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Why so scrawny, cat? Starving for fat fish or mice… or backyard love?

Basho (via mspf3000)

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Kensho and Satori? (The Experience Heresy)

The obsession with so-called “enlightenment experience” (usually referred to as kensho or satori) does not originate in premodern Zen or Chan, but is really the direct result of D.T. Suzuki’s 20th century fabrication/reinvention of Japanese Zen, drawing heavily from Western philosophical and religious sources (such as William James, Christian mysticism, etc.). Thus terms like enlightenment, True Nature, nonduality, and so on came to be identified with (and referent to) Western “mystic experience” rather than anything genuinely Buddhist. Hence, to quote Robert Sharf, while “premodern Zen masters rarely emphasized exotic experiential states, and terms such as [satori and kensho] were not construed as singular states of consciousness”, Modern Zen immediately became a tradition centered on chasing after (and affirming) particular experiences (even though the primacy of anything we might call experience today is explicitly challenged in the Chan canon and by Chan masters as late as Xuyun). Therefore, if you consider yourself a Zen/Chan student today, be sure you aren’t chasing after (or even interested in) some special experience: religious, mystic, transcendental, or otherwise.

P.S. The frequent modern Japanese Zen expression of unifying “subject and object” is another 20th century development rather than an expression of orthodox Buddhist “nonduality”, coming from another one of Suzuki’s inspirations (who himself also drew from William James): Nishida Kitaro, who devised a “notion of pure experience [that] seems to function both as an ontological ground that subsumes subject and object, and as a psychological state of heightened self-awareness.” That particular notion went on to become the “central element in [Suzuki’s] exposition of Zen.” Likewise, be suspicious whenever you see such terminology in “authoritative” (religious or otherwise) works about Zen.

Source and further reading: The Rhetoric or Experience and the Study of Religion, Robert Sharf

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One of Wim Demeere’s old uploads, highlighting some footwork drills from his sanshou class. Good control, movement, and the occasional unblockable leg sweep kick!

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Qian Zhaohong -- modern master of Xin Yi Liu He Quan, from Shanghai. His fajin, movement, and strikes look to carry extreme depth. They express a subtle heavy kind of penetration. A high level of martial arts skill. A real punch from this guy would be terrifying!

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Hatsumi in action teaching bojutsu (staff techniques), presumably in the early 2000s

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Here’s a new video I did audio/sound for: Scott Rodell’s “One Perfect Jian Cut”, demonstrating a high (and rare) level of skill using traditional Chinese swordsmanship. 

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“In the Sword, don’t use hand business. You put the sword near the targets then issue short energy to stab or cut. This is the fundamental theory or principle. At the last moment, go. Only Cheng Man-Ch'ing told us this so many times. You look at his sword form, so soft. We said, “What is this kind of sword? There is no energy used, nothing.” He said it is not necessary to use energy. That means you get close, then use energy. Not from way back to stab forward. Don’t use energy all the way, just the last moment. The last moment is enough, that kind of energy must be developed. Use your whole body, not just the hand. Gradually, intrinsic energy will be developed. You see my hand, the sword is nearly dropped, but it cannot fall out. it looks loose, but you cannot knock it out of my hand. That is the principle, gradually you’ll do according to this way. It looks easy, but it takes ten years to reach that level.”

- TT Liang quoted from: 

T'ai-Chi Ch'uan Lessons with Master T.T. Liang

Compiled and Edited by Ray Hayward

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Dpa Dam Tibetan Straight Backed Saber 29 ¾" blade, 35 ½ “overall

A type of sword peculiar to the Kham area of eastern Tibet, which borders China’s Sichuan province, it has a very good quality hairpin lamination, the being contours straight and even. The tip profile appears original, edge straight and sharp, clean with minor surface scratches and speckles of old corrosion that are negligible. The large flanged disc guard and expanded, flattened pommel are clearly inspired by Chinese sabers of the late imperial period. Iron fittings of better-than-average finish, heavy gauge and well-fitted, the forward surface of the guard under the flange is lacquered red, the anterior surface of the pommel precisely inlaid with alternating copper and brass lines.  Wood grip covered with leather with beaded brass bands on either end, adjacent to the iron fittings. The whole in very fine condition with no losses or looseness. In exceptional condition for the type, and of impressive size, this style of Tibetan sword is not common. The Kham area is a region of mountains and high grasslands inhabited by nomadic herders who were known as the most warlike segment of Tibet’s population.  Every man went armed with at least a long knife, and firearms of all types were common. The Khams resisted the Chinese incursions of the 1950s with great ferocity, and many areas were not fully pacified for years afterward. Even today, these tribesmen are practically the only minority people still permitted by the PRC government to wear blades in public, and allowed to keep the modern rifles which they had in their possession since pre-invasion times.

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Below I share a post: William Chen: Introducing Americans to Taijiquan from http://chinesemartialstudies.com/.

It was my honor to study briefly with Master Chen, he had a profound effect on my practice. I would drive up from Virginia once a month to attend his push hands and sanshou classes. He is without question, one the hardest working taijiquan teacher I have ever met, always working with every student, every class.

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Member of a northern Warlord Army displays his Mauser handgun and Dadao. This picture probably dates to the 1920s.                                                                                                                                    

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練劍歌

頭腦心眼如司令。 手足腰胯如部曲。 內勁倉庫丹田是。 精氣神膽須充足。 內外工夫勤修練。 身劍合一方成道。

Song of Sword Practice

The Mind is like a commanding officer. The hands, feet, waist, hips, are like the troops. Internal power is stored in the dantian. Jing, qi, shen and courage must be abundant. Internal and external skills must be practiced diligently. Then the body and sword become one achieving the dao.

From the 武當劍法大要 Fundamentals of the Wudang Sword Method

trans. S.M. Rodell

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Lao Ta Gou (Old Tagou) One of the oldest training Kung Fu camps in China, and particularly in Dengfeng, indisputably the best, harshest and grittiest. It’s located in the Shaolin Temple, just minutes beyond the temple’s “scenic spot gate.” It’s in a strategic spot on Mount Song, students run to…

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KUNG FU QUEST - SHAOLIN EP 2 (ENG SUB)

unlike other episodes, this episode focuses less on technical aspects and applications, and much more on the culture, cultural importance, and integration of Zen philosophy and practice into Shaolin culture and practice.  loved listening to Shidejian shifu talk about Shaolin in this: his personality is so warm and light, and he always has this great, knowing grin, as if he understands something he knows we don’t. i’m sure he would be an amazing shifu to train under

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We had a very successful Miaodao Training this past weekend at Great River Taoist Center and decided to have a follow up training on

April 11 & 12 9 to 5 both days $119 ($109 for repeat students)

Anyone interested in attending, please call: 703-846-8222 for more information. And if you are on FB, see: https://www.facebook.com/greatriver

http://www.grtc.org/

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Sammo Hung and Jackie Chan. I don’t know what’s more amusing: Sammo’s drunken fist or Jackie’s shorts.

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Donnie Yen in his first ever film, “Drunken Tai Chi.”

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Know any films that feature the two-handed bagua dao broadsword? I need reference for a character I am drawing.

There are a lot of two-handed sword fights you can watch, but none of them are specific to the Bagua sword. Bagua is massively under-represented in kung fu cinema.