Temple Of The Original Thunder

In this recent podcast with Gray Estrada on The Lifestyle Medicine Podcast we talk about martial arts, Daoism, and applications of such things into daily life. Cheers.

The Queen Mother of the West is one of the highest deities in the Daoist Pantheon, the supreme goddess of heaven, and leader of all female immortals while all male immortals are governed by her husband, the Jade Emperor. Xi Wangmu is known to bestow elixirs, peaches, and pills that grant the cultivator enlightenment & immortality. She is also considered to be in charge of human happiness, spiritual awakening, longevity, & the quality of our well being. In esoteric work, culti...vation & meditations that include Xi Wangmu are done to quicken spiritual awakening and bring us into a state worthy of receiving Xi Wangmu's gift of Immortality. Symbolically references to her abiding at Kunlun Mountains, a meeting point for heaven and earth, is actually referencing alchemical processes that occur at the top, and above the top, of the head. In some depictions, she is either accompanied by a tiger or described to have tigress' teeth and the tail of a leopard. This is to remind the cultivator that although Xi Wangmu is a beneficial force who wishes for us to free ourselves and receive the treasures of enlightenment, she also possesses a direct nature that will not tolerate laziness, excuses, justification, or distraction. Commitments to the Queen Mother of the West are not only invitations for miracles but are also invitations for experiences that will quickly correct you when you become lazy with your cultivation. She is also said to have been an instructor to many sages on the path of awakening, and to many kings in their ruling and averting of disasters. #daoistlake

The four celestial animals, or the four auspicious beasts are the mythological animals that appear among the Chinese constellations. They’re seen as the guardians of the four cardinal directions. They’re most closely associated with a cardinal direction and a color, but also correspond with a season, a virtue, and one of the Chinese "five elements" (wood, fire, earth, metal, and water). The White Tiger of the West is the guardian of Buddha’s teachings and of mankind. He o...bserves world with clairvoyance; corresponds to the season fall, the color white, wind, the element metal, and the virtue of righteousness. In Chinese mythology, the tiger is the God of War, the king of all animals, and the lord of the mountains. Shoutout to my student @adrianlobo333 for the artwork, check out his page! #daoistlake

Alhough it isn’t our only line of training, The Temple of Original Thunder studies the Zhengyi lineage. Along with Quanzhen, the Zhengyi school is one of the two main branches of the Daoist religion. Zhengyi Dao or the Way of Orthodox Unity is a Chinese Daoist movement that emerged during the Tang dynasty. The Zhengyi school can be distinguished by a few key characteristics.... First, the Tian Shi school of Zheng Yi Daoism regards the Celestial Master as the the head of the lineage. The title of Celestial Master has been passed down through generations, beginning with Zhang Daoling. Even today, the Celestial Master is commonly regarded as a spiritual leader, much like the Pope. Another defining feature of the Zhengyi school is the act of conferring registers (Lu) when a person becomes ordained into priesthood. Registers are proof of the continued transmission of teachings and energy within the Daoist Tradition, and students were only considered ordained priests after they were conferred registers. These were divided into different grades for different degrees of familiarity with Daoist practices. This was an important institution to the Zhengyi school, as it guaranteed the completeness and purity of its organizational structure. The Zhengyi developed its own corpus of writings, commentaries, and scriptures through the generations from masters within the all schools of Zheng Yi Daoism. Also, the Zheng Yi school is unique in its Daoist practices of talismanic magic, rituals, and rites specific to this lineage. To learn more, visit our website at daoist.academy #daoistlake #baguaonline

Animal symbolism is something we humans have used since our beginning. The four celestial animals, or the four auspicious beasts are the mythological animals that appear among the Chinese constellations, along the ecliptic. They’re seen as the guardians of the four cardinal directions. They’re most closely associated with a direction and a color, but also correspond with a season, a virtue, & one of the Chinese "five elements" (wood/wind, fire, earth, metal, and water). The...re’s the Azure Dragon of the East, the White Tiger of the West, the Black Turtle & Snake of the North, & the Vermillion Bird of the South. The Black Turtle & Snake of the North (Zhi Ming) corresponds to winter, cold, water, black, earth, and faith. While inseparable from all manifestation of the Norther Direction, the Turtle Snake does have a particularly strong connection with the Big Dipper constellation. The Snake symbolizes intelligence, happiness, wealth, & auspiciousness. The Turtle represents a type of longevity and endurance, the Snake complements these attributes with its agility and cunning. Being of the Northern direction and associated with the Winter, the turtle is a manifestation of the Slow Enduring aspects of the Cold, while the Snake is associated with the Sharp Bite of the Cold. More Importantly, the Turtle and the Snake are associated with the Mysterious Warrior of the North, XuanWu. During his path towards Immortality, Xuan Wu is said to have removed his stomach and intestines as he had no more need for earthly food as well as a means to removing sin from his body. His organs were swept away down stream and over time his sin transformed into demons who terrorized the land. Upon hearing this, XuanWu returned to tame these Organs turned Spirit Animals and give them a place of service in the universe. Xuan Wu rides upon the Turtle and Snake, as a way of traversing the Cosmos. Because of this, those who give praise the the North and the Turtle/Snake also invoke the many blessings of the Immortal XuanWu. #daoistlake

In honor of my new Bagua Online course, I’ve made videos outlining the eight animal forms of Bagua & their correlation to the eight trigrams. Today we will go over the Monkey. The form and sparring seen in these videos was not choreographed or rehearsed. The element Dui represents metal & correlates to a lake. In its physical manifestation it becomes the monkey, who has the greatest agility of all the animals. The monkey is crafty, deceptive, and his techniques are quick. ...He has the ability to shrink & leap from one tree to another. The Monkeys dominating traits are excitement and surprise. The monkey is known for pinching & twisting the muscle and nerve cavities, grabbing hair, and grabbing and twisting fingers. His best techniques are those used for twisting, pulling, pushing, grappling, embracing, crouching, leaping, hooking, sticking, trapping, & evading. When grappling on the inside or using close to the body trapping, the monkey will bite to counter-attack if trapped. He makes great use of borrowing energy and "light air" gong fu skill. He climbs all over his opponent in an effort to frustrate & wear him down. The monkey's leg work is designed to interfere with the opponent's stepping & is used to offset/uproot by confusing him. Practitioners who are short, small in bone structure, & have great natural agility will adopt the characteristics of the monkey. In the form of the Monkey style, the upper body is soft and flexible, but the middle & lower portions are strong. Want to learn more? Check out the link in my bio for more info on Bagua Online. #daoistlake #baguaonline #themonkey #eighttrigrams

The Dao that can be told is not the true Dao. Not because it can never be felt or experienced, but because it pre-dates humanity, culture, language, & scripture. Yet, we as humans have an aspect within us that attaches itself to stories. This aspect is called the Zhi Shen. The Zhi Shen is the postnatal aspect of our spiritual body that makes up the contrived self and has been conditioned by the influence of our parents, culture, religion, media, science, and medicine. Th...e Zhi Shen is the gift that allows us to uniquely relate & communicate with the world. However, the issue with the Zhi Shen is that this layer of our being is very impressionable prone to accepting the views of others as truth, creating the illusion of separateness & thus causing ourselves suffering by dislocation of our spiritual anatomy. In working consciously, we can use this layer of our mind, the Zhi Shen, to direct our life-force energy towards freedom, discovery, and oneness. Mythology & spirituality can help us develop the language that best suits our individuality and regional/cultural/religious circumstances in order to commune with the Divine. Daoism is but one bus departing up the mountain which all heros, saints, and enlightened beings have traveled before us. #Daoistlake #spiritualwork #baguaonline

In honor of my new Bagua Online course, I’ve made some videos outlining the eight animal forms of Bagua & their correlation to the eight trigrams. Today we will go over the Pheonix. The form and sparring seen in these videos was not choreographed or rehearsed. Phoenix and the Sun Gua The element Sun represents a penetrating wind. In physical form, the element Sun becomes the phoenix. The phoenix swirls in a continuous circle, sinking while moving forward. The Phoenix attitu...de is one of daring determination He’s brave & confident in his attack. When fighting, the phoenix will meet & yield to attacks with circular motion, parrying the opponent's thrust, utilizing his momentum to place an opponent into an unstable position & topple him before he can counter. The phoenix whirls like a tornado & uses his elbows to cut and thrash. He mostly uses his legs to take out his opponents root. His circular stepping and zig-zag patterns are most effective when used for scooping, sweeping or throwing. To use less effort to change the direction of a moving object, you must keep it moving in a continuous curve. This curvilinear motion decreases joint tension, freeing them to move with greater tenacity. Do this by keeping the upper body strong and firm, and the lower portion soft and flexible. Timing & smooth execution are essential. Your energy should be continuously moving like an ocean wave. The "tornado power" of the phoenix is one of the most difficult powers to attain. This isn’t simply a "silk reeling" rolling power. There’s complex turning power inside your body, it also moves from side to side and up and down, a soft spiraling energy that adheres to your opponent. As your opponent punches, he doesn’t feel anything because you are so soft & fluid. Changing and turning, you wrap your energy around him and stick to him. This fluidity involves maintaining balance between your Yin & Yang energy. You must be able to become either light or heavy, soft or hard, quick or still, sticky or springy at will. When you fight, keep your movements simple. Be circular in your motion. #daoistlake #baguaonline #thepheonix #eighttrigrams

It is the need to be right or superior to others that destroys our spiritual life. Truly, when we indulge this need to get out way or argue with others hoping they will see our point of view, what we are actually doing is exchanging life-force energy to feed acquired personality traits and belief systems that support and make up the karmic level we are working to outgrow. Many efforts to fix and fight with our problems only exacerbate the quantity of the manifestations of tha...t particular level. Where we come from is where we are going our own personal alpha and omega. By acting from avoiding, fearing, and fighting rather than consciously working and transcending, we add to the glue holding together the homeostasis of our confused suffering to which we cling to for identity, yet ultimately hope to be freed from. It is by cultivating the non-reactive noticing awareness of wu-wei do we learn not to bite the hook in front of us, and starve the false selves within the Zhi-Shen layer of our being. In Daoism, the vanity (ego) manifests as the three worms. Three worms hijack our mind-body vehicle by influencing the three mechanical centers, conning us into identification and bringing about destructive changes within our habits/actions, relating/emoting, and believing/value-placing perpetuating stagnation of our life-force energy. Daoists believe that starving the three worms promotes longevity & natural ease. If you want to be above a situation, then be above it, instead of indulging the vanity and engaging the story from a role within it. #daoistlake #baguaonline

Born in 1891, Jiang Rong Qiao was a famous martial artist from Hebei, China. His specialized focus in the internal arts led him to develop his own system of Bagua, known as Jiang Style Baguazhang which is the basis of instruction in our newly launched Bagua Online course (link in bio). Jiang Rong Qiao's Neijia kung fu is one of the most widely practiced combined styles of Baguazhang in the world today. Jiang's Bagua is distinguished by emphasizing efficiency of movement and... an ambidextrous approach. Jiang's system of Bagua was kept simple, and his concept was to focus on developing the essence of Bagua without over complicating it with more forms and movements. Jiang was a prolific writer of martial arts manuals and authored several books. His most famous book being Bagua Palms Practice Method, which was a manual for his art (most of his writings were about other styles). In 1955, Jiang suffered an accident that gradually caused permanent damage to his optic nerve, and he went blind. Jiang's adopted daughter, Zou Shu Xian, then taught classes and helped him produce his books. #Baguaonline #Daoistlake

In honor of my new Bagua Online course I’ve made a series of videos outlining the eight animal forms of Bagua & how they correlate to the eight trigrams. Today we will go over the Dragon. I’d like to add that the form and sparring seen in these videos were not choreographed or rehearsed. Dragon and the Zhen Gua The element Zhen represents wood and correlates to lightning & movement. In the physical realm, it becomes the dragon. The dragon has the ability to condense its bon...es (contract inward), leap, fly & change unpredictably. The dragon is extremely flexible, and can transform into two different kinds of martial energies: the water dragon (which is solid and heavy), and the sky dragon (light and vaporous). The fighting configurations are pushing, pulling, hooking, splitting, wrapping, dropping, lifting & advancing. He is pompous, arrogant in his movements, and has an attitude of superiority. The dragon's attacks are an erratic combination of simultaneous high & low strikes with the arms and legs, designed to confuse the opponent. He’ll flow like water around the opponent's attacks/defenses. The dragon makes use of coiling & trapping techniques, using inside elbow and palm work. The coiling and flexible, whip-like arm movements of the dragon make it difficult to counter his inside attacks. It’s from the dragon's rolling movement that Bagua practitioners earned the name "Rolling Thunder Boxers." The dragon footwork is comprised of circular bent-leg hooking motions which are used for leg trapping, hooking & throwing. The dragon uses knee strikes or presses his knee into the opponent and then circles the foot in order to trap, kick & throw. He uses the front and back of the heel while kicking. The dragon's strengths are mid-range and inside fighting. A fighter will assume the style of the dragon when faced with a larger, stronger opponent. The dragon's inside fighting movements are best implemented on opponents who have a long reach, are slow, and have a tendency to grab and hold on (like wrestlers). #daoistlake #baguaonline #thedragon