mixjourneyman wrote:the mental work does not go nearly as deep.
ashe wrote:mixjourneyman wrote:the mental work does not go nearly as deep.
that depends on the structure of your system and the level of understanding of your teacher.
mixjourneyman wrote:Just as a quick side note: I think Taijiquan is a great vehicle for awareness and cultivating calm and mental clarity, but it is not and should not be confused with Buddhist or Daoist meditation, since the mental work does not go nearly as deep.
So thats the only reason I take umbrage with this article.
mixjourneyman wrote:I understand what you are saying.
And for sure taiji can be practiced as qi gong or meditation, but I have been exposed to a lot of charlatain teachers who teach practices that are harmful to the body and the mind and pedal it as spiritual taiji.
Basically we have to separate martial arts from meditation so that we can achieve something in either forum.
Martial arts can be done as meditation, but at that point it becomes meditation and not martial arts.
I do not believe that any martial art was created with spirituality in mind and thats what my original point was.
Martial arts are created to fight and to kill, spirituality becomes a concern later down the line after you have vanquished your enemies and you are in peace time.
mixjourneyman wrote:Franklin, I think we are getting our wires crossed to a certain extent.
To me mindfulness in martial arts is as simple as directing the yi to feel the body and the surroundings you are in.
Religious meditation is an entirely different kettle of fish that involves much more than mindfulness and qi gong.
Also, Ralston is somewhat of a maverick in martial arts society since he combines serious somatic work with his martial arts.
But the somatic work is more commensurate with functionality than specific spiritual practices. By the same token he advocates an "enlightened" attitude towards martial arts. His work is sort of enigmatic and a little bit hard to pin down. I think I will write more later when I have a chance to martial my thoughts.
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