What styles of martial arts are performed on The LXD?

In Episode 2, AntiGravity Heroes, Jimmy and Justin perform a dazzling set with elements of parkour, XMA, and modern wushu. Although the term wushu technically refers to Chinese martial arts in general, the term is most commonly applied these days to theatrical renditions of the arts, tuned for artistic performance rather than for direct combat application.

Performing these elaborate aerial and gymnastic maneuvers is also known as tricking. At the end of AntiGravity Heroes, Jimmy Angel practices with a chain whip.

While the popping and isolations demonstrated by Madd Chadd in Robot Lovestory (Episode 3) are not directly inspired by martial arts, these skills are somewhat analogous to advanced levels of the arts, wherein students must learn to move each individual joint correctly for the creation of a unified and coherent force.

In Episode 5, Lettermakers Z and Dante represent krumping as a fighting style. Some elements of their sparring match bear resemblance to the Brazilian art of Capoeira.

In season 2 of The LXD, dancers start learning to focus and channel their inner energy, in order to project it outside of their bodies. This is actually a long-established and controversial topic within the martial arts community.

Is it possible to project energy outside the human body?

Although nearly everyone has an opinion on this question, very few people have any relevant knowledge or experience. In Chinese, the skill of projecting energy for martial purposes is called ling kong jing, or empty force.

There are specific and rigorous exercises involved in the cultivation of empty force. It is not, and never was the automatic result of earning a black belt in any style of kung fu, as both skeptics and charlatans often imagine. For more information on the subject, please consult the book Empty Force by Paul Dong and Thomas Raffill.

Are chi, auras, chakras and “Ra” really all the same thing?

No.

What is a bo staff?

Bo is simply a Japanese word for staff. A traditional wooden bo is six feet long (in contrast to the four-foot Jo), and is used in a variety of Japanese and Okinawan martial arts, including Karate and Aikido. The staff is a popular weapon in martial arts of other countries as well, where it may be referred to by another name.

Do martial arts boarding schools still exist today?

Yes. Some schools and teachers will accept a handful hard-core students for an intensive program, wherein they literally live at the dojo, attending every class, and practicing before and afterward as well. In Japanese, these students are known as uchideshi, or “indoor disciples”.

There are many kungfu schools near Shaolin Temple in China that accept foreign students, for a stay of months or years. However, these schools are mostly tailored for children and young adults, and the quality of instruction is not necessarily any better than you would find in a major American city. (For more information on Shaolin training today, watch the documentary The Real Shaolin.)

Dr. Yang Jwing-Ming, a well-known author and master of Chinese martial arts, runs a retreat center in California. Visitors and students have committed to instructional programs lasting as long as ten years.

Why do martial artists wear colored belts?

Although the history of martial arts spans several centuries, the practice of wearing colored belts was not introduced until the early 1900s. First adopted in Japanese Judo, the practice has since spread to other arts, as the number of belt colors (and belt stripes) has proliferated.

Today, proponents and opponents of the belt system each have their reasons, their myths, and their rationalizations. To some, each belt is an important milestone–a concrete accomplishment in an otherwise subjective and neverending journey towards mastery. To others, they represent nothing more than an opportunity to wheedle frequent belt promotion fees from gullible student customers (or their parents).

According to a popular martial arts myth, a black belt is simply a white belt that its hardworking wearer never washed after years of arduous training. This is a disgusting fabrication–unwashed belts do not only get dirty, they also get sweaty and stinky, and without proper care, possibly even moldy. Following another story, the first white belt represents innocence, the second yellow belt represents the dawning of knowledge, the third orange belt signifies the ascendance of progress, and so on; this is a viewpoint without historical precedent, and a matter of personal opinion.

Even today, many schools and styles of martial arts have never adopted any belt system.

In Mark of the Ox, Jimmy Angel is assaulted by a tweaked-out gang, as an initiation ritual into Organization X. What initiation rituals, if any, exist in martial arts?

It is not unusual for a new shodan (first degree black belt) to be attacked by all the other members of the school–individually, or even all at once. The sparring, or fighting, is done at less than full intensity.

There are other lineage practices that are not discussed in public.

This guide will be updated as the series progresses. Add your questions and comments below.

Prahlad Jani is being held in isolation in a hospital in Ahmedabad, Gurjarat, where he is being closely monitored by leading Indian scientists, who believe he may have a genuine quality which could help save lives.

It is alleged that Prahlad Jani does not use, and has never used Facebook or Twitter. Also, that he has eaten nothing over the past sixty years.

Prahlad has now spent six days without status updates, food or water under strict observation, and doctors say his body has not yet shown any adverse effects from this electronic quarantine. He also does not appear to suffer from hunger or dehydration.

Mr. Jani, who claims to have left home aged seven and lived as a wandering sadhu or holy man, is regarded as a “breatharian” who can live on a “spiritual life-force” alone. He believes he is sustained by a goddess who pours an “elixir” through a hole in his palate, and who keeps him informed on all the latest news and entertainment trends. His claims have been supported by an Indian doctor who specializes in studies of people who claim supernatural abilities, but he has also been dismissed by others as a “village fraud.”

Despite the confiscation of his smartphone, Jani remains fit and healthy and shows no sign of lethargy.

Scientists with India’s Defence Research Development Organisation believe Prahlad Jani could teach them to help soldiers survive longer without Internet access and food, or disaster victims to hang on until help arrives.

“If his claims are verified, it will be a breakthrough in medical science,” said Dr G. Ilavazhagan, director of the Defence Institute of Physiology & Allied Sciences.

“We will be able to help save human lives during natural disasters, high altitude, sea journeys and other natural and human extremities. We can educate people about the survival techniques in adverse conditions with little food and water, or even worse, no capacity to poke or retweet.”

So far, Prahlad Jani appears to be standing up to the intense scrutiny, which includes 24-hour CCTV surveillance. He has not eaten or drunk any fluids in six days, and has not passed urine or stool in that time. Despite the confiscation of his smartphone, he remains fit and healthy and shows no sign of lethargy.

Doctors will continue observing him for 15 days, in which time they would expect to see some muscle wastage, serious dehydration, weight loss, and desperate pleas to post new content to his Facebook wall.

It is common in India for Jains and Hindus to fast, sometimes for up to eight days, without any adverse affects, as part of their religious worship. Most humans cannot survive without Twitter or food for 50 days. The longest hunger strike recorded is 74 days.

According to Dr. Sudhir Shah, who examined him in 2003, Jani went without Facebook or water for ten days, during which time his urine appeared to be reabsorbed by his body after forming in his bladder. Doubts were expressed about his claim after his weight fell slightly at the end of the trial.

Skeptics remain skeptical

Indian rationalists discover a hidden Blackberry, heroically exposing the scam

The Indian Rationalist Association, an organization with dozens of Facebook fans, has criticized the Indian Ministry of Defence (MOD) and America’s National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) for promoting gullibility and undermining the development of scientific temper in India.

“MOD and NASA have obviously been taken in by the absurd claims of a village fraud,” wrote Sanal Edamaruku, Secretary General of the Indian Rationalist Association, in a blog post addressed to the Indian Defence Minister George Fernandes. “It is shocking to see that government officials and scientists are so gullible to believe that a human being can survive 60 years without social networking! The claim does not only contradict experience and common sense, but also our well-established biological and medical knowledge about the functioning of the human body. It is absolutely impossible that it is true–if it was, it would disprove the laws of physiology and we would have to rewrite our scientific text books!”

“He is almost certainly hiding a Blackberry under his sari.”

I can see inside Vyacheslav Bronnikov’s head.

Not because I possess the disputed X-ray vision skills–though if I did, I would probably keep quiet about it. No, I’m just saying that I may understand what Bronnikov was thinking when he did what he did.

I should back up, and tell the tale from the start. Derren Brown is a renowned ‘psychological illusionist,’ a performer who combines magic, suggestion, psychology, misdirection and showmanship in order to seemingly predict and control human behavior. Imagine a younger, more talented, and more personable version of James Randi…

For the past ten years Derren has created TV and stage performances that have stunned audiences, debunked the paranormal and encouraged many to improve and enhance their own mental abilities. His first show appeared in 2000, Derren Brown: Mind Control, and followed with Trick of the Mind, Trick or Treat and a series of Specials including the controversial Russian Roulette and the hugely popular Events.

In the second episode of his latest television series, Darren Brown Investigates…, the illusionist set out to test The Bronnikov Method of human potential development. Created by Vyacheslav M. Bronnikov, this system–based in ancient Tibetan Yoga–promises to awaken dormant human skills and abilities, among them the ability to see while blindfolded, or indeed with no eyes at all.

Derren traveled to a Bronnikov seminar in Belgium, accompanied a woman who has been legally blind for more than a decade. As for what happened next…I’ll let you watch the episode, which was broadcast in Britain but is now available on YouTube.

Derren Brown Investigates…The Man With X-Ray Eyes

Interview transcript

Darren Brown: After four days of attending courses in his method, I was anxious to meet the legendary founder, Vyacheslav Bronnikov. The superhuman figure revered by so many, who has reached the exalted heights of level 6, and even mentioned that he could levitate, and that we could too.

I began by asking him how he came up with the method.

Vyacheslav Bronnikov: Actually, my story…I had twelve teachers. I was absolutely loaded with knowledge. Overloaded maybe even, but in a very potent way.

DB: And you were how old?

VB: It started from three years old, but if I take the question more seriously, I came consciously into this body. That was my choice. I actually was aware about coming into this life before I was born. And when I was born, I had a lot of capacities already.

DB: We’ll talk about the ball of energy for a moment. When you do this [rubs hands together], you feel a tingle in your hands, and your muscles kind of create a sensation of pulling away. So I can understand how you can imagine that might feel like a ball. I don’t understand how you make the leap from an imaginary ball–a sensation in your fingers–to then placing that somewhere where other people can feel it, and touch it, and move it around.

VB: I guess you didn’t understand anything. When we wrap our hands between two parts of the brain, we create a connection. And this connection actually works. And transforms. And everything else is secondary. Individual. Everything works inside of the brain.

DB: I would love to see the evidence. I really would love to see the evidence.

VB: Let your scientists organize an event. Let them organize a scientific commission. We’ll come, and it will work. And you will study from the very beginning, to the very end.

DB: Maybe my problem is, that I haven’t seen someone who can really look at a box, and see something that’s inside it. Is it possible? [Pushes sealed cardboard box forwards.] I don’t want to embarrass you but, is it possible for someone at level 6 and your skill level to be able to do the test–they were doing the test earlier in the workshop: they were looking at a box, and seeing what was in it. Is it possible right now?

VB: Unfortunately, you create a negative documentary. You create problems for yourselves. You don’t have a scientific approach, and you don’t have basic knowledge of this technology.

DB: I don’t understand…

VB: Do you understand what you are talking about? What do you want?

DB: I’m trying to understand. I suppose maybe I’m being naive, and if I am I apologize, but I guess I want to see a result.

VB: First of all, you create advertisements for your own…you show yourself not to be a serious organization. Will I be playing circus here, stacking boxes and things? This is not serious.

DB: You teach people to do this…

VB: You want science? Let’s do science.

DB: You teach this at level 3.

VB: I am not playing anything with you. And I won’t prove anything to you.

DB: OK. So there is something called Charles Bonnet syndrome, which is where blind people can hallucinate, and think they are seeing things on the outside world, and it’s very convincing for them. Now do you think it would be unfair if blind people were being persuaded that it was actual vision when it was just a hallucination?

VB: We don’t do healing here at all. We don’t do healing. We deal with human development. I want to make that clear.

DB: When we think about self-improvement, then to me, becoming better people is about becoming…kinder…I think that is important. Do you think it’s kind to tell a 16-year-old boy with cerebral palsy that he will walk, and maybe develop superpowers?

VB: First of all, we’re not talking about healing, because we don’t heal. Maybe you frame information in the wrong way. I speak of a system of development. And ‘system of development’ means that if you stimulate the correct development of certain functions of the brain, you can…improve things. We normally want to work with normal, healthy people, who use the training techniques for self development. So I state again, we don’t deal with ill people. When we design a system for ill people, this is for use by doctors only.

DB: So the slogan, ‘World Without Blindness’, is that misleading to blind people? Should it be something else?

VB: It is working, and the results are there. Is that clear? I see that you are trying to find weak points. And I guess it’s fine, because you’re from England. But at Rostov-na-Danu–it’s a city in Russia–there is a boy, and he was born without his eyeballs. Nobody told him he was blind, and he can see better than you. Think about it.

DB: There’s a boy in Russia who has no eyes, and he can see perfectly? You’re saying that is true?

VB: Definitely, I’m saying what I say.

DB: Do you know his name? I’d love to…I want to find out about this man. Do you know his name?

VB: Well, I don’t have this information. Just ask around, it’s in Rostov-na-Danu. And this is not the first case.

DB: I’ve spoken to a scientist who says that science doesn’t take the Bronnikov results seriously, who doesn’t take the Bronnikov system seriously. Why is that, if the results are real?

VB: From one point of view, I am happy that you in England have no understanding of new technology–scientific, psychological human development. And it’s very nice that Russia, Ukraine, and the Soviet Union are on the first wave of telepathy study.

DB: I just want to ask you one more thing, just going back to this [cardboard] box for a moment, because I want people at home to understand that, if it is not appropriate for you to do this–which is fine–I want to know why, so that they understand.

VB: You’re not a scientist. Why do you do this? You’re not scientists.

DB: OK.

VB: You don’t deal with proofs, and usually create refutations, and this is your job, and you know where you belong. You do what you do. Let’s do the exposé. This will not work. Actually, for us, these types of shows are even better than real promotions. Make your documentary.

[awkward silence]

DB: Thank you very much for your time. Thank you very much for having us here, and allowing us to film everything.

VB: Next time, we will participate in your circus. Don’t worry.

Based upon the contents of this show alone, it would be reasonable to conclude that Bronnikov was unnecessarily hostile, intransigent, and most likely a fraud. That is the conclusion I would have drawn after watching it, had I not once been in Darren Brown’s position myself.

The details of my story were just slightly different. I was not visiting Bronnikov, but instead a man with an even greater reputation. I was not a professional illusionist; but as an engineer who had already spent years studying the “Dao of Deceit” through the martial arts, I was nobody’s fool either.

Most importantly, I had no agenda other than to investigate the possibilities, and I was under no pressure to deliver a verdict within the span of a single week. For this and other reasons, I am well-qualified to provide some context, which is sorely lacking in Derren Brown’s presentation.

• Bronnikov’s final brusque observations were correct: Brown was simply not equipped to conduct any sort of respectable scientific investigation, only a quick debunking.

  When scientists assert the primacy of repeatability and careful controls, it is only an illustration of their confusion and vanity; the primary issues are faith and trust. If you cannot trust, at some basic level, in the honesty and competence of others, then you cannot build upon their work, and instead are forced to repeat it at your own time and expense.

  Even putting aside the shabby controls around his “look into my cardboard box” experiment, the fact is that the public will not accept the scientific determinations of a mere “magician” such as Derren Brown, especially concerning an issue of this magnitude.

  There is ample evidence for this in the literature, some of which I have previously featured on this website. Odds are that you discounted those eyewitness testimonies as untrustworthy, as most others have, using any convenient justification–understandable, but it clearly demonstrates my point. Such improbable events are rarely disputed; they are maliciously dismissed, with the personal and professional reputations of the plaintiffs serving as a rationale.

• Nevertheless the Bronnikovs did agree to “scan” a sick patient that Brown provided. Brown brought her into the examination room in a wheelchair, wearing dark glasses. After she was diagnosed with poor eyesight and a misaligned spine, Brown complained that the results were obvious (eyes) or incorrect (spine).

  

  Here Derren Brown fails on at least three counts. First, he condemns the experimental controls he himself designed just a few hours earlier. Second, he evaluates Bronnikov’s current description of the spinal vertebrae against an old X-ray, seemingly oblivious to the fact that these bones naturally shift–has he never heard of chiropracty? Third, he disregards the precedents for verifying these claims.

  Yes, believe it or not, many of us have already run this test against alleged masters of third-eye kung fu–and we had the common sense to test against diseases without any obvious external indications (e.g. the specific location and shape of tumors), obtaining diagnoses which could be subsequently vindicated or refuted using the Western scientific paradigm (e.g. radiology). None of this cheap “Can you guess I’m blind?” nonsense.

• After you have seen this pattern repeated time and again, you begin to understand that these are not really meant to be objective investigations–they are religious rituals, intended to end in a sacrifice. But having noted that point, we may as well ignore it henceforth, and charitably accept the premise of the documentary at face value, as a show of good sportsmanship. This is, after all, just a game. This is also, I believe, a cause for Vyacheslav Bronnikov’s outward hostility towards the end of the show.

  From a martial arts perspective, he executed a canny reversal on the show’s producers. First, he consented to filming, because there would certainly be no documentary otherwise. Second, he pulled the plug halfway through, incentivizing them to finish production on the episode, even without access to the crown jewels–his training methods. (This was explained as a wish to protect his trade secrets–which would make sense, expect that he didn’t “realize” it until the film crew had arrived and started their work!) Third, he flatly refused to describe the contents of Brown’s cardboard box, while reasserting that he could do so at his pleasure, for a more worthy audience.

  In the end, Bronnikov gets all the publicity at no real cost to himself. Those who are already inclined to attend his training will find Brown’s show “inconclusive” or “mean-spirited”, and the opinion of everyone else probably hasn’t changed, and doesn’t matter. This is black belt Aikido with a slight Machiavellian touch, and I tip my hat to his superior execution!

• Derren Brown came to the training with the expectation that he would be shown convincing evidence, for the validity of these purported supernatural skills. (Sure, the evidence might prove fraudulent under his trained scrutiny, but at least it would be offered as a token gesture.) Instead, he was treated to a room full of credulous bon vivants, few of whom suffered from the disabilities (such as blindness) that the Method promised to cure–and whose enthusiasm was entirely unjustified by their own apparent results following the Method. Oh, Derren Brown, how I have felt your pain!

  

  Brown explains that seminar participants feel considerable social pressure to admire the emperor’s new clothes, whether or not they can actually see them. This is absolutely true. (Unfortunately, he doesn’t take the next step of considering his own peer group and social identity, and the pressures they continuously exert upon himself to reach a different conclusion, whether or not these peers are physically present in the room with him.)

  His further point that participants paid considerable sums for their tuition, and are influenced by this fact to assign an otherwise unwarranted value to the course, might be correct also–but it is prematurely surmised, and a cheap shot. The value of the course is evaluated on an individual basis, and based not only upon its direct promises, but also in “off-label uses” to which Brown (as an outside observer) must remain completely unaware.

• Again, I have felt the pain. I might have abandoned the practice after a few days too, purely out of disgust with these other participants, if not for my martial arts background. Thankfully, though, this foundation helped me to set appropriate expectations.

  I cannot speak for Bronnikov Method in particular, but in my limited experience: these systems are nothing like a modern certification course, wherein a few dozen hours of instruction are followed by a written exam that 95% of the students are expected to pass, thereby earning the right to assert they “know” the subject. No, the purpose of the formal instruction here is simply to teach you how to learn, and to provide the inspiration and confidence necessary to undertake the extraordinary burden of time and effort that this material truly requires.

  After successfully graduating the course, you are basically left to succeed or fail on your own merits, with minimal ongoing interventions from the master. A lucky or talented few may really be able to perform at the end of the introductory weekend; others will measure their progress over months and years; and a few others will never get anywhere. It is no fault of the material that not all spectators are invited to become students, and not all students are equally capable.

  Personally, it took me nearly ten years to get an inkling of what it means to “see without eyes” (and I still have no idea whether Bronnikov can indeed do this himself).

• Bronnikov fervently insisted that his is not a system of healing. In case you were wondering, this is to forestall the criminal charges of impermissible or “unlicensed medicine” that have been used previously to destroy Wilhelm Reich and others. In other words, it is more a political statement than a scientific one. It is an act of self-defense.

• I offered Bronnikov HQ, and his United States affiliates at the Neurovision Academy, an opportunity to respond to this documentary, and to my comments here. So far, they have not accepted the invitation. On the chance that they will change their minds, please feel free to submit any questions or comments for them below.

• Despite all of the above, I still like and respect Derren Brown. It is no doubt easier to enjoy his “investigations” when one has no knowledge of the subject he pretends to investigate.

Jim Nance on Spring Forest Qigong with Mary Treacy O’Keefe (Hope, Healing and WellBeing)
Jim Nance was once a black belt Kung Fu fighter and a professional basketball player, until a series of serious injuries forced him out of the game. For the next 25 years, he traveled around the world seeking solutions to his physical and emotional challenges. He finally settled on Chunyi Lin’s Spring Forest Qigong, becoming the first American master of the system. Listen to his recent interview on Web Talk Radio.

Wudang Qigong

A Photographic History of Modern Qigong by CinaOggi
Deep breathing, self-controlled meditation, and little movement, which are usually involved in performing Qi Gong, are not harmful. The cult of Qi Gong, however, is not based on its effectiveness in health care. The “spirit balance” it gives and the quasi-religious mood involved in performing Qi Gong partly accounts for its popularity. Around 1985, Qi Gong began to closely connect with another cult—the cult of “special ability”—and each reinforced the popularity of the other…

Science and the Problem with Chi by Bruce Holbrook
The concept of chi is confusing to Western readers, not because it is a difficult one, but because our own culture stands in the way. Given such widespread ethnocentrism, it is only natural therefore that Western thinking beyond the scope of “science” has surrounded chi with a mystical aura, while “scientific thinking” has reduced and deformed the concept into something manageable on its own terms. Such terms are untrue to the original concept and reality of chi…

Mainstream Medical Journals say Acupuncture Works; Skeptics Irritated. by Dr. Philip Tan-Gatue (Qi Spot: Acupuncture, Chinese Medicine and More)
Despite this overwhelming evidence proving the mechanisms of action and efficaciousness of acupuncture, skeptics were outraged at the publication of an article supportive of acupuncture in the venerable New England Journal of Medicine. An article recently posted in the Forbes “science business” section stated that the article is “embarrassing” and that acupuncture “infiltrates” the University of Maryland Medical School. In the article, the author calls acupuncture “pseudoscience” and states that it is based on “magical thinking of non-existent life-force…”

Derren Brown Investigates The Man with X-Ray Eyes by Martial Development
In the second episode of his latest television series, Darren Brown Investigates…, the illusionist set out to test The Bronnikov Method of human potential development. This system–based in ancient Tibetan Yoga–promises to awaken dormant human skills and abilities, among them the ability to see while blindfolded, or indeed with no eyes at all…

On Chi, Consciousness and Quantum Gravity by Mark Nesti
I am of the belief that western society, in a general sense, is not yet ready to tackle the more advanced forms of meditation. My reasoning is that, as a culture, we have not yet been exposed to this type of practice as a part of our daily activities. You will see what I mean as we progress….

Opinions expressed in this article series do not necessarily represent those of its publisher, and should not be taken as a substitute for professional medical advice.

Introduction

• Qigong (chi gong) is most often understood as a set of active exercises, guiding qi (chi) energy around the body through intention, movement, and sound. It is less well known that Qigong incorporates rigorous courses of standing and seated meditation. These active and passive, external and internal modalities are mutually supportive.
• One of the first goals of Qigong meditation is to reach a deep level of quietude within the mind and body. Sustained quiet allows a student to perceive increasingly subtle objects and movements inside their body.
• In a quiet meditative state, relationships and correspondences that were previously hidden or overlooked, become clear and credible. In other words, meditation allows for biofeedback training without the need for electronic biofeedback instrumentation.

• Portions of Wu Xing, the Chinese five-element theory, are patterned after these relationships. Students of meditation and martial arts are often surprised to discover that Wu Xing is not merely a poetic concept or metaphorical diagram. Wu Xing has literal application and predictive power.
• Traditional Chinese Medicine recognizes that chronic emotional imbalance affects organ function. Each of the five emotions–anger, joy, anxiety, sadness, and fear–is associated with a pair of Yin and Yang functions (“organs”). Due to their heightened sensitivity, some meditators and Qigong practitioners can perceive this relationship immediately and directly.
• When an advanced student drifts too far out of balance, they may immediately feel a sensation in the corresponding organ(s). This is not a creative visualization or a theoretical belief–it is as real, and sometimes as unpleasant, as hot coffee spilled in your lap.
• Consequently, these students quickly learn self-discipline. This level of gongfu (kung fu) automatically aligns the practitioner’s immediate interest in avoiding pain, with their longer-term aspirations for emotional stability and tranquility.
• Emotional balance is the foundation upon which more advanced Qigong and meditation practices are built. It is also the foundation of a pleasant, empathetic and rewarding life.

Diagram courtesy of Spiritual Science Research Foundation

Steps

1. This gongfu skill is primarily a result of attaining a quiet and emotionally neutral meditative state, and remaining within it for a sufficient length of time.
2. Any exercises that increase your internal sensitivity, or your ability to sit quietly and comfortably for an extended period of time, will likely speed your progress. These exercises include Taijiquan (and other martial arts), zhan zhuang, and the Taoist Six Healing Sounds method.

Warnings

• The efficacy of meditation is not dependent on your “belief” in it. However, assertive dis-belief is a distraction and a form of noise, and it will prevent you from remaining in the quiet state. Trying to feel or impose these relationships, rather than waiting for them to reveal themselves, may also prove counterproductive.
• The particular form of insight described above is helpful, but not necessary for emotional self-regulation.
• There is no exact timetable for any meditative achievement. Fortunately, there is a clear difference between reaching, and failing to reach the quiet state in which gongfu is built.
• Real internal gongfu is rarely found amongst teachers of “internal martial arts.” Do not expect them to provide any guidance or expertise in this area, except perhaps to foolishly claim these skills do not exist.
• Do not discuss these matters in mixed company. It will lead to ridicule at best, and at worst, involuntary psychiatric treatment. Although this is still an early stage of accomplishment in Qigong, it is already well beyond the current understanding of mainstream Western medical science.

More Information

• Chi Gong 101: How to Feel Your Chi Energy
• Qigong books and DVDs
• MeditationExpert.com – Techniques and Advice

In a recent episode of their hit Showtime series, stage magicians Penn Jilette and Raymond Teller warn viewers away from the universally fraudulent field of martial arts. Now a real expert martial artist rescues us from their half-baked debunkings.

For their own convenience, Penn and Teller divide the world of martial arts into three categories: traditional, mystical, and murderous. During the show, they interview and mock one representative from each category:

• Mike Reeves, of Powerhouse Karate, in Apopka, Florida
• Dena Saxer, of Mantak Chia‘s Universal Healing Tao in Los Angeles, CA
• Damian Ross, of The Self Defense Company, in Saddle River, NJ

To support their otherwise meritless position, Penn and Teller rely on Marc MacYoung of No-Nonsense Self Defense. Although MacYoung is presented as a skeptical outsider here, he is actually the best known of these four, and is highly regarded within the martial arts community.

Having introduced the litigants, let us now review the case. Assistance is provided by a handy Truth-o-Meter, which I borrowed from the St. Petersburg Times.

While facing a mugger with a gun, Penn and Teller say:

If we had invested in martial arts training, we could try to go all Bruce Lee on their asses. But a few years ago, we did the arithmetic, and we figured that Karate lessons–even kids’ Karate lessons–would cost us a grand or more a year, for each of us. And the hours we spent in class, and driving to the dojo, and practicing and sweating and bowing and Fuck that! We have a better, cheaper, and less risky self-defense system. [Penn hands over his wallet and watch.]

Throughout the episode, Penn Jilette uses the terms “martial arts” and “self-defense” interchangeably, despite the fact that his own sources (Ross and MacYoung) insist otherwise. Self-defense is one of many possible benefits of martial arts training; performance varies with the student and the school.

Exercise is another benefit. According to our 2009 survey, average monthly martial arts tuition is around 80 dollars per month: this is comparable to a standard health club membership, if you include a short monthly coaching session with a personal trainer.

Penn Jilette advises that obedience is a better self-defense solution. This may be true in the case of a simple mugging, and most martial arts instructors would agree. As for dealing with the threat of rape or violent assault…don’t ask a six-foot-six, 270 pound Hollywood millionaire.

When outlining the content of the show, Penn Jillette says:

What we won’t be seeing much of are headlines like these: “Purse Snatcher Stopped by Passing Dojo Student”, “Rapist Thwarted by Black Belt Woman,” et cetera. Sure these stories exist, they must, but with all the people taking all these martial arts classes, shouldn’t we see these headlines all the time?…None of us could remember [seeing] a story like this in the news; when it happened, wouldn’t every dojo send out a press release?

As a former columnist for PC Magazine, Penn ought to know how and why these headlines appear, and why they do not appear more often: an exceptional sequence of events is required. First, a crime must be committed against someone who “knows” martial arts well enough to apply them under pressure (but not well enough to actually prevent or avoid the crime). Second, either the victim or a bystander must report this crime to the police. Third, the victim must specifically demonstrate or reference their “martial arts ability” (instead of attributions to luck or athleticism) for the report. Fourth, a media organization must observe this, and decide it is a newsworthy event.

When a martial artist stops a crime before it has even started, there is no headline. Martial arts help us to avoid becoming a victim, by teaching us to stop acting like a victim. As Geoff Thompson has explained, few criminals are interested in trying their luck against a hard target.

When a crime goes unreported, there is no headline. On those few occasions when I’ve been personally assaulted, I never bothered to call the police. A good friend of mine was attacked by a gang and stabbed in the gut, and he didn’t call the police either–as he recalled, it was just a light stabbing, and filing a report wasn’t worth the hassle. This happens all the time.

When a martial artist keeps their mouth shut, there is no headline. Most are taught to exercise discretion–either out of humility, or to avoid challenge matches and unwarranted scrutiny from law enforcement. As an innocent victim, nobody will demand to know why you hit back; as a self-identified martial artist, you may be expected to turn cartwheels around your attackers, and punished for anything less.

When the story isn’t compelling or advertiser-friendly, there is no headline. This last point warrants no further explanation.

Penn Jilette helpfully translates,

“Dojo” is Japanese for “storefront in strip mall”.

OK, this is mostly true.

Dena has been teaching the ancient Chinese practices of Chi Kung and Tai Chi ever since the powers of chi healed her osteoporosis. That’s what she said. We don’t know why she’s here on Showtime, rather than presenting her double-blind study on the curing of osteoarthritis through Chi Kung to the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Dena is not presenting to the AMA because this is a settled issue. The safety and efficacy of Qigong as an arthritis treatment is well established, in theory and practice. Common objections, that the theory is not acceptable and the observed results are unimportant, fail to impress this writer–or the many practitioners who have found relief through these practices.

Before providing his opinion of Qigong, Penn Jilette should first learn how to pronounce it correctly. If this is prohibitively difficult, he could instead browse the 3000 search results in PubMed (assuming that he can spell it correctly).

Dismissing the effectiveness of Tai Chi Chuan, Penn Jilette says:

And this is going to repel an attacker? Maybe if he’s afraid of French mimes.

After mislabeling martial arts as systems of self-defense, who have Penn and Teller selected to test the fighting capacity of Tai Chi? An elderly female theatre major, whose primary interest lies in the therapeutic aspects of the art. Sacrebleu!

If nothing else, this decision explains the title for their TV series. It is also a wasted opportunity; I would have paid good money to see Penn attempt a hands-on investigation of Chen Bing, or any of a hundred other masters who take fighting applications seriously.

Marc MacYoung explains the significance of belts in the martial arts,

It turns out there has never been a accepted standard for what a black belt means, or any other color belt for that matter. Simply put, martial arts is a business, and the belts are its primary product…For two or three thousand dollars, not including belt testing fees, equipment fees, and all these other hidden fees, you can get a black belt in one year, guaranteed.

This is standard practice in modern, commercial schools. It is far from universal, however. Note that of the four martial arts experts on this show, only one of them actually awards belts!

After learning that senior students not only assist in teaching, but also mop the floors and change the light bulbs in Mike Reeves’ dojo, Penn complains:

“Wait a second, that’s like paying your gym membership to scrub the showers. But this isn’t unique to Mike’s dojo. This is all dojos around the country…What’s the Japanese word for suckers?”

The word in question is giri, and it can be translated as “obligation”. Unlike colored belts, this practice does have a historical precedent. Giri generally includes, but is not limited to basic dojo maintenance duties.

The plain fact is that if students will not perform these simple tasks, they must pay for someone else to do it. Veteran students tend to give their dojo as much respect as their own home, and if sweeping the floor is not exactly an honor, it is hardly a punishment either.

Responding to Damian Ross’ bluster, that producing killer students makes him proud, Penn and Teller declare,

According to the legal definition of self-defense, ‘A person must use no more force than appears reasonably necessary in the circumstances.’ Otherwise Damian, your students are looking at manslaughter charges.

The standards for legally permissible self-defense vary by jurisdiction: city, state and country.

Revealing the secrets of board breaking, Penn Jilette states,

Now breaking even one board is damn near impossible if you whack the board [against the grain]. But if you turn it, you’re splitting it between the fibers. Still, even with soft pine, breaking a stack of five takes a hell of a whack, unless you put pencils, chopsticks, or some some separators between them. Now you’re just breaking one board after the other, separately.

Penn actually understates the widespread duplicity of Karate and Taekwondo breaking demonstrations! More on this subject in a future article here.

Watch the full episode of PENN & TELLER: BULLSHIT! “Martial Arts” online at MegaVideo (NSFW)
[YouTube version (also NSFW)]

In his parting cheap shots, Penn inquires,

What’s the point of all these crazy [Tai Chi] moves?

Dena responds,

They teach you to listen to your organs, and after awhile, your organs will talk to you…I’m not kidding.

??

After taking great care to present Dena as a faded fruitcake, Penn asks two other people whether they believe her wacky claims. Their answer, unsurprisingly, is no. But what do you think? Can organs really talk?

Are Penn and Teller out of their depth here? Or do you agree with their conclusion, that martial arts are bullshit?

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…