|
|
 |
|
| Author |
 Topic  |
|
|
Mykal K
Germany
266 Posts |
 Posted - Jul 01 2014 : 11:22:40 AM
|
Hi guys,
I have been re-thinking my 'sadhana' lately. Up untill a month or so, I was practicing daily a style of kung fu, namely wing chun, accompanied by a sitting practice (last few years it has been AYP) along with dynamic asana practice.
Since I had to stop my kung fu practice for some reasons, I have begun exploring tai chi.
Anyway, I have experienced something which is confusing me in terms of continuing practice.
It feels as if both systems of practice have their unique 'feeling' in which I get immersed into when I practice them. It was quite disorienting and also demotivating to practice kung fu with the 'tai chi feeling'. Seems I can't practice both at the same time - I get either one 'feeling' or the other - haven't experimented that much with it so I do not know for sure.
Anyway, as last few weeks I have been not practicing anything but AYP, I have another feeling for myself, maybe because of some recent opening, but it could also be 'cause I have not been practicing those other two systems and have lost their respective feelings.
I am now postponing my practice of wing chun (it is an addiction to it that drives me, and partly sadness for losing it if I do not keep it up) because I am afraid that I will lose this spacious and relaxed feeling I have now.
Does this make any sense?
Maybe I am just making a problem out of nothing, but I'd like some input.
Is it possible to mix AYP with martial arts - in terms that you do not have to jump from one's 'feeling' to the other? And if you do have to jump, how much of a problem is it?
Does each system have it's energy that 'colors' our body and mind to it's vibration, and if so - does it have any sense to pursue two at the same time?
Thank you for your time,
Miroslav |
|
|
Holy
796 Posts |
Posted - Jul 01 2014 : 6:12:46 PM
|
Hi Mykal K,
whatever you practice or do, it will have its own feeling and accordingly the flow of life will also adapt to it.
If you practice AYP with wing chun, it will feel different than AYP with tai chi or only AYP. At the same time the way life unfolds will also be different with every combo. Whatever you do in life, it will feel in some way and has some effect.
Utimately AYP and tai chi has some connection due to Yogani who himself went that path. But I do not know for which timeframe, as the tai chi part has come up only vey few times. If you feel drawn to wing chun and AYP, obviously that combo might work for you due to your past karmas and inclinations.
You say that wing chun is not possible for you anymore, due to physical reasons? But you still like it, so this is the problem? :P I also like to drink milk, but my body not so, so what to do? ;) When the body is happy, all is happy, therefor better listen to the body (:
Peace friend
|
 |
|
|
Mykal K
Germany
266 Posts |
Posted - Jul 02 2014 : 04:32:48 AM
|
Hi Holy,
thank you for your post. You always manage to put a smile on my face :).
I think more time and some letting go is what is needed. 
|
|
|
|
SeySorciere
Seychelles
1532 Posts |
Posted - Jul 02 2014 : 05:07:00 AM
|
Dear Mykal,
I find myself in a similar situation. With all the interesting reports on Kriya lately, I decided to give Kriya a shot. Now I am in love with both - AYP and Kriya and I cannot decide which one to stick to, so I am practicing both - AYP in the mornings and Kriya in the evenings but that tends to lead to over-load and I am still adjusting and fine-tuning. It has been a tumultuous couple of months.
Sey |
|
|
|
Mykal K
Germany
266 Posts |
Posted - Jul 02 2014 : 09:16:56 AM
|
Dear Sey,
to you.
It is much easier having just one thing. After 12 years of multiple practices it feels good to slow down. So much time in the day.
I do not mind leaving wing chun actually, with every passing day it seems easier .
Want to explain myself some more(you can skip this passage in which I am trying to again explain my xp with wing chun & tai chi and AYP).
After practicing tai chi and getting the feeling for it, it felt as if my body wanted to move in different ways - new ways I did not even understand, it came after only a 5-day tai chi seminar. When coming back to wing chun, I had to practice for awhile before getting it's feeling back - only then the movements felt natural and meaningful.
While practicing wing chun with the feeling of tai chi, it felt 'wrong' to practice wing chun because it felt as if the body now had some other ideas in it - how the movements should go about. It felt like wasted time - the time of getting back to wing chun from tai chi.
All of this is just subjective feeling, I am aware of it, and I haven't done much experimenting after that - it could be that it would change with time.
About wing chun's overlap with AYP - it is different, if it exist it is more in the sphere of how I view my place in the world, and how I interact with other people. Had some opening right about that time, so can not be sure that the overlap exist. I have a hunch it does, but my xp is to vague to be sure of it.
Generally, the idea that I wanted to put forth was that each system moulds the practicioner to it's image. Maybe like when shaman that embodies an eagle spirit might want to move like an eagle and sound itself like an eagle and such. And that might make practicing more than one system at a time not possible if someone wanted to go deep in both. Because I think they would overlap, and one would have to dominate, and now I even seem to think that time would be lost going back and forth.
Maybe I am way off base - this is just an idea that came  .
To return to the analogy above, some shamans embody multiple animals. Never heard of them embodying more than one animal at the same time, though. In my mind that would be a very strange thing, and I honestly do not see how it would be possible.
I guess after finishing one system one could totally forget it while going to the other. I know that there have been people for whom it is said that they are masters of multiple systems.
Maybe they have done that, dunno. Maybe my theory has no hold except for martial arts, and maybe not even for them.  |
|
|
|
Ecdyonurus
Switzerland
479 Posts |
Posted - Jul 02 2014 : 09:34:51 AM
|
| Hi Mykal, I don't know thai chi and other systems, but I can imagine that you are right when you write that different systems may overlap. Even inside the yoga system, I found that an extended asana session and AYP sitting practices are different things. Now I do long asana sessions only 2-3 times a week, and try to avoid doing such along asana session right before sitting practices. I really had to reduce the amount of time for asana in order to enjoy more the sitting part of yoga. |
|
|
|
AumNaturel
Canada
687 Posts |
Posted - Jul 02 2014 : 11:55:54 AM
|
Hi Miroslav,
my initial focus was meditation, internal martial arts, and research or experimentation into various other systems or practices on the side. It was a challenge even then, since focusing on the postures and movement made me feel like I was missing the meditation, and vice versa. It would be a Taijiquan routine in the morning and Qigong in the evening, but missing out on meditation since I started with that at 1 hour a day twice a day, while the other routines also ended up quite long and challenging on their own. On top of that, there was the ongoing research into various spiritual practices, and ordinary physical exercise which really shortened the time available.
Even that wasn't easy to keep up cause during school it had to be 100% school focus with the twice weekly group practice at the dojo. Then discovered standing qigong, which made the taiji and qigong that much more loaded due to the overlaps, then yoga, and being frustrated trying to customize an all-in-one routine knowing I like depth, focus, repetition over constant cycling which already showed evidence of not fitting in. I figure, it is possible to cycle the momentum of various practices by alternating on the days of the week so that each routine is spaced out by no more than 1 or 2 days, but by then found much satisfaction in twice daily AYP.
A key element was Yogani's reassurance from his writings that one does not actually need to be proficient in energy sensitivity in order that the sitting practices have traction. This was a trail I've been following since pursuing Taoist philosophy, martial arts, meditation, and internal alchemy, all of which suggested a natural progression inwards into the body, into stillness in action, and direct contact and perception into other subtle realms on which to build new understandings and relations.
Like you, I still miss the feel of taiji/qigong, but find the skills learned during that practice to still be there, and to still be relevant to AYP and transferable due to that common denominator we've come to know so well: the nervous system. 'Reeling the silk up the spine' for example was a wavy form of pranayama guided by the hand in thumb-to-ring finger 'mudra' with the other hand at the base of the spine with fingers touching and pointing up. Pakuachung was walking the circle (possibly a hidden form of harnessing a vortex and its reputed power of intention or manifestation) with the entire spine in what's practically a loaded spring (zhan zhuang). There's more overlaps, like spinal bastrika or doggy panting with pre-birth breathing, etc., that makes it all worthwhile. But short of a monastic environment like the legendary shaolin temple during Da Mo's time, I hope that any and all concentrated efforts over time lead to some common ground that can be further explored no matter what self-styled eclectic combination of systems we're able to come up with. It certainly takes a practitioner to understand that flavor of insatiable curiosity of what otherwise appears as some form of madness. |
|
|
|
SeySorciere
Seychelles
1532 Posts |
Posted - Jul 03 2014 : 05:41:05 AM
|
Dear Mykal,
I am the opposite. I've had seven years of one practice - AYP and feeling the curiosity to explore other practices. Like I say with all the Kriya debates going on, it drew me. And yes, each practice has a different "feel". Bearing in mind that I am very new to Kriya and still new to AYP, I would describe the two like this - Kriya "feels" sweet and light and joyful but not very filling. After a couple of days of Kriya, I long for a dose of AYP to properly fill me up. And vice versa. If we were to talk in terms of food, AYP feels like a main dish and Kriya would be the sweet/dessert. And I have a sweet tooth. I would ask others reading this not to draw any meaningful conclusions from my statement - this is just inexperienced me sharing a "feeling". This is why I love them both. What to do?
Sey
P.S. Despite being described as sweet and light, kriya is more intense and more demanding than AYP, I feel.
|
Edited by - SeySorciere on Jul 03 2014 05:44:09 AM |
|
|
|
Mykal K
Germany
266 Posts |
Posted - Jul 03 2014 : 11:05:01 AM
|
Hi Aum,
quote:
but find the skills learned during that practice to still be there, and to still be relevant to AYP and transferable due to that common denominator we've come to know so well: the nervous system.
quote:
I hope that any and all concentrated efforts over time lead to some common ground that can be further explored no matter what self-styled eclectic combination of systems we're able to come up with.
I agree that skills do stay, and they do help to switch to the other system if the system utilises them. |
|
|
|
Mykal K
Germany
266 Posts |
Posted - Jul 03 2014 : 11:28:13 AM
|
Dear Sey,
I will try to get enough time tommorow to answer.
|
|
|
|
Mykal K
Germany
266 Posts |
Posted - Jul 04 2014 : 06:18:19 AM
|
Hi Sey,
I am sorry, but I am pretty much confused at the point where I am.
I know that I feel the need to slow down, ease back, and relax. I have gone through much lately, and need some R&R. I think in time we will both come to know to do.
Basic things, like love, are what I truly need. The rest is just icing on the cake. Do not think it matters much.
|
Edited by - Mykal K on Jul 04 2014 06:47:54 AM |
|
|
|
SeySorciere
Seychelles
1532 Posts |
Posted - Jul 04 2014 : 06:57:28 AM
|
Enough  ?
Sey |
|
|
|
Mykal K
Germany
266 Posts |
Posted - Jul 04 2014 : 2:15:41 PM
|
|
|
|
|
riptiz
United Kingdom
741 Posts |
Posted - Jul 26 2014 : 06:27:31 AM
|
Hi,
I have been through the different arts myself and have not had a problem but I think it's due to mindset.I started in Karate for over 30 yrs and along the way TM, Tai Chi,Reiki,various energy therapies,Aikido and Kundalini maha yoga.I gave up the Karate about 10 yrs ago(and yes the skills still remain but obviously the sharpness drops off)and continue with Aikido a little chi gung and KMY.Even the external arts like Karate have the internal elements and some exponents of Aikido are more external than others.I feel you need to find common ground in your practices and don't analyse too much as it may lead to confusion.Most of all enjoy yourself after all you have chosen to do these practices and they are no good to you if there is no enjoyment from them.
L&L
Dave |
|
|
| |
Topic |
|
|
|
| AYP Public Forum |
© Contributing Authors (opinions and advice belong to the respective authors) |
|
|
|
|
Combining different systems of practice
