August 6, 2013

The Aesthetics of Power

Posted by TanDao Wellness under Balance, Mastery, Spirit, Zen | Tags: , , , , , , , , , |
Leave a Comment 



Good kung fu! Marvel at the amazing expression of human excellence in this video: The Incredible Power of Concentration with artist Miyoko Shida. Be warned, there are no kicks or punches or fighting techniques, but this is an artistic and athletic example of real kung fu – great skill that demands discipline effort over time.

This feat epitomizes supreme mental concentration and expresses the zenith of balance and control of the human body. Although there is no apparent martial application, think again. If you can cultivate the equivalent mastery of mind, body and spirit, you will invariably become a superior martial artist what ever your style.

This video is for everyone. We urge impatient young warriors to slow down and watch the entire video to appreciate the great power of softness.

Be inspired,
Lawrence Tan

Advertisement
 

July 26, 2012

Carl Jung’s Birthday: Kung Fu and Jung Fu

Posted by TanDao Wellness under Balance, Healing, Health, Jung, Philosophy, Psychology, Spirit, TanDao, Universal Form, Wellness | Tags: , , , , , , , , , |
Leave a Comment 

Carl Jung's Red Book

Today is the birthday of Carl Jung, the eminent Swiss psychologist and one of the great thinkers of the 20th century. His provocative writings on the unconscious psyche pioneered correlations between traditional Eastern wisdom and contemporary Western psychology. Some of this mystic/scientists thoughts on the self and individuation – the process to becoming an integrated human being – underlie TanDao’s holistic philosophy of the evolving martial artist.

In my youth, Bruce Lee spectacularly demonstrated the power of the human body. And Jung’s brilliance inspired me on a lifetime exploration on the power of the human mind by returning to the obscure spiritual roots of Chinese Shaolin kung fu. Jung’s scientific rationale to interpret esoteric thoughts on zen, meditation, daoist yoga and ideas like yin/yang and dao can provide us insight on the possibility of martial arts as a psycho-physical path of self transformation.

By the way, Jung’s four functions of the self – sensation, intellect, feeling and intuition – and theory of archetypes have influenced TanDao’s holistic model of warrior (sensation), scholar (intellect), monk (feeling) and master (intuition).

Anyway, if you’re interested in challenging ideas on the power of the unconscious mind check out Jung.

Keep practicing your Universal Form, for energy and for fitness.

Lawrence Tan

Learn more about Jungian psychology – read Dr. Jean Raffa’s blog