Martial Development

Martial arts for personal development

Entries Tagged as 'Health'

Master Wang Says: “Taijiquan Sucks”

May 8th, 2008 · 3 Comments

This is a distillation of previous interviews with Master Wang. Original, unedited translations are available at Formosa Neijia (in part) or from the Yiquan eBookstore (in full).
Having traveled across China, I know that Taijiquan has the most practitioners of any martial art. Upon hearing that this boxing method was handed down from Zhang […]

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Tags: Fighting · Health · Tai Chi

Ordosclan, The Grumpy Savant of rec.martial-arts

March 31st, 2008 · 6 Comments

Long before the invention of the blog, and even before the creation of the World Wide Web, there was Usenet. The world’s first electronic social network was established in 1980, and martial artists have been arguing there ever since.
Back in the late 1990s, I started reading the rec.martial-arts newsgroup as most people do, with […]

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Tags: Health · Meditation · Philosophy · Qigong · Tai Chi · Wing Chun

Qigong and Energetic Arts a Danger to Health?

March 29th, 2008 · No Comments

Welcome to the fourth edition of Qigong and Energy Arts Forum, a monthly collection of the best new articles on qigong (chi kung), reiki, kundalini yoga, meditation, and other related disciplines. This edition focuses on the risks and dangers–physical, intellectual, and spiritual–of improper practice.
Army’s New PTSD Treatments: Yoga, Reiki, and Bioenergy by Noah Shachtman […]

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Tags: Health · Meditation · Qigong · Tai Chi · Yoga

The Scientist, The Master and The Deviant: Three Perspectives on Qigong

March 28th, 2008 · 4 Comments

Excerpted from Breathing Spaces: Qigong, Psychiatry, and Healing in China by Nancy N. Chen

Qigong in the Scientific Community
Qigong began to be actively debated within the [Chinese] scientific community during the 1980s, when scientists, especially physicians, sought to legitimate the phenomenon of qi. While popular publications focused on practice or gave life histories of particular masters, […]

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Tags: Health · Psychology · Qigong

Cure Your Sore Lower Back with Tai Chi Ruler

March 16th, 2008 · 1 Comment

Although Tai Chi is an effective treatment for stiffness and lower back pain, the complexity of its forms discourages some from learning the practice.
Fortunately for back pain sufferers, not all Tai Chi forms are long and elaborate. While some traditional forms contain more than one hundred movements, others contain less than a dozen. […]

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Tags: Health · Qigong · Tai Chi · Training Tips · Video

Meditating on Death Increases Happiness, Study Shows

February 19th, 2008 · 1 Comment

Philosophers and scientists have long been interested in how the mind processes the inevitability of death, both cognitively and emotionally. One would expect, for example, that reminders of our mortality—say the sudden death of a loved one—would throw us into a state of disabling fear of the unknown. But that doesn’t happen. If the prospect […]

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Tags: Health · Meditation · Psychology

A Strange Location for Kung Fu Training

February 17th, 2008 · 8 Comments

Credit: maveric2003
Some Americans find the park a strange location to practice Tai Chi, or other martial arts. The Chinese, however, consider it normal behavior.
Visit any Chinese park in the early morning, and you will encounter scores of people conducting their daily exercise regimen; not only kung fu, but also gymnastics, dancing and of course ping-pong. […]

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Tags: Health · Tai Chi · Training Tips · Video

A Letter From a Seattle Tai Chi Exhibitionist

February 14th, 2008 · 7 Comments

A Seattle Weekly reader asks:

Credit: Rod Filbrandt
Dear Uptight Seattleite,
Please explain the compulsion some Seattleites feel to practice tai chi in public. This week on the Seattle-bound run of the Winslow ferry, I observed a middle-aged man practicing tai chi who looked like he was going to mate with the bulkhead, until he almost fell […]

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Tags: Health · Martial Arts Humor · Tai Chi

Chi: Real Energy or Martial Art Myth?

February 2nd, 2008 · 6 Comments

Welcome to the third edition of Qigong and Energy Arts Forum. This main topic of this edition is science and skepticism.
Chi debunked? by Bob Patterson (Striking Thoughts)
Martial Development has a challenge for skeptical martial artists: Prove that chi is scientifically impossible. Naturally, since I consider myself to be an open-minded skeptic and a martial […]

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Tags: Health · Qigong

Two Recession-Proof Investment Picks for 2008

January 25th, 2008 · 5 Comments

My Fellow Investors,
These are perilous times, for even the best of us.
A few short months ago, the market analysts were telling us this would never happen…that the fallout from the banking industry’s irresponsible lending practices would be confined mainly to the housing sector, and our broader economy would continue its gentle ascent.
Folks, the hot-air balloon […]

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Tags: Economics · Health · Martial Arts Humor