My Four Tai Chi Lies About Energy… and One Truth

Steven Smith from RealTaiji.com tagged me. He pressed me to participate in a meme. As he did, I’ve put it off long enough so here I go.

The meme works like this: I list five things about me. Four are untrue, one true. All are outlandish, implausible, or ridiculous enough that no one (or few) will be inclined to believe any of the listings are true.  You as the reader are to try to discern which is truth and which are lies; I decided to use the theme of energy for my meme, and I’m obliged never to reveal the truth.  Once told, I am to tag five other people, four who will likely participate and one person who might not.

My Meme:

1. As a child I loved the cartoon Johnny Quest and used to dream of being able to do the things Johnny’s dad could do with martial arts.  One day I was in the hayloft of a barn with some friends.  We were doing something stupid that kids have done as long as there have been barns, and haystacks.  We were jumping from the loft out into a haystack in front of the barn.  The haystack wasn’t all that close to the barn and we had to run and jump make it to it.   We were yelling and screaming, jumping into the haystack, and climbing back into the loft to do it again.  I got so caught up in the moment that one jump I screamed “JOHNNY QUEST!” as I ran and jumped, overshooting the haystack by about 10 feet.  It didn’t faze me in the least.  I landed on my feet rolled just like Johnny’s Dad and came up running.  When one of my friends saw that, he thought it looked like so much fun that he’d try it too.  He didn’t manage to overshoot the haystack and got tangled in the hay as he tried to roll.  He was on crutches for the next two weeks.




2. When I was in my 20′s, and just learning about working with energies, I was playing with influencing the energies of others as a way of helping them out.  I was taught I could do this only for the benefit of others.  I had agreed to work for a family member for a while as they were getting their business off the ground.  There was a woman who had caused problems in other places she worked, and was doing the same there.  I decided to test my new ability on her for the benefit of everyone else, so I collected the energy I could, placed an intention for her to become ill (only until she returned home) and sent it to her.  My friend, not knowing I was planning this, suddenly became very ill until he returned home.  I later found that since he taught this to me, he had accepted responsibility for my actions and the affects fell to him rather than the woman I was using as a test subject.




3. While studying tai chi in China I was practicing push hands with a training brother who was just learning to release energy into an opponent. He asked me if I would practice with him and then told me that if he sent energy to me I was to allow it to pass through me to my feet and then bounce it off the ground back to him, if I could.  After doing push hands for a few minutes he said he was ready and I felt a surge of energy coming toward me.  I opened myself up and allowed it to pass through me before bouncing it back to him.  He then immediately bounced it back to me and I bounced it back to him.  We continued this a few times before the cycle was broken.  It was a very rewarding experience, and pretty tiring.  I slept for a couple of hours as soon as I got back to my hotel room.




4. One day while working on my leg strength I was doing a form of the drill post exercise where I was standing with my feet slightly apart, knees bent, my upper body erect.  Instead of holding my arms in a large circle in front of me I was standing with my arms crossed across my chest, and instead of focusing on the drill I was watching television.  As my legs started to feel fatigued a magician came on the television performing an act of seemingly incredible strength.  I thought his act was fascinating and was trying to figure out how he could pull off the illusion.  I became so engrossed in his act that I forgot about my own discomfort and stood there mesmerized.  I don’t know how long I stood there but by the time I realized it my knees felt as if they were locked, my thighs were burning, and the only way I could get out of the posture was to fall backward.  My legs were sore for a couple of days and that was the last time I did this exercise without paying attention to whether or not I was doing it correctly.




5. Like most small schools, class sizes can vary depending on the time of year, the weather, etc.  During one class I had a single student so they were in effect having a private lesson.  We were working on the concept and ability of moving energy through the body.  Try as she might she couldn’t feel even the most basic of things.  What I was saying seemed to make no sense to her so I decided to try another approach.  I told her to quit trying and hold her hands out in front of her, leaving her arms as limp and loose as possible.  I took hold of her hands and began moving energy in a circle, from my right hand into her left and out her right hand into my left.  At first she said she could feel nothing, but I could see her arms and her posture beginning to go from limp to alive.  I started moving the energy faster and faster until her eyes became very wide and she quickly let go of my hands.  She said, “It almost felt like an electric shock, only there was no pain.” Although it startled her at first, by the end of that class she was able to move energy through me in the same fashion.

Well I had fun and I hope you’ve enjoyed reading this.  Regarding my next responsibility of naming five people, I’d like to ask you as the reader to participate.  Take your time and post when you’re ready.  I always receive updates when someone leaves a comment, so no matter how old this post is I’ll still receive updates.  At some point in the future I’ll repost this along with the comments, assuming I get at least 5.

Your Meme (thoughts)?

John

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