What is a Troll ?

Close Up Of A Troll (John Bauer, 1915).A troll is a fearsome member of a mythical anthropomorphic race from Norse mythology. Originally more or less the Nordic equivalents of giants, although often smaller in size, the different depictions have come to range from the fiendish giants – similar to the ogres of England (also called Trolls at times, see Troller's Gill) – to a devious, more human-like folk of the wilderness, living underground in hills, caves or mounds. In the Faroe islands, Orkney and Shetland tales, trolls are called trows, adopted from the Norse language when these islands were settled by Vikings.

Nordic literature, art and music from the romantic era and onwards has adapted trolls in various manners – often in the form of an aboriginal race, endowed with oversized ears and noses. From here, as well as from Scandinavian fairy tales such as Three Billy Goats Gruff, trolls have achieved international recognition, and in modern fantasy literature and role-playing games, trolls are featured to the extent of being stock characters.

Scandinavian folklore
History

A troll woman meets a man in the forest. She looks like a young farmer woman, but her tail is peeking out under her skirt. From Svenska folksägner (1882).
Stones with roughly man-like features could be explained by folklore as trolls petrified by sunlight or curses. This one can be seen on Hamarøy, Norway.The meaning of the word troll is unknown. It might have had the original meaning of supernatural or magical with an overlay of malignant and perilous. Another likely suggestion is that it means "someone who behaves violently". In old Swedish law, trolleri was a particular kind of magic intended to do harm. It should also be noted that North Germanic terms such as trolldom (witchcraft) and trolla/trylle (perform magic tricks) in modern Scandinavian languages does not imply any connection with the mythical beings. Moreover, in the sources for Norse mythology, troll can signify any uncanny being, including but not restricted to the Norse giants (jötnar).

In Skáldskaparmál, the poet Bragi Boddason encounters a troll-woman who hails him with this verse (in Old Norse):

Troll kalla mik
tungl sjötrungnis,
auðsug jötuns,
élsólar böl,
vilsinn völu,
vörð náfjarðar,
hvélsvelg himins –
hvat's troll nema þat? They call me Troll;
Gnawer of the Moon,
Giant of the Gale-blasts,
Curse of the rain-hall,
Companion of the Sibyl,
Nightroaming hag,
Swallower of the loaf of heaven.
What is a Troll but that?

The ambiguous original sense of the word troll appears to have lived on for some time after the Old Norse literature was documented. This can be seen in terms such as sjötrollet (the sea troll) as a synonym for havsmannen (the sea man) – a protective spirit of the sea and a sort of male counterpart to the female sjörå.

There are many places in Scandinavia that are named after trolls, such as the Swedish town Trollhättan (Troll's bonnet) and the legendary mountain Trollkyrka (Troll church). The most famous in Norway are Trollfjorden, Trollheimen, Trollhetta, Trollstigen, Trolltindan and Trollveggen.


The Jætte Trolls
Gradually, forming of two main traditions regarding the use of troll can be discerned. In the first tradition, the troll is large, brutish and a direct descendant from the Norse jötnar. They are often described as ugly or having beastly features like tusks or cyclopic eyes. This is the tradition which has come to dominate fairy tales and legends, but it is also the prominent concept of troll in Norway. As a general rule, what would be called a "troll" in Norway would in Denmark and Sweden be a "giant" (jætte or jätte, related to jötunn/jotunn in Jotunheimen).

In some Norwegian accounts, such as the middle age ballade Åsmund Frægdegjevar, the trolls live in a far northern land called Trollebotten – the concept and location of which seems to coincide with the Old Norse Jötunheimr.


The Vitterfolk Trolls
The second tradition is most prominent in southern Scandinavia. Conversely, what would be called trolls in southern Sweden and Denmark would be called huldrefolk in Norway and vitterfolk in northern Sweden. The south-Scandinavian term probably originate in a generalization of the terms haugtrold (mound-troll) or bergtroll (mountain-troll), as trolls in this tradition are residents of the underground.

These trolls have a human-like appearance. Sometimes they had a tail hidden in their clothing, but even that is not a definite. Many of these trolls had a single lock of hair that no human could comb, whereas the rest was generally messy. A frequent way of telling a human-looking troll in folklore is to look at what it is wearing: Troll women in particular were often too elegantly dressed to be human women moving around in the forest. They could attract human males to do their bidding, or simply as mates or pets. Later these would be found wandering, decades later, with no memory of what had happened to them in a troll woman's care.

More often than not, though, the trolls kept themselves invisible, and then they could travel on the winds, such as the wind-troll Ysätters-Kajsa, or sneak into human homes. Sometimes you could only hear them speak, shout and make noise, or the sound of their cattle. Similarly, if you were out in the forest and smelled food cooking, you knew you were near a troll dwelling. The trolls were also great shapeshifters, taking shapes of objects like fallen logs or animals like cats and dogs. A fairly frequent notion is that the trolls liked to appear as rolling balls of yarn.

Whereas the large, ogrish trolls often appear as a solitary being, the "small" trolls were thought to be social beings who lived together, much like humans except out in the forest. They kept animals, cooked and baked, were excellent at crafts and held great feasts. Like many other species in Scandinavian folklore, they were said to reside in underground complexes, accessible from underneath large boulders in the forests or in the mountains. These boulders could be raised upon pillars of gold. In their living quarters, they hoard gold and treasures. Opinion varied as to whether or not the trolls were thoroughly bad or not, but often they treated people as they were treated. Trolls could cause great harm if vindictive or playful, though, and regardless of other things they were always heathen. Trolls were also great thieves, and liked to steal from the food that the farmers had stored. They could enter the homes invisibly during feasts and eat from the plates so that there was not enough food, or spoil the making of beer and bread so that it failed or did not end up plentiful enough.

The trolls sometimes abducted people to live as slaves or at least prisoners among them. These poor souls were known as bergtagna ("those taken to/by the mountain"), which also is the Scandinavian word for having been spirited away. To be bergtagen does not only refer to the disappearance of the person, but also that upon returning, he or she has been struck with insanity or apathy caused by the trolls. Anyone could be taken by the trolls, even cattle, but at the greatest risk were women who had given birth but not yet been taken back to the church.

Occasionally, the trolls would even steal a new-born baby, leaving their own offspring – a (bort)byting ("changeling") – in return.

To ward off the trolls you could always trust in Christianity: Church bells, a cross or even words like "Jesus" or "Christ" would work against them. Like other Scandinavian folklore creatures they also feared steel. Apart from that they were hunted by Thor, one of the last remnants of the old Norse mythology, who threw Mjolnir, his hammer, causing lightning bolts to kill them. Though Mjolnir was supposed to return to Thor after throwing, these hammers could later be found in the earth (actually Stone Age axes) and be used as protective talismans.


Fairytales and legends
While the everyday folklore consisted mostly of short anecdotes describing things that had (supposedly) happened to local people, fairytales are narratives that rarely claim to be true in the same way. Many of the fairytales featuring trolls were written in the late 19th century to early 20th century, reflecting the romanticism of the time, and published in fairytale collections like Tomtar och Troll. These tales, and illustrations by artists like John Bauer and Theodor Kittelsen, would come to form the ideas most people have of trolls today.

Legends from the Middle Ages and earlier also feature a kind of trolls of more horrifying dimensions. This might reflect a past view of trolls as distinctly bad creatures that would soften in later folklore (see the above), or just be another example of fantastic tales demanding fantastic dimensions.

In fairytales and legends trolls are less the people living next to humans and more frightening creatures. Particularly in these tales they come in any size and can be as huge as giants or as small as dwarves. They are often regarded as having poor intellect (especially the males, whereas the females may be quite cunning), great strength, big noses, long arms, and as being hairy and not very beautiful (Once again, females often constitute the exception, with female trolls frequently being comely). In Scandinavian fairy tales trolls sometimes turn to stone if exposed to sunlight, a myth generally attributed to pareidolia found in naturally eroded rock outcrops.

Asbjørnsen and Moe's collection feature a number of traditional fairy tales where trolls hold princesses captive, such as The Three Princesses of Whiteland, Soria Moria Castle, and Dapplegrim, and two where trolls invade homes on Christmas Eve to make merry, Tatterhood and The Cat on the Dovrefell. Female trolls may conspire to force the prince to marry their daughters, as in East of the Sun and West of the Moon, or practice witchcraft, as in The Witch in the Stone Boat, where a troll usurps a queen's place, or The Twelve Wild Ducks, where she turns twelve princes into wild ducks. In other tales, the hero matches wits with the troll: Boots and the Troll, and Boots Who Ate a Match With the Troll.

The following excerpts from the Danish Ballad of Eline of Villenskov describe the physical aspects of trolls within Scandinavian mythology:

There were seven and a hundred Trolls,
They were both ugly and grim,
A visit they would the farmer make,
Both eat and drink with him.
Out then spake the tinyest Troll,
No bigger than an emmet was he,
Hither is come a Christian man,
And manage him will I surelie

Origin of the myth
In the genre of paleofiction, the distinguished Swedish-speaking Finnish paleontologist Björn Kurtén has entertained the theory (e.g. in Dance of the Tiger) that trolls are a distant memory of an encounter with Neanderthals by our Cro-Magnon ancestors some 40,000 years ago during their migration into northern Europe. Spanish paleoanthropologist Juan Luis Arsuaga provides evidence for these types of encounters in his book, The Neanderthal's Necklace (El collar del Neandertal, 1999 ). The theory that Neanderthals and Cro-Magnons occupied the same area of Europe at the same time in history has been theorized based on fossil evidence. Other researchers believe that they just refer to neighboring tribes. The problem with this theory of Trolls is that there are theories and evidence underbuilding that bigger areas in Europe and the Middle East were inhabited by these two groups at the same time. Encounters can have happened due to nomadic tribes and long distance hunting, etc. Nonetheless there is no coherent research showing a phenomenon or histories of "troll-like beings" in all these places reducing the post facto of Neanderthals preceding Trolls as nothing more than faintly plausible for the beholder of today.

Another explanation for the troll myth is that the trolls represent the remains of the forefather-cult which was ubiquitous in Scandinavia until the introduction of Christianity in the 10th and 11th centuries. In this cult the forefathers were worshipped in sacred groves, by altars or by gravemounds. One of the customs associated with this practice was to sit on top of a gravemound at night, possibly in order to make contact with the deceased. With the introduction of Christianity however, the religious elite sought to demonize the pagan cult, and denounced the forefathers as evil. For instance, according to Magnus Håkonsen's laws from 1276 it is illegal to attempt to wake the "mound-dwellers". It is in these laws that the word troll appears for the first time, denoting something heathen and generally unfavourable.

This fits with the trolls in Norse sagas who are often the restless dead, to be wrestled with or otherwise laid to rest.


Nordic art, music and literature
Edvard Grieg, the most important Norwegian composer of the later 19th century, wrote several pieces on trolls, including a score based on Henrik Ibsen's Peer Gynt, with the famous In the Hall of the Mountain King, and March Of The Trolls. Regarding his motivations, Grieg wrote: "The peculiar in life was what made me wild and mad...dwarf power and untamed wildness...audacious and bizarre fantasy." Grieg's former home, Troldhaugen ("The Troll's Hill"), is now a museum.

Like Grieg, conductor Johan Halvorsen was a nationalist Norwegian composer. He wrote, The Princess and the Giant Troll, The Trolls enter the Blue Mountain, and Dance of the Little Trolls. Geirr Tveitt was heavily influenced by Grieg's romanticism and cultural exploration of Scandinavian folklore and Norwegian folk-music. Tveitt's Troll Tunes, includes works such as Troll-Tuned Hardanger Fiddle, and The Boy With The Troll-Treasure. Tragically, 80% of Tveitt's oeuvre was destroyed in a fire.

Few Norwegian illustrators or painters have managed to capture these strange creatures and the enchanted atmosphere of Norwegian nature on paper an canvas as successfully as Theodor Kittelsen. Kittelsen's art and artistic use of the medium of drawing, with black and white extremities and scales of gray in between, are in a class of their own in Norwegian art. Theodor Kittelsen was fascinated by this shadowy world populated by supernatural siren beings and spirits. Walking in the forests and fields, he could see them everywhere: in the mists over the marches, in the twilight surrounding fallen pine trunks and in the dripping fir trees on rainy days.

In Swedish children's literature, trolls are not naturally evil, but primitive and misunderstood. Their misdeeds are due to a combination of basic and common human traits, such as envy, pride, greed, naïveté, ignorance and stupidity. In some early 20th century fairy tales, by Elsa Beskow, trolls are also depicted as an aboriginal race of hunters and gatherers who are fleeing the encroaching human civilization. Where man makes a road, the trolls disappear.

Young Scandinavian children usually understand the concept of trolls, and a way to teach children to brush their teeth is to tell them to get rid of the very small "tooth trolls" that otherwise will make holes in their teeth. This is a pedagogic device used to explain bacteria by the Norwegian author Thorbjørn Egner in his story Karius and Baktus.

The Swedish-speaking Finnish author Tove Jansson has reached a world-wide audience with her Moomintrolls.

There is some speculation that the famous story Rumpelstiltskin originated from a troll folk tale which bears many similarities. While the original story of the troll involves a preacher contracting a troll to build a church as opposed to a woman needing to spin straw into gold, the central element of a bargain which is satisfied by guessing the name of the involved party, and the subsequent death of the troll or being whose name is guessed is central to both stories. (see Fin (troll))

All the music of Finnish Folk Metal band Finntroll is based on Trolls, usually in a somewhat tongue-in-cheek manner, presented as a naturalist, alcohol-loving and viciously anti-human (henceforth anti-Christian) race.

But basically the Troll is more than likely the Neanderthal man as in the book Eaters of the Dead and the movie of the book - 13th Warrior :)

Zodiac

Remember, if you are on the cusp of another sign you most likely wil l have features of both signs...which may lead you into total confusion......

CAPRICORN - The Go-Getter (Dec 22 - Jan 19) Patient and wise. Practical and rigid. Ambitious. Tends to be Good-looking. Humorous and funny. Can be a bit shy and reserved. Often pessimistic. Capricorns tend to act before they think and can be Unfriendly at times. Hold grudges. Like competition. Get what they Want.

AQUARIUS - The Sweetheart (Jan 20 - Feb 18) Optimistic and honest. Sweet personality. Very independent. Inventive and intelligent. Friendly and loyal. Can seem unemotional. Can be a bit rebellious. Very stubborn, but original and unique. Attractive on the inside and out. Eccentric personality.

PISCES - The Dreamer (Feb 19 - Mar 20) Generous, kind, and thoughtful. Very creative and imaginative. May become secretive and vague. Tends to be overly-sensitive. Doesn't like details. Dreamy and unrealistic. Sympathetic and loving. Kind. Unselfish. Good kisser. Beautiful.

ARIES - The Daredevil (Mar 21 - April 19)
Energetic. Adventurous and spontaneous. Confident and enthusiastic. Fun. Loves a challenge. EXTREMELY impatient. Sometimes selfish. Short fuse. (Easily angered.) Lively, passionate, and sharp wit. Outgoing. Lose interest quickly - easily bored. Egotistical. Courageous and assertive. Tends to be physical and athletic.

TAURUS - The Enduring One (April 20 - May 20) Charming but aggressive. Can come off as boring, but they are not. Hard workers. Warm-hearted. Strong, has endurance. Solid beings that are stable and secure in their ways. Not looking for shortcuts. Take pride in their beauty. Patient and reliable. Make great friends and give good advice. Loving and kind. Loves hard - passionate. Express themselves emotionally. Prone to ferocious temper-tantrums. Determined. Indulge themselves often. Very generous.

GEMINI - The Chatterbox (May 21 - June 20) ;Smart and witty. Outgoing, very chatty. Lively, energetic. Adaptable But needs to express themselves. Argumentative and outspoken. Like change. Versatile. Busy, sometimes nervous and tense. Gossips. May seem superficial or inconsistent. Beautiful physically and mentally.

CANCER - The Protector (June 21 - July 22)
Moody, emotional. May be shy. Very loving and caring. Pretty/handsome. Excellent partners for life. Protective. Inventive and imaginative. Cautious. Touchy-feely kind of person. Needs love from others. Easily hurt, but sympathetic.

LEO - The Boss (July 23 - Aug 22)
Very organized. Need order in their lives - like being in control. Like boundaries. Tend to take over everything. Bossy. Like to help Others. Social and outgoing. Extroverted.. Generous, warm-hearted. Sensitive. Creative energy. Full of themselves. Loving. Doing the right thing is important to Leos. Attractive.

VIRGO - The Perfectionist (Aug 23 - Sept 22)
Dominant In relationships. Conservative. Always wants the last word. Argumentative. Worries. Very smart. Dislikes noise and chaos. Eager. Hardworking. Loyal. Beautiful. Easy to talk to.Hard to please. Harsh. Practical and very fussy. Often shy. Pessimistic.

LIBRA - The Harmonizer (Sept 23 - Oct 22)
Nice to everyone they meet. Can't make up their mind. Have own unique appeal. Creative, energetic, and very social. Hates to be alone. Peaceful, generous. Very loving and beautiful. Flirtatious. Give in too easily. Procrastinators. Very gullible.

SCORPIO - The Intense One (Oct 23 - Nov 21)
Very energetic. Intelligent. Can be jealous and/or possessive. Hardworking. Great kisser. Can become obsessive or secretive. Holds grudges. Attractive. Determined. Loves being in long Relationships. Talkative. Romantic. Can be very centered at times. Passionate and Emotional.

SAGITTARIUS - The Happy-Go-Lucky One (Nov 22 - Dec 21)
Good-natured optimist. Doesn't want to grow up (Peter Pan Syndrome). Indulges self. Boastful. Likes luxuries and gambling. Social and outgoing. Doesn't like responsibilities. Often fantasizes. Impatient. Fun to be around.. Having lots of friends. Flirtatious. Doesn't like rules. Sometimes hypocritical. Dislikes being confined - tight spaces or even tight clothes. Doesn't like being doubted. Beautiful inside and out.

Witch means wise woman :)

Intellect happens easily to men because intellect, again, is in the same direction as aggression, argument. Women are more intuitive; they live by hunches. They suddenly jump to the conclusions — that’s why it is very difficult to argue with a woman. She has already arrived at the conclusions; argument is not needed. You are simply wasting your time. She knows all the time what is the end result. She is just waiting to declare it. You go on arguing this way and that… it is all futile. She is conclusive.

Intuition is conclusive. That’s why women are more telepathic. Women are more visionary, and many intuitional things happen to them. All the great mediums are women. Hypnosis, telepathy, clairvoyance, clairaudience, all belong to the world of women. Just let me tell you one thing about the past history.

Witchcraft was a woman’s craft. That’s why it is called witchcraft. The whole world of witches was intuitional. Priests were against it; their whole world was intellectual. Remember, all the witches, almost all the witches, were women; and all the priests, almost all the priests, were men. First, priests tried to burn the witches. Thousands of women were burned in Europe in the Middle Ages because the priests could not understand the world of intuition. They could not believe in it — it looked dangerous, strange. They wanted to wipe it out completely.

And they wiped it out completely. They tried to destroy one of the most beautiful instruments of receptivity, of a higher knowledge, of higher realms of being, of superior possibilities. They destroyed completely; wherever they could find a mediumistic woman, they killed her. And they created such fear that even women lost that capacity, just because of the fear.

Now again the same continues to be the case. Psychoanalysts are against witchcraft — they are all men. Now the psychoanalysts have taken the place of the priests — they are all men. Freudians, Adlerians, they are all men. Now they are against the woman. And do you know? All their patients are more or less women. This is something. And when the witches existed, all their patients were more or less men. I am surprised, but it looks as it should be. When the witches existed their patients were all men: the intellect seeking the help of the intuition, the man seeking the help of the woman. Now just the reverse has happened. All the psychoanalysts are men and all their patients are women. Now intuition has been so crippled and killed that it has to seek the help of intellect.

In the middle ages the women who were called witches and were burned were really very perceptive women. It was not really against witchcraft, it was against woman. One day or other when history is written rightly, it will be shown that the movement was not against witchcraft. Witchcraft has nothing to do with it; it was man against woman. It was intelligence against intuition; it was reason against something which is irrational but very powerful.

Those witches were burned, killed, murdered, tortured, and out of fear the woman shrank from the world into her own self. She became afraid! If she showed any kind of talent she was thought to be a witch. If the man showed the same kind of talent he became a saint. He was worshipped as a miracle-man and the woman would become a witch. She was in the hands of the devil and the man was a specially sanctioned person from god himself… and it was the same quality!

the word `witch’ is a beautiful word. It means a wise woman; there is nothing wrong in it. But these wise women were dangerous to the priests, who could not allow any competitors; hence the very word `witch’ became derogatory. They must have burned thousands of beautiful women, forced them to confess that they were witches. And the meaning of witch they managed to concoct was that the women were in a sexual relationship with the devil.

The devil does not exist; how can you have a sexual relationship with him? But in the middle ages they tortured these women day in, day out. Finally the women gave up, seeing no hope — unless they confessed they will be tortured, and once they confess, then they will be burned.The torture must have been tremendous, because nobody would choose to be burned alive unless the torture was more painful than being burned alive. They confessed: yes, they had been sexually connected with the devil; once they had admitted this they were burned alive.

Look at history of the enlightened ones. Their whole lives have been intrinsically woven with women who were not approved by society, Magdalene - the prostitute was closely associated with Jesus. Kamala another prostitute taught Buddha art of living. It is not accidental two enlightened souls of our times were associated with prostitutes. Prostitution was just a mask to prevent to keep so called learned away. In-fact all witches had parallel profession or disguised living for same reason. To keep away from the glare of the public. I always believed both Jesus & Buddha graduated in love from these women. Both of them went against the whole society to stay with them and lived with them. When biography of Jesus and Buddha is rewritten properly these women will get their due credit.

This article is dedicated to every woman who was burned alive in the name of ” Witchcraft”

Every man needs a witch. Every Man needs wise woman. That’s what I call witchcraft

- Axinia

Jedi Training...

If you want to understand Jedi...

Al-Jeddi the mystic wariors with the Sword of Light (Islam)...

The sword of light being the middle pillar exercise of the Qabala.

Studying Aikido, Ki being the way of energy in Japanese. Aikido is an energy focusing martial art with a fancy sword... Controll.

Tai Chi or Taijiquan as it is sometimes called is a Chinese Energy focusing martial art, with a fancy sword... Controll, Sense and Alter,

Paqua or Bagua Zhang wich is a Chinese Energy focusing martial art with a fancy sword... Controll, Sense and Alter.

Reiki the Japanese healing energy tecniques or Pranic healing the Chinese energy healing tecniqes. Sense and Alter.

Qi Gong or Chi Kung Energy mediations. Control and Alter.

Zen especially the Joriki wich is using the Force... Joriki meditations in Zen teach you to use the Force... Controll, Sense and Alter.

Studying the Tao de Jing or Tao Te Ching by Lao Tzu - wich is the philosophy of the Force...

Yoga especially Kundalini yoga focuses on the Force in the body. Controll.

Any and all of these things can be looked up on the net :)

Jedi

The Jedi Code:
There is no emotion; there is peace.
There is no ignorance; there is knowledge.
There is no passion; there is serenity.
There is no death; there is the Force.

"The Force is what gives a Jedi his power. It's an energy field created by all living things. It surrounds us and penetrates us. It binds the galaxy together." --Ben to Luke

• The Jedi Creed:
• Jedi are the guardians of peace in the Galaxy.
• Jedi use their powers to defend and protect, never to attack others.
• Jedi respect all life, in any form.
• Jedi serve others rather than rule over them, for the good of the Galaxy.
• Jedi seek to improve themselves through knowledge and training.
• Jedi live in the present, not the past or the future.
• Jedi stay mindful of the Living Force.
• Jedi learn to trust their feelings and instincts, and listen to their inner wisdom.
• Jedi feel devotion to the Living Force. Jedi are determined never to serve the dark side. Devotion to the Force can carry a Jedi through the many trials of life.
  

Size matters not. Look at me. Judge me by my size, do you? Hmm? Hmm. And well you should not, for my ally is the Force, and a powerful ally it is. Life creates it, makes it grow. Its energy surrounds us and binds us. Luminous beings are we, not this crude matter. You must feel the Force around you; between you, me, the tree, the rock, everywhere. Yes, even between the land and the ship -Yoda to Luke

Kwai Chang Caine / Qui-Gon Jinn

Tai Chi Bagua

Due to the complexity of the Tai Chi and Bagua, below is a simplified explanation of their application to the different martial arts and there predominate training methods.
First, the Tai Chi shows the interplay of opposites - mind and body, strong and weak, night and day. The curved line down the middle demonstrates the constant change in the balance of yin and yang at any one time. Together they make up the Tai Chi or the Grand Ultimate. This interplay of opposites is exemplified by the martial art style of Tai Chi Chuan. Tai Chi Chuan took the Yang (ie. physical, strength, aggressiveness, hardness), of external martial arts and added the principles of Yin (ie. internal health, yielding, softness) to create first truly complete or balanced martial art. The essence of Tai Chi is not a style, but a principle that can be applied to any martial art.
The Tri-grams around the Tai Chi are a binary numbering system of the I-Ching. The I-Ching is used to plot and conceptualize the varying amounts of yin and yang at any location in the Tai Chi.

(Ch'ien - Heaven)

Three solid lines plot the point where the Tai Chi is mostly all yang. The sun at high noon is considered at its most yang. Hard physical exercise is also mostly yang. This attribute of being mostly With its attribute of being mostly hard-physical the Tiger~Crane form is represented here.

(Tui - Lake)

The sun is at its most yang state for only a moment then it begins to set. The two dashes represent yin. Thus from a foundation of yang (ie. the heat of high noon), the sun starts to cool (yin). By adding the element of softness to hard-physical the essence of the Northern Fighting Sets is represented.

(Li - Fire)

Midway between noon and midnight the balance of night and day become equal. The heat of the day is the foundation for this point of time with the cooling of night coming after. The martial art of Eagle Claw has a balance of external and internal. From the building of tremendous physical strength internal health is developed.

(Chen - Thunder)

Now, though mostly night, the heat of the day still has some influence. This means despite a movement being 30% hard and 70% soft it is still considered an external movement. The Noble Stances form, with its physically challenging positions (30% hard) is practiced with its focus on breathing and relaxing (70%).

(K'un - Earth)

The opposite of high noon is midnight or the when the day is at its most yin. Where as yang is hard physical exercise that depletes energy - yin is mental internal exercise that replenishes energy. This trigram can be represented by stationary Chi Kung which calms the mind, in turn relaxing the body, and with the right focus turns oxygen into energy to be stored and distributed throughout the body.

(Ken - Mountain)

Midnight, like noon, is but a moment, then the sun begins to rise. Thus from a foundation of yin (the cool of midnight), the sun starts to rise, bringing warmth, yang. By adding the element of physical movement to the internal movement of Chi (energy) one can build health and physical strength without the normal depletion of energy associated with external exercise. Yang Style Tai Chi Chuan and Yi Chuan place mentally moving one's energy before physical movement, therefore placing yin before yang.

(K'an - Water)

Midway between midnight and noon the balance between night and day again becomes 50/50. This time the key point is that the cool of night is the foundation with the heat of day coming after. Chen Style Tai Chi Chuan and the Cheng Style Bagua Zhang have this balance of internal an external. From building and using internal strength external is then developed and exploited.

(Sun - Wood)

Now mostly day, the cool of night has only a little influence. This means that the movement executed using hard-physical was initiated and led by internal Chi. Xing Yi Chuan, Mind Form Boxing, represents this trigram. It is hard and unyielding, and is the most physical of the internal martial arts.

This has been only one method of applying Bagua theory to martial arts training. With further study, more detailed methods of applying the Bagua can be used to define and evolve the use of all parts of the body, fighting applications, and the eight directions of movement.

5 Element Training

The 5-Element Training System is based on the Chinese Medical Theory of the five phases (elements). This theory is used to help diagnose, and thus aid in the prevention and curing of, physical and mental illnesses. The Five Element Theory strives to balance the internal organs of the body with the emotional aspects of the brain. It has been proven to work for thousands of years; even standing up to modern medicine, especially in the prevention and rehabilitation of illness, disease, and injuries. The Five Element Theory easily transcends western medicine when applied to the physical and mental benefits of Martial Arts. Applied to Martial Arts correctly, the approach of the Five Element Theory provides a complete and balanced training system for all individuals.

First, the 5-Element Training System uses a cyclic method of mutual support and promotion where all of the elements, Martial Arts support one another. If one Martial Art is weak, it can be built up and strengthened by the others. Thus, one's practice may focus on one element at a time, but still see improvement in another.

1. Water feeds wood, promoting growth potential. Water is vitality and grace.
2. Wood fuels fire, creating heat and energy. Wood is bones and connective tissue.
3. Fire ash nourishes the earth, enabling it to sustain life. Fire is energy and agility.
4. Earth is center, giving the other elements a place to use. From the earth comes Metal. Earth is muscle strength.
5. Metal is the combination of the elements, or result of them. Thus, creating either strong or weak metal. Strong metal can enhance or show weaknesses in the other elements. Mentally, metal is knowledge. Physically, metal is the use of weapons training.

Second, the 5-Element Training System uses a cyclic method of control where the elements have a restraining effect on each other. With this method, one can detect and define a weakness and determine what element, Martial Art, should be focused on to strengthen it.

1. Water cools fire
2. Fire tempers metal
3. Metal shapes wood
4. Wood growing penetrates the earth
5. Earth channels and controls water

Promote

1. Water - Tai Chi Chuan develops fluidity and promotes circulation, while opening the meridians of the body, to improve one's energy flow and increase vitality.
2. Wood - The Noble Stances use postures that bring energy and circulation directly to the joints to restore and maintain their flexibility and strength.
3. Fire - Northern Shaolin Kung Fu develops speed, power, and agility while challenging the cardiovascular system.
4. Earth - Southern Hung Gar Kung Fu concentrates on building muscle strength in the arms, legs, and torso.
5. Metal - Weapons Training uses the combination of: fluidity and flexibility, strength of the joints, and coordination and timing with the strength of the muscles, to attain a faster rate of development that could not be achieved by empty hand alone.

The Eight Trigrams

Sun 4 SE Element: Soft Wood Family Relationship: Eldest Daughter Symbology: Wind Body Part: Hips & Buttocks Group: East Group	Li 9 S Element: Fire Family Relationship: Middle Daughter Symbology: Brightness, the Sun Body Part: Eyes & Heart Group: East Group	K'un 2 SW Element: Earth Family Relationship: Mother Symbology: "Mother Earth" Body Part: Abdomen & Reproductive Organs Group: West Group
Chen 3 E Element: Hard Wood Family Relationship: Eldest Son Symbology: Thunder Body Part: Throat Group: East Group	Center 5 Element: Earth	Tui 7 W Element: Soft Metal Family Relationship: Youngest Daughter Symbology: Marsh Body Part: Mouth area Group: West Group
Ken 8 NE Element: Earth Family Relationship: Youngest Son Symbology: Mountain, Youth Body Part: Hands, Spine, & Small Bones Group: West Group	K'an 1 N Element: Water Family Relationship: Middle Son Symbology: Water, the Moon Body Part: Liver, Kidneys, Inner Ear Group: East Group	Ch'ien 6 NW Element: Hard Metal Family Relationship: Father Symbology: Heaven, Leader Body Part: Head, Lungs Group: West Group

RAGNARS DEATH SONG

"It gladdens me to know that Balder’s father makes ready the benches for a banquet. Soon we shall be drinking ale from the curved horns. The champion who comes into Odin’s dwelling does not lament his death. I shall not enter his hall with words of fear upon my lips. The Æsir will welcome me. Death comes without lamenting… Eager am I to depart. The Dísir summon me home, those whom Odin sends for me from the halls of the Lord of Hosts. Gladly shall I drink ale in the high-seat with the Æsir. The days of my life are ended. I laugh as I die."

My absolutely gorgeous sister Melanie :)

36 strategies of the Chinese

1. "Deceiving the heavens to cross the sea"

2. "Besieging Wei to save Zhao"

3. "Killing with a borrowed knife"

4. "Conserving energy while the enemy tires himself out"

5. "Looting a house on fire"

6. "Making a feint to the east but hitting out in the west"

7. "Creating something out of nothing"

8. "Secret escape through Chen Cang"

9. "Observing the fire from the other side of the river"

10. "A dagger sheathed in a smile"

11. "The plum dies in place of the peach"

12. "Stealing a goat along the way"

13. "Hitting the grass to startle the snake"

14. "Borrowing a corpse to resurrect a soul"

15. "Luring a tiger from its lair in the mountain"

16. "Releasing the enemy to recapture him later"

17. "Tossing out a brick to get a jade"

18. "Disband the bandits by arresting their leader"

19. "Pulling out the firewood from beneath the cauldron"

20. "Catching a fish in troubled waters"

21. "Making an unnoticed escape like a golden cicada shedding its skin"

22. "Shutting the doors to catch the thief"

23. "Befriend the far and attack the near"

24. "Borrow a passage to attack Guo"

25. "Replace superior beams and pillars with inferior ones"

26. "Pointing at the mulberry but scolding the locust tree"

27. "Pretending to be insane but remaining smart"

28. "Remove the ladder after the enemy ascends to the roof"

29. "Deck the tree with flowers"

20. "The guest takes over as host"

31. "Beauty Scheme"

32. "Empty City Scheme"

33. "Double Agent Ploy"

34. "Self-injury scheme"

35. "A series of interconnected ploys"

36. "Escape - the best scheme"