Dependent Origination

Your DNA goes back to the emergence of life on this planet about 4 billion years ago when simple self replicating molecules occurred. Every part of evolution after that is still inside of you. You have died and been reborn millions of times to become who you are. Every time you feel small or worthless remember how you got here and what you’re made of. It’s all in your DNA, it’s there for you to call on when needed. Dig deep, meditate on every life inside of you, not just human, but every life form, through mammal to reptile right … Continue reading Dependent Origination

What’s Missing With Mental Health?

Are you wanted?How do you know?Talk is cheapOnly actions tell truthDo your opinions count?Do they have any meaning to others?Do you help?Is it paid any regard?Do you support?Is it appreciated?When you speakDoes anyone pay attention?Are others just ‘putting up’ with you?Do you feel ‘trapped’ in any way?Can you change it?If you can’t, can you accept it?It’s important to be in the right placeWith the right peopleOr life loses its meaning and purposeYou feel isolatedImprisonedDepressedAnd when people talk about ‘mental health’They often fail to understandHow many people give upStop taking medicationDon’t seek medical help for conditionsAre happy to just ‘let go’It’s … Continue reading What’s Missing With Mental Health?

Yang Family (Yeung Gar) Tai Chi Chuan

Historical facts about the founder of the Yang family (Yeung Gar) style of Tai Chi Yang Lu Chan are varied and often disputed, but he did teach in the Imperial Palace and also many high level dignitaries. I would speculate that this contributed to his notable skill and his ability to deal with opponents utilising the Tai Chi skills of a ‘soft front and a strong back’, often referred to as ‘a sharp needle, or iron bar wrapped in soft cotton’. He needed to be effective but retain a dignified approach, negating an opponent’s force with a blend of skill … Continue reading Yang Family (Yeung Gar) Tai Chi Chuan

You’re Enchanted!

You’re living inside a witches ‘glamour’ spell. You’re enchanted. Put inside a meat vehicle and subject to the spell’s glamour, you think that life is precious, you think it’s full of love, joy and happiness, not realising that your body is gradually rotting, will get sick and die and you will not be able recognise those glamours without an equal amount of anxiety, anger, unhappiness and pain. How do you deal with this? Life is movement, so sit still, breathe deep and you can get outside the spell, you can see the illusion and when seen, the glamour disappears… Continue reading You’re Enchanted!

Karate in the 70’s

When people ask what it was like doing karate in the 70’s, it was: David Carradine, Bruce Lee and Saturday ‘late night’ movie Kung Fu mystic and magic. Changing rooms stank of tiger balm, spray starch, cold gi’s being warmed under hand dryers, hai karate aftershave and old spice. No one said ‘sparring’, it was ‘fighting’, no gloves or padding and full contact. Club rivalry, ‘visits’ and ‘challenges’ were commonplace. Emotions of fear, dread, camaraderie and friendship made from blood, sweat and never any tears. Pain, permanent black eyes, cracked and broken ribs, noses, broken teeth, hands, fingers, toes, feet … Continue reading Karate in the 70’s

Where Did We Go Wrong?

I was watching the BBC series ‘Human’ about our evolution and wondering when we changed from living in harmony with the planet and became the disharmonious, damaging, self inflicting, nasty virus we are today. It seems that it was around ten thousand years ago when we started to change from roaming hunter gathers who only took the minimum of what they needed when they needed it to settling in one place and ‘farming’. We altered, bred and farmed crops and animals to harvest and kill for food and stored the extra ‘for a rainy day’ changing our society and the … Continue reading Where Did We Go Wrong?

3 Qualities Of A Good Martial Artist

Do you want to know whether someone has a deep understanding of their martial art? Here’s 3 things to look for: Are they ‘in’ or ‘on’ their feet and legs? If they are ‘standing on their bones’ they can be easily pushed over, a skilful practitioner is balanced and can drop their weight into the soft tissue in the legs down to the feet by softening down through the body, and push directionally from there. Are their arms driven from the waist? Flapping the arms around is weak, but if driven from the feet, legs and then the waist, it … Continue reading 3 Qualities Of A Good Martial Artist

Pain & Fatigue

You can’t understand if you haven’t been there.You need to walk a mile in their shoes.Or shoe.Or wheel if you can’t walk.You wake up more exhausted and in more pain than you went to bed.Too exhausted or in too much pain to shower or bath.Nausea means you feel like you’re moving when you’re still.Electric lights hurt your brain.Flashing lights and movement give you vertigo.Loud noises hurt your ears.Clothes hurt your skin, any touch is painful.Food hurts your stomach.Any medication has side effects that can make it worse.Pity hurts.Helpful suggestions hurt.Help not requested hurts.Most give up trying to get government help, … Continue reading Pain & Fatigue

Training With Pain & Fatigue

Training this morning with chronic fatigue, chronic arthritis, only one leg and sprained my neck and chest yesterday using a transfer board at an awkward angle to get from wheelchair to car. Was obviously seated, moving with care to not make anything worse and was using my breathing to open and then close all cavities, tissue and joints in the body filling them with energy to assist healing and reduce pain. Turning disadvantage into advantage was using my hip bones against the chair as my ‘feet’ and pain makes me extremely focused, mindful and concentrated, and the sensitivity makes me … Continue reading Training With Pain & Fatigue

We Are Still Quadrupeds

We are still quadrupeds. We spiral outward in our feet to rotate the femur in the hip socket to open the hips, lifting the pelvic floor and bowing the legs and lower spine. We spiral inwards with our hands to rotate the humerus in the shoulder socket in the opposite direction to the hips to raise the upper back completing both the spine and arm bows. These actions complete and connect the 3 bows (spine, arms and legs) also connecting feet and hands. Humans are still built as quadrupeds so our hips and shoulders work together in opposite directions to … Continue reading We Are Still Quadrupeds