mimes and qi

[Shaolin Punk]

do mimes have good qi? they seem to have a lot of intent! but then, i've never seen a rounded, plump mime.

[looking_up]

This made me think of those guys on the street who stand still in certain poses for a very long time? They must be doing zhan zhuang.

[Stacey]

how about catatonic schizophrinics who can hold poses for hours.

[Repulsive Monkey]

I don't see your logic for thinking that there are doing Zhan Zhuang just because they are still? Standing still just doesn't = Zhan Zhuang. I would say unreservedly that they certainly are not doing it. That much I would of thought was obvious. I would of thought that what they were doing was Mime!!

[yutyeesam]

LOL! Who knows! Maybe if they started doing the standing meditation and combined it with the "pulling the invisible rope" routine, they could develop awesome 'Shoulder Press' power!

123

[Felipe Bido]

Don't understimate the POWERRRRR...of the Mime Side...

(Or misunderestimate, as Bush likes to say)

[looking_up]

Well, they are probably doing zhan zhuang in a sense - you'd have to learn to relax if you wanted to hold still for so long. Otherwise you'd just kill yourself - it'd be too hard.
Mimes, street performers, carney's, circus-folk - we are definitely getting into the realm of kung fu. Well, I don't know about the mimes...

zhan zhuang isn't just standing still, and yet it is. The traditional training: "Go stand."


How's this:

http://www.msoworld.com/history1999/on31999.html

"Don't just stand there...

Beware - not all of the pseudo-Roman trappings adorning the venue are just show. You may suddenly find yourself jabbed by what appears to be a bronzed statue. The living sculptures on exhibit are actually Richard Yatkwan and Maurizio D'Apollonio. Richard, who is self-taught, has become quite well-known after some months of posing in Covent Garden. Maurizio is a mime - known best for his Bubbleman character - and they often work together. For some reason, I am not surprised to discover that standing stock still is interesting work.

Richard concentrates on the physical aspect of his unusual calling. In particular, he informs me, you need to be especially strong in the legs. Spectators quite often amuse themselves by trying to topple living statues with a sudden slap to the thigh from behind. Other hazards for the professional statue are people who get a laugh out of putting foreign objects in an outstretched hand or using a 'statue' as an ashtray.

Maurizio makes voluntary paralysis sound like remarkably like a Mind Sport. 'It's really all in the head, all concentration. You have to believe you can do anything, and then you can. You can keep your eyes open an hour and a half without blinking - it's all in the mind.' "

More similar than different, I think. But who really cares.

[jon]

Mimes are the enemy and should be proded with sticks and kicked in the backside on sight!

They are weird and scary, and i simply cant have that:(

[Repulsive Monkey]

I'll signify a quiet nod in your direction to your comments.