Slo-Flo: Christian Alternative to Taiji

[Andy_S]

What it says on the box:

Kick stress and get in shape with Slo Flo! Slo Flo is the Christian Alternative to Tai Chi using movements from the Yang Long Series combined with sentences of praise and worship in American Sign Language. Slo Flo gets rid of stress by rooting your feet, relaxing your mind and edifying your spirit. It is pleasant to do but also amazingly effective as a fitness system for anyone from beginners just getting into shape, to elite athletes. Slo Flo is a powerful cross-training activity for flexibility, proper body mechanics and mental preparation for competitive athletes or just for the battles of life.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C-I4OU1R ... re=related

And there is more where that came from:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qq98Zo8TRYk&NR=1

Bit of a puker all round if you ask me - why do Christians need an 'alternative' to Taiji? There is nothing inherently religious in the practice.

Or do such peeps do everthing in a Christian manner" - eg "On Water: A Christian approach to walking;" "Five Thousand: A Christian Approach to Baking Bread and Frying Fish." "Do the Crucifix! Gymnastics for Christians," etc, etc.

Still, given that Alex was asking about spirituality in MA on the main board, I suppose this is a legitimate approach for the seriously religious. (And yes, I think these people would indeeed consider their religion to be spiritual)

[Strange]

her her her
is there like also light and heavy flo? what about eddie's evenflo?

[Mut]

ummmmm....... ok then....

[WongYing]

Isn't there a plug for heavy flow ?

[Dmitri]

More targeted marketing... nothing new under the sun.

Some are apparently already practicing it, too!



They could have done a much better job with hand positions though... I would include pressing palms together in front of chest, raising both hands to the sky, drawing crosses in the air, etc. Would sell a lot better IMO.

[alexsuffolk]

It all comes down wanting to feel justified in one's religious choice through confirmation of its symbols - rather than using the exercise to directly EXPERIENCE that which the symbols point to.

It totally missed the point.

[cdobe]

My favourite posture is Single Scourge

[cdobe]

Piquan

[mrtoes]

It all comes down wanting to feel justified in one's religious choice through confirmation of its symbols - rather than using the exercise to directly EXPERIENCE that which the symbols point to.

It totally missed the point.

Totally agree.

Personally, when I think of spirituality within religion I think of the Sufis, or the Taize. Still, I suppose at least they're getting exercise.

Matthew.

[Bill]

Piquan

Us Catholics have renamed it the "Heavenly Palm".

[Doc Stier]

The Slo-Mo gig passes from the ridiculous to the absurd. While I understand that these folks may be members of specific Fundamentalist Christian church organizations which erroneously view anything and everything born in Asian culture as incompatible with their religious beliefs, and perhaps even inherently evil as well, their incredible ignorance of what Tai-Chi Chuan is really all about is astounding nonetheless!

I can say from personal experience with these kinds of prejudices, that it is far quicker and easier to simply inform such folks that Tai-Chi Chuan has nothing whatsoever to do with religious dogma or practices, but is practiced instead for totally unrelated reasons and benefits. In the event that they choose to continue believing otherwise, it is completely their problem alone. I choose not to make it my problem. Next!

Any attempt to re-package Tai-Chi, Yoga, Meditation, or any other art of non-Western origin in order to make these practices seem more acceptable to narrow minded individuals, essentially validates their misinformed prejudices from the start.

[Dmitri]

I'm surprised nobody adapted bagua from some pagan heretical "8 gates" to the holy 6 corners of the star of David.

The various "adapt a martial art for a religion" markets await you, MA entrepreneurs!!

[alexsuffolk]

2nd Pope Piquan was much better, sunk elbow and more through the back force, see why he got the job!

[klonk]

Well, I don't like what I see, above, of Slo-Flo, but for another reason. It trivializes some aspects of the gospel by naming taiji moves after them, and describes the whole practice in over-spiritual terms.

It is understandable, though, to want to make a clear separation between Christian beliefs and the lurking power pantheism behind BAD taiji. I refer to the lin kong jin nonsense which is, plainly, a superstitious aberration. When offering things to the public it is well to make a big separation from what you don't endorse.

As for GOOD taiji, there is still some chance that the classical theory used to describe it will be taken for more than what it is and entails. Westerners are prone to do this. Here again you don't want to seem to promote something that leads to misunderstanding.

In my own case, I am not a pantheist and look at the classical theory of a universally enabling life force as reflecting a cultural and religious context in which the idea arose. I do not believe it but respect it, if that makes any sense. If it is true, it is certainly an incomplete description of 'things unseen.' It is not at all a complete analog for the idea of spirit (breath, pnuema, ruach) as a Christian would look at it, though it may share some similarities and even some sources of inspiration through experience.

So, while I think there is a reason for Christians to scrutinize some spiritual overtones attached to taiji, to make sure they are not misleading anyone, or misleading themselves, I think it could be done better, much better, than what I just saw. In fact, I disliked the Slo-Flo promo a good deal.

[Michael]

Wholy Fit is out of Houston, so there's another option for Zhong Kui seeking a kwoon.