Maj. Gen. Albert N. Stubblebine III: The key to all of this…it has nothing to do with bending metal [spoons]…Lord Mercy, if I can do that with my mind, what else can I do? It wasn’t clear whether they thought I was nuts. In any event, the reaction that I got was, “we’re not very interested.”

But as Jon Ronson’s investigation shows, they were in fact very interested. During the last few decades, the United States military has conducted a series of experiments in psychic warfare. On the record, these attempts to create superhuman “warrior monks” for a “First Earth Battalion” were a complete failure. (Off the record, you have no need to know.)

One of the least successful experiments is parodied in the new Hollywood comedy “The Men Who Stare at Goats,” and further documented in a book of the same name. It is also covered in the British documentary “Crazy Rulers of the World”, which you may watch for free below.

It seems that Jon Ronson never asked Major General Stubblebine why he believed that, with enough training, he could walk through walls. The answer, in case you were wondering, is that a few Yogis and Qigong experts have allegedly demonstrated it. He also never questioned how Stubblebine’s coveted army of super-soldiers could possibly bring an end to all war–the most absurd claim in this entire program. (Psychic ability is almost mundane by comparison, and has been covered here previously.)

Update: The YouTube links are dead now, but you can still find the documentary online at Mojvideo.

For almost twenty years, Qi Magazine featured original articles on kung fu, qigong, and other facets of Chinese culture, many written specifically by and for martial artists. (Qi Magazine is not to be confused with Qi Journal, which seems more targeted to the Goji berry set.)

Qi Magazine ceased production in early 2009, and publisher Michael Tse has since opened the archives. Each of the ninety issues is now available for free download in PDF format. Read two issues every week; that should keep you busy until next year.

Through this intensive practice, you progressed rapidly. What experiences and events marked this progress? In what manner was your brain “transformed”?

The first energy transmission I had from Master Chunyi Lin was this flash of light (while my eyes were closed)…very bright, and my whole body filled with this amazing deep bliss. (Chunyi Lin was first healed by Yan Xin and later studied with Yan Xin’s teacher!) When Chunyi Lin walks into the room, you can immediately feel the whole room fill with this magnetic bliss energy.

One day, after a Spring Forest Qigong Level 2 class, Chunyi Lin stared through my body at my right kidney, and I felt this amazing laser bliss right on my kidney. By that point, I knew that Chunyi Lin had profound healing energy.

At the guild meetings, Chunyi Lin would stand in the front of the auditorium and I would see this bright yellow orb of light shooting out of his head.

“I moved 9 times looking for a quiet place, but mundane energy imbalances always intruded…I felt like I had come back from the dead and only consciousness was real.”

As the bliss and electromagnetic energy increased with more and more full-lotus sitting, I realized that there was water flowing from my brain! It was like an electrolysis converting the hydrogen and oxygen in the atmosphere into water through the electromagnetic fields of my third eye. Water poured into my belly, and I realized that this must be the “ambrosia” [described in neidan training manuals]. The top of my skull got soft, and amazingly it started pulsating with electromagnetic energy.

Does the full-lotus meditation posture have any special significance?

Chunyi Lin states that 20 minutes of full-lotus yoga or padmasana (with the ankles up on the thighs, legs crossed, left leg first and right on top) is worth 4 hours of any other meditation practice—if you want to see whether someone is an energy master, just see how long they can sit in full-lotus.

Through my own research, I discovered that yin and yang were originally music ratios—nonwestern music, which uses complementary opposites. (It’s very abstract reasoning, but something I had discovered from my music training while in high school.) I verified that 2:3, the Perfect 5th is Yang and 3:4, the Perfect 4th is Yin. The specific source is in my master’s thesis, “Epicenters of Justice” (2001) which is readable freely online. In short…

Nonwestern music healing works by transducing sound through natural resonance of frequency, to create ultrasound which ionizes the serotonin in the stomach. The more you listen to the source of sound, which is pure consciousness, the more electromagnetic chi energy is created; finally it turns into shen (spirit light). The full-lotus is a tetrahedron—pyramid power—which is composed of eight 2-3-4 triangles.

“I gave my car away. I began eating meat, and dumpster-diving for food. My focus in life was no longer activism; it was qigong.”

In Western science, the equilateral triangle requires the irrational number for geometric magnitude, but in music ratios of complementary opposites–from Pythagorean harmonics and Taoist yin and yang—the full-lotus pressure creates frequency resonance for turning matter into energy. Since the tetrahedron most efficiently creates the yin-yang ratios, the energy creation is fastest there.

How have these experiences affected your outlook on life, and your relationships with other people?

I started having precognitive visions in my full-lotus meditation, but I also was extremely sensitive to the energy imbalances around me. I desperately wanted a quiet place to meditate. I researched intensely all the monasteries around the world, and various other spiritual gurus and masters. I thought that if only I could find a better environment, then I could deepen my meditation. Amazingly I could not find a teacher who seemed on the level of Chunyi Lin—his ability is truly rare.

I moved 9 times looking for a quiet place, but mundane energy imbalances always intruded. I continued taking classes, but not at the same intensity of practice on my part. I stopped my special diet. I felt like I had come back from the dead and only consciousness was real.

My degree was over, and my funding was gone. I gave my car away. I began eating meat, and dumpster-diving for food. My focus in life was no longer activism; it was qigong.

I had no choice about it, and I still am trying to adjust. My experience was similar to that of Wang Liping, who was told to move back into society after his training (in the book “Opening the Dragon Gate“)…only I didn’t make the transition successfully. Ha ha.

I continued my research intensely, “reverse-engineering reality” by comparing science with my own experiences. I discovered some amazing things about the vagus nerve transducing serotonin and anaerobic bacteria. I discovered, by accident, what I call the “O at a D”: psychic mutual climaxes with females.

When Jim Nance, Chunyi Lin’s qigong master assistant, asked me to help him write a book on his training, Lin stated that the spirits would not like this. It seems controlling, but Jim Nance completely respects this, and even mentioned to me that it’s better to not post on the Internet.

Do you have any advice to offer those who are interested in qigong, but unsure quite where to start?

Chunyi Lin

The exercises that Chunyi Lin teaches are extremely simple and yet very effective. The “Small Universe” Level 1 CD is the same as the “Microcosmic Orbit” that Mantak Chia teaches. That is also the focus of the book “Taoist Yoga: Alchemy and Immortality”. Chunyi Lin has stated that the Small Universe is the foundation practice and can take you to the highest level. “Taoist Yoga” explains these steps in detail.

Anyone can practice the small universe—a paralyzed man in England healed himself just after the first session! I wholeheartedly recommend his Spring Forest Qigong meditation practice.

Enjoy the energy is my advice.

I’ve spent a lot of time online answering questions from readers, and I’ve posted on many forums to seek critical feedback, knowing that my peers are my greatest critics. So I’m always happy to learn from any readers, and enjoy learning about their qigong experiences as well.

Drew Hempel’s book, “Trance Songs: How to Make Love to the Universe”, is available at Lulu and Amazon. Drew currently blogs at Natural Resonance Revolution.

Drew, how were you first introduced to the ancient art of qigong?

I first discovered Taoism back in the 1970s, in first grade. My best friend at the time was adopted from Korea. He told me he always got his lunch from “Tao Foods” [a local grocery store], so that made me wonder what it was about.

Later, in 1995 I noticed a flyer posted to see qigong master Effie P. Chow, a Chinese master who lives in San Francisco. Immediately I wanted to go, but I was also skeptical of New Age gimmicks. I actually called to request a lower entrance fee, and amazingly I was told I could get in half price.

So Effie Chow was your first teacher?

My girlfriend joined me at the seminar, at St. Catherine’s University. Effie P. Chow had us make an energy ball. I could feel this strong electromagnetic resistance between my hands. Effie projected chi at people walking towards her, and she said that she could be attacked by huge muscle men and it wouldn’t matter—even though she’s a little lady, she could sense their energy and then redirect their energy, adding it to her own. My girlfriend remained skeptical.

As everyone was leaving, this big female security guard wandered in, wondering what was going on in here. She then stated that the fuse blew for the room behind us! (Hardly anyone heard this—it wasn’t staged or meant for any audience.)

After further researching qigong, I traveled to San Francisco to see if I could meet with Effie P. Chow again. I stayed with my Chinese high-school friend who had moved out there. Effie P. Chow was not readily available—at least at my budget, of next to no funds!

I returned home, and I kept researching the issue. By 1998 I was taking Yan Xin qigong with the Chinese community at the University of Minnesota. Again I felt strong, blissful heat from the meditation practice.

Later on, I attended a talk from a Tibetan monk—a lama meditation master. I realized I had this headache from concentrating hard, listening to his amazingly profound lecture, only it was focused on the very center point of my forehead. It didn’t hurt, it was just a strong pressure. I was really psyched.

Did you learn from other masters too?

The Chinese produced a government documentary called “Yan Xin, Superman,” showing Master Yan Xin giving chi healing lectures in stadiums filled with thousands of people. (Yan Xin has tested his qigong with the help of nuclear physicists and other scientists.) The dialogue was all in Chinese, but the people in the room translated for me.

One of my Chinese fellow students was really serious. When I ran into him on campus, he told me to continue practice in secret. His roommates didn’t know about his practice…but I could FEEL electromagnetic fields emanating from his body!

Why did he advise you to practice in secret? How did you expect people to react, if they discovered your active interest in qigong?

Serious meditation is anathema in our culture. People react to the energy. It is a transformative experience, based on the philosophy of existing within a larger consciousness containing yourself and others.

I’ve had a wide-range of reactions to my practice: people ecstatic with joy, total strangers thanking me. (It’s important not to stare while in a trance, sitting in full-lotus. Ha ha.)

Meanwhile, back at the U of MN, my housemate told me she had studied qigong with a local man named Chunyi Lin. I was intrigued, but she didn’t offer more information and I didn’t think much of it.

Later on, that same man made a presentation to my graduate class in spiritual healing (which incidentally was taught by a Jesuit priest).

Many qigong instructors make incredible claims about their abilities. What led you to believe that Chunyi Lin was a genuine master?

I had previously read Effie P. Chow’s “Miracle Healing from China”, plus many other books. I could feel Chunyi Lin’s energy right away, and could compare it with my previous experiences.

In 1999 I took his Spring Forest Qigong Level 1 course. When Chunyi Lin walked around the class, he shook his fingers at you while you were doing his simple standing exercise. There was no touching, but my body filled with bliss and I saw this amazing light. When my beautiful girlfriend picked me up, I had to admit to myself that what I had just experienced was a deeper love than anything I had experienced before.

Not until 2000 was I able to study qigong intensively with Chunyi Lin. Since I was on a special diet, and practiced several hours a day while reading and meditating, things progressed rapidly. By the end of the year, I had transformed my brain and had experienced many paranormal phenomena.

Your training included a special diet?

Diet is the most difficult aspect of practice, after emotional blockages. In the book “Beyond Telepathy“, Dr. Andrija Puharich argues that potassium enables a proton magnetic momentum—a plasma. I read elsewhere that chloride is the negative ion while potassium and sodium are slightly different positive ions. So basically, you are ionizing your body by not eating salt…I had to figure this out from experience and then my own research.

Initially, I was skeptical about a no-salt diet, but I read that vegetables would provide me with enough sodium. In fact, salt is mainly needed to counteract the acid from grains (“bigu”, the energy feast, means literally “without grains”). Just to be safe though, I used Braggs Soy Sauce, which is a vegetable sodium salt substitute.

Did you have to rearrange your schedule to allow this intensive training? How did you support yourself and pay your bills during this time?

In 2000, I was working at Clean Water Action for 10 hours a week, and living just a mile bike ride from work. I was a part-time graduate student at the University of Minnesota, completing a self-designed masters degree through the Liberal Studies Program. My father paid for my school, and provided $500 a month for books and living expenses. I devoted my master’s degree to volunteering in sustainability activism.

There I organized a campaign to divest $1.5 million from Total Oil, since they used slave labor in Burma. Later, I focused on the University’s clothing contracts with sweatshops, achieving the goal of having the University join the Workers Rights Consortium.

This work was very intense, and I experienced firsthand amazing corruption at the highest levels of power. So I dropped out of school; I could not agree to accept a degree after directly experiencing the hypocrisy of society.

I eventually readmitted to finish my degree, on the condition that I would do my final self-directed research by taking qigong classes with Master Chunyi Lin, through a community college. (This was formally supervised by the chair of the African Studies department, as a study in non-Western non-dualism philosophy.)

I lived right next to a cooperative food store, so I had the finest (salt-free, vegetarian) diet and I was able to focus all my attention on reading and researching meditation. I ordered rare books through the University’s inter-library loan system, used the University database for research, and stayed in my room to practice Spring Forest Qigong exercises many hours a day.

I read Mantak Chia’s work, and I read “Taoist Yoga: Alchemy and Immortality”. I read spiritual and religious books from India and Thailand.

I also had a car at that time, so I would drive to the Spring Forest Qigong classes and retreats. I attended the Spring Forest Qigong guild meetings, where the students meet once or twice a month to practice healing on each other.

Continue to interview part 2…

Mantak Chia was born in Bangkok, Thailand in 1944. His pursuit of Taoist teachings led him to meet the White Cloud Hermit Master Yi, a Taoist Master living in the mountains near from Hong Kong.

The author of dozens of books, booklets, videos and CDs describing these practices, Master Mantak Chia has taught hundreds of thousands of eager students the principles of Taoist internal practice over the past 40 years.

Following is an excerpt from a recent Blog Talk Radio interview with Mantak Chia:

Lama Tantrapa: What is the purpose of qigong practice?

Mantak Chia: The initial purpose of qigong practice is to become stronger, to heal yourself, and increase your wisdom and knowledge. The early stages are like Taiji, and afterwards we can begin what we call supreme inner alchemy practice.

LT: After a person has achieved good health, does that purpose change?

MC: Yes. In neidan or inner alchemy practice, you learn to condense your energy, and transform the physical material of the body into energy, for spiritual growth…Taoists believe that, like the physical body, the spirit requires careful nurturing to reach maturity.

LT: Do sexual practices play a role in this process?

MC: Jing qi, or sexual energy, is the most powerful energy we have. It is like “baby formula” for the spirit. Normally, the body will sacrifice this energy during sex, for the purpose of creating children…if you don’t know how to practice, then between sexual arousal and orgasm, the energy is lost.

The process begins with physical discipline. Sex, drugs, even coffee…these cause a loss of energy, even though an addict feels listless without them…after experiencing the bliss of practice, these addictions will lose their hold.

LT: Tell us about your own learning progression.

MC: I first learned how to open the microcosmic orbit. Everything in the universe, down to the smallest electron, moves in an orbit…

Even before this though, you must learn how to control your emotions. Negative emotions will disturb you and waste your life force. The inner smile technique can remove these negative emotions.

To listen to this entire interview–or other interviews with Scott Sonnon, B.K. Frantzis, Sam Masich, Ken Cohen, Dr. Effie Chow and more–visit Secrets of the Qigong Masters.

Scientific research in the last ten years has captured many external qi phenomena and qualitatively recognized certain characteristics of external qi. On the whole, research on external qi is still at a qualitative stage. It is not easy to establish quantitative laws and phenomenological theories thereby moving to a quantitative stage.

The difficulty is mainly due to insufficient investigation of external qi and the resulting lack of scientific means to express the level of external qi. With more than a thousand qigong schools and numerous different qigong methods, it is difficult to establish common standards.

In addition, a qigong master’s qi-emission power is closely related to his own physical, mental, emotional state at the time of qi emission. As a result, each external qi emission is at best only roughly the same, and it is not as precisely reproducible as an instrument. Experiments seeking basic laws of external qi are not easy to accomplish because they require tens or even hundreds of strictly repeated experiments.

[As demonstrated by our previous experimental results,] qigong is more advanced than contemporary science, thus it is difficult to fit into the framework of contemporary science. However, like all fields of scholarship, if qigong research does not pass strict scientific examination, it will not survive in contemporary society, let alone be accepted in international academic circles. This is a fundamental contradiction.

This contradiction is first revealed in methodology. Modern science subscribes to the notion that an experimenter should remain completely independent of the test object, thereby assuring results unaffected by the experimenter’s thoughts; otherwise, the results are considered unreliable. In other words, the subject and the object must be separate and independent. However, traditional qigong pays close attention to consciousness and to the effect of the consciousness of an object–the observer and the observed are connected.

The conflict of these two methodologies stems from two different epistemologies: the dualism of separated spirituality and materiality, and the monism of a combined spirituality and materiality (qi theory).

Effects of Yan Xin’s external qi on
gamma ray count from ²⁴¹Am decay.
(Published in Ziran Zazhi, Vol. 11, 1988)

Sample size and reliability

One major criticism of our external qi experiments was that the number of samples used in the experiments was too small to draw significant conclusions. It is true that in medical and most biological experiments, a large number of samples are required to make clear conclusions. In physics, chemistry, and certain molecular biology experiments, however, small sample sizes do not necessarily produce unreliable results.

The study of a new phenomenon involves two different stages: discovery of the phenomenon, and exploration of the laws governing the phenomenon. The analysis in the first stage is a question of the statistical significance of the experimental result, to judge whether the observation represents a new phenomenon, or just a false signal caused by background statistical fluctuation.

For a significance test, it is important to have a precise understanding of the background noise. A large sample size is required for background measurement but not for the new phenomenon; a few events [of sufficient magnitude] are enough to indicate its existence.

Can qi influence atomic nuclei?

One pleasantly cool evening in September 1987, Dr. Yan Xin came to my home. My wife (Zhu Runsheng) and I chatted while sitting around a table and drinking tea. Yan Xin said, “Can we do some further experiments to explore deeper levels of matter? I want to conduct some more difficult and extraordinary experiments.” We went into deep thought for awhile, and suddenly Zhu Runsheng said, “Can you affect the decay of an atomic nucleus?”

“Each radioactive element has its own specific half-life—the time needed for its radioactive strength to be reduced by half. For example, the half-life of ⁶⁰Co used for radioactive therapy in hospitals is 5.2 years.”

“Half-life is an intrinsic property of various radioactive nuclei. It will not be affected by any ordinary physical or chemical environments. High temperature, high pressure, electrical fields, magnetic fields, acid or alkali, none of them can change the half-life. This is a basic fact of nuclear physics. Can external qi change it?”

Yan Xin was obviously attracted by this suggestion. His eyes shone and his mind was fully focused. He thought for a moment and then said excitedly, “No problem. Let’s try it.”

The following day, we found Associate Professor Zhang Tianbao at the Positron Physics Laboratory of the Institute of High Energy Physics. He had a high performance gamma ray spectrometer and a quality high-purity germanium detector. We selected a relatively stable radioactive source ²⁴¹Am, with a half-life of 458 years…

The results of this experiment and many others, originally published in Chinese, are detailed in the book.

Introduction

• Chi (qi) is an ancient Chinese term, which can be translated as energy. Like energy, the word chi is used in both abstract and concrete terms, and applied to both general concepts and specific phenomena. In other words, chi is ambiguous. (People who use the term often have a specific meaning in mind.)
• In the broadest sense of the word, chi is generally understood to be pervasive, present in everyone and everything, but it is not uniformly distributed.
• Chi moves freely around the universe, assuming various forms along the way. Disciplines such as Chi Kung (Qigong) and Feng Shui purport to observe and manipulate chi, for the specific benefit of human life.

• According to this model, chi is present in the air. Therefore, it is sometimes understood to be synonymous with air. Chi circulates around the body, as do oxygen and blood; some people therefore assert that chi is breath or blood. Within the realm of martial arts, physical postures are known to affect circulation, and subsequently chi has been equated to good posture itself. All these conceptions must be seen as incomplete, if not plain wrong.
• By definition, chi is not a specific form of matter (e.g. element or molecule), nor is it a specific expression of energy (e.g. kinetic or thermal). On the contrary, these are all specific expressions of chi.
• This definition would seem to imply that matter and energy are somehow equivalent. While such a statement may offend the “common sense” of the average person, actual scientists have accepted its truth for a century. (Einstein famously expressed it as E = MC².)
• If chi does not take one specific form, is it therefore a non-falsifiable and unscientific theory? Not exactly. As in the case of dark matter, we can look for indirect evidence of its existence. Regardless, chi-based models are useful where they provide explanations for past observations, and correct predictions for future events, e.g. medical diagnosis and treatment.
• What then is chi kung? Simply put, it is a set of exercises with reproducible results, which are most easily understood within a chi-based model, and more difficult (or sometimes impossible) to explain with other models. Chi kung is a practice, not a theory or a belief. Chi kung is not occult magic, and it is not a religion or cult affiliation.
• When performed properly, many chi kung exercises can improve the practitioner’s health. Some have no such effect, and others can result in injury. Here are instructions for a very simple and safe introductory exercise.

Steps

1. Relax your body and mind. If this is your first time performing this exercise, find (or create) a distraction-free environment.


Wong Kiew Kit demonstrates a horse stance

2. Stand in a martial arts horse stance. Any stance will do. Remain in the stance for one minute or longer; doing so may enhance your results in the next steps. If you are extremely weak, then you may skip this step.
3. Exit the horse stance, and stand up straight. Again, relax your body and mind. Physical, intellectual or emotional tension will degrade your sensitivity and impair your results in the next step. Rub your hands together for a few seconds. Close your eyes.
4. Move your palms toward and away from each other, as if gently squeezing a small beach ball. Visualize the chi gathering between your hands. Move at a speed of 1-3 squeezes per second, within a distance of 6 to 24 inches. Continue this kneading for 2-4 minutes, or longer as necessary, until you notice an unexpected sensation in your hands. You may feel heat, tingling, vibrating, or strong magnetic repulsion. Many people will experience these feelings on their first attempt; others will need to repeat the exercise daily until a result is obtained.

Warnings

• These sensations constitute the observation of a “chi-effect”, and not necessarily a direct experience of chi itself. Other exercises will produce different sensations and effects, in different parts of the body, or outside it.
• The exercise outlined above is a trivial chi kung practice; do not mistake it for anything more. Chi kung is an extremely broad and deep subject, and the ability to feel sensations via the steps above does not demonstrate mastery, or even basic competence. These results are only a hint at what can be accomplished with time, discipline and good instruction.
• Do not assume that Chinese chi, Japanese ki, Greek pneuma and Indian prana are all the same thing.
• Contrary to popular belief, martial artists are not the best source of information on chi, or chi kung, and their unsubstantiated opinions should not be taken too seriously.

More Information

Chi kung (qi gong) books and DVDs
Renli’s Chi FAQ
What Every Martial Artist Should Know About Chi and TCM

RBSD, or reality-based self-defense, is a blanket term for martial arts training that purports to focus on practical applications. In truth, however, these applications—gross motor skills such as the straight punch and Thai-style knee strike—can only be deemed “practical” within a fiat-based reality.

Reality as measured by the CDC is strikingly different. Among the leading causes of death in 2005, assault ranks in 15th place—behind heart disease, diabetes, and a host of other illnesses. In the USA, death by suicide is 50% more common than homicide. Statistically speaking, influenza is far deadlier than any fatigue-clad RBSD play-warrior, or the threats they would prepare you to face.

Despite the indisputable fact that sickness is the greatest danger to the average person, martial arts for health have somehow earned a bad reputation. Why? It may be that because health and wellness are relative and intangible (compared to the result of a fight or sparring match), these claims are most frequently made by teachers that would, by any other measurement, be regarded as unqualified frauds.

While acknowledging that there is no shortage of incompetence among the New Age wellness set, we should also remember that many well-respected masters used the arts to improve their poor health. In doing so, they not only cured themselves, but gained formidable combat skills almost as a side effect. Here are a few examples…

As a consequence of his premature birth, Morihei was rather frail and sickly as an infant. Early on, though, he displayed an insatiable interest in both esoteric and exoteric science. The boy devoured hundreds of books an all manner of subjects, being especially intrigued by mathematics and physics.

Yoroku, concerned about his son’s weak physique and nervous temperament, encouraged Morihei to engage in sumo wrestling, running, and swimming…Morihei gradually built up his body.

Awakened to his potential power, the body dreamed of someday becoming the strongest man in the world. He toughened his skin by dousing himself daily with ice-cold water and asking his friends to pelt him with prickly chestnuts. His power increased so much that he was called on to carry sick children on his back to the doctor in the nearest town, some fifty miles distant.
[source: Abundant Peace by John Stevens]

In adulthood, Morihei Ueshiba became an incomparable master of jujitsu, and later founded the art of Aikido.

Chen Fake was the youngest of three brothers. Both of his older brothers passed away in their early ages. His father was in his sixties when Chen Fake was born. Fake was spoiled as a young child, and did not have a good diet. He eventually developed a stomach ailment and could not digest food very well, and his health was poor. While playing outside one day when he was 14 years old, he overheard family elders lamenting his laziness: “This family has produced so many accomplished masters: his ancestor, his grandfather, and his father. This glory seems to be ending now because he is only interested in playing and having fun and not in practicing Taiji.”

From then on, Chen Fake started working hard and practiced the form several dozen times a day. After a few years of training, he cured his stomach problem and became very strong.
[source: Center for Taiji Studies]

Chen Fake introduced his Chen style Taiji to Beijing, and became famous both for his good character and his outstanding skills. (His second-generation disciple Chen Zhonghua overcame severe health problems of his own, including bronchitis and arthritis.)

The Huo family had a long tradition as Wushu practitioners. Huo Yuanjia, however, was born weak and susceptible to illness. At an early age he contracted jaundice, an illness that would recur periodically for the rest of his life. His father refused to teach him Wushu; because of his weakness, Huo En Di wanted his son to pursue scholarly interests instead of learning Wushu. This was perhaps a blessing, as he in later life became renowned for his humility and educated judgment.

However at the time, pursuing scholarly interests was a great blow to Yuanjia’s pride. As As a twelve year-old child, he was continuously and humiliatingly defeated by local eight and nine year olds. His father hired a teacher from Japan, Chen Seng Ho (Chiang Ho), who in exchange for being taught his family style of martial arts (Mízongyì), taught Yuanjia the values of humility and perseverance.

Refusing to accept the vocation his father had chosen for him, Huo Yuanjia hid in bushes, and even dug out a small hole in the wall of the training area, to secretly observe his father teaching martial arts. Each day he quietly sat and watched, and each night he went to a tree grove and practiced secretly with his tutor. This continued for about ten years.
[source: Bookrags]

Huo Yuanjia founded the Jingwu Athletic Association, and his life served as the basis for Jet Li’s hit move Fearless.

Wang Xiangzhai was born in 1885 in the Shenxian district of Hebei province. As a small boy, Wang developed a severe case of asthma which stunted his growth and left him in poor health. When he was 8 years old, in order to remedy his illness and help him regain his health and strength, his father made him take up the practice of Xingyiquan with his Elder Uncle, the famous Guo Yunshen.

Actually, the old Master did not really want to take on young Wang Xiangzhai as his apprentice, because he was old and suffered from “sickness in the legs” such that he could barely walk. But two things changed his mind. First, his own son and heir to the lineage had an accident; he fell from a horse and died. Also, Wang had come with excellent recommendations from another relative. Thus, Guo Yunshen relented and agreed to accept Wang Xiangzhai as his live-in student. [source:The Tao of Yiquan by Jan Diepersloot]

Wang Xiangzhai became famous after issuing a challenge, printed in the Beijing newspapers, for any and all martial artists to visit and taste his skills. Wang Xiangzhai founded the art of Yiquan.

Helio Gracie, the youngest son of Gastão and Cesalina Gracie’s eight children, was always a very physically frail child. He would run up a flight of stairs and have fainting spells, and no one could figure out why.

At age fourteen, he moved in with his older brothers who lived and taught Jiu-Jitsu in a house in Botafogo, a borough of Rio de Janeiro. Following doctor’s recommendations, Helio would spend the next few years limited to only watching his brothers teach.

One day, when Helio was 16 years old, a student showed up for class when Carlos was not around. Helio, who had memorized all the techniques from watching his brothers teach, offered to start the class. When the class was over, Carlos showed up and apologized for his delay. The student answered, “No problem. I enjoyed the class with Helio very much and, if you don’t mind, I’d like to continue learning from him.” Carlos agreed, and Helio became an instructor.
[source: Gracie Jiu-Jitsu Academy]

With their winning fight records, Helio Gracie (and family) revolutionized the popular perception and practice of martial arts. Helio swore that, due to his diet and exercise habits, he never suffered a single day of sickness in his entire adult life.

Other examples, such as the biographies of Gao Fu and Guo Lin, show that even the middle-aged and elderly can realize substantial health benefits from martial arts practice. Whether or not they become able fighters, their participation should be encouraged.

If you’ve beaten arthritis, bronchitis or cancer, then you are tough. Otherwise…maybe you really don’t know a lick about reality-based self-defense?

In the proceeding video, mentalist Darren Brown knocks a martial artist down from behind.
That proves his skill is real.
On the other hand, Darren Brown did not touch him.
That proves his skill is fake.
As for Darren Brown’s explanation, “It’s all in your mind,” that proves…what?

Darren performed this “mind punch” in a carefully controlled and scripted environment.
That proves the punch is fake.
Such no-touch demonstrations have been repeated dozens if not thousands of times, by other people (e.g. Shi Ming), in other arenas.
That proves “empty force” is real.
Nobody has employed this supposed ability in the UFC. That proves…what?

Psychic ability, or “psi”, has been tested to rigorous standards in the laboratory, and confirmed.
That proves it is real.
Noted scientists dispute the test results.
That proves it is fake.
The US and Russian militaries have conducted serious inquiries on these skills. That proves…what?

Common sense to the rescue
I could go on, but you get my point: such debates shed more heat than light. So I choose to hijack my own discussion thread here, and focus instead on a reasonable, pragmatic, common-sense response.

As martial artists, we should seek a harmonious yin/yang balance of skills, and avoid harmful extremes. Whether or not no-touch force really exists, current evidence suggests that we should not concern ourselves with its use. Cultivating too much sensitivity would leave us in a weakened state, unable to resist conventional threats. For optimum results, external and internal cultivation must be matched.

From my reading, that fairly represents the consensus view of the online martial arts community. It is practical, and theoretically sound.

Now, let me explain why it is complete and utter hogwash.

Questions and answers
Force contains information, and the transmission of force is a form of communication. Every transmission requires two parties, a sender and a receiver. The ability of the receiver to detect and interpret communication is sensitivity.

The question is, How much sensitivity is too much? At what point does this asset become a liability?

The correct answer is: never. If you have sensitivity than you can use—more information than you are profitably able to act upon—then you simply do not use it. The data, perceived instantaneously, does not slow you down. The information does not make you weak; no, an absence of strength does that!

The proof of our martial perfection
Suppose we are only half as sensitive as we ought to be, given the demands of our activity. Suppose that we miss half of the subtle cues that would allow us to avoid injury, and minimize our own expenditure of force.

Why not just declare sensitivity to be yin, or “internal”! Thusly, we could prove that our middling performance is yin/yang balanced, and internally/externally harmonized.

Or maybe, in our shortsighted and tautological defense of clumsiness, we would only prove ourselves too clever by half. That’s the real deal.

“What is the best book or DVD for learning zhan zhuang?”

My zhan zhuang background

My formal introduction to zhan zhuang (standing meditation) was provided by “Michael”, a master of Taoist self-cultivation methods. With his expert guidance, and my previous years of training in the martial arts of karate, aikido, wing chun, xingyi and BJJ, I was confident in the direction of my practice.

Within Michael’s xiu dao system, zhan zhuang prepares the body and mind for the demands of seated meditation and neigong practice. At the first level of training, students are to hold the standing postures from one to three hours daily. I followed his instructions, to the extent that my schedule and willpower allowed—all in addition to my ongoing martial arts study.

During the occasional period of intensive training, I practiced upwards of 40 hours per week, with standing meditation as a major component. And in my free time, I read much of the English-language material written on the subject.

Having met Michael and other genuine masters of their arts, I held no illusions regarding my own level of mastery. I did, however, believe that I knew how to train properly.

Ten seconds, six inches

Some years later, a wing chun friend introduced me to “Stan”, a third-generation master of Wang Xiangzhai’s Yiquan. I asked Stan for a critique of my posture—the posture I had refined over hundreds, if not thousands of hours of dedicated effort.

He observed for three seconds or so, before giving his reply. “Your zhan zhuang is upright, but incorrect. It is ‘wing chun’ straight, not ‘yiquan’ straight.” With a few minor physical adjustments, Stan fundamentally altered my experience and my understanding of zhan zhuang. Thanks to his input, my standard is higher, and both the health and martial benefits of my practice are greater.

Before I met Stan, my standing meditation already exhibited all the salutary qualities you would read about in a book, or hear in a DVD lecture. It was “relaxed”, “aligned”, “expansive”, et cetera.  At the most basic level, such gross physical and energetic descriptions are helpful, but at a higher level they are worthless; the description is not a prescription. The issue is not whether, but how precisely to relax—and it will not be settled by words, by references to a shared experience that you do not already possess.

How do you learn zhan zhuang from a book? In my experience: you don’t…at least not well. If such books inspire you to take the next step, and locate a good teacher, then they have served their purpose.