Month: September 2012

Yes no and maybe

The entire world has three obvious head movements or gestures of yes no and maybe. The no is a movement of the head from side to side. The yes is a movement up and down while remaining on the same line and maybe which is tilting of the head in different directions. When we take these movements to our survival as hunters and gatherers we can learn from exploration that a no movement is a scan of the area around me without finding something worth stopping for and a yes is an estimation of the worth or validity of a target. The maybe or head tilt usually means either trying to figure the estimation that was not successful in the yes movement or sometimes when the ground is not in your favor such as a heavy brush or low ground.
In the same way we infer up and down movements as decisive such as a sword swing from overhead forward to the target or a straight fist to the head or in less obvious terms walking straight to a person especially from an elevated surface. A person who is trying to avoid contact will move his gaze in a part of a no movement when you look at him or her and the body will turn as well as if he is scanning the savanna as well. Movements of finding out such as head and body tilting are often seen as lack of confidence whether they are or not and are taken as less threatening and decisive.
Use your understanding of the universal human language when dealing with other people to better communicate and calm others by choosing your movement with more awareness and in a fight or better when it is leading to a fight know to read what is happening and act instead of react to what is happening.

People ofter try to intimidate a stronger person into a vulnerability so they can capitalize on it. Keep breathing and relax your eyes and you are half way to self control. From there you will find everything else waiting.

Squats for relaxation

In this video we squat for relaxation. We first tense a part of the leg within the exhale and release on the inhale a few times and then add a relaxation of the legs into a squat and back up to standing. Work on paying attention to excess tension and by that release it to allow your natural movement to manifest. Work on the release of the eyes from focusing unintentionally on the horizon or on people and also on your feet allowing them to move without grabbing onto the ground. Work on it and the reward will present itself.

Advice toward easier and profitable fasting

Advice toward easier and profitable fasting

Your body does not start to clean itself when the fast begins but works on the task constantly. If you eat lightly (more vegetables and less processed food with preserving substances) and drink more water and less alcohol before the fast your body will have less to clean on the starting line and you will reach further and experience less of a delta in the process. The result will be a healthier more vibrant feeling and a greater affect over time on you aging and inner workings

Trying to do meditation or work on a difficult subject once in a month is akin to being faithful to your wife one hour a day. Neither are going to end up well. If you plan to meditate or perform exercises over the fast start practicing daily or whenever you can. You will get a lot more out of the work you are doing and experience less pain.

If you are planning to avoid water as well as food start drinking a bit every hour a day before the fast to allow the body to adjust and gently take in more water without any harmful affect and with a greater release of toxins from the body all throughout the fast.

Since our movements and actions continue to affect the body and mind after the physical work is over it is best to do the strenuous work in the beginning of the fast unless you are purposefully testing yourself. An example would be to do your pushups and squats in the first hours of the fast and coordination work toward the end depending on your current focus.

Preparing the body toward handling stabs with the repetition of scratching is logically unsound. Don’t expect short breaks from eating to be exactly as a full one to three day water and food fast or a full week food fast. Be humble and know from there when to push and when to give way. Remember the road is important but it is not the goal.

Mindset in class

Working on your own self knowledge in class or by yourself is dependent on two main factors. The first is your own safety and knowledge of your training partners since you cannot logically put yourself in a compromising situation with people or environment you cannot trust. Be mindful of your feeling and senses and avoid working with partners you cannot trust or in locations and environments you are not sure of. Keeping an eye out for yourself is more energy efficient than leaving an eye on the “playground”

The second and more affecting factor in the long run is your state of mind. Going to class or to your own private practice with a competitive or aggressive attitude or worse trying to win a drill will leave you winded and without any self knowledge other than you win sometimes and you lose sometimes and your perspective of what is survival and what is learning will also be marred and affect your movement and comprehension of true survival situations and avoiding them altogether.

I suggest trying out an attitude of let us see what happens once condition one is met and with this you leave behind problems of competition when not in a race and fear of where is this going when the exploration is what matters. Learning to find a way demands you feel comfortable even if right now you only have a bit of the way. That is what keeping on moving is all about.

Game of stalking

For this drill we will need at least two students. one starts stationary and looking away from the other student. From time to time the stationary student will turn and see if he or she can catch the movement of the other student before he or she freezes (catching the movement you will advise the student where he was caught so next time you will have a better student to work with and you will have more to work with). This is a great game for children and an even better one for adults who can place more experience into this drill to learn to do the basics well.

As the drill evolves you can create a routine such as the observer turning slowly around so both learn to pay attention to the edges of their vision and to the vision of others. Another way to learn this is to place a large object as a tree or brush between you and see how it works to either advantage or liability.

One last variation to this drills is to place your arms in different ways in front of you when you do this drill. It is always good to know how you are obstructing your own vision with your limbs and to avoid doing so.

The drill is good for one simple reason. You must be good at the basics to do well in it. No technique or fancy gear can do the work for you.