My reason for training IP (CIMA)? Just mysticism - and nothing else (I would like to emphasize - nothing else). Well, someone can ask - why not to do mysticism itself, why not to do mysticism directly? The answer is simple: years ago, when i tried to enter deeper jhanas - look here for description (section Stage of jhana, especially paragraph The Arupa Jhanas): (
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dhy%C4%81na_in_Buddhism), I was not able to do this. And when I I searched for reason, I discovered that my body is not open enough... (Exactly as Mircea Eliade said something like that we have all the ancient secrets available now - because we absolutely are not able to understand them.) So I started to practice CIMA and IP just for reason to open my body and get into understanding of the "things beyond". Some people here know my opinion that I consider fighting "childish" (and I apologize right now - before any consequent attacks to those who thinks I want to put them down or who simply disagree etc.) - that is my opinion based on my belief that I can take out maybe 99%, maybe 99,99% of attackers - anyone can do this after 20, 30 or 40 years of honest training - no big deal, I think. To go further (to go for 100%, to be another invincible) is simply not worthy of training, time, effort, money, etc. - I can accept that someone still can take me out barehanded, with knife or another weapon (because bad luck or because opponent is really better than me) and I will die - that is no big deal, too.
So remaining question is - why mysticism? And what connection is between mysticism and CIMA or IP? I think (that is not belief or faith, but personal experience) that mysticism is the only real "science" and the only tool that can give me (or to you) answer about the world and myself/yourself (real Western science is unfortunately too slow for this). And why CIMA? Because Western science it too analytical, it dissects things into details so much that it lost purpose (yes, Chris is correct in the thread about He Jinghan's video that there is no continuous connection of tendons in dang arch but with this correctness he fails to understand message that dang can be really felt and it is necessary tool for jibengong, qinggong, vertical power, taoist alchemy etc. - as well as it happened with things Bob posted here:
viewtopic.php?f=7&t=16003). Chinese thinking, Chinese IMA, mysticism (Buddhist meditations and Taoist alchemy) are simply more valuable for me than the whole Western science.
And so, I enjoy them.
We have entered a voyeuristic, or "phanic," era where esoteric ideas and methods are only unveiled and put within reach of everyone because they no longer have any chance of being understood. (Mircea Eliade)