Tzu's Thirteen Treatises on Tai Ch'i Ch'uan and...

[Guest guest]

Dear Ken,

 

I will have to read trough all your letters to see the names of the numerous books that you either mention and or recommend.

 

I happen to have the English translation Cheng Tzu's Thirteen Treaties on Tai Ch'i Ch'uan will read it again, and again...

 

Either way what comes to mind is the term you mention one presumably a professor of yours or colleague often says:

 

Invest in Lost

 

Admittedly I am not sure what you mean?

 

example I need to both develop Chinese medical Language "my" qi gong and Tai Chi Ch'uan practice.

 

These days these fields and arts ought to be thought and transmitted by a master-teacher. Read somewhere a Case history by Steven Clavey that was referring to a wrong qi gong practice leading to a disharmony (I can not remember the case history per se) but he stated that the professor mention it is "ludicrous" (maybe not an exact quote) to practice qi gong on your own. In the preface to a book written by two authors one western psychiatrics whom the name I forgot (sorry) and the other author Bob Flaws about Chinese medical psychiatric (I think the title is such), they mention that a fifth mental disorder (or cause there of) can be incorrect qi gong practice.

 

However these things must have started from somewhere namely the impulse of the persons wanting to "do something".

What I mean is that all the forms and stands have been developed some of those that developed surely wouldn't not have any predecessors.

 

Thus how can I learn in my own time?

 

Now there are some people that claim of doing Tai Chi Chuan and or Qi Gong here in Guatemala.

 

They are in my opinion abusing and mis-representing these arts (that I admittedly do not understand completely), simply because they have no real know how nor knowledge of the contexed these arts-sciences developed and as to why and so forth. They are directing there work to a very concentrated sector of the population and quite frankly they are racists in there words and deeds. I do not know how much Qi Gong is suppose to develop an "penetrated illuminated Shen1 (body-person)" but there attitude in my opinion do not coincide or rather is not conducive to develop-cultivate true qi.

 

 

 

Hence any comments as to practice and (try) to develop these practices safely and efficiently?

 

Unfortunately I can not recommend many books to you Ken or any others for that matter, although for a change of read I highly recommend the Pop Wuj - paper/matt Counsel/meeting one of the few written sources from the early times of the beginning of the Spanish invasion in Guatemala (Since a catholic priest order a book burning and no mercy for any book or written material, surly a strange way of showing love). the book is sometimes referred to as the book-bible- of The Kichees. However to call it a bible is an obvious abuse of "intercultural" practices. Maybe one could say it is both a historical and a divination book at the same time. If it was a bible it would be interesting to contrast it with the notion that someone called Eve came out of the rib of Dave; Pop Wuj claim that the goods failed in there attempts to make the humans until the "grandmothers grand mother" mould out of corn mass the first humans as we know them today, maybe it is worth stating that Indigenous Guatemalan Cosmovision claims that the Black-Red-White-Yellow Corn represent the human "faces" on earth. Corn may possible have the same or similar importance as Rice may have in China and Big Mack in USA (JOKE, JOKE...).

 

The concept of time is different in many aspects to Guatemalan functioning, many people here are of the opinion that somehow the ancestors are "annoyed" when illness and or life is "failer-fracaso", which seams to imply both events and aspects to life or life at large which seams to be due to the most offensive "deed" to "ancestors" (or by ancestors?)

 

Many Aj'qii'ab and or other Maya healers "claim" to be suffering from a particular disease before they accept the vocation of healing(which is also usually determine by once nahual), others have an strong need to burn candles on particular days related to once Nahual (what nahual can be translated as in English not sure yet) but it is related both to the Calendar Round, which in turns consists of many calendars that at some stage-point-phase interact (as oppose to over act).

 

I personally do not to above world view nor can I say that I understand it...

 

Why am I mentioning this maybe because Rory in a letter asked for some "case samples" I thought that some back ground information would possibly be interesting. Also the book translated by Dennis Tedlock is deemed the "most appropriate" translation of Pop Wuj thus far, although they use the transcript Popol Wuj which now appears to be a "print" error somewhere along the history of the Pop Wuj.

 

As for Chinese medicine Ken I think you mention not having Red Knowing practice by Judith Fariqhua, maybe for some one like you it is not necessary since you have (X's years of primary experience in China) however the book is excellent and comes highly recommended to any one (in my opinion).

 

Marco

 

[Guest guest]

Marco,

 

Here's a little quote from Professor Cheng on " investing in Loss "

 

 

...To learn T'ai Chi Ch'uan, it is first necessary to learn to invest

in loss.....To invest in loss is to permit others to use force to

attack while you don't use even the slightest force to defend

yourself.. "

 

Hope this helps.

 

~Fernando

 

 

 

, " Marco " <bergh@i...> wrote:

> Dear Ken,

> Either way what comes to mind is the term you mention one presumably

a professor of yours or colleague often says:

>

> Invest in Lost

>

> Admittedly I am not sure what you mean?

>