are you chinese?
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When my grandmother was old, black is the only color that she wear. I asked her why and she said that old Chinese women suppose to wear black. She might be 80 years old at that moment but her heart was already over 100 years old. We should all try as hard as we can to stay away from those kind of "negative" way of thinking.
What the difference between:
- A 20 years old make love to another 20 years old? You do it because you "love" to do it.
- A 80 years old make love to another 20 years old? You do it because you "have" to do it.
The motivation may be different but the end result will still be the same. The older you are, the harder that you have to force yourself.
It is actually a variation of a Ch'an saying! And does not refer to short term it refers to everyday life, but will impact longevity.
It is very simple, if you over do it and do not take care of your body you will wear it out.
And I do know what you are referring to. There is a belief that you are born with Pre-Birth Chi and when you run out you die.
This is, of course, a misunderstanding of human biology which uses qi to refer to biological processes the ancient Chinese did not understand.
They confused vitality with qi when it is more related to diet, exercise, rest, cortisol and testosterone levels.
For example: if you over train your energy level declines and your cortisol levels increase while your testosterone output decreases. If you rest and eat, it will replenish, mysteriously just like they thought qi does, but it isn't qi, it is normal human physiology.
And of course, if you do not rest and eat properly you will continue to decline and you will feel your vitality continue to diminish until you die. Taken to the extreme with a lack of understanding of human biology, it would appear to the uneducated that qi has diminished causing death.
But it is excessive stress leading to physical decline. If one rests, reduces stress and eats properly, their body will heal and it will appear that their qi is strengthening, but it has nothing to do with qi, and everything to do with human physiology.
Well that sounds logical, I guess overdoing it is key ingredient , but as you get older do you agree that you do not recover like you used to, so trying to do as much as you did when you were young will not be possible, so if you do try to,.... you will probably over do things.
I do see studies of ex pro people that seem to show a far less longevity than normal people. ?
As you get older you produce less testosterone which is the hormone that strongly influences recovery from injury and vitality. Testosterone was discovered to be an anabolic steroid because it was first used to aid in the recovery of injury.
My high school buddy was the California State Discus Champion in 1977. I used to train with him and his father who was his coach and a former National Class College athlete in the 1950's. In college, my buddy's father had a friend who was a Weight Thrower (Discus, Shotput and Hammer Throw) who broke is lower leg. They put him on Testosterone in order to assist his recover. Before his injury his squat was 400#. With the injury, and a lower leg cast, and the testosterone injections, his squat went up to 600#, WHILE SQUATTING WITH A BROKEN LOWER LEG!:eek:
Circumstances like this is what led to using testosterone to build muscle, but it is testosterone's ability to assist in the rate of recovery that is what makes it so important to the human body.
Those who do not exercise find they have less energy than those who do because exercise, specifically strength training promotes natural testosterone production, especially squats and deadlifts and their variations, even in the elderly.
Former high caliber athletes have a history of overstressing their bodies and not taking proper care of injuries, and they are more prone to injury due to constant pushing their bodies to the limits and and increase in the potential for injuries to occur.
This is one of the reasons that Tai Chi is so healthy. It tends to not over stress the body and joints as much as hitting and kicking do. These actions are more dynamic and increase the chance of injury.
If you take any longfist form, remove all the jumps, kicks, single leg balance, and slow down the speed, you will get the same kind of "health" benefit as doing a Taiji form.
I can do XingYi 5 elements form 5 times by using the same amount of energy as I do the longfist form just 1 time. The reason is simple. There is no jumps, kicks, and single leg balance in XingYi 5 elements form.
The concept of "internal is good for old age" is quite misleading. To avoid doing something because old age is very "conservative" IMO.
In old age, of course this is harder to do:
http://imageshack.us/a/img199/3853/mayintu.jpg
than this:
http://imageshack.us/a/img829/6677/yiquan.jpg
The running water will never grow bugs.
P.S.
It is also well known, through scientific studies, that most of the ill effects experienced due to the aging process is due to poor diet and lack of exercise and much of it may be countered by starting an exercise program and eating properly.
Keep in mind that in ancient times life was much harder on the body than in modern life. Injuries were more frequent. Death due to accidents, attacks and illness were more likely. Life was much more stressful. Food and heat was not as common.
So, the practices promoted by the Taoists were beneficial to most people if they could follow them. Relaxation, wholesome whole foods, and exercise, the very things we know help with a longer life now, the Taoists were teaching for 2,500 years or more.
The actions and philosophy they taught were for the most part correct, except for mercury pills and a few other nutty things, it is just the mechanism by which they work were incorrectly attributed.
We know now it is the proper attention to human physiology is what is important, and not qi.
I agree, any activity done gently is safer and still, at least some kind of, exercise. It can be dance, or swordfighting, activity is what is key. The more dynamic the activity the greater the chance for injury, however that does not mean I am an advocate for avoiding dynamic activity.
I just recognize it increases the chance for injury. I have had at least one injury, ranging from minor to major, of some kind ever since I was 14 or 15 years old.
My mother in law had lived with me for the past 6 months. The house I live in California has 5 levels with a lot of stairs. It forced her to climb the stair up and down. That made her legs strong. Your chance for injury may be higher, but your chance to be healthy will also be higher.
Should old people stay away from the stair? I can see both sides argument may hold.
I got into the internal martial arts so that I could best learn to develop an unfounded mindset of ultimate superiority over other people.
Better than you.