The Ancient Chinese Martial Arts - a discipline of the mind

[Perplex]

Martial arts , also known as Kung-Fu and by many other names date way back in history.
From what I know and have read, martial arts are much more than they actually seem.
Each style has its own history and philosophy. Many of them have originated from Chinese shaolins in Tibet and thus I tend to believe they involve a lot more than just physical training and contact. Mind training, emotion management and meditation are just few of the requirements. I do not know much of this , but I would surely like to read, learn, and understand this art, and I am yet to find some serious sources of information . So I'm asking whoever reads this thread and has any knowledge about such things / knows where I could find this type of information , please let me know .

love and peace,
Rares

[Indigo]

I started reading a good book a year or so about a young man's time at a monastery in, I think, Tibet, that covered all aspects of his training (In Buddhist countries it is/was often the monks who are/were the warriors - hence shaolin monks and their amazing martial abilities). Having trouble remembering the name of it, though I can picture the cover. As soon as it comes back to my mind (or I find out by other means) I'll be back to let you know.

OK, been off hunting through my records. It was Chronicles of Tao, The Secret Life of a Taoist Monk by Deng Ming-Dao Might be a good place for you to start

Peace, indigo

[bluestflame]

here's a link i had handed to me David's pretty approachable

http://www.wudangwenwu.com/

the place where they filmed crouching tiger:hidden dragon

[mike1414]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qi

personally speaking martial arts as with absolutely every single thing else boils down to energy... use the force wisely, young jedi

peace always
mike

[kinsuemei2]

First my advice is not to restrict yourself to Chinese ancient arts, you would be robbing yourself of so much soul food, Aikido has its own philosophy and spiritual guide as does most martial arts, Karate, Ninpo, even judo if you go far enough back, Muay Thai, Mauy Boran, they all require a certain level of mental training, Kun tao you name it,
here a few links

http://kaleidoscope.cultural-china.c...scope4897.html

http://www.nardis.com/~twchan/liang.html

http://www.greencloud.net/969726.html

Understand that the mental aspect is designed to work hand in hand with the physical.
Ben

[blue777]

Posted by kinsuemei2 (here)
First my advice is not to restrict yourself to Chinese ancient arts, you would be robbing yourself of so much soul food, Aikido has its own philosophy and spiritual guide as does most martial arts, Karate, Ninpo, even judo if you go far enough back, Muay Thai, Mauy Boran, they all require a certain level of mental training, Kun tao you name it,
here a few links

http://kaleidoscope.cultural-china.c...scope4897.html

http://www.nardis.com/~twchan/liang.html

http://www.greencloud.net/969726.html

Understand that the mental aspect is designed to work hand in hand with the physical.
Ben

I have done karate (japanese)also tai -kwondo and a few other things...but never mastered the full art of chi........has anyone mastered it
lol

[Perplex]

I thank you all for your replies !
To be honest, I hadn't expected so many useful replies in such a short time.
I'll dedicate this afternoon for a more profound study
Thanks again

Love and peace ,
Rares

[Jnana]

You can't learn a martial art by reading about it. Learning a martial art by reading about it is like a toddler learning to walk by looking at a picture book that shows people walking. It doesn't work. You might do some reading in order to decide which martial art appeals to you the most, but then you have to find a dojo and DO IT.

For example, emotion management comes into play when some big guy thumps you and you need to not blow your cool and do something stupid, leaving yourself even more open. I'm a big guy and scared the dickens out of a much smaller woman sparring (she walked into my foot and lost her balance, but in her mind I kicked her into a wall!). She eventually managed to overcome that sort of thing, by getting out there and trying again.

Mushin (no mind) comes into play when you discover that if you think about what you are going to do, it is already too late. The automatic response is built through practice. After getting hit enough times, your hands are automatically in the way and you finally have learned how to block.

[Kulapops]

I like this one...
https://youtube.com/watch?v=6jgrHMONssk

K

[Swanny]

I recommend http://www.karatedoshotokai.com/
Great way to get fit and to learn the art of being really heavy

[Kulapops]

I forgot to mention I'm a black belt in origami too...