Martial Arts Talk

December 10, 2002.

Winter is coming soon. More and more we see the effects of weather in civilian and military life. Remember, original dim mak was based on the ‘sei sun,’ or dimming of the sky that would thus shed light or shadow on a subject to be used as set up angling and timing information for the original dim mak of metaphysical times prior to the Ching Dynasty. I like to do physical things in the morning, mental things from noon to sunset and have quality family time in the evening prior to more light training and meditation before bed.

How about all the news about Metabolife? Ma Huang has caused quite a stir as have other natural plants like Kava, Guarana and the stimulant plant chewed like tobacco from Africa, Khatt (sic.) Modern medicine tests certain popular herbal products used in traditional cultural healing in most of the world that does not have western medicine, to use as a basis of study to prove or disprove legends. For instance, in a recent study on menopausal naturopathic remedies, certain ingredients used for centuries were found to be not that effective. On the other hand they give thumbs up to black cohosh as helpful for hot flashes or such symptoms of menopause. At least that is what I re-call reading. Always consult your doctor.

Sometimes what I read contradicts what was printed in prior articles and other times ingredients I would think others would know as drug based in some cultures go un-noticed. An example in point would be ‘yohimbine.’ I re-call reading somewhere that it was approved as effective some way related to health in certain studies. I then remember reading about it or a similar named ingredient being used by South American indigenous people as a hallucinogen similar to the popular ecstasy.

All of these things point to the fact that we don’t really even know how many plant species are even on the planet as new ones are always being found. This holds true underwater as well. Recently I read about an underwater snail, slug or plant like ingredient that is 100 times more potent than morphine. A recent study of the residue in Shakespeares’ pipe seems to have hinted at smoking mind altering ingredients.

Did you know that from 1776 to 1914 all drugs and plants were legal? The biotechnology industries are the largest lobbyists, second only to insurance I hear. These days Bill Gates spends the lion’s share of his philanthropic funds on vaccinations for mostly the poorest off in Africa. The point here is that we need western medicine and in time it will give us clarity as to which ingredients can be acceptable to use intelligently under a doctor’s advice and what should be modified, changed or indeed eliminated in modern times. There will be more random grants given to study new age products. When an old remedy works it is usually bought up and marketed. Aspirin was developed from the herb White Willow Bark.

Sometime I will share about the many plants Lewis and Clark documented and survived to this day. Within the next few years we may see more trial drugs pass phase three of FDA testing to create more approved new drugs than we have had approved in the last twenty years. As far as I can remember, just like America grows ginseng, the Mormons I believed called Ma Huang “Brigham Young Tea.” These are all things to verify, but my interest as an amateur herbalist goes back to 1965.

Cheers!

Jung Shee Lacy