Sifu Richard Mooney

[evanpantazi]

I Have listed some of the events of Sifu Richard Mooney's seminar on the Kyusho Forum.

Evan Pantazi

[Rich Mooney]

xcl

[gmattson]

Rich: It is difficult to comment on something we don't understand. It is easy to call someone a fraud when we don't know the person and the claims seem impossible. However, you certainly impressed Evan and others who attended your seminar. Had I been there, I probably would have been duly impressed as well, but having been around a long time, know that I shouldn't trust my own eyes and feelings pertaining to this whole subject of qi.

It would also be a lot easier to criticize you had you turned out to be a jerk. Now that we have gotten to know you, we realize that you are genuine in your martial arts training and in your quest for knowledge. Speaking for myself, I will be looking forward to spending much time with you at camp next year and hopefully with your assistance and the help of others, will be able to learn more about your unusual abilities. With your permission, I'd very much like to develop some simple tests, along the lines of my previous post on the subject, where we can eliminate some of the emotional responses and key in on some of the issues that Bill Glasheen has raised earlier in this thread.

If you have a chance, I'd like to hear your views on this subject of emotional response to qi and how, perhaps, your demonstrations might be affected by controlled tests.
Regards,
George

[Bill Glasheen]

Rich

As you know, I did indeed reply in Evan's forum.

I think there are several issues here:

1) I think most are not interested in pouring more salt into old wounds. The first discussion (without pointing fingers) got way too personal.

2) It's best not to comment further until you are there and can evaluate objectively.

3) In a perfect world, you would be able to demonstrate an ability in a test that someone else devised.

As for me, well I would be satisfied only after spending considerable time with you (which I'm sure will eventually happen). I tend to shy away from the demos like the one you do with 10 people in line being forced to and fro. To me all it takes is one or two going back and forth for the whole line to be forced into the swing. Neat demo but.... I'm not the marketing guy, I'm the scientist.

Where I work, they have a love/hate relationship with me. The division that sells products likes me.....when I can confirm that their efforts yield good results. They gag me when they are out there selling stuff that the customer wants but has no efficacy (like selling a car with tail fins).

You obviously create quite a stir wherever you go. It will be fun meeting with you and working with you.

As a final comment, I think there are three issues here:

1) Can you physically move people without touching them? Most who work with you seem to think so.

2) What is the source of this ability if it exists? Many would like to believe it is qi (whatever that is). Could it be something more mundane? Something new never considered? This is the area that I am most interested in.

3) Is this an effective tool in martial arts or is it merely a curiosity? And if it is merely curiosity, is it nonetheless a valuable demonstration of a source of energy outside the western conventions and paradigms?

Until we meet.... In the mean time, be nice to your critics. Where there is truth, the strongest critics become the strongest advocates.

Bill

[Rick Wilson]

"Wow, almost 8 days have gone by, and no replies. Sad after all the ruckus that was raised earlier. I thought there would have been some comments."

I think that others have expressed some of what I have to say. Your abilities are not ones to be accepted by indirect comments. I realize that this makes your task of spreading your training harder, but such is life.

Evan posted that he was impressed with you. The respect that those of us who read these forums have for Evan silenced the doubting comments. But as much respect as we have for Evan, until we experience it for ourselves, I would not expect expressions of wonder and amazement. Uechi Ryu tends to be a hard core art. If someone tells us they know a way to hit harder, we tend to ask them to hit us so we can see for ourselves. The fact that you are coming to camp will allow many to meet and work with you. As Sensei Mattson has said, due to Evan's comments, "we realize that you are genuine in your martial arts training and in your quest for knowledge."

I think most of the readers and previous posters are withholding further comment until then. I look forward to meeting you.

Peace,

Rick

[T Rose]

Mr. Mooney,

I am sorry that I missed your seminar. We had a Uechi seminar that same day that I participated in. I must confess that I am skeptical having heard to much of similar things. I am impressed that you came down to put your abilities to the mat. This says that you are sincere. I hope that we cat meet at the summer camp. Please put some time aside to spend with Uechi seniors.

thank you
T. Rose

[gmattson]

I don't wish to represent Mr. Mooney's views, but in private correspondence, he and I have been discussing the possibilities of setting up the kind of objective tests concerning qi that many wish to see at camp. Mr. Mooney appears to be willing to participate in these tests, designed to fairly evaluate this controversial subject. Lets see where these talks take us. If you have any suggestions, please let us know about them.
Regards,
George

[gmattson]

Mr. Mooney seems willing to discuss (and has in private email) exactly what he believes he can do and what conditions are necessary for this response to take place. I'll check with Rich to see if he minds my repeating this information here. I'd like to learn more about the test Mr. Randi did concerning qi/chi and will take this information into consideration when discussing test constraints with Mr. Mooney.
Best,
george