GrahamB wrote:I'm still waiting for you to give an actual "how to"
When I was poor and failing school to practice Tai Chi, I had finally figured it all out, and my qi began to flow, and I had a number of surreal experiences during the process of nailing down what the practical physical processes (i.e. what my intention should be) behind 'doing it right'.
Over the years I began to realize that
about 1 in 50 to 1 in 100 people who were
teaching tai chi in my city were capable of doing what I had figured out. The question then becomes, I actually damaged my life to get this kind of idea, what are you willing to do in order to get it? It's frivolous for me to say that if you spend six hours a day doing your forms you will get it, because that is not what you are capable of doing. what you are really asking (me) is how to avoid all the mistakes you have to go through in order to get to the golden mountain within. Well I can tell you it isn't easy even if you have a shortcut, essentially it is something (which I believe) you generally have to be shown -- and before you can be shown you have to put in some amount of effort. That being said, I used to fantasize that I would charge some amount of money for the information, say, $5,000 or $10,000. After all, it's worth it, I would tell myself. I was just placing some value on the knowledge and the skills I had acquired in order to somehow value them. How naieve I was, how young.
Nowadays, I'm actually very well off and my idea of what 'value' means in terms of life, what people want to do with their life, how they live their life, career and living choices, etc. and I would value this knowledge somewhere closer to $50,000. I.E. this knowledge is worth about $40,000 or $50,000. The problem is, those who balk, don't really understand that in the first place any one who has gotten lucky with a career has this money but people who have devoted themselves to practice have not; so in the very first place what value this knowledge is and what it represents is EITHER the hard work it takes to get to that point, OR, if it is possible to get some kind of short cut, the bare minimum time and effort it takes to get to the entry point (the door) PLUS the tuition fee/discipleship fee/instruction fee (if we take this as westerners where 'discipleship' just means i'll teach you without holding anything back but minus the social bullshit we as westerners don't really understand or grasp anyway).
You see in the end none of what I picked up will ever help me in my life. I'm not planning on fighting in any wars or battles. I will likely never be mugged or robbed due to certain factors I won't get into right just here, so what I mean is, in general I will likely never use my art. There will be no event for which I am remembered. The only reason I will be remembered if at all is because I started the line or lineage I have started and that is it. So what is all this useful for? Nothing.
If you don't understand and you want to understand I am telling you straight, that you will understand if you devote the time and effort it takes to go from point A to point C via point B. However there is a shorter way. Collect around $50,000 and give me a message. I am not saying give it all to me. But you are going to need living accommodations and food while you are studying with me. The rest will be your fee -- most of it, probably, depending on a few things, which you will learn (which I will teach you). Hint: I am not asking for money I am trying to express to you the time-and-life value you will need to sacrifice to even begin learning this stuff. $50,000 is probably cheap, over one's lifetime.
The thing is if you are not willing to value it at this level (at a
minimum) I seriously and honestly have to ask you, what is this to you anyways? Just a hobby? A curiosity? How far do you want to go here and for what purpose? I have been here for a while now and the whole knowing-the-people-here thing works in reverse too, now I know you a lot better than when I first came here and frankly I don't think you have what it takes to get to where I am in the art and I am at a disgustingly low level myself.
What I have learned should be summed up more closely, not as some kind of secret or how-to guide but that martial arts is a career and lifestyle choice and if you have not made the choice to get on that kind of bandwagon you are just a hobbyist and you shouldn't expect to get too far. That is just the reality of the whole thing, as sad and depressing as it is. If you can't devote the majority of your time to the art or you are unable to afford the true value of it's instruction you are not really ready to learn it and you will end up failing to grasp the art and certain concepts anyways. It's a sort of psychological thing -- you cannot learn it if you do not place great value on it.
For you and anyone, if you want this art you must do more than simply desire it or study it in your free time. It is inconceivable to me, you see, that someone would fail to 'get it', having put the time in [edit: with the proper instruction and an open mind -- ppl can easily practice for decades and not improve if they don't accept the teachings].
From here I guess we could continue by discussing, how badly do you want this stuff, or have you already given up and decided to go down some other road?