One of the guys in my class swears by getting stoned and doing tai chi. Does anybody have any experience with that?
This thread could easily become a violation of the Terms of Service, below, regarding promoting drug use. So I'm closing it. 1.13 Drugs: Conversations relating to manufacturing and "hyping" (promoting or sensationalizing) of drugs and drug use are not welcome at MAP.
I'm reopening this thread for discussion, but I will be keeping an eye on it. When posting here, please keep in mind the section of the Terms of Service I quoted in my previous post. Promoting illegal drug use is not allowed here. Carry on.
Yes I have, it was interesting as weed makes you more perceptive, but can also scramble your mind, would not recommend it though. Weed works by moving the Qi from your kidneys, up the spine and to the brain, where it is burned up, by the 'monkey mind', unless you have sufficient control over your 'monkey mind', you will not reap any intellectual/spiritual benefit from this, you may enjoy yourself though if that’s your thing. Also, if on a particular occasion your kidney Qi is deficient, from too much weed, too much sex, unbalanced thoughts or whatever other external or internal factors as you may experience what 'stoners' refer to as 'greening it' or the 'palies', i.e. generally an impending feeling of doom, or fear. As per the five elements theory, 'fear' is directly related to deficiency in kidney Qi, hence cause and effect. In any internal art the emphasis is on cultivating the three treasures Qi, Jing, Shen. By depleting your kidney Qi, you are moving in the wrong direction, though potentially you may reap some benefit from the occasional experience there is no guarantee, however there is no substitute for genuine work, as T.T. Liang said 'work hard, work well, and await your allotment'. I think your friend swears by it because it makes his practice a lot more fun, I bet he also enjoys being stoned without Tai Chi, this is all just trivial desire satisfying distraction, stick to whats real and natural.
Any drug use can cause so many problems with your chi. How can you expect to have the right frame of mind to be able to go through the form properly and still be able to have concentration. It's also not showing very much respect for the teacher if your more interested in taking drugs than doing what's right. lisa xx
Agree 100% TJQ cannot be performed properly (internally speaking) whilst stoned - I know I used to try regularly! My standard is much better now I don't take drugs :Angel:
Your friend is an idiot, plain and simple. 1. It interrupts the natural flow of energy 2. It's illegal 3. It alters consciousness such that you cannot attain the proper mental state when sober. 4. It creates a hazarous situation for his classmates (if he has any left). 5. Creates a MAJOR liability for his instructor.
wake up and smell the roses i really cant stand people who scorn the use of drugs as an optional means of insight into things-= i.e. the form.. yes its good to do on weed one in a while, but not always.. but, BUT. the real jewel lies with doing the form on magic mushrooms, nothing can describe the perceptions youll gain from this, most profound indeed. Once for me, as the weight changed, the colour of the particular side went from either blue, to pink (male/female symbolism) this means i could see and "feel" the colour pink in my left leg, and blue in my right- basically tuning into the male and female characteristics of my perspnality- there was a complete and utter marriage by doing it like this, marriage of the yin and yang in me. Ok, so doing the form naturally will do this to, but not for many many many years of scrutinous practise, using mushrooms and doing tai chi is well worth it to anyone who considers themself open minded and serious about learning as much as they can about "uniting with the universe" as there are simply some aspects and realisations about the form which wont be possible to understand if your not on mushrooms. then theres the lightness the feeling of psyclobin gives, how about having NO tension in your body? i was dancing once and tripping, and my movements were of a flow like nature where one side propells the other and so on... for a few moments there was just complete unity of left and right, when this happened i lost sense of where my body ended, and the surrounding space began- but once i became aware, my mind and thoughts kicked in- thus created tension in my brain and then anchoring me back into my body. To think the original taoist tai chi practicioners didnt use such means as insight into there art would be foolish- ALL ancient esoteric and shamanistic arts from all over the world have used entheogen hallucinagnics (NOT drugs) as a means to go to these deeper levels of being. i even read a taoist like quote which went vaguley went something like.. "wake up, breath, observe, cook mushrooms" not exactly this but along these same taoist quote like lines.. as long as you have the right safe setting, and have no skeletons in the closet you dont feel like facing, taking mushrooms and doing some form will be a night you wont forget due to some of the things you will learn... i never get bored of taking them, and beleive me in retrospect, i was more "dead" or "wasted" before i took them than after as they kind of have a spiritual wake up feel if you channel them into things like yoga or tai chi..
So you're violating the TOS by glorifying drugs, lazy AND you promote the use of illegal drugs. Oh, boy. People like you are exactly the reason internal arts have a bad name (ok, along with the T'ai Chi isn't for fighting hippie set). Yes, shamans used mind altering drugs. But they also learned to do things on their own, tedious and long or not. I think Kinjiro should probably close this one again.
how about actually reading between the lines- im saying invalable insight can be gained by these- it being an entheogen (not drug) is really not important since the people who actually make it illegal genuinly hold no interest in the wider reality of things, tai chi does, you can know more by exploring the deeper states of your being... but of course, self exploration is illegal right?
Well when I am out on the lash and I am pished several things become clear to me, it just seems so blindly obvious. My friends realise I am talking pish though, unless they are drunk too where we bask in each others brilliance, hug and fall down comatose at some stage. I may think I am having epiphanies, but I am just talking pure, 100% whole grain ****e. I presume the same goes with other mind altering drugs. Sure, take the drugs you want for recreation, but I wouldn't assume they improve your Taiji.
Airweaver - the aim of TJQ is NOT to see silly colours (and consequently attribute meaning to that after the fact) neither is it to dance about like a loon... It is a martial art and a means for balancing and purifying the energy system of the body. Try fighting someone while tripping and I think you may find your "great" Taiji is actually pants LOL thinking you have a profound insight or amazing power is a common paranoid halucination (been there, done that, bought the T-shirt, got a life, moved on...) Halucinogenic effects of drugs (and sorry, but magic mushrooms are a drug - just recategorized to class A in the UK btw ) arise from toxifying the neural synapses in the brain. Toxicity is directly counter to the practice of TJQ. I also don't know of any hardcore shamen who practice TJQ - they simply don't have the discipline ime and the two practices are entirely unconnected anyway imo.(and before you start screaming at me, yes I know Taoism has shamanic roots but that is wayyyy back and nothing to do with the development of neigung and taijiquan ) BTW Has anyone else noticed how the stoners here all try to justify their copping out from reality and looking for external shortcuts to inner enlightenment? I know that's what I used to do when I wasted my time with all that overrated chemical masturbation lol I did that for about 15 years and wouldn't listen to anybody who advised against it and guess what? Just like you, I WAS WRONG! I grew up, wised up and started practising the art correctly. The bottom line is this: Drugs screw you up slowly (or quickly depending on what you're taking) at every level of your being and just because something is fashionable or socially acceptable does NOT make it healthy. Get a life, take control and master the Tao the direct way. :woo: :Angel:
Drugs are for lazy people who have nothing better to do. Nothing can match natural highs, that come from the feelings of acomplishment. Go read a book or something man. Lay off the dope. My highschool years were of a continuous stoned state. Wasted 5 of the best years of my life.
Hmmm... Illegal and lazy versus Legal And Through Hard Work. I'll take the latter. Drugs are a dead-end street, and I'm gonna take TJB's word on it that it ain't gonna help your T'ai Chi.
drugs r retarded, there are no shortcuts to getting better , just train and focus, dont do drugs to be more aware thats stupid. what if u dont have that drug then what are u going to do.
all potheads should go to the HIGH TIMES forum(if they have one) and keep this forum for seriouse martial artists
IME cannabis is a shortcut to nowhere in Taiji and it really amazes me how many long-term practitioners seem to think otherwise. (Although it's good to see most MAPers on the right track) When I first started taiji I was quite a heavy smoker and did, on occassion, practise stoned - although even then I would never have been so disrespectful to my teacher. At first I quite liked the feeling - after all cannabis relaxes you - right? I soon realised that whilst it may leave you relaxed it certainly doesn't give you the aliveness or precision needed for taiji. It may feel good - but you're only conning yourself IME. I play table tennis too - and this has highlighted just how much cannabis slows your reactions and for just how long! If I'd been smoking I could see the effect on my timing over 24 hours later! Not a good idea for table tennis and definitely not a good idea for any martial art! Just my 2p worth....
hmm.. if I follow your train of logic then there really shouldn't be any problem with me trying to mainline jack a speedball while doing Aikido... ya know all for self exploration. LOL!
I'd been practicing taiji for a few months/couple of years. Having a puff on rare occasions, but not really thinking anything of it. Then one Saturday I was at a mates house getting hammered and stoned. Had a 4 hour training session the next day. I'd gone out drinking the night before one of these workshops with no real after affect apart from the usual lack of sleep and dehydration. But after a night of jamaican woodbines, my legs felt hollow. It was really strange, I was never a big smoker anyway, but this tipped the balance so that I'll not take it if its offered. I'll just stick with caffiene and alcohol. In moderation of course. Drugs of any sort set up blockages to your progress, unfortunately the blockage normally comes in the form of misleading insights making you think/feel that your getting 'it' when all your getting is sh..
