My Chat With Sarah Burke

I think it was 2008. I logged onto the
old Facebook (before they started
changing it). I wasn't big on chats,
but saw that Sarah Burke was
"available to chat." She wasn't
someone I knew, but I had requested
the FB friendship and she accepted.

What do you say to Sarah Burke ?
It had only been one year since she won
the gold medal at the X Games in
Aspen and was voted Best Female
Action Sports Athlete at the ESPY
Awards. She was a rockstar of the
freestyle skiing world. A supermodel
on the red carpet. And loved by all.

I pulled up her page and saw that
she had exactly 2000 friends. So
that's where I started. I typed,
"How can you have 2000 friends?"
and hit enter. I waited with
anticipation; there was a pretty
good chance she wouldn't even
respond.

"I don't know," she responded;
"they're all my real friends."
The elephant in the room was me.

I chopped back, "Seems like it
would be hard to have actual
friendships with that many
people."

"Not for me," she said. I looked
at her FB photo. She was beautiful.
"They are really all my friends."

I changed the subject. "I want to
ask you about your health. I know
your sport well, and I know lots
of the competitors get hurt quite
often. Is that the case with you ?"

Sarah Burke went on to tell me that
she had broken bones many times,
and that her 25-year old body was
like a 60-year old's. She said everything
hurt all the time, and that some days
it was really hard to get out of bed.
She was not coy in her descriptions
of trauma, injuries, or ongoing pain.

I told Sarah that I teach Tai Chi, and
that many athletes have found great
relief with the practice. I told her that
there are a lot of great teachers in
British Colombia, including my
teacher Victor Fu.

Sarah Burke said she was very interested
in learning, and that it made sense to
her to start trying to repair some of the
damage she had done to herself.
She then said she traveled a lot, and
hoped that if and when things settled
down for her that she would try to start.

I offered to send her a DVD. She said
we could hold off for now, but that she
wanted to get back to me on it. Suddenly
she was whisked away to chat with one
of her real friends, and I was left with
the feeling that Sarah Burke was one
genuinely nice person.

But now I'm mad.

Even on the day of her death, people
were talking about how her successful
lobbying to add the Superpipe to the
2014 Sochi Winter Olympics would be
a tribute to her life. Few would stand up
and cry, "this sport is too risky, and the
death of this girl is the clearest indicator !"

Sarah Burke, with a battered and broken
body, was out pounding the pipe, pushing
the limits, and every day stretching for
more amplitude. She could strive to meet
the mind-bending tricks of Shawn White--
table-top 1080's or roast beef on rye or
whatever-the-hell they call those things--
but she took those risks with a body
that was far from "sound." And yes
folks, she was wearing a helmet which
didn't do a damn thing to save her.

Kevin Pearce suffered a traumatic
brain injury in the same superpipe
at Park City Mountain Resort. His
career is over and he's lucky to be
alive.

In an interview after the 2011 X Games,
Scotty Lago rattled off this gem:
"I just really wasn't sure if I was able to
compete or not. A couple doctors told me
I shouldn't; and a couple doctors told me
I couldn't injure myself any worse because
the bone's actually not healing, (points to
his cheek) it's just free-floating in there."

When you watch the Superpipe in the
2014 Sochi Olympics, and see these
athletes fly flipping and spinning into
the sky, remember that your entertainment
is fueled by young people who get
severely injured all the time and even die.

It's Not Called Gymnicetics

On Yahoo! Answers, a woman with the handle "maigen_obx" posted this answer regarding a gymnastics question:

"I was a gymnast for over 10 years, not olympic caliber. I'm 37 years old and am in pain every single day, I never get relief. All my doctors agree that the cause is the abuse I heaped on my body during my gymnastics training. Sometimes I see a chiropractor 3 times a week. I take muscle relaxors and prescription anti-inflammatories on a regular basis, because sometimes that's the only way I can sleep. I trained for about 3 hours a day, 5 days a week. That's not enough training for a olympic gymnast. You seriously want to think about this; there are only a dozen olympic gymnast at a time. That's a pretty small chance for a lifetime of pain. No one tells you this when you're 15 and think you could never get hurt. You will get hurt as a gymnast; it's a just a question of how bad."

Marathon Means Death

People love the concept of running
a marathon. Perhaps it is the conquest
of one's own body and mind to run
26 miles that inspires people to train
and participate in such madness.

As the legend goes, Pheidippides first
ran the stretch from Marathon to Athens
in 490 B.C. just to announce that the
Persians had been defeated. He burst
into the Greek assembly, announced,
"We have won!"
Then he DROPPED DEAD.

In our twisted society, six-pack abs and

visible ribs are purporters of health. Most

anyone who trains for marathons will

exhibit these markers with pride. But the

reality is body fat at this level allows the

quick onset of sickness and promotes

the birth of cancer. The immune system

gets completely hammered with this

kind of punishment.

A marathon is a wretched plague of
sickness. Many do not finish, and the
ones who do are on death's door. Even
the best can collapse and need medical
attention. Runners like to say that deaths
are rare, but there are certainly enough
deaths of "healthy" marathoners to get
everyone's attention.

Chinese Doctor

                        MD v. OMD
                   Scalpel - Needle
                     Drugs - Herbs
               Lab Tests - Massage
       Sedentary Rest - Healing Exercise

My new Chinese doctor says she can
cure cancer. I looked at her recommendations,
and I believe her. She told me she's 80.
The friend who referred me said she's 93.
You wouldn't guess either of those numbers.

If you don't get acupuncture, you can
safely assume the doctor (OMD) or
doctor of TCM will lie you down on
a clinic table, insert three to 20 needles
(which are extremely thin) and then
you'll lay there for 20 minutes.

Not with this doctor. She said,
"I treat you now." So I stretched back
on the table and let her do her thing.
It had been eight years since my distal
tibia splayed open like a banana when
I stupidly jumped off a ladder. But Tai Chi
and acupuncture had honestly made the
ankle more flexible than before I broke it.

I couldn't really see what she was doing.
Her small frame blocked my view of my
ankle. I hate needles, but they always help.
I relaxed and tried to breathe easily. I saw
her little body jerk with good force, and felt
the needle go in, and then again and then
again. The last couple pinched a little, and
the the second to the last one made my
whole body tense up.

She said, "OK, you try it. Feel better ?"
I was shocked and trying to figure out
what happened to the 20 minutes of waiting.
There were no needles still in my ankle;
just punctures where something when in.
I stood up, and indeed, it did feel better.
But blood oozed out without cessation.

I looked at her desk where she laid down
the cotton balls and maybe the leftover
needles. There weren't any needles. Laying
there conspicuously was a lighter and a
fairly large set of tweezers, burned on both
tips. Holy crap. That's what she stabbed
me with.

The two major puncture marks on my ankle
were black with burned soot. The spot where
the tweezers went in first had clearly been
singed. But my ankle felt way better. The
bleeding finally stopped. I did some deep
ankle bends. The range of motion was
awesome and the pain was gone.

Over the next week, I had some of the best
exercise of my life.

Get over yourelf and go see a Chinese
doctor. I prefer my Chinese doctors to be
old and Chinese. Let him or her treat you
and take whatever herbs they want you
to take. It's amazingly good medicine.

The Pinnacle of Athletics

Fu Style Principles

1. Turn Your Waist
If you've ever had class with Master Fu,
you've heard him say this plenty. "Turn
your waist" is his first-line of advice and
his go-to mantra. Tai Chi is the beginner
level in Fu Style; it introduces waist turning
in the stepping by having the student turn his
or her waist twice for each step. In the 105 Form,
the movements begin to stretch the range
of waist turning-- especially in the third section
with the "Fair Lady Works Shuttles" to the
four corners. Liang-Yi Chuan increases the
range yet again; adds turning across the
other two planes; and increases waist skills
by adding different kinds of turning such as
swinging, shaking, and explosive fajing.
BaGua waist turning affects stepping, coiling,
and multitudes of other skills. Fu Style XingYi
uses big waist turns to develop power and
speed that's different from the other forms.
In seminars I've attended, Master Fu usually
corrects this first and foremost.

2. Posture
Fu Style posture can be broken into three
parts. First, "Hollow Chest" is Master Fu's
go-to advice. He will tell even very experienced
practitioners to "deeply hollow your chest,"
and has many exercises and tricks to help
learn this. Second, Master Fu will teach how
to raise the head while keeping the chin down.
He usually teaches this by saying, "it's like
having a book balanced on your head."
Third is pelvic tilt. This points the tailbone
down and brings it forward. In the most
advanced teachings for BaGua, Fu Style
mandates to "wind up the hyman."

3. Concentrate on the Breathing
If you go out and look for videos on YouTube
of supposed "Taoist Breathing," most do
it incorrectly. Taoist Breathing is also known
as "Reverse Breathing." Why ? Because the
inhalation CONTRACTS the lower abdomen,
while exhalation EXPANDS it. Master Fu
talks about the "Dan Tien Muscle" in order
to explain how to breathe correctly, even
though there is no such thing. One must
use the mind to think about breathing
down, down into the dan tien, and imagine
it contracting and expanding as it's supposed
to. This breathing will improve posture, which
will in turn improve breathing.

4. Make Circles
Master Fu discusses the hand techniques
categorized with three circles: small, medium
and large. The large circle is the circle made
from the shoulder; it is the most powerful
of the three, but the slowest. The medium
circle is made at the elbow. Obviously, the
elbow is merely a hinge joint, and doesn't
rotate in a circle; but its hinging can combine
with some rotation from the shoulder to make
the medium circle, which is still powerful,
but faster than the shoulder circle. The
small circle is made at the wrist; this has
the least power, but moves the fastest.
Master Fu often says, "Make circle and change
the other person's power." This is his way
of saying, "Change 10,000 pounds with
four ounces."

5. Fix The Body
Fu Style is truly one the world's great forms
of pugilism; but it is also one of the best
systems for health and wellness. Master Fu
talks about "XingYi Power" and "BaGua
Stepping," but he often reverts the discussion
back to Tai Chi to "fix the body." The skill-sets
of Fu Style (and the internal martial arts) are
largely invisible to those who have little
experience. But after years of practice, one
can see how a real master such as Master Fu
has excellent posture, softness in every step,
relaxation throughout his body, and power
that is hidden deep within. Fu Style develops
the athleticism and immunity of the body such
that it remains youthful, and sickness cannot
enter. Before one will have much martial art
skill from Fu Style, his or her body will become
far more youthful, flexible and capable.

6. FaJing
All that waist turning in the Fu Style forms
trains the waist to move at your slightest
impulse. The exercises that precede the forms
also train the waist; many of these exercises
are to develop fajing, or explosive power.
Master Fu says, "fajing must be always have
recoil. It must go from soft to hard, and then
immediately back to soft." And there are different
kinds of fajing in Fu Style. Master Fu says that
"Opposite Power" is most important. He says
that when you shoot a gun, the bullet goes
forward, but the gun goes back. So emission
of power in Fu Style moves the waist in the
opposite direction of the focus at the point of
impact. Also, Master Fu says the highest level
of power is "Flying Power," when the feet are
OFF the ground (ling cone jing).

7. Stepping
Master Fu generally teaches Tai Chi stepping
with one and a half feet ("feet" as it were does not
mean 12 inches, but your own foot as a tool
of measurement). In XingYi, the step should
be at least two "feet," with the knees more
bent and the stance lower (when you turn your
waist from this stance, it will stretch you like
nothing else !) The Yang BaGua step can be
as short as one and a half "feet" for beginners,
to two "feet" for high-level practitioners. The
Yin BaGua step should be three "feet" or more
because of the forward projection of the waist.

8. Fu Tai Chi
Fu Style Tai Chi steps are in 90 degree angles.
Each step has two waist turns. Fu Style Tai Chi
movements are more developed, detailed, clear,
and more difficult than other Tai Chi styles. Many
of the major movements (such as Grasp Bird's Tail,
Single Whip, Wave Hands Like Clouds, etc.)
have a 24-level, a 105-level, a Lightning Palm-
level, a LiangYi-level and an Advanced Tai Chi level.
"What?" you ask. Example: Grasp Bird's Tail is taught
with the five basic movements at the 24-Form level.
At the 105-Level, it adds a distinctive "waggle" after
the Push, and usually includes teaching of applications
and push hands; later in the 105-Form, the Ward-Off
portion raises the arm over the head (high Ward-Off),
and includes both a step-back and a step-through
(with bai bu) version of the movement. In Lightning Palm,
GBT includes fajing. In Liang-Yi, GBT uses a short
Pull-Back, with active forward steps through the Press,
and the Push; and uses a special fajing with a widening
of the stance. If you've never seen Fu Style Advanced
Tai Chi, go watch it on our YouTube channel (TransMun).
High Ward-Off, all kinds of crazy bending and leaning
back through the Pull-Backs, unbelievable stretching,
and three fajings at the end. Wow.

9. Fu Style BaGua
Not only is Fu Style BaGua considered one of only FIVE
orthodox styles; we think it's the best. Yang Palm is
the basic level, but it should really only be learned
after a student has practiced YEARS of Fu Style 105-Form,
Lightning Palm and Liang-Yi Chuan. The reason for
this is these forms were created to teach the skills
required for BaGua progressively. Then when the
student starts BaGua, he or she can focus on the
stepping while the body keeps up with the physical
demands of the forms. Characteristics of Fu Style are:
Sinking and Rising; Coiling; Swinging, etc. Single Palm
Change is more complex than other styles, and uses
powerful, upward spirals. Palms include pushing, double-
pushing, piercing, spinning, chopping, lifting, spitting,
fanning, a 'wrist-strike,' "double-exploding fists," and
dragon palm (which looks like how it sounds...). There
are also plenty of kicks. The Yang Step balances on one
foot while the other leg 'snaps' the knee to kick the
step and jiggle the foot. The Yin Step uses what
Master Fu calls a "Gudang Step." "Gudang" is sometimes
translated as "arouse" or "awaken/excite." Master Fu's
Gudang step projects the waist forward to extend
each step measurably.

10. Fu Style XingYi
Fu Style XingYi uses big waist turns, massive stretching
movements from the waist, and shaking/opposite power
in each fajing. When compared to other styles of XingYi,
Fu Style seems to have much more whole-body turning.
Master Fu says each punch should be relaxed, and to,
"throw the hand like a towel." Steps are still in 90 degree
angles. In Splitting Fist, Drilling Fist and Crushing Fist,
the "follow steps" are strait forward, with the weight mostly
on the back leg (which must follow quickly). In Pounding
Fist and Crossing Fist, the steps are diagonal, with the
weight most on the front foot. Higher-level forms, such
as BaShr (which means "Controller") also use a Gudang
step. Stance is 2-3 feet lengths in most movements.

Banging Pots & Pans

When I was a freshman in high school,
I rolled my ankle in gym class, and had
to call my mom. "Mom, I sprained
my ankle; you have to come get me."

"You didn't sprain your ankle," she said.

"Yes I did, you need to come get me."

"Fine, but you didn't sprain your ankle."
She repeated it again on the way to
the hospital. Upon examination, there
was something delicious and affirming
when the doc told me the ankle was
sprained, even though it hurt like hell.

Bang, bang, bang !

When we're kids, we play hard, and we
sometimes get hurt. In our 20's, we play
even harder, and get hurt even more. In
our 30's, parts of the body ache when we
get out bed, so we slow down a little.

This is the fork in the road where we
either go sedentary and pack on the pounds,
or we work harder to maintain "fitness,"
every year clutching more desperately
to our youth.

I watched my father go from super-athlete
to mad-dog jogger; then when he hit age
42, he had to have surgery on both knees
and he was done-- out of the game. Being
only age 22, this was shocking to me.

Pa-dink, clank.

At age 26, I was lifting weights and told my
partner that my chest was sore. A 31-year old
guy heard this and piped-up,
"Wait 'til you're over 30, and everything hurts."

At age 31, fresh from another winter of
skiing the big mountain and dropping cliffs,
I thought I could easily jump over a fence
from the top of a ladder. I caught my strong
foot on the fence, landed on the stiff one
(the one I had sprained many times), and
the tibia split UP in three pieces like a
peeled banana.

Bang, clank, bang, smash !
This was my wake-up call.

My wife is in the military, so she has to
maintain the required "Fit to Fight"
standard of the Air Force. They have
periodic physical testing to ensure airmen
can run a timed mile and a half, do
timed sit-ups & push-ups; and can meet
BMI and waist circumference standards.

I started telling her to observe her
coworkers getting injured as they age.
One after the next, torn muscles,
tendonitis, spinal problems, they
were dropping like flies. She's shocked.

I plea with my friends rounding 40
to stop running marathons, triathlons,
lifting weights and all that other "fitness"
insanity. I hate to watch them get hurt,
but they do, just like my wife's
coworkers.

I feel like I need to bang pots and
pans in the street to get people to
wake up. I don't want to take away
anyone's fun, but I care deeply about
people and their health.

You know you won't be jogging
or riding 50 miles on a bicycle when
you're 60. Chances are you won't
be doing it when you're 50 either.
In the name of sustainability, please
realize now that if you're over 30,
these kinds of exercise will need
to stop one day. Why not cut them
down now and find a suitable
replacement ?

The Medicine Of Animals

If human products are considered
unnatural, dogs must be so too.
Dogs did not occur in nature; we
manufactured them out of wolves.
To be our friends.

Some of the latest dog research I've
seen is just incredible. Did you know
that we are now training dogs to sniff
out cancer ? True story.
Just like the singular smell of cadavers,
cancer in humans can be picked up
and signaled by trained dogs.
Pretty neat.

Robert Sapolsky has spent the last
30 years studying the brain science
of stress by observing baboons.
Stress in baboons, he notes, is the
perfect model for human stress because
they spend so little time finding food,
and so much time abusing their
hierarchal subordinates. They're nasty !
Instead of running for their lives
once in a while like a zebra chased
by a lion, baboons are just like us in that
they marinate in stress hormones all
day long. Their health really suffers
for it, especially the low men on the
totem pole. "Zebras don't get ulcers."

One of the latest lab rat studies shows
that eating fatty foods not only drops
your physical performance by 30 percent,
but memory and cognitive function
as well. One theory is that a high-fat
diet can trigger insulin resistance,
which means the body becomes less
efficient at using blood sugar which
is important to brain function. (seems
like I saw something about fatty diets
increasing the risk of Alzheimers...)

A very promising subject of research
is the science of regeneration. A starfish
can regrow a limb; so can a salamander.
Maybe someday we can too.

Thousands of years ago, the Chinese
began emulating the movements of
animals for a variety of reasons: if you
need to attack, tigers are pretty good;
if you need to run away, chickens do
that very well; and if you can stimulate
your endocrine system by shaking
your tail, your health and longevity
will assimilate the deer's.

The snake is famed in Chinese myth
because it could fight off a stork; the
snake's stillness and blinding impulse
speed were two observations said to
have influenced the development
of Tai Chi. This observation of nature
also witnessed water wearing down rock,
wind breaking trees, and the imminent
cycle of the sun, the moon & the stars.

Over thousands of years, the Taoists
observed animals in nature and developed
systems of movement and breathing
that replace chiropractic, physical therapy,
and even higher levels of medicine.

When you see the word
Tai chi
you may find it easier to say the word
Therapy