Hello

[Paladin]

I wanted to introduce myself, and I wasn't sure where to do it. This seemed like an appropriate place in the way that I am a Sifu of another style of Chi Kung. I do not really teach anyone except for a few close friends, but I do have a desire to pass on my knowledge and experience, so I figured this forums like this would be a good place to lend a hand to the Chi Kung community at large. The other major way I do this is by running a blog on Chi Development. I am a philosophy student and as already stated a Sifu of a different Chi Kung Tradition. I would like to help people learn to better control and use their chi in all parts of their lives, and considering most masters here are of the same tradition, I just might be able to shed a different perspective on things.

[joko]

Welcome

Welcome, Sifu Paladin.

Looking forward to reading your posts in our Forum.

Greeting from Indonesia,

Joko

[Matt F.]

I wanted to introduce myself, and I wasn't sure where to do it. This seemed like an appropriate place in the way that I am a Sifu of another style of Chi Kung. I do not really teach anyone except for a few close friends, but I do have a desire to pass on my knowledge and experience, so I figured this forums like this would be a good place to lend a hand to the Chi Kung community at large. The other major way I do this is by running a blog on Chi Development. I am a philosophy student and as already stated a Sifu of a different Chi Kung Tradition. I would like to help people learn to better control and use their chi in all parts of their lives, and considering most masters here are of the same tradition, I just might be able to shed a different perspective on things.

Dear Sifu Paladin,

Welcome to our forum. It sounds as though you have had a good experience with Chi Kung, and have a desire to help others. That is a good thing. However, please do remember that this forum is part of the Shaolin Wahnam school. In other words, when you are active in the forum (reading, writing, discussing, etc), you are literally taking part in a Shaolin Wahnam class.

As stated, this is a Shaolin Wahnam school, and therefore the majority of forum members are Shaolin Wahnam students and instructors, though of course polite visitors are most welcome. If you are intending to "lend a hand" to the Shaolin Wahnam teachers, or "shed a different perspective" than those taught by Shaolin Wahnam in a Shaolin Wahnam class, I think you will not have a good time here. And I'm sure you can see why this would be seen as insulting and disrespectful.

I am happy you are here, and I'm sure you will find many others are happy as well - we all love Chi Kung! Fun discussion can be had with others offering a different view point. However, please do not come to our school and try to "teach us."

With respect and a smile,

-Matt

[Paladin]

Thank you for the welcome, and don't worry, I have no intention to "teach" the students here. I am simply trying to reach out to other traditions and make new friends in the larger Chi Kung community. If there are ways I can impart wanted knowledge, than I will, but other wise, I will just be an observer learning about a different tradition.

Also, I noticed that there is a new members forum, which I apparently missed. I'll go ahead and post my introduction there instead.

[Matt F.]

Thank you for the welcome, and don't worry, I have no intention to "teach" the students here. I am simply trying to reach out to other traditions and make new friends in the larger Chi Kung community. If there are ways I can impart wanted knowledge, than I will, but other wise, I will just be an observer learning about a different tradition.

Also, I noticed that there is a new members forum, which I apparently missed. I'll go ahead and post my introduction there instead.

Dear Sifu Paladin,

Very good! Please do feel free to take part in discussions and share your experiences and understandings. I know there are many different ideas/view points on internal arts. I think you will find this forum to be a wonderful source of information and open sharing, if you approach it with the right mindset. And it sounds like you will do very well!

I think both sides of a particular view point can benefit from open discussion, as long as neither side is trying to "win." Please know that if you state a point of view that differs from our view in Shaolin Wahnam, you will probably be met with many people who disagree with you. We speak from our experience, and often our experiences are very similar. If your experiences differ, then it may seem like you are being ganged up on. But that is not the case. It is not rare for a visitor to this forum to state what they feel is a fact, only to have many Shaolin Wahnam members, who have experienced the "fact" to be untrue, tell the visitor they are wrong. It can be quite a challenge to hear that what you think to be true is, in fact, not.

Glad to have you on the forum. I look forward to your contributions.

-Matt

[Paladin]

Thank you, both for the welcome and the words of wisdom. I don't imagine I will too many problems for a few reasons. I find that most practitioners of internal arts have more philosophies in common than not. In addition, you learn from what ultimately appears to be rooted in Shaolin Kung Fu. My Chi Kung does not at all have Shaolin roots, but my Kung Fu does, so many philosophies will be very similar. Also, I am a philosophy student, which means in general my life is having people tell me I'm wrong about pretty much everything under the sun, so I am not easliy offended and practiced at listenging and learning from other views. I think this forum will be a very nice to learn new philosophies and traditions, and maybe get know a few other sifus and how they teach.

[Neil Kelson]

A a couple of nice points have been mentioned which hopefully will help with avoiding any misunderstandings in the future.

Another point worth noting is that in Shaolin Wahnam, our idea of philosophy is not really speculative, but one which is of a practical nature that aims to crystallise the direct experiences of the past Masters.

Hence, speculative or intellectual discussions are generally not considered very important relative to direct experience, but are sometimes engaged in just for fun :-)

A concrete example is the question of the existence or otherwise of Chi. For a great many Shaolin Wahnam members who have directly and convincingly to their complete personal satisfaction experienced chi, this question is of no relevance whatsoever and even nonsensical. On the other hand, for those with no direct personal experience of chi, this could be the topic of endless seemingly wonderful speculations.