Tensegrity?

[bigphatwong]

Anyone have any experience with it? My Sifu was into it big time for a while, it's basically supposed to be some form of Mexican Indian Shen Gung taught to Carlos Castaneda that consists of separate sets of exercises for the left and right sides. I've seen it, and to the casual observer it looks like a lot of arm-waving...kind of like Lu Ho Ba Fa, if you will.

So what's the gen. concensus on this shit? Do the Yaquis really have their own set of Chi Gung, is it just some new-fangled hippie-yuppie fad?

[I-mon]

i had the book "magical passes". i was on a castaneda binge for a few years, read and reread all the books especially the first few, over and over again. back in the good old days, if you will, when i started doing tai chi and thought that arm waving while feeling the chi - on acid - was the fast road to awesome internal power. all of those later books were near total rubbish, not even much fun to read. never met anyone who did tensegrity, though, so i dunno if the exercises are any good.

i vote: hippie-yuppie new age fad.

[Walter Joyce]

IIRC Castaneda was discredited as having made up the characters in his books.

[Chris Fleming]

Yeah I can't really think of any other writer who has done more harm to the Native American cause/way of life/stereotype than Castaneda.

[qiphlow]

i thought you were talking about this kind of tensegrity:
http://www.anatomytrains.com/explore/tensegrity/explained

[shawnsegler]

Nice link. Good info for those deeply inside their bodies.

S

[qiphlow]

ya gotta love bucky fuller.

[everything]

seems to be taken seriously by some doctors, scientists and architects. a little over my head but maybe the science and body work types here could elaborate some?

http://www.biotensegrity.com/
http://floatingbones.com/?p=28
http://floatingbones.com/?p=25
http://www.intensiondesigns.com/

from first link

I am an Orthopedic Surgeon with a special interest in Tensegrity biomechanics, biotensegrity.

Tensegrity is a naturally occurring construct first recognized and developed by Ken Snelson and R. Buckminster Fuller in which the compression elements of the construct 'float' in continuous tension network (example: bicycle wheel).




Tensegrity icosahedrons are used to model biologic organisms from viruses to vertebrates, their cells, systems and subsystems.

There are only tension and compression elements in tensegrity systems. There are no shears, bending moments or levers, just simple tension and compression, in a self organizing, hierarchical, load distributing, low energy consuming structure.

from last link:

In other words, tensegrities are islands of compression (struts, vectors) within a continuous web of tension. The resulting forms exhibit remarkable properties such as resilience and flexibility combined with the ability to withstand dynamic stress by transferring loads to all parts of the structure simultaneously. All tensegrities are tension structures but not all tension structures are tensegrities- e.g. a spider's web relies on an external structure for support (branches etc.), and canopy architecture requires ground anchoring systems structurally similar to a spider's web.

alright. someone care to relate it to ima some for us?

[Michael]

Man, we've done this thread like three times in recent memory. As far as I can remember, nobody yet has ever piped up and said, "I/my wife/my teacher/my dentist's niece's best friend's sister's dog's veterinarian's lesbian bus driver's mechanic's chimney sweep really loves it. Give 'er a try." I get the feeling there are waaaay too many other good things out there to try, either from TCMA, Reiki, or the newer post 80's qigong extravaganza.

[everything]

afaik there isn't a practice tied specifically to this research area, except to the extent it's influencing physical therapy practices. could be totally wrong.

to me it's interesting that these ideas explain something we already know by experience with different vocabulary.

edit: must've missed the other threads on this topic.

[Michael]

Oh well, the last one was probably a year ago. Just funny how the same questions come up from time to time.

[Darth Rock&Roll]

nothing will clear your chakras and cleanse your chi like turning your local lesbian busdriver with a good hard screwing.

give it a try!

[everything]

lol

[Michael Babin]

I saw the instructional DVD put out by Carlos' people in the early 90s ~ laughable and pretentious history of the Aztecs, warrior women shamans whose tradition has survived intact since Conquistador times as well as the usual pyscho-babble. [Imagine the kind of unintentionally hilarious drivel at the beginning of any bad history or fantasy movie: "It was the dawn of the Hyperborean Age of the Era of the Third Illumination and ..."

On the other hand, the three bimbo "warrior-priestesses" were pretty hot as they did the exercises that looked like a sad combo of yoga and taichee although they did have the poor taste to keep their clothing on.

Still... well worth the $1.99 in the remainder bin at your local Walmart or Zellers.

[Franklin]

results of a quick search of youtube

http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=ano ... =playlists

playlists for volume 1, 2, 3....

enjoy...