Hi Jean-Louis,

>During three years, I practically didn't exercise my body and had to study
>until late in the evening: my health gradually went downhill. I mean,
>clinically speaking, I was healthy, but medical sciences don't quantify our
>inner feelings. But when I resumed Martial Arts, what a difference! After the
>first training, I felt better then ever! I also read many books about Chi
>circulation, and was at the beginning convinced that Martial Arts were a
>sort of elixir of life. But when I looked in the history of Tai Chi, I read
>that some "old" masters dindn't live beyond 55 years. How could it be
>possible, since they practiced "bone marrow cleansing Chi Kung" that was
>supposed to prolong life? But now, the answer is surprisingly clear: these
>masters probably didn't suspect that their bone marrow was continuously
>polluted by cooked food...

Most of the "old" masters in China were well-known for their excesses
(mostly sex and drugs). Yip Man was a heroin addict. His son, Yip Chun
smokes constantly and seems to get by with less than an hour of sleep.
Cheng-Man Ching, the recent Yang-style master, was no picture of
radiant health. Therefore, I'm not too surprised that a few of the
masters of Internal Martial Arts in China drop like flies while still
in what should be their prime.

Robert W. Smith, in his book "Chinese Boxing: Masters and Methods"
provides some detailed insights into some of these masters who migrated
to Taiwan. Smith lived and studied with them for several years.
I recall one exception - a Baguazhang master, who was also very disciplined
in his personal life (also happened to be a strict vegetarian, which
is unusual in Chinese culture) who seemed to outlive everyone else,
and did really well in the martial arts world well into late life.

Anyway, personal excesses aside, traditional Chinese Internal
Martial Arts claim that Tai Chi masters are healthier and outlive
Xing Yi masters. And Baguazhang masters in turn tend to be healthier
and outlive Tai Chi masters.
>From my limited experience, I have found that Baguazhang masters
seem to exercise more discipline in their personal lives, and
tend to be more spiritual in their attitude. Perhaps this is due
to the founder, Dong-Hai Chuan's borrowing the attitude as well
as the basis of the art directly from Taoist meditational walking.
Maybe that is why they outlive the others.

Unlike the Chinese Masters, (but similar to the Baguazhang Masters)
Indian Yogis tend to have a very strong spiritual base, which
dictates what they can/can't do in their personal lives. In fact,
to most of these guys, Yoga is a form of worship. (Except for
some fringe groups, which make use of opium and other drugs to
achieve the spiritual experience). Hatha Yogis routinely live
90-100+ years.

In his book "Manger Vrai", GCB claims to have been a student of
Selvaraj Yesudian. He points out that Yoga did not help this
Yoga "Master" from dying of a heart attack while in his prime.
It is arguable that this individual was really an adept, and
he was not a hindu (was a christian) and was not bound by many
of the hindu precepts regarding diet and discipline.

Aajanous Vollenplanitz uses Vishnudevananda as a role model
to trash yogis. Again a poor choice. Vishnudevananda stopped
Hatha Yoga practice after he gained visibility in the West.
His diet was really bad. He aged most ungracefully, and died
a few years ago of septic fever in India.

I suspect that if you weed out the money-making charlatans
and the excesses-prone individuals, the Chinese Internal
Martial Artists and Indian Hatha Yogis have a good record
of health and longevity.
Personally, the last few weeks of raw diet have done more
for me than years of martial arts or yoga. But then,
I am not a master of either. (Maybe "Web Fu", the art of
long distance intimidation :-)

Regards,

Roy
"No one can make me submit by e-mail" :-) :-) :-)