Shamanism and XingYi

[GrahamB]

My old XingYi teacher, Damon Smith, is notoriously reclusive, doesn’t use the Internet much and seems to live in hiding, in fact, I still feel weird seeing his name written down on a web page, knowing how much he’d hate it! I'm also pretty sure there was a time when mentioning his name online booked you in for a swift Beng Chuan to the guts in the next class! But it looks like somebody has done the impossible and dragged him out of his cave to talk about his favourite subject - Shamanism.

Back when I was training with him on a weekly basis we used to get into these sorts of discussions all the time, and he used Shamanism constantly in his teaching in reference to XingYi. In fact, I don’t think the two could be separated in the way he taught it.

There was much about it that I could understand and find immediately useful, but much that I couldn’t and seemed beyond my ken. Well, it looks like I may get a second chance thanks to another of his students, Josef Sykora, who has somehow cajoled Damon into spilling the beans on a new Podcast series called Woven Energy.

Joe describes Damon and his teaching as follows:

So who is Damon? Well, he has studied shamanism academically as well as practicing it for over 30 years.

He has an extremely pragmatic view of shamanism and animism so if you’re looking for your normal “simply bang a drum… dance around a bit… have a chat with an animal… imagine going down a hole and now i’m happy” kind of stuff that means nothing, then turn around now… this podcast ain’t for you.

If you accept shamanism as a discipline. A lifelong journey full of ups and downs and a tremendous amount of confusion and hard work, then great… because once pandora’s box is opened, there is no shutting it. You are now at the mercy of the divine.

You can find out a lot more about Damon by simply listening to the podcast. He has some fantastic stories and knowledge to share.

Here’s a few things you can look forward to in future episodes

A deep and thorough look at Shamanism from the inside out
A clear starting point for beginning Shamanic technique
The tools, mindset and knowledge you need to apply Shamanism to all areas of your life

To get episode 1 you need to jump through a couple of sign-up hoops (well, nobody ever said Shamanism was easy, did they), but after providing your email address you will be given access to episode 1 here. https://wovenenergy.com/

Now it’s time to see how deep the rabbit hole goes…

[GrahamB]

So, I've actually almost listened to all of this now. As expected, it's pretty good.

I remember meeting a 'famous' internal martial artists once and they said something along the lines of.... "all this being one with the opponent stuff is just bullshit"....

I agree with them... except when it isn't.

Shamanism is a practical set of techniques. Towards the end of the podcast Damon shares a practical 'how to', so this isn't all just theory.

[Michael]

DL'd and gonna listen. Thanks for posting.

[amor]

So, I've actually almost listened to all of this now. As expected, it's pretty good.

I remember meeting a 'famous' internal martial artists once and they said something along the lines of.... "all this being one with the opponent stuff is just bullshit"....

I agree with them... except when it isn't.

Shamanism is a practical set of techniques. Towards the end of the podcast Damon shares a practical 'how to', so this isn't all just theory.

thanks Graham, sounds interesting and will give it a listen to

[greytowhite]

Thanks Graham, I'm downloading now.

[Michael]

Listened to it, great talk. Thanks again for posting this.

[GrahamB]

It's Joe you need to thanks for getting Damon to do this - can't have been easy, I can tell you!

I think they've already got a few more episodes recorded, so when they launch on iTunes in Nov there will be more available straight away.

Regarding podcast:

I wanted to related this back to XingYi a bit - The first step on the path - I suspect Damon's word "Chalicity" is a made up word - 'chalace-like', presumably, (although it's possible it's an ancient word that did/does exist. I don't know.) but one of the main points was emptying yourself like the proverbial empty cup.




Anyway, I was thinking about this 'first step' in relation to XingYi, which as "San Ti Shi" is the foundation of Xingyi.

If you look at a popular Zhan Zhuang posture I think of the hold the ball one:





I mean, it's right there - chalice-like!

Also, if you look at ancient esoteric traditions like Mithraism the first step (Damon talks about 7 steps in the podcast) is Corax which is represented by 3 symbols. One of which..... is the cup or chalice.



Who's up for a quest for the Holy Grail?

Note: I'm not saying XingYi has to have anything to do with Shamanism necessarily, but it's there if you want to look for it - lol

[KEND]

Didn't get around to reading the article but agree that shamanism was the precursor of the religions and energy methods. I studied with Michael Harner and others and it gave me considerable insight into altered states of consciousness and the energy composition of the body. The Emei [chigong] system I also studied was said to have been derived from shamanic practices, being modified along the way by Taoist and Buddhist methods. Internal styles such as Hsing Yi require a good level of internal development to be practiced at an advanced level and shamanic practices will certainly help bring this about.

[yeniseri]

Xingyi has always been straight up direct and to the point in training, functional martial utility and outcome!
Adding anything to it would be disastrous

[GrahamB]

Xingyi has always been straight up direct and to the point in training, functional martial utility and outcome!
Adding anything to it would be disastrous

Yes, you understand completely. Nothing to see here - keep on moving friend.

P.s. Judo!

[Strange]

another advantage of zz is that it helps to reduce unnecessary and superfluous thinking and/or analysis
that does not add to your strength, connectedness and internal understanding, etc.

no need to see and think about too many unnecessary thing that waste time

[Doc Stier]

From the very beginning of my study and practice of Chinese IMA's in the early 1960's, I was repeatedly told that anything and everything related to the more subtle and profound operations of the deep subconscious mind was the domain of every authentic 'internal' art. Thus, I was also told that the exploration of such diverse methods as meditation, contemplative prayer, self-hypnosis, auto-suggestion, verbal affirmation, mental visualization, etc, could potentially enhance the energetic affects of IMA form set training, chi-kung practices, and so forth.

Nearly 20 years later, through a totally unexpected and serendipity opportunity, I became an apprentice to an Ojibwa/Chippewa Native American medicine shaman while living on the LCO Indian Reservation in northern Wisconsin. I was quite surprised to discover that virtually all of the above mentioned methods of deeper mental cultivation were incorporated within the Ojibwa Midewiwin Grand Medicine Lodge. Very fascinating and intriguing!

[Strange]

yes all is related, depending on the degree
study all and sundry, except studying chinese classics
waste time going one very biiiiigggggg round, taking very long time
then some back to say chinese ma not effective, cannot use on the street, like dancing only, etc...

[GrahamB]

That's very cool Gary!

[Overlord]

Firstly people say no ZZ, it doesn't make sense~ it's BS...
But now we have oujia board here people are eargly to intermingle with Xinyi~
Yes, ZZ makes no sense, shamanism makes perfect sense~
What sort of sorcery is this?
Why walk in thorns instead of safe footpath?
Amazing~
Don't get me wrong, shamanism has it's role but to do with Xy?
Come on~