Are We Obsessed with Hardness and Difficulty?

[DreamBliss]

No, I am not talking about that!

What I mean is... I was raised by my dad to work hard as if it was some kind of virtue. I have since come to realize it really isn't, and have written about that elsewhere. My dad was likely raised the same way by his dad, and his dad was likely raised that way by his father, etc. Sure, hard work won us a couple of world wars and built society as we currently know it. But we also worked very hard in Vietnam, Irag and Iran. Didn't do much for us there, did it? And is society as we currently know it really, at its heart, all that good? I would argue that it is not, that we as humans could do better. I would say that we are using a system designed hundreds of years ago, and that we are perpetuating belief systems from that time, trapping our children in the perfect mentality for wage slavery.

I keep reading around here about how hard it is to start your own business. I keep reading in various self-help books how hard it is to change one's beliefs. And I know it is hard to change one's beliefs, because I have done so, gone through a belief systems crash, and come out the other side. But I wonder if we are a little too obsessed with how hard, or how difficult, a thing is. As if anything that is easy or effortless is somehow lazy and of less value. I think we are programming ourselves to expect things to be hard, and only once they are sufficiently frustratingly and maddingly difficult do we think they are good, or right, or whatever. And I think that is absolute bullspit.

We throw around the phrase, "if it were easy everyone would be doing it" but there are a few hidden assumptions here. First of all that no matter how easy something might be that everyone would jump on board. But I would wager that most people would just stay stuck in their old, comfortable habits and routines. In fact I know my dad wouldn't, because he would instantly be suspicious of anything easy, as that is against the doctrine by which he was raised. And that brings us to the second assumption, that a thing must be difficult in order to be worthy. If it isn't a challenge and doesn't work up a sweat, it ain't worth it! Right? WRONG!!!

Ever done Tai Chi or Qi Gong? Pretty simple, easy, flowing movements. Which is better do you think? Pushups, situps, hours on an excerise bike or running machine, or Tai Chi? It's Tai Chi. That's why you see millions of Chinese elderly people doing it every afternoon. The Chinese manufacturing systems might be absolute garbage, but they are light years ahead of us when it comes to understanding the energetic AND physical properties of the body. Tai Chi is easier, do you see everyone doing it? No, of course not! Here in America everyone is at the gym, where if you ask if they have Tai Chi or Yoga sessions they look at you funny.

Did you know the best way to learn piano is also the easiest? It is not trudging through an endless series of exercise books. It is by learning chords and having fun playing things that sound good right out of the gate! How do I know this? Because I taught myself to play piano, as an adult. I tried the traditional route and the "learning by chords" route and I was actually able to play with the chords route. Do you see a lot of people playing piano using the easier route? Or teaching their kids the easier route? Of course not! But you certainly see a lot of well-paid piano teachers using the traditional method!

Here is my final question... Does the path to an immediate burst of wealth absolutely have to be challenging, difficult or hard? Must we automatically assume that any easy or effortless system is either a scam, subpar or worthless? Why? Where is it written that this whole thing has to be hard? I want to see the rule book, and question its author!

Just wanted to vent here and cause folks to think about some of their assumptions.

 

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[Lex DeVille]

If you can achieve wealth through a faster/easier way (usually called a shortcut) do it.

If you can't...then I guess you have your answer.

I bet if we sit you next to a pianist with 10,000+ hours of traditional study/practice, we're gonna notice some fundamental differences in quality...

Which is better do you think? Pushups, situps, hours on an excerise bike or running machine, or Tai Chi? It's Tai Chi.

I think you're saying stuff to sound profound, but you haven't really thought it through.

It is worth considering your assumptions that there is a "we" or that your ancestors didn't consider taking shortcuts and easy routes.

 

[Mikkel]

Human's have the wisdom of many generations. You may be correct, that you can succeed and not have to work hard, however, that is generally not the case. There have been many lazy people who have lived and have died. Their life was a lesson to others. Don't assume so easily that you will be any different.

The landscape of our society has changed drastically even over the last 100 years, so you don't nessacarily need to work physically hard anymore, but I would wager to say that you still need to work hard in other ways if you want to succeed, and stay successful. If you don't the next guy will outcompete your lazy a$$.

 

[Antifragile]

Ever done Tai Chi or Qi Gong? Pretty simple, easy, flowing movements. Which is better do you think? Pushups, situps, hours on an excerise bike or running machine, or Tai Chi? It's Tai Chi. That's why you see millions of Chinese elderly people doing it every afternoon.

99% of the Tai Chi elders I see doing it couldn't do a push up if their life depended on it. That's what "easy" means. Tai Chi is about meditation.

I appreciate you took some "bliss pill" and now your whole persona even on this Internet forum is "Dream Bliss"



Problem is... you are right, you are "lost on the way".

There is a massive pleasure in hard. Taking Tai Chi to another level takes discipline. Becoming an elite runner takes discipline. Becoming... anything world class takes discipline and hard work.

But don't believe me.

I keep reading around here about how hard it is to start your own business. I keep reading in various self-help books how hard it is to change one's beliefs. And I know it is hard to change one's beliefs, because I have done so, gone through a belief systems crash, and come out the other side.

LIke you said, you keep reading... when will you start living wheat you preach?

Tell us about your successful business that was easy to set up, gave you "F*ck you money" to do Tai Chi at 2PM on a Tuesday, then hop on your private jet to get to this nice Italian place for dinner... in Italy, with your young family.

Easy. (?)

Here in America everyone is at the gym, where if you ask if they have Tai Chi or Yoga sessions they look at you funny.

You clearly have never done Yoga the right way if you call it "easy".

Does the path to an immediate burst of wealth absolutely have to be challenging, difficult or hard?

No. Lotto winning is easy. It's just highly unlikely. I don't like the odds.

Frankly, I feel you are just blissfully unaware (or maybe lazy?) or both, while you think your are enlightened. Prove me wrong.

Scenario:

You live in a literally one-stoplight town. You could throw a rock in any direction and hit a fast food place or restaurant that is hiring. But there are few if any other opportunities. You are 47 and living with your parents. You are physically beat up and unable to work 8+ hours a day, and you know the futility of doing that anyway. You ran the numbers, you know that at $10 an hour, 8 hours a day, 40 hours a week you will have a grand total of $1,600 before taxes to pay for rent, any car or health insurance, food, utilities, etc. You also know that the cheapest places you could find to live start around $1,200 a month in your area.

Your tools include a 2-year degree in computer support which you earned 5 years ago. You also have a letter of recommendation from the professor in charge of the program from that time. You have a resume with large gaps of time in it from when you were not employed. You have applied for positions at your local library, and you have gone through an extensive application process with the local school district. You have applied to multiple positions over the past year – all of which you were exceptionally qualified for – and even checked into the office in person. But they have never considered you for any position. You realized recently that your age is likely the factor here, despite how desperate they claim to be for workers. Up until then you never really thought about that.

You have less than $300.00 in a Roth Ira for retirement, and you have pretty much nothing in checking or savings. You only have one checking and one savings account, along with your IRA, all at the same credit union. You have no recent debt. You used all the funding you received when you enrolled in college, and you held two workstudy positions for additional funds. The only debt that might come back to haunt you is about $1,000 or so from a credit card that went into collections decades ago – you have no idea if that debt still exists or where. You never touched a credit card since. You are pretty sure your credit score is on life support.

You have no connections, friends or relationships. Nobody to ask for money, no couch or room to stay in during relocation - nothing. As far as you are concerned, you are completely on your own and have to do it all on your own.

You could care less about designer clothes, gadgets and sports cars. You have a used LG G7 ThinQ phone you purchased from Swappa. You put together your computer over a decade ago. You would love to upgrade it, but have learned to make use of what you have. You would love to own the Playstation or Xbox gaming consoles or even a VR unit. You dream of traveling someday. But even if you had the money you would likely just take care of any immediate obligations or real needs. The only thing you really want to purchase right now is a $500.00 portable AC.

In your 5-year plan, (but hopefully long before then) you long to have your own house. Your own space, nothing fancy, in a decent location with a decent amount of space, with enough consistent income to live there and support yourself. This is really the only dream you have, to be free to live as you wish in your own space. You know if you could accomplish that, you could easily travel or do anything else you want to do. Ideally you would be able to pay for the house in cash, or make enough of a cash payment that the mortgage would be a fraction of what it would cost to rent. You aren’t even thinking about meeting anyone, getting married or having children. You figure you missed the bus on that anyway.

You know that an empty cup fills nothing, and the best way to help your parents is to stand on your own. You want to take the first step in the wealth building process so you can create a life you actually want to live. Right now you are creating content and making videos for YouTube, trying to grow your channel, in lieu of anything else worth doing. Your channel is growing extremely slowly and it may be years before you see any return on your investment of time there. About the only thing that keeps you going is that you enjoy what you are doing (most of the time) and you know that a single video, even from a small-time content creator, can earn $4,000. You realize that even half of that would be the same as earning minimum wage. But you are willing to set all of this aside and throw yourself into whatever it is that you need to do to get on the Millionaire Fastlane .

If this was your story, what is the first thing you would do, and why? What is the second and third thing you would do, and why? First, second and third action steps. Please be detailed and specific.

I'll make a suggestion. The solution to your problems is simple: stop looking for easy! Start looking for the hard. And the above quoted story will read very differently in 5 years time. Easy will lead nowhere.

 

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[Kak]

99% of the Tai Chi elders I see doing it couldn't do a push up if their life depended on it. That's what "easy" means. Tai Chi is about meditation.

I appreciate you took some "bliss pill" and now your whole persona even on this Internet forum is "Dream Bliss"

View attachment 48998

Problem is... you are right, you are "lost on the way".

There is a massive pleasure in hard. Taking Tai Chi to another level takes discipline. Becoming an elite runner takes discipline. Becoming... anything world class takes discipline and hard work.

But don't believe me.


LIke you said, you keep reading... when will you start living wheat you preach?

Tell us about your successful business that was easy to set up, gave you "F*ck you money" to do Tai Chi at 2PM on a Tuesday, then hop on your private jet to get to this nice Italian place for dinner... in Italy, with your young family.

Easy. (?)



You clearly have never done Yoga the right way if you call it "easy".



No. Lotto winning is easy. It's just highly unlikely. I don't like the odds.

Frankly, I feel you are just blissfully unaware (or maybe lazy?) or both, while you think your are enlightened. Prove me wrong.




I'll make a suggestion. The solution to your problems is simple: stop looking for easy! Start looking for the hard. And the above quoted story will read very differently in 5 years time. Easy will lead nowhere.

You said it.

Discipline is imperative. Learning it in all walks of life is “hard.”

If it was easy, and it isn’t, it wouldn’t take “hardness” or discipline.

 

[The-J]

Many people waste their effort on the wrong things and as a result, they don't get what they want.

But "hard work" isn't bad, it's a really useful tool. Hard work breaks down entry barriers. Hard work produces mastery. Hard work sets you apart from the lazy masses. Hard work produces champions.

Just remember: easy sells. This knowledge can either make you poor or make you rich. Are you the one who makes things easy, or the one who takes the easy things? What if you worked hard to make things easy for others?

 

[Oso]

* You're right in that it wasn't "hard" for me to drop 1k on starting a digital marketing agency.
* You're right in that it wasn't "hard" for me to find trainable people that could grow my client base while I sat on my a$$ and built websites.
* You're right in that it wasn't "hard" for me to spend 2 hours throwing together a website for an industry I've never heard of.
* You're right in that it wasn't "hard" for me to land new clients (thanks, sales team).
* You're right in that it wasn't "hard" for me to decide to sell my agency ~8 months later for 6 figures.

You're wrong in that it was almost soul-shatteringly difficult to get to this point. I spent 5+ years learning web development before I launched my agency. There were nights I was learning while simultaneously almost in tears because my imposter syndrome was that bad. I didn't go to college, and at that time, I had never done anything (long-term) outside of shitty retail and warehouse jobs. Why did I believe I suddenly deserved to make the same money as people with a Bachelor's Degree?

Obviously everyone wants success with the least amount of work possible. Sorry, but you're lying if you say otherwise. Unfortunately, life and time have taught me such shortcuts only appear to be shortcuts from the outside. When you accept the amount of knowledge required to properly utilize such shortcuts, you realize the people that do utilize shortcuts, only do so because they're either already well-connected, or because they spent decades accumulating said knowledge.

Shortcut: Elon Musk signs ownership of Twitter over to you.
Your Mentality: "Hell yeah dude, Elon saw my value, and knew I could launch Twitter further into space than SpaceX is. I'm the boss man. I got this shit. I knew being lazy would pay off!"
Actual Outcome: You have 0 knowledge of how to operate anything, so either Twitter dies in 2 days, or you were smart enough to sell before it died (you probably weren't).

Shortcuts are only shortcuts if you have the resources and knowledge to make them shortcuts.

 

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[Fasted]

No, I am not talking about that!

What I mean is... I was raised by my dad to work hard as if it was some kind of virtue. I have since come to realize it really isn't, and have written about that elsewhere. My dad was likely raised the same way by his dad, and his dad was likely raised that way by his father, etc. Sure, hard work won us a couple of world wars and built society as we currently know it. But we also worked very hard in Vietnam, Irag and Iran. Didn't do much for us there, did it? And is society as we currently know it really, at its heart, all that good? I would argue that it is not, that we as humans could do better. I would say that we are using a system designed hundreds of years ago, and that we are perpetuating belief systems from that time, trapping our children in the perfect mentality for wage slavery.

I keep reading around here about how hard it is to start your own business. I keep reading in various self-help books how hard it is to change one's beliefs. And I know it is hard to change one's beliefs, because I have done so, gone through a belief systems crash, and come out the other side. But I wonder if we are a little too obsessed with how hard, or how difficult, a thing is. As if anything that is easy or effortless is somehow lazy and of less value. I think we are programming ourselves to expect things to be hard, and only once they are sufficiently frustratingly and maddingly difficult do we think they are good, or right, or whatever. And I think that is absolute bullspit.

We throw around the phrase, "if it were easy everyone would be doing it" but there are a few hidden assumptions here. First of all that no matter how easy something might be that everyone would jump on board. But I would wager that most people would just stay stuck in their old, comfortable habits and routines. In fact I know my dad wouldn't, because he would instantly be suspicious of anything easy, as that is against the doctrine by which he was raised. And that brings us to the second assumption, that a thing must be difficult in order to be worthy. If it isn't a challenge and doesn't work up a sweat, it ain't worth it! Right? WRONG!!!

Ever done Tai Chi or Qi Gong? Pretty simple, easy, flowing movements. Which is better do you think? Pushups, situps, hours on an excerise bike or running machine, or Tai Chi? It's Tai Chi. That's why you see millions of Chinese elderly people doing it every afternoon. The Chinese manufacturing systems might be absolute garbage, but they are light years ahead of us when it comes to understanding the energetic AND physical properties of the body. Tai Chi is easier, do you see everyone doing it? No, of course not! Here in America everyone is at the gym, where if you ask if they have Tai Chi or Yoga sessions they look at you funny.

Did you know the best way to learn piano is also the easiest? It is not trudging through an endless series of exercise books. It is by learning chords and having fun playing things that sound good right out of the gate! How do I know this? Because I taught myself to play piano, as an adult. I tried the traditional route and the "learning by chords" route and I was actually able to play with the chords route. Do you see a lot of people playing piano using the easier route? Or teaching their kids the easier route? Of course not! But you certainly see a lot of well-paid piano teachers using the traditional method!

Here is my final question... Does the path to an immediate burst of wealth absolutely have to be challenging, difficult or hard? Must we automatically assume that any easy or effortless system is either a scam, subpar or worthless? Why? Where is it written that this whole thing has to be hard? I want to see the rule book, and question its author!

Just wanted to vent here and cause folks to think about some of their assumptions.

Your Dad is right you’re wrong.

 

[Johnny boy]

Let’s see how fit you are from your chai tea stuff, and how good you are at piano, and how much money you’ve made in business.

It doesn’t actually have to be hard though. You could make one call to someone and make a deal happen and do nothing else but have some conversations and say the right things and make a ton of money. You could broker the sale of a business, home, yacht, etc. You could buy a business from a motivated seller. You could find a company to make a product for you, give a virtual assistant a couple hundred bucks to form the website, brand, advertising, etc. and then start selling it for you online. A lot of things can actually take little effort and time.

Go show us some results first.

 

[AceVentures]

I keep reading around here about how hard it is to start your own business. I keep reading in various self-help books how hard it is to change one's beliefs. And I know it is hard to change one's beliefs, because I have done so, gone through a belief systems crash, and come out the other side. But I wonder if we are a little too obsessed with how hard, or how difficult, a thing is. As if anything that is easy or effortless is somehow lazy and of less value. I think we are programming ourselves to expect things to be hard, and only once they are sufficiently frustratingly and maddingly difficult do we think they are good, or right, or whatever. And I think that is absolute bullspit.

Most new challenges are hard until you develop solutions to make them simple and easier for yourself and others. For instance, for my 6 month old daughter crawling is still incredibly hard. She can't just philosophize about it being easy and crawl her way around. She taps her feet up and down, she can use her hands to turn herself, but she still doesn't have the pelvic awareness and coordination to raise her knees up, press her toes down, and push herself forward. She literally has to try hundreds or thousands of different ways to coordinate her body to learn how to propel herself forward. Once she figures out how to do it, her ability to improve will accelerate greatly.

In my personal life, I've never jumped straight to the simple and easy solution from the get go. Things only got easier after struggling to make sense of the scope of what I'm working with, experimenting with different approaches, and refining my efforts into more coherent solutions.

But if business is super easy and you've figured it out without having to challenge yourself, I'd like to know what you've accomplished and how you managed to do it so easily.

 

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[Black_Dragon43]

And that’s how you stop yourself from being successful. Tai Chi is gay — those Tai Chi people easily get knocked out by big a$$ brutes who lift heavy weights and eat eggs and steak.

View: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=XMueuNRUdQA

 

[biophase]

As if anything that is easy or effortless is somehow lazy and of less value.

I think your definition of easy is skewed.

Easy to most people means easy!

Tai Chi is easier, do you see everyone doing it? No, of course not!

Tai Chi is harder than doing nothing. It’s not easy for people who don’t want to be active. But it’s easy for people who want to be more active than doing Tai Chi.

Did you know the best way to learn piano is also the easiest? It is not trudging through an endless series of exercise books. It is by learning chords and having fun playing things that sound good right out of the gate! How do I know this? Because I taught myself to play piano, as an adult.

Learning how to play the piano no matter what method you learn isn’t easy. You know why? Because if it was easy then everyone would know how to play the piano!

Here is my final question... Does the path to an immediate burst of wealth absolutely have to be challenging, difficult or hard? Must we automatically assume that any easy or effortless system is either a scam, subpar or worthless? Why? Where is it written that this whole thing has to be hard? I want to see the rule book, and question its author!

The examples you posted were about learning skills to a casual level with no competition against others.

Business is a competition. So you will go up against other that are skilled.

You learned how to play piano for fun and sounded good, but can you go up against a real pianist in a contest without more practice and win?

If you approach business the same way as you learning the piano you will get crushed. Business is hard.

 

[Jon822]

You're missing half of the equation. Working hard is only bad IF you are also not "working smart." Saying that working hard is always bad is no different than saying debt is always bad -- neither are true. Like most cliches, they're either exaggerated or just plain wrong. Another example is "work smart, not hard." Personally, I think "work smart" is too ambiguous and leaves too much room for error and since this is the Fastlane forum, we can swap working smart for Fastlane work, and not working smart for Slowlane work. If you're working hard on a Fastlane venture, that is objectively a good thing and the most efficient way to trade your time for money since it allows for increased profits and simultaneously decreased time input. To reiterate, working hard in this case is absolutely a good thing. Conversely, if you're working hard in a Slowlane job, then you're a chump. For the record, I'm not advocating for "quiet quitting" or doing the bare minimum -- always do your job well. But you should always be reminding yourself that in a Slowlane job, extra effort does not reap more rewards, it usually reaps more responsibilities and work. If you're working hard to help make someone else's financial dreams come true, this is where working hard fits what you said and is glorified by the one cashing the checks.

If you're busting your a$$ at the office, always keep in mind "What am I getting out of all of this extra work?" If it's just more work, then you're working hard simply because it's a glorified rat trait. If you're working hard on your business which could explode in profits, you're doing the right thing and should keep going.

In general, it's not a good idea to make assumptions based on cliches. As an entrepreneur, you should not only be willing to work hard if the rewards can correctly compensate, but you should be open to using any tool that can help you, even if conventional wisdom or cliches say the opposite. If you're ever lost as an entrepreneur, just pull out an entrepreneur's compass: mathematics.

 

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[Kak]

Your Dad is right you’re wrong.

 

[Isaac Odongo]

Thank you all for this rebuttal. What a counter offensive! What an army! Great work Fastlaners.

@DreamBliss imaginating things happening and falling in place is easy, especially when we have a flimsy cognitive basis. Such as the one you have premised your fallacy upon.

I did a little martial arts and nothing is easy until it is easy. And because it is easy doesn't mean everything else is easy.

Don't over generalise. That itself is laziness.

 

[Jeix]

Define easy.
To me, it's something you've done before.
Anything else is hard.
Everything gets easier the more you do it but few actually start because it's where it's hardest. Most give up early because they are not as interested or committed to get past the hardest part.
Nothing is easy the first time you do it.
If you keep looking for easy, you'll only find scams.
When you try to actually set one up, you'll realize it's actually hard and wonder if you could instead spend your efforts on something that won't get you arrested.

Good luck out there.

 

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[Primeperiwinkle]

99% of the Tai Chi elders I see doing it couldn't do a push up if their life depended on it. That's what "easy" means. Tai Chi is about meditation.

I appreciate you took some "bliss pill" and now your whole persona even on this Internet forum is "Dream Bliss"

View attachment 48998

Problem is... you are right, you are "lost on the way".

There is a massive pleasure in hard. Taking Tai Chi to another level takes discipline. Becoming an elite runner takes discipline. Becoming... anything world class takes discipline and hard work.

But don't believe me.


LIke you said, you keep reading... when will you start living wheat you preach?

Tell us about your successful business that was easy to set up, gave you "F*ck you money" to do Tai Chi at 2PM on a Tuesday, then hop on your private jet to get to this nice Italian place for dinner... in Italy, with your young family.

Easy. (?)



You clearly have never done Yoga the right way if you call it "easy".



No. Lotto winning is easy. It's just highly unlikely. I don't like the odds.

Frankly, I feel you are just blissfully unaware (or maybe lazy?) or both, while you think your are enlightened. Prove me wrong.




I'll make a suggestion. The solution to your problems is simple: stop looking for easy! Start looking for the hard. And the above quoted story will read very differently in 5 years time. Easy will lead nowhere.

Ok so, this is awkward.

Umm I have a crazy favorite book from way back in the day about one of the youngest and greatest chessmasters. The thing is, he gave up chess in his twenties and "found a new thing" doing Tai Chi.

That doesn't sound impressive until you find out that the Tai Chi the old people do is like level one and that it gets a LOT more challenging to control your own life force. The fighting version of Tai Chi is something called Push Hands. This kid, Josh Waitzkin, started training in Push Hands which is arguably the most powerful martial arts in the world.. but not for beginners. They've put Kung Fu masters up against Push Hands masters and..

Ok so this has nothing to do with this thread at all. But the book is an inspiration because he found a way to not only learn but succeed against grand champions and world masters in TWO separate avenues.

It's called The Art of Learning by Josh Waitzkin.

<putting down a bowl of snacks for everyone and fizzy water and walking away quietly now>

 

[Oso]

The fighting version of Tai Chi is something called Push Hands. This kid, Josh Waitzkin, started training in Push Hands which is arguably the most powerful martial arts in the world.. but not for beginners. They've put Kung Fu masters up against Push Hands masters and..

Studied Muay Thai for 14 years and have a bit of martial arts knowledge spread across. Figured I'd help you clear a few things up. The technical name for Tai Chi is "Tai Chi Chuan," or "Taijiquan." "Push hands" isn't a fighting stance/version, but rather a targeted training exercise used to help the practitioner develop out concepts such as balance and timing. This exercise also helps Tai Chi practitioners execute Tai Chi techniques in a martial arts scenario.

There is no "fighting version" of Tai Chi. The initial learning stages of Tai Chi focus on the movements themselves, directing energy, balance, etc. (similar to most other martial arts) This is where the "meditation" factor comes in, and this is ultimately where most western people that "practice" it stop. The movements themselves are the building blocks to the art itself.

As you continue practicing it beyond "hey, I can wave my hands," the actual combat aspect to it comes into play (assuming the person teaching you practices the combat side), and while it isn't something I personally care for (hence the Muay Thai), it is a thing of beauty when executed correctly. A true Tai Chi master is one of the most eloquent creatures in existence.

Furthermore, there's really no such thing as the "most powerful martial art in the world!" That said, most people argue that for real-world application, Krav Maga is the "best martial art in the world."

 

[Primeperiwinkle]

Studied Muay Thai for 14 years and have a bit of martial arts knowledge spread across. Figured I'd help you clear a few things up. The technical name for Tai Chi is "Tai Chi Chuan," or "Taijiquan." "Push hands" isn't a fighting stance/version, but rather a targeted training exercise used to help the practitioner develop out concepts such as balance and timing. This exercise also helps Tai Chi practitioners execute Tai Chi techniques in a martial arts scenario.

There is no "fighting version" of Tai Chi. The initial learning stages of Tai Chi focus on the movements themselves, directing energy, balance, etc. (similar to most other martial arts) This is where the "meditation" factor comes in, and this is ultimately where most western people that "practice" it stop. The movements themselves are the building blocks to the art itself.

As you continue practicing it beyond "hey, I can wave my hands," the actual combat aspect to it comes into play (assuming the person teaching you practices the combat side), and while it isn't something I personally care for (hence the Muay Thai), it is a thing of beauty when executed correctly. A true Tai Chi master is one of the most eloquent creatures in existence.

Furthermore, there's really no such thing as the "most powerful martial art in the world!" That said, most people argue that for real-world application, Krav Maga is the "best martial art in the world."

I got so much wrong on that post. Dammit. It's been ten years since I read that book..

Thanks man.

But when I googled to check my interpretation I did find this so .. umm. I dunno. Maybe they shouldn't have called it the Push Hands World Championship?!

View: https://youtu.be/wyeSvBleUyI

 

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[Oso]

I got so much wrong on that post. Dammit. It's been ten years since I read that book..

Thanks man.

But when I googled to check my interpretation I did find this so .. umm. I dunno.

View: https://youtu.be/wyeSvBleUyI

Correct. That is "Push Hands." As I said, it is typically a training exercise, but there are Tai Chi "Push Hand" competitions.

They're actually cool af, lol, if you ever get the chance to see one.

 

[Kevin88660]

No, I am not talking about that!

What I mean is... I was raised by my dad to work hard as if it was some kind of virtue. I have since come to realize it really isn't, and have written about that elsewhere. My dad was likely raised the same way by his dad, and his dad was likely raised that way by his father, etc. Sure, hard work won us a couple of world wars and built society as we currently know it. But we also worked very hard in Vietnam, Irag and Iran. Didn't do much for us there, did it? And is society as we currently know it really, at its heart, all that good? I would argue that it is not, that we as humans could do better. I would say that we are using a system designed hundreds of years ago, and that we are perpetuating belief systems from that time, trapping our children in the perfect mentality for wage slavery.

I keep reading around here about how hard it is to start your own business. I keep reading in various self-help books how hard it is to change one's beliefs. And I know it is hard to change one's beliefs, because I have done so, gone through a belief systems crash, and come out the other side. But I wonder if we are a little too obsessed with how hard, or how difficult, a thing is. As if anything that is easy or effortless is somehow lazy and of less value. I think we are programming ourselves to expect things to be hard, and only once they are sufficiently frustratingly and maddingly difficult do we think they are good, or right, or whatever. And I think that is absolute bullspit.

We throw around the phrase, "if it were easy everyone would be doing it" but there are a few hidden assumptions here. First of all that no matter how easy something might be that everyone would jump on board. But I would wager that most people would just stay stuck in their old, comfortable habits and routines. In fact I know my dad wouldn't, because he would instantly be suspicious of anything easy, as that is against the doctrine by which he was raised. And that brings us to the second assumption, that a thing must be difficult in order to be worthy. If it isn't a challenge and doesn't work up a sweat, it ain't worth it! Right? WRONG!!!

Ever done Tai Chi or Qi Gong? Pretty simple, easy, flowing movements. Which is better do you think? Pushups, situps, hours on an excerise bike or running machine, or Tai Chi? It's Tai Chi. That's why you see millions of Chinese elderly people doing it every afternoon. The Chinese manufacturing systems might be absolute garbage, but they are light years ahead of us when it comes to understanding the energetic AND physical properties of the body. Tai Chi is easier, do you see everyone doing it? No, of course not! Here in America everyone is at the gym, where if you ask if they have Tai Chi or Yoga sessions they look at you funny.

Did you know the best way to learn piano is also the easiest? It is not trudging through an endless series of exercise books. It is by learning chords and having fun playing things that sound good right out of the gate! How do I know this? Because I taught myself to play piano, as an adult. I tried the traditional route and the "learning by chords" route and I was actually able to play with the chords route. Do you see a lot of people playing piano using the easier route? Or teaching their kids the easier route? Of course not! But you certainly see a lot of well-paid piano teachers using the traditional method!

Here is my final question... Does the path to an immediate burst of wealth absolutely have to be challenging, difficult or hard? Must we automatically assume that any easy or effortless system is either a scam, subpar or worthless? Why? Where is it written that this whole thing has to be hard? I want to see the rule book, and question its author!

Just wanted to vent here and cause folks to think about some of their assumptions.

“Work hard” is misleading because it naturally gives the false impression that if you put in the work you get the results you want.

If you work a job it can be time consuming an stressful but you get paid at the month end.

If you try to lose weight calories deficit is sure to work. You will see result at month end.

But a lot of the things that have real life changing impact don’t work this way.

You want to have good interpersonal relationship and connection you have to pay it forward without expecting anything back within any short timeframe from anyone.

You want to develop your business you need to pump in time and money and often there is no result. You restart and try again.

Very big accomplishment requires sometimes switching off the “roi” mindset and switching on the mindset like a religious fanatic.

If you find a good method to do things you can work 4 hours a day and be more productive than someone working 12 hours a day. But in order to “discover” through time and experience you got to work10-12 hours per day first. A scientist that made breakthrough in the 1056th experiment could not skip the first 1055 failed experiment.

I am in the opposite camp that I think people generally tend to vastly underestimate the amount of work needed to achieve anything.

I am not asking people to give up quite the contrary the message is “acceptance” that anything in life worth doing is a lot harder than you expect.

Quite interestingly you mentioned Vietnam and Middle East warfares. Proven that the winner is not the party with more resources and technology but the party who can tolerate high casualty for long. Viet Cong slogan and target was 10-1, exchanging one American soldier’s live with ten of their own. They didn’t assume an easy road.