How to Get to the Ethereal Plane with Martial Arts!

I Am Drunk with Monkeyland!

I used to work out in the city,
and after a few years I started working out late at night.
Past midnight.
It was simply the quietest time.
Everybody was asleep.
Either out chasing dreams,
or hiding from nightmares.
And it was quiet.

Charlie Valley…my view from a work out!

No distractions.

Now,
I am 2500 feet up.
Not all that high,
but high enough to get above the psychic chit chat,
the day to day anger and argument
of people snarling their way through life.

I am 4 miles from my nearest neighbor.
And he is miles from HIS nearest neighbor!

And,
the work outs I experience up here
are truly the stuff of heaven.
I find myself marveling at forms,
digging into them the way I used to.
Exploring nuances of motion,
and knowing that I am exploring my soul.

What moves you?
Why does the hand turn this way and not that?
Do I look out at the world with this motion,
or into my energy generator?
So many questions being resolved.

And it’s funny,
I knew the answers,
heck, I write the answers out for all,
but there is an IMMENSE difference
between knowing about
and knowing.
It is the difference between hearing a rumor about this thing called water,
and the reality of jumping in the ocean.

And,
in the martial arts,
it is the difference between hearing about this thing called Chi,
and jumping into the ethereal plane.

The ethereal plane refers to that ocean of chi in which we swim.

Let me slide to the side on this…
have you ever heard the saying:

There are three great mysteries in life.
To birds it is air,
to fish it is water,
to man it is himself.

We are Awareness,
swimming in an ocean of Awareness,
distracted by things…objects…emotions…stuff.

But up here on the mountain
there are no distractions
and when I swim in the Awareness of myself
I am connected with All.

That is the ethereal plane in which I swim.
Up here thoughts are as fast as…as thought.
up here is Awareness unbounded.

You can see forever.

Forgive me,
I blather,
but you can understand…
I am drunk with Monkeyland.

That said,
let me give you a principle to pursue in your martial arts.

Less is more.

I know,
you may have heard of this,
but when you can see forever
it becomes crucial.

Can you hit with less and less force
and cause more and more impact?

Can you touch with less and less weight,
and cause more and more…imbalance?

I want you to think about that,
because it tends to undo the great trap of power obsession
which has ensnared most martial arts.

I’ll write an article on that
but for now,
let me offer links
to a couple of articles
in the sidebar on the right.

And if you’re getting this in a format other than the newsletter,
sorry,
but you can find these articles and more at
alcase.wordpress.com,
and you can also sign up for the newsletter
by going to Monstermartialarts.com
and signing up for the free books.

Oinkley Donkey,
I know this is short,
but I have to go chop wood
or I’ll freeze this winter.
And if the roads are dry
I have to go to town to get tools
to keep everything working,
wood for the planter boxes,
shovels for the dirt,
simply everything to survive…
from funnels to blow guns.

And,
envy me.
And wish you were up here,
when you are on this mountain,
which I fondly call Mt. Nimopo
you are closer to the sky,
you are further from hell
and closer to heaven.
I certainly wish you were here.

Here’s the URL for Five Army Tai ChiChuan,

definitely recommended for the breakthrough at the top of the mountain

http://monstermartialarts.com/martial-arts/five-army-tai-chi-chuan/

May you all have the grandest work out of your lives,

and I’ll see you on the ethereal plane.

Al