the rum soaked fist: internal martial arts forum

It looks I only posted four times under my old username, TWOCIRCLES, after the 2008 server change, and for some reason I cannot get it to reactivate. But, I was quite active on the RSF forum before that.

I am Richard Johnson. I practice principally Chen Taijiquan, some meditations and gongs associated with my martial trainings. I also love to dig into MA history.

When I was formerly on the forum I had worked as a postural body worker for 20 years or so. Since then and a primary reason I became inactive, I returned to graduate school and earned a Masters degree in Exercise Science - Biomechanics at the U of Arkansas and a doctoral candidacy in Kinesiology concentrated in Sports Biomechanics at Auburn U. Unfortunately, money, time, and my wife’s patience ran out, so my dissertation for my PhD is unfinished. However, I have started a consulting firm, TruKinetix to help athletes and others improve their daily life and performance by improving their dynamic posture and applying some anatomical quirks and skills I have learned from Chen Taijiquan depending on sport. A pandemic and long-haul recovery has presented significant challenges to growing my clientele.

I am glad to have my fist soaked in rum once again.

Hello, I'm Ollie Smith. I'm primarily teaching Bagua, Xingyi and some Taiji from the UK. My teacher is Master Luo De Xiu of Taiwan, and I still get to see him a couple of times a year since I moved back to the UK in 2010.

I've always been attracted to Daoism and keep meaning to read more about it. If anyone could recommend an easy-to-read book, that would be great.

The Moral Dragon wrote:Hello, I'm Ollie Smith. I'm primarily teaching Bagua, Xingyi and some Taiji from the UK. My teacher is Master Luo De Xiu of Taiwan, and I still get to see him a couple of times a year since I moved back to the UK in 2010.

I've always been attracted to Daoism and keep meaning to read more about it. If anyone could recommend an easy-to-read book, that would be great.

It doesn't get any easier or better than Benjamin Hoff's The Tao of Pooh.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Tao_of_Pooh

Good afternoon everyone I'm new to the website and I hope everyone is having a good day. I probably won't post a ton but I have always enjoyed practicing martial arts in various forms in my wee 35 years of knocking around. I am looking for a community to join and keep an ear to the ground with IMA stuff.

Background in some external arts as a kid (shout out to Hwa Rang Do in Downey CA in the early 90s being slightly crazy times). Moved to PA and wrestled partially in middle school and all through high school with some Lehigh Valley/Pennsyltucky kids who worked on farms all day and could generally mop the floor with you lmao.

Spent my college years drinking lots of rum, and as an adult I've enjoyed taking Yang Tai Chi classes in NYC (CK Chu) getting into everything from meditation, chi kung, nei kung, empty hand forms and weapons, grappling chi na stuff, push hands, silk reeling, posture training, BREATHING, little bit of fighting and drills, and just having some plain old fun. I'm big into the kinesthetics and body mechanics of it all for the most part, and love to work on a heavy bag. I genuinely enjoy the bitter.

Absolute noob when it comes to anything with professional fighting or even in old movies and TV, or even a lot of history of the arts; always much to learn. Moved back to my home state of PA couple of months ago, specifically to South Philly, and I'm going to check out a local place here for Chen Tai Chi (taiji?) from the Chen Yu line.

I don't care too much about the styles or even spelling frankly so much as the process of internal body connection/feel, root, breath power, knowing myself, and developing good internal states through proper conditioning, sticking, etc. That said I see videos of Chen Yu doing a single whip and there's a lot more going on (or not???) than say watching Adam Mizner do a single which which is more of what I recognize. As long as it gets the job done? Greek to me I guess (learning!).

Thanks for coming to my xTED Talk.

Hi, my user name says it all. Started out in a CMC style in Vancouver decades ago with a guy called Steve Maliaris(RIP), but it's been Wu style since then. I do dabble in some other martial arts to give me new ideas and to combat complacency.

welcome! and hope you guys will comment a lot

Hello. I am Walton. I am a complete newbie to training in Chinese Martial Arts, though I have limited Martial Arts training. Here to read and learn more about Internal Martial Arts, and hopefully find a school.