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Old 07-11-2007, 03:19 PM   #1392
David Orange
Dojo: Aozora Dojo
Location: Birmingham, AL
Join Date: Feb 2006
Posts: 1,511
United_States
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Re: Baseline skillset

Quote:
Dan Harden wrote: View Post
Not to get in the middle of you and Mike's love fest.....Your not going to get it from trying to copy some motion of fishermen or silk drawing in a river of even in the Taiji exercise. The motion without mentally moving and connecting things is pointless -other than getting some mild exercise.
I think it's like everything else: there's a source, an inspiration, and then there's development. I don't have the slightest illusion that the surface movement is the inner depth. The problem for me is Mike's changing stories--throw the insult, then, when the proof emerges, disparage it and throw another insult--and all really unnecessary because we did get back to the likelihood that the movement was originally derived from laborers, then refined. So I know that silk reeling is internal and very subtle. Mike just isn't.

Quote:
Dan Harden wrote: View Post
What is connecting and moving is not in "winding your muscles" while pulling on something.
Those comments all relate to Mike's "crude" illustration of what he meant by "pulling" silk as opposed to "reeling" silk--which was just some obfuscation to cover his being caught in a weak spot.

Quote:
Dan Harden wrote: View Post
The winding isn't some "body shape" you take, in motion.
From looking at the videos, it's obvious that it's not just external movement and that that form of movement is very important in tai chi. I have no argument against that.

Quote:
Dan Harden wrote: View Post
When it comes to this topic, don't hate the message because of the messenger.
Not at all. Most of the past several comments have just been chastening the messenger for muddying up the message--and apparently intentionally.

Quote:
Dan Harden wrote: View Post
Try to look at it instead with a joy of learning something new. There's nothing wrong with not knowing a thing or two, right? Even when we learn things by rote, there is always a definable mark of individual accumen. Look forward to breaking new ground and gaining power for yourself in your old age...Hah!
I'm with you there. I've gotten a lot to think about in the last several days. I'm setting up a "nine-palace" post formation in my back yard to work with.

Thanks.

David

"That which has no substance can enter where there is no room."
Lao Tzu

"Eternity forever!"

www.esotericorange.com
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