Body & Mind Training Center

Dear Ostad Jalilzadeh, friends and Hamrahan,

in the previous post I wrote about some negative aspects of the group-process, but of course if the group would be the point of start of only negative processes probably the nature itself would act to erase the formation of groups! Indeed the group has in general a greatly positive effect on each member.
I am writing again about the groups, but in other terms, because I thought about them again when I was thinking about the history of the "Simorgh".

In the story, the 10.000 Morghs guided by the Hoopoe begins the journey, they has to pass through the 7 valleys to reach the court and meet the Simorgh, but in the attempt many of them fall in one of the valleys, and only 30 of them reach the destination. At the end they discover to be themseves the Simorgh. All the Morghs united are the Simorgh, and the same concept in Kung Fu To'a we can find it again at the end of the class when the Master says "Bato Kung Fu Kay", we are One.

How can be explained this "being one", both in the story of Attar and in Kung Fu To'a, from a rational and logic point of view?

Every symbol has a meaning and a message and if I was searching for a more material reason, not a "mystic" one, and this is what I thought.

#When they start the journey, there are 10.000 Morghs.

A group like this, in social psichology is called a "Large Group". In this type of group, the relations between the members are almost impersonal and not direct.

Why does the Morghs fall along the valleys?
In psichology there are many processes that are going on in a group like this, it is not my intention to go in details, this is not the aim.
Maybe because the trials are too difficoult and someone loose himself. Maybe because in a large group the persons fail to examine risks. (ref: "Groupthink" of Janis, that describe the process by which a group can make bad or irrational decision). Maybe because in an impersonal relation there is a lacking of support between the members in facing the trials.

What I think is important here is the fact that in this large group what is missing most of all is the unity and the support between the members.

#Only 30 Morghs reach the final destination

This is a medium-sized group. What has changed? The relations between the members are more direct, and they feel to belong to the group. They are united, they share the same values and goals. They support and help one another, this is the perfect condition for the development of all the individuals that forms the group.

#They discover to be the Simorgh

Each member perceive to be part of another bigger Unit. As a human body is formed by many parts, and each part has a function, also every member of the group has a role and a function and start to identify himself with the group.

The sense of "Me" give way to the sense of "Us".
In italian the concept is easy to be understood by how the words are formed. This is a little visual game:

To say "I" (or Me), we say "Io".
To say "We" (or Us), we say "Noi".
"Noi" is the result of the union of many "Io", in mathematic terms "Noi = io * N"

#They are guided by the Hoopoe

I think the Hoopoe is the perfect symbol of the good leader that is able to talk to the group and also to all its members. In the story of Attar we see that the hoopoe talk with each morgh to push him and encourage him to take the challenge of his enhancement.


We know that the Grand Master Mirzaii studied social-psichology and his knowledge about it was big. I think he choose the story of Attar because it represent what actually happens in little and large group and in the society itself. Kung Fu To'a was growing and spreading, but not everyone were able to complete the path.
Once again, I think that also in this case the message was "multi-level".

-A message to the Kung Fu To'a Ka, to take the challenge and develop the body and in the mind.
-A message to the Kung Fu To'a comunity, he knew that not everyone would have completed the way, and only a part of them would have done it.

...and maybe he knew before also the problems that Kung Fu To'a would have had to face in the folowing future.

Dear Ostad Jalilzadeh and friends, I am doing some studies in neurophysiology and I spontaneously linked the topic to Kung Fu To'A.

I was thinking about the body conditioning and the situation of fighting.
We know for experience that we need to educate our body to get used to receive a punch or kick in order to be able to go on in fighting, and to do so we have in Kung Fu To'A as in other martial arts the special training, that has been uploaded recently by Master Jalilzadeh.
We simply know that the body "get used". But what does it means? What is happening in the brain?

The informations processing in our brain is called "parallel", meaning that it follows two ways.
1- dorsal column medial lemniscus for the awareness, or tactile information
2- anterolateral, for pain (nociception) and temperature

This means that when we put something in contact to our body, the information will follow the first pathway, but if we are hit hard and feel pain, the information will follow the second pathway.
This information will be sent to the Talamus in some of its nuclei (the dorsal column medial lemniscus ends up in the ventral posterolateral nucleus pained in green in the picture of Talamus for example)

What is interesting is that our systems get "used", and when we are hit, the information stop to follow the second pathway and start to follow the first one.

Of course this is important and very good for a martial artist, because it is crucial to be able to control the reaction of the body to the blow, but there is also a "side effect".
The main function of the nociception is to inform the brain that something is happening to the body. If we are less sensitive to painful stimuli our brain will be reached by the informations coming from stimuli that are much more dangerous, such a bone that brakes or a ligament that get damaged.

Of course the training in body hardening is very very very important, if we are hit by an opponent and we loose control this may be even more dangerous, but when our body get educated and gets able to tolerate more, it is very important to put special attention and awareness to all the informations that comes from the body itself to avoid injuries.