Question about internal blocking

[Scott R. Brown]

An alive limb, or live limb possesses a small amount of nervous energy commonly referred to as Chi. It is easier to demonstrate than to explain. It is something that is clearly apparent when it is shown to another. The limb is filled with physically energy and appears to move with a focus or intent of mind. The limb is not tense, but neither is it devoid of energy or overly tensed, that would be a dead limb.

The nervous energy (nervous here means energy of the nerves, not anxiety) allows the limb, arm, hand, foot, fingers, etc. to display sort of a firm suppleness, without appearing or being overly firm or hard. The muscles are not tight, but they are in a tonic state. There is a sense of presence in the limb.

When a live limb moves it appears graceful and where it is supposed to be, as opposed to appearing to be moving in a haphazard and uncontrolled manner. The limb appears to have a conscious intent behind it that may be observed without actually observing the entire person. For example, it would be noticeable if all you saw was the hand moving in space as opposed to observing the entire body moving while focusing on the hand. The limb is not required be to moving however in order to observe its condition of liveness. It would be noticeable in a still photo as well.

A live limb is more responsive to its environment than a dead limb and thus moves quicker and hits harder because the antagonistic muscles do not impede its movement.

A limb empty of this energy, or too filled with energy, is a dead limb. A dead limb is both limp and floppy when it moves as a result of not enough nervous energy, or stiff and awkward when too much energy is present. There is a noticeable lack of proper physical control in a dead limb. It is weak and appears weak to those who are familiar with live and dead limbs. It is common in beginners because they have not developed the necessary nervous and muscle control in their limbs. It may be manifested by trying too hard or not trying hard enough.

A live mind is a mind that is relatively free of the obstruction of needless thoughts and anxieties. It is open and receptive without being passive, dull and empty. When speaking of an empty mind within this context it should not be understood to be a mind empty/absent of thoughts, but as a mind empty of fixation, grasping or clinging to thoughts, objects, things and stimuli. At the very least it is relatively empty of fixation, grasping and clinging. A live mind is alert and responsive to what is going on around it and is thus free of fixation or focus on only one thought or stimulus. Thoughts and stimuli are noticed but not held, grasped without release, by our attention.

A dead mind is fixed and inflexible. It grasps and clings to thoughts, objects, things or stimuli and is thus bound to those phenomena. A dead mind is dull and unresponsive or at least less responsive to changing circumstances because it cannot extricate itself efficiently from what it is grasping or clinging too. It is unable to respond spontaneously to stimuli and is thus slow to react to changing conditions. Think of it as if your hand grasping something. You must let go of what you are grasping before you can grasp something else. With the mind, when we have an emotional attachment to whatever it is we are mentally grasping, it becomes much harder to let it go and free our mind.

A live mind functions quicker and more efficiently, is more responsive to changing stimuli and more spontaneous than a dead mind.

I hope this helps!