The Minotaur: The Singh Family Wooden Dummy

The key with the gada is not to fight it - that is one reason I think it is an excellent compliment. There is always a point where you get to the "too heavy" stage though...a bit like kettlebells actually

Glad you have rediscovered your love for the gada!

 

Opps you found me out.. lol

Brother thank God for editors... if not for them I would not have a single reader understand the stuff I spew sometimes.... lol... However, if you look closely at my posts under Illusive Pugilism in MAP you will actually see a modification of that prose.... Like I said, I owe the critiques of MAP patrons alot for learning how to present my ideas and also... how to comport myself... I got into a huge fight with a guy called John when I wrote those posts... You guys helped clarify my thinking and forced editing of material already submitted for printing... it was incredible...

They actually were to throw me out and I think they actually did throw me out ... then the admin guys found my published articles from the Jade Dragon which were quite well circulated in preparation for sales of the book. Funny thing is they did not know that I wrote them.... The prose was so less assertive than what I was asserting in MAP that they thought it was someone else and presented it as a clarification and rebunk of my raw thoughts expressed... Two of the writers actually three as Gary Stier joined Bruce and Cloudz and they told the admin guy that the author was me.... they all laughed and realized that I was using the forum to actually formulate my thoughts and vet my theories ... which I guess is what the forum is for because they invited me back... lol .. I am glad theyy did....

Alot of people say the guys in here really do not train and all they do is debunk and relegate people with good ideas but are not part of the club of core readers.... Maybe that is true of some but in my opinion the majority of people here train hard and are quite knowledgable about the Martial Arts. I mention MAP in one of my Jade Dragon Articles and thank them....

Segments of the next revision of my book is being aired now through a Kung Fu Magazine in Hungary.... The Minotaur is being presented in the fall article along with the literary resources that helped me concieve of the devise.... Believe me the construtive criticism and corredctions made becuase of them... like Hannibles introducing me to a forgotten tool for silkreeling called the Gada... and Zaad's calling me something naughty because I did not know that... lol... he is right becuase I should have mentioned the etimology that led me to creat the devise ... I did but they are in other posts that he did not read... still i should have connected them....

Anyway it is nice to know you looked me up... make sure im not a complete "Snake Salesman" like Robinhood thought... lol.. again, I should havce presented a modicum of my skill from the other posts to assuage doubts and help continue dialogue that is constructive... my bad!!!! I do hope you guys check out that Hungariian Kung Fu mag..

It is the first edition in english and there is some good stuff in there... I know I am wordy.. hell I am an author dudes... lol... Sometimes ... I just wax... let you all throw stones and take the hit... see what works and what does not in my thinking and the manner it is recieved.... I think all of you all are greeat and I love having a place to exspress my ideas....

Much love and respect.....

 

Thanks again... but hey... a student of mine turned me on to the Bulgarian Bag... What do you think of this thing?

 

Sorry... just quoting him... lol.. wont happen again....

 

One problem I see when someone tries to make a living teaching, is, they usually try to invent or make things to sell, be it training gimmicks or more Kata's or more Forms or new sets, or new postures or new techniques, etc., it usually just leads to more watered down arts, that leads people away from the goal of original MA.

You haven't convinced me that your minitar/webel is an effective training tool ,
I still think it is more of a big toy. But ha, like you said, man has got to make a living.

Good luck

 

A killer!!

Those are serious workout bags! I do not own one of those myself - I do own a "Motion Master" groundflow bag, but now you have me wanting one of the BB's

http://www.suples.com/bulgarian-training-bags/

 

Brother if convincing you were the goal I would be in serious trouble... lol.... No man.... Im here to vet the Minotaur and find ways to improve the training methods associated with it... Hannible and others have helped in this expectation and you have helped in others such as refining my comportment and cultivating my reptilian response mechanism... so see ywe are buds after all.... seriously and I thank you....

If you see me training my son in a vid I have posted earlier you would know why I innovate..... and thanks for the luck bro.... I have had lots with the help of MAP patrons.... respect...

 

Dude... what is a ground flow bag... you have got to be a beast.... lol

 

That had to have been one of the most epic workout tutorials for a piece of equipment ever off of that site.

I have never seen those, but they look like a whole lot can be done with them. I may have to look into getting one of them. If anyone has used them or something like it, are they definitely worth the investment? With equipment like that I find I can be a bit brutal with my treatment of it. For example I can't buy leather medicine balls, they have to be rubber because after a couple workout sessions they start busting. Does the same sort of thing happen with these with all the jerking and change in direction during the workouts?

 

This is the bag

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41iRECiFtjL._SL500_AA300_.jpg

This is how it is used

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HIGtEDYT5Ko"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HIGtEDYT5Ko[/ame]

 

Dats how you do it do it... Angel's Gym style training.... I think I got alittle moist.... lol

 

Beginning Conversation on meridian manipulation

Ok high-level players and critiques... the internal side of using the Minotaur or any external conditioning device with the body.... How are you guys with your meridian manipulation... da jing luo.... I speak about this in my Creating a Western Family System... Are you guys down with Jerry Allen Johnson and Tom Bisio... also are you MMA/CQC guys down with Madama's Practical Yoga for the MMA pRACTITIONER?

Specific question: What are you guys meridian massage routines like... I already put mine out in the book and with eolution in the article just mentioned... With all the knowledge in here... especially skeptics I would love to learn from you all and maybe share knowledge on this subject hich is not discussed alot..... lets go.. I will begin the conversation because the Minotaur can cause injury to combat athletes....

Where are the Energizing Accupoints that will help to quickly heal a trauma injury? The truth is that these accupoints should be regularly massaged before and after training, in the morning and night. Doing so helps one become familiar with the locations by touch. The areas can be specifically seen when looking at the drawings found at the Angel's Gym Facebook page. Only the mostly-white drawings were worked on by Angel's Gym staff. The others come from othr Martial Arts sites that have free downloads or Wikapedia. Use the drawings to find the following points and use Tom Bisio's Book discussed in Part One of the Article Series to get more information about how to specifically stimulate these points:

Limb Energizers for the Arms and Leg: The manipulation of these accupoints help one walk with more endurance and stamina. Stomach 36 (ST 36) Energizes the lower limb. Relieves pain. Reduces swelling and pain of knee, ankle, and foot. Large intestine 10 (LI 10) Energizes the upper limb. Relievepain. Reduces swelling and pain in the elbow, wrist, and hand. Reduces shoulder pain.

Bisio, Tom (2009-11-19). A Tooth from the Tiger's Mouth (p.207,208,209). Simon & Schuster, Inc.. Kindle Edition.

Limb Gate Points: They open the meridians and release energy into the limbs from the torso. This clears blockages and restores circulation. Stomach 31 (ST 31) releases energy from the torso into the leg. Alleviates pain in the thigh, hip, and leg. In conjunction with ST 36, energizes the lower limb. Stimulates to help prevent muscular atrophy of the leg.

Small intestine 11 (SI 11) Releases energy from the torso to the arm. Alleviates pain in the shoulder blade, arm, and elbow. Helps heal tendonitis of the elbow and wrist. Stimulates to help prevent muscular atrophy of the arm (with LI 10). Bisio, Tom (2009-11-19). A Tooth from the Tiger's Mouth (pp. 210-211). Simon & Schuster, Inc.. Kindle Edition.

Back and Lower-leg Pain: Press BL 40 to relieve any kind of back pain. For this purpose it is often used in conjunction with bladder 60 (BL 60). BL 40 can also be used to relieve sciatica, pain behind the knee, and spasm of the calf muscle.

Bisio, Tom (2009-11-19). A Tooth from the Tiger's Mouth (p. 213). Simon & Schuster, Inc.. Kindle Edition.

Respiration Energizers: Lung 5 (LU 5) Lung 6 (LU 6) Press these points and gently pinch the bicep tendon for a person who is out of breath or feeling faint from overexertion. Use before an athletic event to stimulate and open up the lungs. Bisio, Tom (2009-11-19). A Tooth from the Tiger's Mouth (p. 216). Simon & Schuster, Inc.. Kindle Edition.

Bisio, Tom (2009-11-19). A Tooth from the Tiger's Mouth (p. 215). Simon & Schuster, Inc.. Kindle Edition.

Groin Injury: Kidney 2 (KID 2) Spleen 4 (SP 4) Located on the arch and instep of the foot press both points firmly with your fingertip or knuckle to relieve pain from a blow to the groin or testicles. Bisio, Tom (2009-11-19). A Tooth from the Tiger's Mouth (p. 216). Simon & Schuster, Inc.. Kindle Edition.

When one is aware of the points mentioned that don't repair a specific injury, that knowledge is useful in Breathing regimen. When one can feel the heart beating in various parts of the body that one is focused upon one can mentally know if there is a problem if the sensation can not be felt at the accuploints mentioned. Of course there are Cardinal points along the front and back that do the same thing with touch but this exercise is but another resource to identify potential energy and circulatory blocages. Blood meridian pathways (Zhong Fu) is said to be the Queen of energy distribution in the body and air (Extraordinary Meridian Pathway stimulation) is its reinforcing King. Massage and Breathing control through daily regimen is a must in the effective maintenance of the body. The following sites can help you begin further explorations of the conceptual processes that are required to expound upon Bisio and Sirvanada's work.... as these articles are presented for you to create your own personal regimen:

1. http://www.chiro.org/acupuncture/ABSTRACTS/Cardinal_Points.pdf

2. http://taoism.about.com/od/themeridiansystem/a/eight-extras.htm

3. http://www.mail-archive.com/harmonisasi-universal@googlegroups.com/msg03390.html

4. http://www.baodingballs.com/#about

5. http://holistichealingindia.com/healing_mudras.htm

6. http://www.shardsofconsciousness.com/experiences-during-meditation

 

My teacher taught him some Chinese wrestling. Since in SC, there are a lot of special equipment training designed when you don't have training partner, he invented those 2 training equipments all by himself to train his Taiji when partner was not available.

I don't like those kind of training equipments. It may have some "health" value. But it has little or no "combat" value. The soft, yield, sticky, follow, ... are all "defense" skill. In combat, your defense skill may be good enough for you not to be killed too easy. You still need offense skill to kill your opponent. To spend the majority of your time to train defense skill is not very smart IMO.

 

That look like the "long bag" that we use to train in Chinese wrestling. The difference is the steel balls in long bag will move from one end to another end.

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_KJG0tFJe4g"]The Long Bag: A Traditional Training Tool - YouTube[/ame]

 

Ghengis Khan would disagree

I think this is John. If it is then long time no see man... I hope your Dog is doing fine. The great Conquer Master Khan said, "Invincibility lies in the defense and the possibility of Victory in the Offense..." Now the Wu adept who displays his skill in the video is a professional soldier as most original Wu Masters have been. He has mad skills brother... cultivated skills ... refined offenses and defenses... all blended into one.... Now if you are John Wang then I know you do not really have alot of confidence in Taiji Skills as a friend of yours told me but your grappling skills in the day were said to be prodigious.

Having been retired for quite some time now I am sure you still pratice on your internal skills. We aged people have very little else since the external stuff by this time is pretty much mind over matter. So you and I both know that, as far as the martial thing goes, refined offenses and defenses, cultivate great Harmony of mind, body and raises the spirit (Mental Attention that is intense and focused) as I Li Yeuh talks about in his 5 Character Secret. It can actually be refined and cultivated enough to reach the fabled level of Yang Lu Chuan who is said to be able to neutralize any strength of external force and thus 4 ounces moves 10000 pounds is validated.

In the modern and western sense of Pankration or MMA we see that Master Khan's Dictum is realized when watching the invincible exploits of Anderson Silva's defensive skill which has attracted into emptiness to the extent that opponents were offensively conquered with little to nothing in the way of aggrssive force (Forest Griffin can attest to that). But again although these are competitive examples we can find close quarters battle examples in the US Prison system who use a little known but very deadly (Due to the Environment) art known as Jailhouse Rock, 52 Blocks or in my neck of th woods and time "Cutting" which is a part of my family system... these are high level skills... very high level ... What do I mean by this:

They are skills presented by adepts capable of manipulating their subtle bodies to an extent that the unseen is felt by all, foe and friend. They train with people from time to time but in truth they really dont need to fo maintaining their fighting prowess. They have perfected pugilistic skills for combative situations for so long they wish to train with forces beyond a normal humans abilities in strength, speed, stability, stamina and suppleness. The Supreme Ultimate Fist in the Form of Mediterrainian, European, Persian or Asian methods are not Martial Systems lent to people who do not know how to fight and to do so into their 40's and 50's and beyond. By this time an adept has been training for 30-40 years or more. At this level youth, even at a very high competitive level, has trouble dealing with a person of such experience and pugilistic skill (The ability to give and take punishment without suffering significant damage while striking and grappling). The 72 Arts of Shaolin Manual and its Dimmak Compliment provides an Eastern example of this point.

With master the skills from those manuals one can use the most aggressive defense I have ever witnessed and used called Wujing (Follow, link, adhere, stick, never release or resist). This is pressure fighting. An in your face and whatever you do I will neutalize your offense to the point of ineffectiveness and then decide whether to knock you out, submit you or allow you to quit kinda skills... Still High level guys like this only like to train with like minded people and like skilled people. They do so because it aint about winning or beating your opponent.. It is about learning to collect, store, disperse and discharge the powers granted to someone who has possession of the 3 treaures (refined essence into energy and cultivated energy into spiritual vitality).

The devises ofthe Wu Adept are capable of doing that far better than a normal pugilist can perform. This may not be true of a person who has mastered their craft at his level and in those cases I am sure that he would prefer crossing hands with such a person over his devises... if he were still in the martial mode .. however if not he would probably prefer his devises because they are not about winning... they are about exchanging energies and manipulating the suntle bodies...

For me the Minotaur is used for this purpose. It helps me circulate energy and when I couple my 8 paths breathing regimen it does so at an impressive level of effctiveness.... I can exercise with it for up to 40mins straight without rest and believe me this is a task ... my Minotaur can weigh over 250 pounds. I know I make it look easy but it is not and will not even budge from its centered weight without considerable force that continuously wishes to be erect.... for a normal person it would be like spinning a small refrigerator on a ball wherein a fourth of the weight is where his hand meets the fridge and it gets heavier the lower you go.... alomost impossible to lift.... If you play with the Minotaur enough this is how you will feel to an opponent.... lol... It teaches you to be heavy within but have a light touch because unless you wish to use your iron body skills it will hurt you by sending back your energy plus the enertia of the physics of bravity and centered mass...

I have only met one person who ever feltanywhere near like what I feel from the Minotaur.... Such a defense never allowed my sense of offense to manifest because like the Minotaur he was centered, sunken, circular in motion and continously rthymical in motion.... Now the Minotaur does not walk arond the adept and this is its only conceptual defect when using only one. One would have to surrond oneself in order to simulate that acivity. However two people can use the Minotaur at the same time in its final production phase. This comes close and should be very interesting to exprience when both parties have similar skill....

You you want to see examples of Master Khan's dictum in competition see Matweather's fight against Cotto (Shoulder Roll) and Anderson Silva's highlights vid in my Creating a Western Family Style Thread...

Good to hear from you John.... Respect....

 

Depending upon weight and skill the difference is not that significant.... Both do the ame thing... I love the way the Chinese do their regimens though.... I favorited a great video of them doing it:

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=moQ5cBHK2u0&list=FLlCwsEja4rTAKxPQi-1l8BQ&index=117&feature=plpp_video"]Beijing 2008 Martial Arts Training Camp: SHUAI JIAO SPECIAL - YouTube[/ame]

 

Nice reply to John,
I like your description here

Quote. "

If your minitar does not move easily, that would change things, I would have to try it now to give better opinion.

I have question on your meridian list, if doing those exercises closes your meridians, why do them ?, don't you think that your body is closing them down for a reason ?

I look at keeping them open and clear, that way Everything is running clean and smooth. Unless you were injured, then opening might be needed.


Cheers

 

This one so goes onto my Christmas list...

 

how much do they cost?