Warriors of Stillness Vol 3 - Masters of Perception: Sensory-Motor Integration in the Internal Martial Arts

224 Pages·2013·5.35 MB·English

by  Jan Diepersloot

Masters of Perception
Sensory-Motor Integration in the Internal Martial Arts
Volume 3 of the Trilogy
Warriors Of Stillness
Meditative Traditions In The Chinese Martial Arts
Copyright © 2013 by Jan Diepersloot
Published by:
Qi Works
POB 369
Walnut Creek, CA 94597
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or
utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical,
including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and
retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

Inquiries should be addressed to:
Jan Diepersloot/Qi Works
POB 369
Walnut Creek, CA 94597

E-mail may be addressed to:
[email protected]
Library of Congress Control Number: 2012914135
ISBN: 978-0-9859865-0-6
Cover, book design and illustrations by Adduci Studios.
This Work is Dedicated to
a Master of Perception,
my Shifu
衷心的感謝

Acknowledgments
To my editors, Ed Lempinen, Louis Swaim,
Greg Pass, Jean Vieth, and Paul Samberg:
I thank each of you for your unique contribution
in turning my tortured prose into readable English!
Thank you Adduci Studios, for the beautiful cover,
book design and illustrations.
PERSONAL PREFACE: CALVINISM, DAOISM, and THE CREATIVE PRINCIPLE
Childhood Roots .............................................................................................................. 1
Adult World Views ........................................................................................................... 3
Meeting my Future Teacher ............................................................................................ 5
Signing on to No-Force .................................................................................................... 8
OVERVIEW: THE FOUR STAGES OF DEVELOPMENT
The Qi Stage ................................................................................................................. 12
The Jin Stage ................................................................................................................ 13
The Yi Stage ................................................................................................................... 14
The Shen Stage ............................................................................................................. 16
To my editors, Ed Lempinen, Louis Swaim, BOOK 1
Greg Pass, Jean Vieth, and Paul Samberg: THE MINDFUL BODY - SOMATIC FUNCTIONS CONTROLLED
BY MENTAL FACULTIES .............................................................................................. 18
I thank each of you for your unique contribution
Introduction to Book 1 - The Anatomy of Posture and Movement ................................ 19
in turning my tortured prose into readable English!
PART 1: ON QI - CULTIVATING HEALTH .................................................................. 26
Chapter 1: Standing Meditation
The Origin and Purpose of Standing Meditation ..................................................... 27
My Introduction to Standing Meditation .................................................................. 29
Thank you Adduci Studios, for the beautiful cover,
Standing Meditation for Health and Martial Art ..................................................... 30
book design and illustrations.
Chapter 2: Integrating Posture, Breath and Awareness in Stillness and Movement
Gravity Lines West and East ..................................................................................... 33
Integrating Posture ................................................................................................... 36
Natural and Normal Breathing ................................................................................ 41
Integrating Awareness ............................................................................................... 44
Three Dimensions, Six Directions ............................................................................ 47
Becoming a Sphere .................................................................................................... 50
Chapter 3: Making the Involuntary Voluntary
Startle or Freezing Reflex ......................................................................................... 55
Balance Reflex ........................................................................................................... 58
Whole Body Reflex .................................................................................................... 59
Stretch and Tendon Reflexes ...................................................................................... 60
The Opposition/Resistance and Withdrawal/Accommodation Reflexes ................... 62
Flight-Fight Reflexes ................................................................................................. 64
PART 2: ON JIN - TRANSFORMING HEALTH INTO POWER .................................. 66
Chapter 4: The Power of the Center
Evolution of the Whole-Body Reflex ......................................................................... 67
The Center in Eastern Traditions ............................................................................. 69
Dantian: The Dome of Power ................................................................................... 71
The Practice of Reverse Breathing ............................................................................ 73
Chapter 5: The Frame Elastic
Internal Martial Arts and Elastic Strength ............................................................... 77
The Center and the Frame ........................................................................................ 78
The Frame as Energy Storage System ..................................................................... 81
Developing the Frame ............................................................................................... 82
Moving the Frame ..................................................................................................... 85
Practicing the Frame ................................................................................................ 86
The Limits of Power ................................................................................................. 89
BOOK 2
THE EMBODIED MIND - MENTAL FACULTIES CONTROLLING
SOMATIC FUNCTIONS ..................................................................................................... 91
Introduction to Book 2 - Parameters of the Nervous System ........................................ 92
Voluntary and Involuntary ........................................................................................ 92
Fixed Action Patterns ................................................................................................ 93
Sensory-Motor Integration in the Cerebral Cortex ................................................. 94
The Cerebellum: Integrating the Internal Senses .................................................... 97
Bilateral Cortical Asymmetry .................................................................................... 98
Sympathetic and Parasympathetic Branches of the Nervous System:
Energy Expenditure and Restoration ......................................................................... 99
PART 3: ON YI - DEVELOPING THE MIND TO CONTROL POWER ..................... 101
Chapter 6: Yi as Neurological Interface
Yi as Polarity Structure ........................................................................................... 102
From Tactile Stimulus to Motor Response ............................................................. 105
Use of the Yi in Internal Martial Arts ...................................................................... 109
Chapter 7: From Reaction to Response
The Time it Takes to Move ...................................................................................... 113
The Time it Takes to Decide .................................................................................... 114
The Strategy of Readiness ....................................................................................... 116
The Master’s Touch .................................................................................................. 119
Engaging the Center ............................................................................................... 120
The Moment of Joy .................................................................................................. 121
The Taste of Death ................................................................................................... 123
Turning Enemies into Friends ................................................................................. 124
Chapter 8: In The Laboratory of Responsiveness
The Name of the Game ............................................................................................ 126
The Responsiveness Skills: Listening and Following ............................................. 129
The Capturing Skill of Yielding ............................................................................... 131
The Capturing Skill of Sticking ................................................................................ 133
Obstacles to Responsiveness ................................................................................... 134
PART 4: ON SHEN - TRANSCENDING POWER THROUGH
ENLIGHTENED AWARENESS ...................................................................................... 137
Chapter 9: The Neurology of the Spirit and the Varieties of Transcendent Experience
Shen: The Spirit of Awareness ............................................................................... 138
The Nervous System, the Rhythm of Daily Life and Peak Experiences ................. 141
Sex: Primordial Prototype of Transcendent Experience ........................................ 145
Mystics of the Body: Transcendence through Sensory-Motor Engagement
with the World .......................................................................................................... 147
Athletes of the Mind: Transcendence through Sensory-Motor Disengagement
from the World .......................................................................................................... 150
The Shen of the Internal Martial Artist .................................................................. 153
Table 1: Peak Experiences and their Characteristics ............................................ 154
Chapter 10: The Enlightenment of the Internal Martial Artist
Shen and Enlightenment ......................................................................................... 158
The Enlightenment of the Body/Mind ..................................................................... 159
Enlightened Touch + Enlightened Heart = Enlightened Interaction .................... 162
Enlightened Transmission ........................................................................................ 165
APPENDICES
Chinese Characters Used .................................................................................................... 174
List of Illustrations ............................................................................................................... 176
WORKS CONSULTED
Internal Martial Arts ................................................................................................... 178
Anatomy, Physiology and Body Work ....................................................................... 181
Oriental Medicine and Health .................................................................................... 182
Oriental Philosophies: Daoism and Bhuddism .......................................................... 183
Neuroscience, Psychology, Mind and Spirit .............................................................. 185
Oriental Culture and History ...................................................................................... 188
Western Science and Philosophy ............................................................................... 189
Index ......................................................................................................................... 191

Personal Preface: Calvinism, Daoism, and the Creative Principle
Childhood Roots
was born and raised in the belief of a Creator: omniscient, omnipresent and
I
omnipotent, a supreme being somehow outside of and above nature who had
created everything that exists. He was of a Calvinist bent, this creator, and
although described as indescribable, the image that distilled in my mind, not
surprisingly, was that of the cultural archetype: an old white man with a long white
beard, in the mold of Michelangelo’s Moses. For most of my childhood I pretty much
accepted this belief without question; after all, it’s to the parents that the child looks
for an explanation of things, both cosmic and practical, and as long as things go
along fairly well, there’s no reason to question the explanations offered for the how
and why of things.
But when I was 10, the first of several personal cosmic earthquakes struck the edifice
of this belief system and reverberated to cause cracks in its foundation. As goalie on
the soccer team, I caught a ball in the stomach, which ruptured my appendix. My
parents being away for a rare weekend of rest and relaxation, and the domestic help
dismissing my complaints, it was three days before I was taken to the hospital with
a nearly fatal case of peritonitis. I spent a month in the hospital, but pulled through,
the physical scars of my surgeries symbolic of the deeper emotional and spiritual
wounds I sustained as a result of this trauma.
Feeling betrayed on some sort of cosmic level, I could not fathom why God decided
to inflict this pain and suffering on me. What had I done to deserve that? Emotion-
ally, I was unable to accept my parents’ well-intentioned but ultimately self-defeating
explanations that, even if we don’t know the reason, we must believe that God did it
for a reason and that God’s reason is ultimately for our own good. Not even articulate
enough to voice my doubts, I swallowed them, nodded and said, “Yes, of course,” and
continued on with life as usual. But the seeds of doubt and rebellion had been sown
into my pre-adolescent heart and mind.
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