Mystical powers

[crushing]

Drac are you not able to turn into a bat and fly?

Bat and fly? Do you mean like a sacrifice out to advance the runners into scoring position?

Oh wait, you meant the mammal 'bat'. But if he turned into a 'bat and fly', wouldn't the bat part of him eat the fly part each time leaving less of Drac whenver he did it?

 

[Em MacIntosh]

Chuck Norris not the best there is? Surely you jest...

 

[CoryKS]

Drac are you not able to turn into a bat and fly?

Ooh! Watch me turn into a barfly!

 

[Sensei Payne]

Chuck Norris not the best there is? Surely you jest...

Chuck Norris is the best...

But seriouisly now...who deleated my karate Monkey?

 

[terryl965]

Chuck Norris is the best...

But seriouisly now...who deleated my karate Monkey?

It is still on the first page but do not offend Chuck the monkey is no matched for his powers.

 

[Sensei Payne]

It is still on the first page but do not offend Chuck the monkey is no matched for his powers.

I guess the monkey did his NINJA VANISH technique

 

[Steel Tiger]

Regardless of the veracity of the stories though, aren't they fun to listen to?

My first teacher used to regale us students with stories of Wan Lai Sheng, a famous Zi Ran Men master. The one i always remember was of him being invited as the guest of honour at some Kung fu tournament. Everyone at the tournament was showing off their flashiest martial arts tricks, but Wan Lai Sheng declined to compete, saying that he had nothing special to show anyone. But the other masters kept pressing him, saying "we've all come to see the great Wan Lai Sheng, please, give us a demo of your martial power". So eventually he says ok, gets up, walks over to a wall and presses one side of his body up against the wall with his arm against the wall reaching up over his head and his ankle pressed hard against the corner of the floor and the wall. Then he picked up his other leg, the one furthest from the wall, and remained standing for a minute.

At this stage my teacher would dramtically pause and we all said, "That's it? That's all he did?" and of course we'd have a go as well not thinking it was that difficult. But unless you can grip onto something, it's actually impossible to shift your centre of gravity to stop yrself
from falling away from the wall....

Of all the tall stories our teacher told us about old masters (and he had heaps!) this was the one i remembered best 'cause it was so simple and also demonstrated something to us about our own bodies that we hadn't considered before.

These sorts of things can easily be the basis of outrageous tales down the track. For instance, I was visiting a friends school and saw him getting berated by his teacher. We were at a squash complex where they had mild steel rails overlooking the courts. As my friend stood there his teacher was emphasising his points by tapping hard on the rail with his index finger. I could see my friend looking at the rail, goggling, and agreeing with everything his teacher said.

Later, I found out that the teacher had left a decided dent in the rail with his finger. Mystic power? No, just decades of Iron Palm training. So much so that his hands hardly worked anymore, but that bit is usually left out of mystic power stories.

 

[seasoned]

My sensei always said that the only secret in Karate was that you had to hit hard J .

 

[Sensei Payne]

My sensei always said that the only secret in Karate was that you had to hit hard J .

Your sensei told you to hit hard, and thats karate?

 

[NDNgirl4ever]

I know of several schools that can make your wallet magically thinner.

AoG

LOL, that's true!

 

[SKB]

The tales are just like the tales of the old west. Hardly any shoot outs happened at high noon with both guys walking at each other then drawing!!!!! We all think this was the way they settled problems then........

 

[zDom]

There are stories about Sokaku Takeda, but that is Daito Ryu Aikijujutsu, not hapkido, so someone else will have to share those.



I DID hear a story once that I think is about Won, Kwang-Wha — but I'm not positive.

My instructor was told this story by his instructor, Lee H. Park.

The story, as best as I can remember it, goes like this:

The Musulkwan hapkido dojang was known for its flying kicks. One day, while they were practicing some particularly difficult kicks, one of the students fell on his head and his fellow students were sure he had broken his neck and was dead.

The master was called or showed up at that time, and did something and the guy woke up and was fine.


Yea, I know ... it isn't much That's as close to mystical as we get. Pretty much all physics and physiology for us


Ok now I personally have what could be mistaken for a mystical power, but I think I have a rational explanation.

I have, on very many occassions, had my cell phone ringer off — not on vibrate, but off — and have reached in my pocket to answer an incoming call.

My rational explanation is this: Pavlov's Dog. There is SOMETHING going on inside cell phones when they receive an incoming call, or perhaps just the radio-wave itself, that I (and presumably others) am able to perceive at a subconcious level.

There is still a bell involved and then removed, but instead of salivation I have been conditioned to answer my phone — audible ringer, vibrate or not.

 

[Hawke]

I was told growing up that a lot of the myths were created to:

gain reputation
-to scare others...the uninitated
-to get employment (bodyguard for a caravan)
-gain students

 

[Steel Tiger]

I was told growing up that a lot of the myths were created to:

gain reputation
-to scare others...the uninitated
-to get employment (bodyguard for a caravan)
-gain students

I think this is a very good summation as to why mystical powers come into being. Just look at Ashida Kim (though I think he genuinely believes he can do what he claims).

 

[seasoned]

Your sensei told you to hit hard, and thats karate?

Why can’t we just dialog instead of always taking things out of context. Of course there is more to Karate, that is obvious to anyone who has put their heart into the arts for many years. It was not part of any curriculum that the only secret was to hit hard. This was said by my Sensei and repeated by me to briefly illustrate that any style is born out of a lot of hard work and sacrifice. If there are any secrets within the arts one of them would be to be able to read the intentions of the other person correctly. My intention was to illustrate a very small part of a very complex means of self defense put together by very knowledgeable Sensei of old.

 

[morph4me]

well this isn't in my art, but I have developed a way to throw my Chi!!!

..........................................just kidding

I recognize that style, Tarzan-do, and this guy has really developed his Chita

 

[Balrog]

I am the keeper of a greater power, a power known throughout the universe as the Schwartz!

Ahhh...I see your Schwartz is bigger than mine!

:mst:

 

[Bigshadow]

I think many of the things that are perceived as mystical powers are sometimes mis-interpretations, due to language barriers, ways of describing things, and meanings that aren't so literal.

As many may knows, my art has many mystical things attributed to it, things such as invisibility. Although, I believe they mean things that are more simple, tangible, and explainable (with training). However, it does NOT mean actually being able to disappear from sight, obviously, but could realistically mean, disappearing or becoming invisible because there is no physical feedback, therefore, it feels as if one is fighting a ghost or someone who is invisible.

All this was to point out that I believe there are often simple answers for things that seem mystical. For instance a magician does not have any mystical powers. Everything is an illusion and it wouldn't seem so mystical if we actually knew how it was done.

 

[grydth]

This is sensible enough...... By various means of skillful misdirection/distraction, camouflage, and skillful movement you may not become physically invisible... yet you simply are not seen....