed old style Hong Kong teahouse. Judging by the Gaiwan 蓋碗 tea utensils, he's most likely drinking either Keemun or Yunnan black tea. Very fitting, if it were, because he was a known smoker.
☷ When I look at the photo and seeing him smiling back, it makes me wonder about the quieter areas of Hong Kong. I could just imagine myself as the one who took the photo. As a martial artist who does Baguazhang 八卦掌, this photo allows me to honour him in my own way.
☵ May he be blessed up in Kung Fu Heaven while I sip from my own Chinese tea cup Pu-erh.
☲ I bring him up because martial arts is like tea. We all have our styles and preferences. But at the end of the day, it's all tea. Essential coming from the same plant Camellia Sinensis. And at a certain level, whatever the martial art, we all end up at the same place being at one with each other.
☳ That place for high level Kung Fu masters involves tea. Tea symbolizes in a graceful way that the Tao of Martial Arts is more than just training and fighting. I wish I could explain it all here, but it's something that you have to be there to understand.
☶ It is like visiting Hong Kong itself. At the bottom end, where most tourists start off, Hong Kong is all bright lights, big city, shopping, shopping and shopping. Eating and eating. And too many people crammed into a tight space. It's exciting for the first few times... But then it starts to wear thin.
☴ Every soul in Hong Kong finds their Place of Recomposure. For most people it will be a small cafe serving fusion Canto-western cuisine or a teahouse frequented by those guys in pyjamas and white vests. The kind of place tourists typically rush past without noticing or if they did, dare not enter because they look at bit dodgy.
☱ I guess in a way, I have taken you down the river to where the river flows to: Rambling that make no sense to a person just starting on the Martial Arts Path. If that be you, just drink your damn tea and enjoy life.
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