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Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!bonnie!akgua!mcnc!rti-sel!wfi
From: wfi@rti-sel.UUCP (William Ingogly)
Newsgroups: net.nlang.india,net.religion,net.philosophy
Subject: Re: Re: Re: Inquiry on Reincarnation (not again!)
Message-ID: <224@rti-sel.UUCP>
Date: Fri, 31-May-85 18:45:14 EDT
Article-I.D.: rti-sel.224
Posted: Fri May 31 18:45:14 1985
Date-Received: Tue, 4-Jun-85 16:59:42 EDT
References: <470@nmtvax.UUCP> <1289@amdcad.UUCP> <1899@ut-sally.UUCP>
Reply-To: wfi@rti-sel.UUCP (William Ingogly)
Distribution: net
Organization: Research Triangle Institute, NC
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Xref: watmath net.nlang.india:401 net.religion:7001 net.philosophy:1847
Summary: 

In article <1701@aecom.UUCP> version B 2.10.2 9/18/84; site rti-sel.UUCP version B 2.10.2 9/5/84; site aecom.UUCP rti-sel!mcnc!philabs!aecom!teitz teitz@aecom.UUCP (Eliyahu Teitz) writes:
  
>> > ...I have seen, with my very own eyes, along with many others,
>> > people perform what is called a soft break. The idea is that rather
>> > than breaking a 1.5 inch cinder block with brute force, the person
>> > breaking the  block concentrates his energy in his hand, and with a
>> > light tap breaks the block. 
>> 
>> Sure.  The same way Uri Geller (remember him?) used to bend spoons.
>> Fraudulently.  Any professional magicians present?

Here's another person who has seen a soft break performed. Around
1977, I studied Tai Chi Chuan under a woman who had been practicing
Tai Chi for about seven years and who had studied under one of the
masters. She and her fiancee had been friends of mine for about three
years. She had offered to teach me Tai Chi before, but I had always
declined (at least until my curiosity got the better of me). We
studied the form in a grassy area about two blocks from her house.

Her fiancee was a body builder, and had studied extensively Korean
karate and Chinese kung-fu as well. He was one strong and fast hombre.
One day, he came down to where we were practising and waited for us to
finish my lesson. He was sitting on a low bench or wall which had a
number of loose bricks next to it. After the lesson, my instructor and
I went over to greet him. She finished the form while I talked to him
about martial arts. We got into talking about breaking blocks of stone
and such; his comment was that a lot of the grunting and groaning and
the wide sweeps you see in demonstrations were for dramatic effect,
and that someone who was adept could break a stone or brick without
exerting much effort.

He proceeded to rummage around and found a couple of loose bricks. He
laid it in one hand and examined it carefully, explaining that he was
looking for 'lines of weakness,' or some such. Then he lightly struck
the brick in two places with the edge of his hand, and lo and behold,
there were three pieces of brick! He then repeated this process with
at least one more brick to show me it wasn't a fluke.

Now the fellow who raised the spectre of Uri Geller has a limited set
of choices in this matter, it seems to me:

  (1) I may be lying to you about this story, an accusation which
      I won't take lightly

  (2) The whole thing was set up on an impromptu basis by my
      friend to 'fool' me into thinking he had some strange
      powers. This is highly unlikely because this was the
      only time he had visited the site of my lessons in my
      presence, and the bricks were clearly embedded in the
      soil and had been there for some time (I looked).
      Besides, what did he have to gain by such an undramatic
      demonstration that clearly debunked the great shows of
      effort most karate 'experts' make?

  (4) He hypnotized me, or fooled me in some other way.
      Again, how and why? The meeting was spontaneous and
      he had absolutely nothing to gain by lying to me.

  (3) It's not as difficult to break blocks, bricks, and
      boards as it might appear on the surface.

I'm not claiming anything super- or preternatural is going on here,
mind you; I have no explanation, only the evidence of my own senses.
My feeling is simply that the effort required in splitting a common
brick is greatly overrated.

                           -- Bill Ingogly