the rum soaked fist: internal martial arts forum

klonk wrote:Fight sports are big money enterprises. If LKJ were a thing, fight promoters would be scouring the world to find it. Not that it would be used openly, for that would spoil the show. It would be used in just that little moment when it would be really fortuitous if my opponent's balance went just a sixteenth farther back toward his heel...

The lkj guy would actually be a corner coach

oragami_itto wrote:

klonk wrote:Fight sports are big money enterprises. If LKJ were a thing, fight promoters would be scouring the world to find it. Not that it would be used openly, for that would spoil the show. It would be used in just that little moment when it would be really fortuitous if my opponent's balance went just a sixteenth farther back toward his heel...

The lkj guy would actually be a corner coach

Oooh, excellent point!

Following this thread made me think of two things...

First, the old story by Carl Sagan called "The Dragon In My Garage." Here it is:

"A fire-breathing dragon lives in my garage"

Suppose I seriously make such an assertion to you. Surely you'd want to check it out, see for yourself. There have been innumerable stories of dragons over the centuries, but no real evidence. What an opportunity!

"Show me," you say. I lead you to my garage. You look inside and see a ladder, empty paint cans, an old tricycle--but no dragon.

"Where's the dragon?" you ask.

"Oh, she's right here," I reply, waving vaguely. "I neglected to mention that she's an invisible dragon."

You propose spreading flour on the floor of the garage to capture the dragon's footprints.

"Good idea," I say, "but this dragon floats in the air."

Then you'll use an infrared sensor to detect the invisible fire.

"Good idea, but the invisible fire is also heatless."

You'll spray-paint the dragon and make her visible.

"Good idea, but she's an incorporeal dragon and the paint won't stick."

And so on. I counter every physical test you propose with a special explanation of why it won't work.

Now, what's the difference between an invisible, incorporeal, floating dragon who spits heatless fire and no dragon at all? If there's no way to disprove my contention, no conceivable experiment that would count against it, what does it mean to say that my dragon exists? ... Claims that cannot be tested, assertions immune to disproof are veridically worthless, whatever value they may have in inspiring us or in exciting our sense of wonder. (p 171).

Second, a story I heard about a Tibetan lama. This particular Lama met an Indian yogi when he first arrived from Tibet. The yogi said to the lama, let me show you how I can levitate during meditation - it took me 20 years to perfect. This yogi went into meditation and started levitating just as he said he could. Once he finished, the lama who had been patiently sitting there watching, said to him: "you have wasted 20 years of your life learning a useless trick. You should have spent this time meditating on compassion. Compassion is far more useful!"

Best,
Greg

Greg J wrote:
Second, a story I heard about a Tibetan lama. This particular Lama met an Indian yogi when he first arrived from Tibet. The yogi said to the lama, let me show you how I can levitate during meditation - it took me 20 years to perfect. This yogi went into meditation and started levitating just as he said he could. Once he finished, the lama who had been patiently sitting there watching, said to him: "you have wasted 20 years of your life learning a useless trick. You should have spent this time meditating on compassion. Compassion is far more useful!"

Best,
Greg

I like that one, thanks for sharing

Greg J wrote:Following this thread made me think of two things...

First, the old story by Carl Sagan called "The Dragon In My Garage." Here it is:

"A fire-breathing dragon lives in my garage"

Suppose I seriously make such an assertion to you. Surely you'd want to check it out, see for yourself. There have been innumerable stories of dragons over the centuries, but no real evidence. What an opportunity!

"Show me," you say. I lead you to my garage. You look inside and see a ladder, empty paint cans, an old tricycle--but no dragon.

"Where's the dragon?" you ask.

"Oh, she's right here," I reply, waving vaguely. "I neglected to mention that she's an invisible dragon."

You propose spreading flour on the floor of the garage to capture the dragon's footprints.

"Good idea," I say, "but this dragon floats in the air."

Then you'll use an infrared sensor to detect the invisible fire.

"Good idea, but the invisible fire is also heatless."

You'll spray-paint the dragon and make her visible.

"Good idea, but she's an incorporeal dragon and the paint won't stick."

And so on. I counter every physical test you propose with a special explanation of why it won't work.

Now, what's the difference between an invisible, incorporeal, floating dragon who spits heatless fire and no dragon at all? If there's no way to disprove my contention, no conceivable experiment that would count against it, what does it mean to say that my dragon exists? ... Claims that cannot be tested, assertions immune to disproof are veridically worthless, whatever value they may have in inspiring us or in exciting our sense of wonder. (p 171).

Second, a story I heard about a Tibetan lama. This particular Lama met an Indian yogi when he first arrived from Tibet. The yogi said to the lama, let me show you how I can levitate during meditation - it took me 20 years to perfect. This yogi went into meditation and started levitating just as he said he could. Once he finished, the lama who had been patiently sitting there watching, said to him: "you have wasted 20 years of your life learning a useless trick. You should have spent this time meditating on compassion. Compassion is far more useful!"

Best,
Greg

Maybe Sagan believed there was an “reptile spirit” in the basement(underworld). Turn his name Sagan around and you get Nagas. Nagas : Serpent Cult, Serpent Beings. Ties with Tibetan/Indian (lamas/yogis) - https://www.deliriumsrealm.com/nagas/ https://www.thoughtco.com/naga-449846 - Empty Force lead to the strangest places

oragami_itto wrote:

Greg J wrote:
Second, a story I heard about a Tibetan lama. This particular Lama met an Indian yogi when he first arrived from Tibet. The yogi said to the lama, let me show you how I can levitate during meditation - it took me 20 years to perfect. This yogi went into meditation and started levitating just as he said he could. Once he finished, the lama who had been patiently sitting there watching, said to him: "you have wasted 20 years of your life learning a useless trick. You should have spent this time meditating on compassion. Compassion is far more useful!"

Best,
Greg

I like that one, thanks for sharing

Me too.