Find the Feng Shui Faux Pas

[GeneChing]

The first four forum members that can find the feng shui faux pax in my latest e-zine article, Iron Crotch Opens the Door (http://ezine.kungfumagazine.com/ezine/article.php?article=654) will win a Feng Shui Miniature Weapon Rack!

Here's how to play:
1. Read the article.
2. Spot the Feng Shui Faux Pas.
3. Email your findings to me at gene@kungfumagazine.com. Include your postal mailing address. This offer is only good for the members in the continental United States of America.

The first four correct answers will be awarded the prizes. I'll announce them here.

GOOD LUCK EVERYONE!

[David Jamieson]

ok, im not gonna email you with the hopes of winning anything...because I'm a canadian.

But I thought that the naked blade on the wall above it's scabbard was a feng shui no no.

I mean an exposed blade? could bring you cuts! lol

also, is it possible that that blade should be hanging in the active position in stead of a passive one because it is above a tiger.

there's a lot of little rules to feng shui that I have not a clue about, but the unsheathed blade just didn't look right.

[GeneChing]

But your warm, very warm. The nekkid blade is a presentation sword we did for our 10 Year Anniversary (http://www.tigerclawfoundation.org/friends/Wushu/10year/Body.htm). It's engraved with our logo. With presentation blades, there are some exceptions, especially with a 'house of war' like us.

Anyway, KL just about gave it away. In fact, I'd even accept his answer almost, but he's Canadian. I checked my email about an hour ago and no one has yet been able to claim the prize. Each of the four miniature weapon racks have nine cast pole arms about 10 " long and the rack itself is about 13.5" wide. :cool:

[@PLUGO]

I think I should have one of those weapons racks just on principle... did you know it was my Birthday yesterday?

besides, I was the first one to find that faux pas . . .

Hell, I took the picture of it!!!

[TenTigers]

Three things-
1-the door being in a corner neeeds a fountain, or coi tank, and trees in front of the entrance would also help
2- two tigers on the wall-
3-perhaps something to interfere with the direct access to the entrance? a lobby with a door not directly opposing the main entrance, and possibly a mirror on the wall as well
just my two cents

[David Jamieson]

Ha!

the fools on you! You gave me that set of minature weapons long ago.
I think it was either included with the Kwan Dao I bought from you guys or maybe it was the butterfly knives...or it...nevermind, what's important is, is that you already gave me a set of what you're giving for prizes here.

as for elements in the room. you do want to have water in the room somewhere, also fire(a candle), wood, earth and metal can be represented by objets d/art and plants. Placement has to be harmonious of course and some geomancers would have it that each element lives in a particular cardinal direction associated with a position in a room.

In fact, there can be so many variations that when I think about it, it all boils down to creating a space that you are trult comfortable in and that has harmony in context to the surroundings it is in. Kind of an ancient version of home design. :p

[mickey]

Greetings,

1- It looks like you have four different articles in that one article. I don't do acid but I have an idea of what it is like NOW.

2- Iron crotch feng shui? Unless he did the entire ceremony with his joint. If Master Tu can light incense that way and make clapping sounds that way, I am going to order his tapes!

3- I don't think you need a lion for this ceremony; if you do, wouldn't you need two?


mickey

[GeneChing]

DS: You want one? Really? Why didn't you ask earlier?

TT: I replied to your email.

DJ: You already got one? And you're giving me greif about no hope of winning? Sheesh. Canadians....:rolleyes:

NK: 1. It's not the acid - it's the moxa. 2. What *is* the sound of one hand clapping? Now you know where the other hand is... 3. A lion would have been appropo for a door opening for sure, but not required. Two would be better, but one would have sufficed. We could have busted out dozens (http://www.martialartsmart.net/lions.html), but only Andy and I have any experience with them. We talked about bringing in a school, but then it was decided that this should be just about us and our door, so we forewent the lion entirely.

[David Jamieson]

My 'GOT QI'©®™ t-shirt is getting a bit ragged.

why not make that a prize and ask another question. :D

[@PLUGO]

Well, If I won one of those weapon racks I'd need a bunch of action figures to weild them. Don't get me wrong... that would be great fun. Until my dogs walk into the room and found me playing with their new chew toys . . .

I'm just glad I got to do some illustrating on my B-day yesterday. ahhh Moxa inspired art... what oculd beat that?

[TenTigers]

Gene, as far as the lobby with the door not directly in line with the entrance, this would break up any pernicious influence that entered. To accomplish this, you would have the doors slightly out of alignment with each other, so when yo walk in, there is an obstruction, say a wall, with a mirror, or altar, etc, and the entrance slightly to one side, so there is not a direct path.
I am not an expert by any means. I guess I need to take one of those adult education courses and then have my cards printed up as a "Feng Shway" Master.
hmmmm, while I;m at it, I will definately have to sign up for those Reiki Master courses, and perhaps a crystal healing seminar, perhaps I should learn to channel as well.
ok, sorry. This is what happens when you grow up on Long Island.

[GeneChing]

So far, only TT has even ventured a formal guess (formal as in emailing me like he's supposed to according to the rules). He wasn't quite right*, but if I don't give it to him, I'm stuck with more weapons racks.

*The doors don't align at all so there's no problem there. Really, DJ has got it, although I'm not *exactly sure* what he means by 'active position' vs. 'passive' and the tiger doesn't really enter into it. Actually, there's a problem with the tiger too that's related.

[@PLUGO]

waitaminute!

I grew up on Strongisland!!! What are you saying?

[David Jamieson]

Well, If I won one of those weapon racks I'd need a bunch of action figures to weild them. Don't get me wrong... that would be great fun. Until my dogs walk into the room and found me playing with their new chew toys . . .

I'm just glad I got to do some illustrating on my B-day yesterday. ahhh Moxa inspired art... what oculd beat that?

dude! that's hilaroius! Now all my star wars guys got one!

heh heh Boba fett with a Kwan dao rulzors! XD

[David Jamieson]

reading g~'s small print

active vs passive in regards to how a sword is hung.

active is an adversarial position and generally swords should only be hung in an active state when they are in rooms taht are either Kungfu training halls, millitary training rooms, trophy rooms or armouries.

The active state is denoted by the swords facing with the pommel to the right or to the left. To the right, it is ready to be drawn even from where it is on a wall and is therefor considered active. This is not a desirable state to hang a sword in a house or a place of business or social areas.

The passive state is where it is hung with the pommel facing left and therefor not ready to be drawn. Also, in a passive state the sword is tilted so the blade is down and the pommel is up, further showing that the sword is not to be drawn and is instead to be viewed.

Crossed swords are also undesirable in a living space but acceptable in a martial venue. Wing chun butterfly knives are an example of this. In your house, they shouldn't be crossed but should hand straight down, handles up and blades facing in. In the training hall they can be crossed, but blades face down.

When a sword is hung over a depeiction of a spirit, it should be in harmony with that spirit (intention)

tiger is an active spirit form, so the sword should be sheathed and with the pommel facing right. To make the sword passive, turn it around and take it away from the tiger and put it somewhere else. (not over a door).

so there you have a short summary of my limited understanding of feng shui in relation to hanging swords.

Oh yeah, never hang one over your bed, actively or passively. It's just bad luck in any culture. :p

[GeneChing]

... but I would accept that answer, if you weren't Canadian. :p The Canadian issue is all about shipping. In most cases, when we give out something free like in a contest, shipping is factored into the budget and even Hawaii and Alaska are shut out.

I've never heard of active vs. passive in sword display for Chinese swords. I've heard that for Japanese swords, especially the handle position being easy access for drawing and Japan's whole blade-to-sky thing, since they carry their swords blade up. Of course, the Japanese have very strict codes on etiquette when it comes to swords, all of which are based on the fundamental practicalities of handling a weapon. The Chinese are different because there's this huge tradition of symbolic weapons which I assume comes from the temples and the tradition of door gods. It's common to hang a sword in the office or home because it's seen as a protector against evil.

So, in our case, it's really more about what direction the blade points. Now, the reason our blade point in is because like I said above, it's a presentation blade and the engraved side faces outward. That forces the blade orientation to point inward - the wrong direction. We just need to move it to another wall. Common sense applies to sword hanging. Imagine someone is invading the house. Where would you want your sword to be for the easiest access? Figure that out and the solution to any sword feng shui is simple.

As for the swords over your bed being 'bad luck in any culture' there is a longstanding tradition of what is known as 'pillow swords'. Now, hanging a sharp over where you sleep is certainly ill advised (especially here in earthquake country) but to have a bedside sword is very common. Again, imagine that home invader. Where would you want your sword?

So the answer is right there. All anyone need do is email it to me with their continental USA address.

Note that there's still an outstanding Feng Shui issue with the tiger.

[herb ox]

Eh, can the mods play, too? I mean, if Design Sifu can get in on the action...:p

I know what it is... you'd have to have visited the place to really get a feel for where the wall hangings are located. Anyways, great article, Gene. Had me in stitches... a welcome break from the madness of midterms.

I especially enjoyed your diversion with the absinthe and all... but I know the TCM forum members wouldn't take this ambiguitiy of Moxa laying down... unless it was to take one draw off a phat moxa stick :D

Fact is, if you smoked an entire moxa stick, you probably WOULD hallucinate (for the sake of science, I think some experimentation is warranted). Unfortunately, Moxa is certainly NOT the artemisia of absinthe fame, so don't go buying bulk moxa for your next potent anisette. The closest herb in the Chinese materia medica to Artemisia absintum, which boasts high a-thujone and b-thujone conentrations (the compounds responsible for the 'trip') may be Yin Chen Hao, or Artemisia scoparia, aka "redstem" or "virgate wormwood" - while it does contain thujones, I'm not sure of it's hallucinogenic effect... howver, it is really good for treating jaundice (TCM: Clears damp heat) and rashes (such as the all-too-familiar "gig butt":D ).

To be sure, Moxa is Ai Ye - Artemisia argyi, better known as mugwort... a bunch of it grows near my house, along a river that flows into the Monterey Bay. Taken internally (of course, consult your primary care practicioner first!), Ai Ye is an excellent gynecological herb, stopping pain and a restless fetus. However, burning the mugwort may benefit pain and qi blockage by releasing borneol, a camphor-like substance called Bing pian in its most refined state.

But, really I know very little about the reasons why moxa works (other than heating and increasing circulation) - however, I noticed GM Tu has some information on moxa on the poster that came with my Long Life Health Bar (http://www.martialartsmart.net/2045.html). However, my understanding of Hanzi is pretty limited. So hey, Gene, maybe you could get GM Tu to translate that info for our forum readers???

Alright, enough already, gotta study the herbs I'm gonna get tested on this week!

peace y'all!

herb ox

[David Jamieson]

The tiger-

so, if that tiger is on an eastern wall, that is the problem with it.

Tiger belongs on western wall (and would be white in the strictest of feng shui-ness)

eastern wall belongs to dragon.

~G In general I agree that the japanese fixate on their absolutes of sword etiquette, but it depends on your shaman I guess. :p

[GeneChing]

We have two winners so far, but we've only had two serious entrees so far. And the winners are:
TenTigers
herb ox

We have two more prizes to award. You just need to go to the top of this thread and follow the directions.

For the record, the office reeked of moxa yesterday. Master Li Jixing (who was featured in our Nov Dec 2005 issue (http://ezine.kungfumagazine.com/magazine/article.php?article=624) in an article Qigong Botox by Helen A. Buckett) recommended a mass burning of moxa to purify the office because of the vernal equinox today. As for moxa's hallucinogenic qualities, keep in mind that shamanic entheogens are very culturally bound. Native Americans were known to use tobacco to induce trance states. My point about the Artemisia genus is that it's an interesting herb. Also because I wanted to write about vomit. Ok, to be honest, that part wasn't intentional. It just came up. Vermouth anyone?

[GeneChing]

We have another winner. The third weapon rack will be awarded to a forum newbie who just signed up to win the prize.

Winner number three is rcloud. Congratulations!

I should mention, since someone asked, that the Feng Shui problems in our lobby have been solved. The lobby no longer looks like in the pictures. In fact, I think most of those issues were remedied that day.

[GeneChing]

The fourth prize goes to gregdread, another newbie that was lurking and signed up just to play. Congratulations to our four winners. I'll have the prizes sent out today. We had a few other late entries this morning - better luck next time guys. Thanks for playing. I'll dig around for some more contest giveaway stuff for future e-zine articles. Stay tuned!

[crazy_ivan]

Another entry beat you by three hours.
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!

Oh, first post on these forums! hi! Well, congrats to the other newb winner who beat me to it. I'll be sure to hunt you down and claim what is rightfully mine :)

[herb ox]

Gene-

Got the weapon's rack yesterday... and a peculiar cryptic b-day message on my VM. The rack fits nicely on my fireplace (plus it won't burn!) and adds a nicely agressive motif to the studio. Thanks! :D

Looking forward to thursday's thirsty pints...

brother ox

[GeneChing]

That weapons rack is cast from pot metal. Some pot metals have a low melting point. I'd advise caution. Somehow, it doesn't surprise me that one of our moderators won. In fact, I'm glad for it.

Thanks for playing everyone! We'll try to do more such contests in the future!

[CFT]

So what's the answer Gene? Safe to disclose now?

I didn't see this before so I'll just chime in with my 2 cents.

I would have the blade facing outwards rather than inwards. Naked blade to face the enemy rather than myself (or company in this case).

The picture of the Tiger obviously represents the company, Tiger Claw, itself. So having a naked blade hanging over the company's head like the proverbial Sword of Damocles is a big Feng Shui no-no.

ps. "An odd flash kept appearing in the shots." - I think this is just lens flare.

[@PLUGO]

ps. "An odd flash kept appearing in the shots." - I think this is just lens flare.


It's Cosmic Qi I tell Ya!!!


but your answer about the direction of the sword is prettymuch what we were looking for.

[GeneChing]

The first correct answer was that the blade was pointing the wrong way - the point of the blade should be aimed at incoming visitors. The second correct answer is that the tiger painting is facing the wrong way. The teeth should point outward, again aimed at incoming visitors. Feng Shui isn't always so welcoming, symbolically speaking. Like I said, both issues have been corrected. We took all that stuff down and replaced it with new stuff.

[taijihottie]

I never read anything like this in the martial arts before. It was so funny and so true to life, especially with the contest too. Do you do that for all your articles? I could have guessed it but I was too late joining up. It's nice to know that Thomas Oh and Gigi Oh are real people. I had a really bad experience trying to talk to the boss at Century once. Nobody there knew anything about the yoga products they were selling. Those people were like robots. It's nice to read something different that shows how much fun you are having at Tiger Claw. It's reassuring too to know that you are really into it to such degree. I wouldn't trust a martial arts company that didn't consult feng shui experts. Keep up the great work! I'm going to win the next contest. Just wait and see. :)

[GeneChing]

We try to have as much fun here as we can. And there will be other contests. Just stay in touch. ;)

[Banjos_dad]

ok, im not gonna email you with the hopes of winning anything...because I'm a canadian.

Kung Lek, sometimes maybe you need to ask yourself: WWWSD?

** what would William Shatner do ?**

some of us down here use that as a guideline in times of uncertainty.

e d i t: and, it brings me my share of the sour mash.

[SimonM]

Oh yeah, never hang one over your bed, actively or passively. It's just bad luck in any culture. :p

Yeah because being bonked in the head in the night with your sword is a rude awakening if it should fall off of the wall.