300. The Baguazhang Taoist Path Vs Mopai, Part 3: Are The 72 Levels Achievable? The Way Through Baguazhang

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302. I am a real Baguazhang Kungfu master… 36:09

50 weeks پیش36:09

36:09

Yes. It is true. Through Baguazhang 八卦掌 journeying along the Taoist path, I am what I am: A real kungfu master and people like to call me Shifu 師傅 as a mark of respect. But… while it is a great honour, it comes with its own challenges like NOT abandoning this life for one of seclusion in the mountains like a lot of Taoists 道者. Or whether or not to continue podcasting, especially in light of the changes just around the corner regarding it. Anyways, there will always be Baguazhang 八卦掌 practice ❤️…

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301. Baguazhang Taoist Cultivation – The urban path (19): How to measure your Qi 氣 ? 22:29

1 year پیش22:29

22:29

On the one hand this episode could be another one about Mopai. But in the end I went back to what is really important: Baguazhang. It starts off with that age old question of how a person can measure qi? And the it goes somewhere else. Hey! It’s a Saturday and the garden path leads to where it wants to go. So sit back and relax into it. Enjoy ☺️…

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300. The Baguazhang Taoist Path vs Mopai, part 3: Are the 72 levels achievable? 15:04

1 year پیش15:04

15:04

Let’s get real: Are the 72 levels of Mopai achievable? And how do you you know you have achieved any one of those levels? 🧐 Hmmmm….. ☶

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299. The Baguazhang Taoist Path vs Mopai, part 2: Is it a martial art? 7:20

1 year پیش7:20

7:20

Now this is an important question: Is Mopai a martial art? It reads like one in the book. And it is the source of much of the “qualified” criticism about it. Of which… I answer the question. The problem most people have and don’t want to admit is that they are seeking something that blinds them to the obvious. Something which all the internal martial arts (including Baguazhang) struggle with. ☵…

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298. The Baguazhang Taoist Path vs Mopai, part 1: Qi Cultivation 10:34

1 year پیش10:34

10:34

Recently I read the book ‘The Magus of Java’ by author Kosta Danaos. It is a book about Mopai and its then grandmaster John Chang a.k.a John Baharudin a.k.a. Dynamo Jack from Ring of Fire fame. In part 1, I give a basic description of the difference between Baguazhang and Mopai in how qi is cultivated. ☳…

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297. Baguazhang Taoist Cultivation – The urban path (18): An HK adventure in search of black jade 29:38

1 year پیش29:38

29:38

While in Hong Kong I wanted to do a bit of exploring and eventually I got myself, sort of, lost. Well, not really in the larger scheme of things… but it made for an interesting day out and in the end I managed to score myself a nice new black jade pendant to assist me with my Qi 氣 cultivation while doing Baguazhang 八卦掌. So why black jade? Black jade behaves energetically like a spiritual well. It draws a deposit from all the hard work put into one’s self cultivation through the internal martial arts i.e. neigong 內功, ready to be drawn upon when needed as an extra source of inner vitality.…

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296. Doing Baguazhang in Hong Kong - 在香港做八卦掌 13:56

1 year پیش13:56

13:56

Hello from Hong Kong 香港. In this episode I am recording from my wife’s home town and the birth place of Bruce Lee 李小龍. It’s been an interesting experience thus far doing Baguazhang 八卦掌 and focusing on cultivating my Yin 陰修. I know that most Taoist cultivation practices focus on Yang 陽. But that is for people who’s qi 氣 lacks inner strength. But Baguazhang as an internal martial art is 👉 1) naturally yin focused, and 👉 2) people who do martial arts are already usually full of Yang. Anyway this is a light episode talking about this and that while I am here. So enjoy 😉 PS. If you want to see my pictures of the PakTai temple (Xuanwu Shangdi temple) I visited in Wan Chai 灣仔北帝廟, link up with me on Instagram 📸 👉 baguazhang_ 👈🙂…

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295. Baguazhang Taoist Cultivation – The urban path (17): Original Taoism 道紀 15:33

1 year پیش15:33

15:33

So recently I started my own personal journey of translating the Tao Te Ching 道德經 as part of my own Taoist experience because 1) I wanted to, and 2) because I have noticed discrepancies between what the typical English version says and what the Chinese version says. And it can get frustrating. But do not worry, I won’t be publishing it. But what would like to share in the text is this… While we have essentially two branches of Taoism to choose from: 👉 道家 Taojia (Tao Philosophy) ☳ 👉 道教 Taojiao (Tao Religion) ☶ Neither of these two are mentioned in the Tao Te Ching. The term used in the book is Taoji: 👉 道紀 Taoji (Tao Discipline, practice) ☵ And the term used for a Taoist is Tao-Er. 👉 道者 Taoist, Tao person or Tao expert. Taoji is about practicing it as part of your ordinary everyday life. In the here and now with our lives in whatever situation we find ourselves in. Good and not so good. Okay, maybe your situation is worse but you know what I mean.…

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294. Baguazhang Taoist Cultivation – The urban path (16): How not to do Baguazhang 如何不做八卦掌 16:34

1 year پیش16:34

16:34

Ok… So in this episode titled: How not to do Baguazhang 如何不做八卦掌, I’m letting you know about Neidan Master Damo Mitchell’s audio by the same name. Listen to it. It’s in-depth and worth its weight in gold. It’s about an hour long but if you try to rush it and skip sections, you will miss a great deal of important stuff that will either boost your practice or stop incorrect practices that are holding you back. And before you ask, this is not a team-up with Mitchell.…

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293. Baguazhang Taoist Cultivation – The urban path (15): Living the dream… My ordinary daily life 37:35

۲ years پیش37:35

37:35

Question: What is it like to be a baguazhang Taoist? The answer to that question on the daily life of being a Taoist 道者 or a Baguazhang master 八卦掌大師 is… (drum roll, please) is this: You’re a fucking weirdo. Most people have no idea what you are. Or why you would bother chasing a goal that leads to nowhere. Maybe in Asia somewhere, with its exotic locations, people and spices, it would all make sense. But in the Western world. Not so much. In this podcast I talk about how in daily life nothing much changes. I’m not sure who this podcast is for, but as they say in this city… It is what it is.…

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292. Baguazhang Taoist Cultivation – The urban path (14): The Living Tao 活道 21:22

۲ years پیش21:22

21:22

The urban environment is a tough place to practice, cultivate and master Baguazhang 八卦掌. No matter what people say. And for the most part, it is a lonely path 😩. But here’s the thing: Are you ready to become a Living Tao 活道? Are you ready to become the living embodiment of your craft as it’s ultimate personification? Even if none of us truly knows what that means. 🤔 …It’s time to enter your Wu 無!…

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291. The Way of the Taoist Bagua Master – 道教八卦大師之路 21:08

۲ years پیش21:08

21:08

The way of the Taoist Bagua master is one of resilience. It isn’t for everyone. It’s a lonely 😩 path filled with a lot of hardships. A lot of people think 🤔 that once they become a Taoist or a Baguazhang master, life will be enlightened bliss. Sadly, this not the case. But as my podcast reveals, sometimes while we are down, our trained body just says ‘fuck’em!’ And we keep on doing Baguazhang. I keep forgetting that. With my mind and heart playing havoc with my psyche, my body (on autopilot) simply yet calmly continues with the bagua until the bullshit has passed. 👉 道教八卦大師的方式是韌性!…

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290. Baguazhang Taoist Cultivation – The urban path (13): Environmental Cultivation 14:13

۲ years پیش14:13

14:13

I finally did it and talked about some weird shit involving Baguazhang - environmental cultivation (of the self). And no, I don’t care that to some people it’s total woo-woo! I know my shit and it’s grounded in experience.

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289. Baguazhang Taoist Cultivation – The urban path (12): 德 Inner Power and ‘Street Cultivation’ 12:42

۲ years پیش12:42

12:42

After cultivating 基 Ji, 精 Jing, 氣 Qi, 神 Shen and the 心 Xin (heart-mind) the next cultivation stage is 德 Te (inner power). With the Tao Te Ching 道德經 it is usually referred to as virtue but this a Confucian ideal. And when read as such, it leaves a lot of people confused 😕 ! Te 德 or inner power, as it is more commonly referred to in Taoist language, is a kind of spiritual investment or savings which a person accumulates over time. And the way you grow it is very similar to taking care of your investment portfolio i.e. wealth creation. Anyway, to get a stronger sense of what I’m on about, I strongly recommend the trilogy “Street Cultivation” by fantasy author Sarah Lin. If there was ever a person who instinctually understood it in a modern way, it would be her 😉! It is a very modern take on the wuxia/xianxia genre.…

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288. Baguazhang Taoist Cultivation – The urban path (11): Baguazhang Immortality realized… 32:34

۲ years پیش32:34

32:34

Do you want to be a baguazhang immortal? Do you want to be a baguazhang xian? 1. 仙 2. 僊 3. 仚 4. 㒨 5. 僲 6. 屳 7. 佡 Above are the 7 Chinese characters in which to write the word: Xian. Xian means immortal. And then so much more. In this podcast #288 I discuss their different “deeper” meanings in relation to the #taoist #internal_martial_art #cultivation path of #baguazhang #xian #道 #八卦掌 #八卦 #仙…

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287. Baguazhang Taoist Cultivation – The urban path (10): What is Yi 意? 17:53

۲ years پیش17:53

17:53

For those of you too impatient to listen to my #baguazhang #八卦掌 podcast, yi 意 is your will or intention. That’s it. For the rest of you, I finally delve deeper into the mystical side of baguazhang. This is a stage of Taoist cultivation that’s rarely openly discussed because it’s usually a very private and/or personal journey that a practitioner has to confront alone. I have also added a special message to Frank regarding Bruce. And while I normally don’t get involved in other people’s issues, this one involves Baguazhang directly, so that makes it an ongoing concern for me. Not the issue itself, but rather as part of cultivating their Tao 道……

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286. Baguazhang Taoist Cultivation – The urban path (9) Xin 心… Part 2, going deeper 25:00

۲ years پیش25:00

25:00

My first episode on the Taoist Heart-Mind of Xin 心 (episode 281), doesn’t fair too well with listeners because it’s not the rosy blissful description that people want to hear or experience. But if you are a baguazhang 八卦掌 practitioners or cultivator, you’d be wise to listen because without facing certain experiential truths, it will be nigh impossible to cultivate one’s Yi 意 or come to grasp the full significance of Wu 無. That’s what this episode is about!…

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285. Baguazhang Taoist Cultivation – The urban path (8) Wu 無 9:51

۲ years پیش9:51

9:51

Tonight I’m keeping it short and discussing the mysteries of Wu 無 or nothingness. And in particular I will discuss this Taoist concept through the lens of baguazhang 八卦掌. While in this podcast I provide a few real life examples of what it looks like experientially, the sad fact is for most people those examples are what people try their darnedest to avoid. And that is what makes it so hard as a stage to cultivate.…

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284. Baguazhang Taoist Cultivation – The urban path (7) Cultivating Te 德 or Virtue 24:04

۲ years پیش24:04

24:04

Again and again, it is a repeated comment that in order to cultivate the Taoist path, a practitioner of the way must have virtue or Te 德, or it is all for nought! But what is Te and how do I get some? Is it the same Te as in the Tao Te Ching 道德經？ Yes it is. And as a baguazhang 八卦掌 practitioner I will explain it to you in a way that the urban mind can know it (because you already do) and do something useful with it, without becoming a hermit in the woods.…

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283. Baguazhang Taoist Cultivation – The urban path (6) The practice of Chazen 茶禪 23:23

۲ years پیش23:23

23:23

True Baguazhang 八卦掌 cultivation can produce in the body, over time, trauma in the mind and body. The ritual of practicing Chazen 茶禪 is about more than just mindfulness. Without a way to cleanse ourselves and consolidate our “gains” we can get stuck in our progression in self-cultivation, especially if our Tao 道 is more or less locked into an urban environment. By listening to this podcast, hopefully, the listener will get a better appreciation of my earlier podcasts around the art of making and drinking tea.…

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282. Baguazhang Taoist Cultivation – The urban path (5) Sun Lutang 孫祿堂 27:24

۲ years پیش27:24

27:24

Well, I’m finally doing it and I’m gonna talk about Baguazhang master Sun Lutang 孫祿堂 (1860 – 1933). Disciple of master Cheng Tinghua 程廷華. Master Sun is important because he was the first to produce baguazhang manuals (which are still available today): Baguaquan xue (A study of eight trigrams boxing) published 1916; Baguajian xue (A study of eight trigrams straight sword) published 1927.…

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281. Baguazhang Taoist Cultivation – The urban path (4) Xin 心 28:20

۲ years پیش28:20

28:20

Whether you are a traditional Taoist cultivator or you are ascending through the baguazhang path, there is a stage that must be confronted in order to truly grasp the true significance of what you are doing. And that is the stage of Xin 心. In Taoism it is traditionally referred to as the heart-mind or mind-heart, and is sometimes interchanged with either the stages of Shen 神 or Tao 道. But that is because not everything in Taoism is universally agreed upon. So in this episode, I will talk about my own experiences and how Xin 心 relates to Baguazhang 八卦掌.…

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280. Baguazhang Taoist Cultivation – The urban path (3) 18:23

۲ years پیش18:23

18:23

Revision of the 5 baguazhang cultivation stages of Ji 基, Li 力, Qi 氣, Yi 意 and Shen 神. Actually there are other levels, but for most Baguazhang practitioners these are the most important and exist like a alternative path or version to the Taoist one. Here I discusss the similarities between the two…

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279. Baguazhang Taoist Cultivation – The urban path (2) Ji 基 10:39

۲ years پیش10:39

10:39

Before a person even attempts to cultivate the three Taoist treasures of Jingqishen 精氣神, there is the beginning of Xing 形 or form/shape. The baguazhang equivalent is called Ji 基, and it is the foundation of all that is to come next. In this podcast I introduce the listener to this much neglected stepping stone.…

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278. Baguazhang Taoist Cultivation – The urban path (1) Li, Qi, Yi and Shen 力氣意神 23:01

۲ years پیش23:01

23:01

Taoism has its self cultivation path of the three treasures: Jing Qi Shen 精氣神. And sometimes they add a fourth level of Tao 道. The internal martial art of baguazhang 八卦掌 also has its parallel equivalents of Li, Qi, Yi and Shen 力氣意神. In this podcast I will be discussing (lightly) what they are and how they match up to the Taoist version of things.…

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277. Is doing Xingyiquan 形意拳 the same as doing Baguazhang 八卦掌? 19:44

۲ years پیش19:44

19:44

For the final podcast episode of 2022, I ask this simple question: Is doing Xingyiquan the same as doing Baguazhang internal martial arts? Both styles are Taoist in origin and both styles fall under the category of internal martial arts, but are they the same? And the answer to both questions is NO! While FaJin 化勁 may be a Xingyiquan and Taichi concept, it does not exist in baguazhang philosophy or training. What we have is called Jingong 勁功, and you can learn all about it in my book: The Baguazhang Jin of War.…

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276. Must I be a Taoist to do Baguazhang? 21:27

۲ years پیش21:27

21:27

In this episode I answer the question: Must I be or do I need to be a Taoist to do or practice the internal martial art of baguazhang? Listen to it, to learn further on what you signed up for. Some of you already have your answer but for others it may be enlightening, even if only in a tiny hum-drum sort of way. 🙂…

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275. Baguazhang ritualism versus baguazhang habits 19:15

۲ years پیش19:15

19:15

What’s the difference between having rituals and having habits in Baguazhang? And does it affect my neigong practice?

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274. Is doing Baguazhang 八卦掌 the same as doing Taichiquan 太極卷? 14:51

۳ years پیش14:51

14:51

Both are internal martial arts styles, but is doing baguazhang the same as doing taichi? And the answer is… NO! A lot of people, who don’t know any better, make this mistake all the time. If you are listening to this podcast, you probably already know the difference but it doesn’t hurt to go over it again.…

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273. Baguazhang & ‘Chronicles of Tao’ continued… 21:14

۳ years پیش21:14

21:14

The biggest question I get asked repeatedly is: Is the story real or true? And that’s a good question to ask and it all depends on what you are actually wanting to experience. Let the Tao 道 be your guide.

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300. The Baguazhang Taoist Path vs Mopai, part 3: Are the 72 levels achievable?