Demons!

I have said before that I had health problems which was the reason I joined Ba Gua. On the way to getting those health problems, I had gone through many interesting experiences. I think I said that the biggest part of my health problems was a lack of ground. I had a lack of ground because my previous kung fu teacher had purposefully made me sick.

To a lot of people this will sound odd. It sounded odd to me. I was a scientific oriented person who basically believed the popular view of the world. When I became sick, I did not even know what a "ground" was, much less believe in it.

I think that part of the reason I became so ill was that my mind was also affected. The entire foundations of my belief system were being dismantled by the events that occurred in my life and in the kung fu class where I got sick.

It is hard to describe exactly how traumatizing this experience was. It was like being on a ship at sea. Slowly the ship was being taken apart, piece by piece. Some violent act was responsible for each piece being removed. As the ship became smaller, I jumped frantically from piece to ever shrinking piece.

Basically I discovered that just about everything I beleived or had been taught was a lie. I witnessed events on a daily basis that completely contradicted my old, common view of reality.

By the time I left the old kung fu class and joined Ba Gua, I had become slightly inured to these events. I could see or hear the strangest things and not react too much. I would pretty much believe anything because there was a very strong chance that it could turn out to be true.


One weekend at class there was some discussion about Mike going on an outing with the women. He had gone on a camping trip to Arizona or some such place. They had spent the time out in the boondocks in the middle of nowhere.

I mentioned before that when I joined the class, a very big production was put on about how the men and women had to practice separately so there was no flirting or sexual shenanigans to distract from the class.

When Mike told this story about him going on a camping trip with the women, I think my extremely expressive face which showed every thought that crossed my mind must have looked at Mike as if to say "Hey! I thought you said men and women separate? But you went on camping trip with them by yourself out into the middle of nowhere?"

And then I thought "I wonder how many condoms that trip required?".

Mike, being the perceptive kung fu man he was, was most likely reading my face as if it was a blimp with a written message crawling across it. I can only guess his motivation might be embarrassment, the urge to correct a mistaken assumption, guilt perhaps?

Anyways, he actually came up to me and spoke to me by myself. I am laughing because I recall that as a special event in my head that sticks out. Mike came up to me by myself and actually spoke to me. ;)

He said something about the camping trip. I said "uh huh". He obviously had something to say.

Mike said he had to go on the camping trip with the women. They were going on this trip as part of their Ba Gua / Women's Way thing that they were doing. Because it was going to be dangerous for them, Mike had to go along to protect them.

The message crawling across my face must have said something like "Protect them from what? They are Ba Gua women. You teach them Ba Gua to protect themselves. The whole point of their being here is so they do not need you to protect them".

Mike said "Ya. I had to go along so I could protect them from Demons". I thought "Ooooo Kaaaayyyyy".

Here I am looking at this guy who is a doctor, has a degree in psychology, 15 years of Tai Chi practice, 10 years of Ba Gua practice and he teaches his own class. I have come to the man and I am paying him money to cure my health problems. I trust this man literally with my life, my health. He is looking me in the face and saying that he went on a camping trip by himself to protect the women from Demons.

I am having trouble accepting that. Then I think of all the other things that I had trouble accepting. Things that I fought as hard as I could to ignore. Things that turned out to be right, and I was completely wrong.

I said OK. I guess I have to accept that explanation. I didn't press Mike or question him. Think about it. The only things I could have said would all be questioning of his authority or veracity. There was only one way any questioning of his story could have ended. With me doubting him and him resenting me for it.

I still to this day wonder if he was covering up a sleeping trip with select women from the group, or if he was honest. So much of what he said has been self serving. It is not right to judge a person based on their past behavior. It is also foolish to ignore evidence that shows the tendencies of how people react.

He didn't exactly say what the demons were. He could make a legitimate attempt to say he was using metaphors. That the Demons were just a word or phrase to describe the women's fear at being alone in the desert. "Demons of the mind" would be an excellent way to explain this away.

Besides remembering the event as one of the few times Mike came and talked to me by myself, there was nother reason I remember this particular event. A reason that makes me wonder if he was telling the truth or whether he is a very good actor.

When he was talking about protecting the women from the Demons, it was not said in a regular conversational tone. He said that he actually had to fight with the Demons. He did not go along just in case he had to. He actually had to fight them.

When he said this, he made a dramatic ripping and tearing motion with his arms as if he truly was wrestling or fighting with something. A motion similar to the motion a person makes when they tear a telephone in half.

I can recall it so vividly because I could feel the tearing motion. That was one of those things that had contributed to breaking my world view. I did not watch Mike peform the act of tearing a telephone book in two. I actually experienced or felt tearing a phone book in two with my own body.

There have been incidents in my life since that time that force me to accept there are such things as demons. Possession, witchcraft, magic, etc. Much of it is in the definition of each act. Still, each of the things listed can be said to really exist.

Still. Demons. You think?

Or a horny young man with slavish students?