Wake Up Dreams

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08 / martial arts illustrated

DREAM WARRIOR


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in the training of the mind as we start to

unfold its true potential and its implica-

tion in pushing the boundaries of human

potential.

Great proof of this mind over body power

has been very successfully showcased by

the now world famous Shaolin Monks who

exhibit all around the world.

Tell me more about the spiritual path

- in particular that of the monks and

why they practise this state.

The fundamental truth of the Buddhist

way is to consider our existence to be

more than our waking physical reality. By

entering and experiencing the out of body

state, one assumes first hand knowledge

of this truth and allows his spiritual journey

to transcend the physical into the state of

pure, non physical consciousness. This

breaks the cycle of reincarnation and

allows the soul to become its true state of

pure consciousness.

So, what exactly is an out of body

experience?

One might describe it as feeling like leav-

ing your own body to become a ghost

of yourself, fully aware and fully able to

observe your own, detatched, physical

body. The experience occurs when the

consciousness, which normally occupies

the physical body, literally peels out of the

physical body, fully self aware and inde-

RORY MAC SWEENEY HAS ALREADY CAUSED SOMETHING OFA STIR ON THE MAI FORUMS. IN THIS ISSUE, HE EXPLAINSHIS THEORIES TO BOB SYKES.

martial arts illustrated /09

At 33 years old, Dr Rory

Mac Sweeney has been

studying the intricate

relationship of the body

and mind for a number

of years. Having studied Kenpo Karate

and Kickboxing for a number of years

he was part of the notorious Irish

freestyle team, The Hitmen. As an

international fighter he achieved great

success, including WKA Irish gold,

WUMA European gold and WUMA

World silver as well as European silver

in Kenpo. Today his warriors journey

continues, with his focus now firmly

fixed on the development of the mind

and in particular on the ever elusive Out

Of Body State of Consciousness.

Dr Rory speculated from the

martial arts point of view

that if visualisa-

tion could be

described

as seeing

in the mind,

then outof body

experi-

ence (OBE) could be described as being

in the mind. This notion opened the floor to

the development of a very advanced from of

mental practice, whereby one could practice

martial arts scenarios in full three dimen-

sional interaction.

By using specifically engineered induction

techniques, Rory now teaches studentshow to consistently enter the out of body

state to perform martial arts in a limitless

dream world, he calls it Out of Body Combat

Simulation (OBCS).

Bob Sykes: Youve competed in the

arena for a number of years and at-

tained a high degree of credibility as

a martial artist. How has this led you

to your current practise of out of body

exploration?

Rory Mac Sweeny: Martial artists are,

in my estimation, among the most

forward thinking physical performers in

human history. The model of the mind,body and soul, which once was the

exclusive heritage of the mysterious mar-

tial arts, is now recognised as a standard

framework for any serious athlete.

However, take a step back in time -

maybe as short as 30 years ago - the

idea of a sprinter practising medita-

tion, visualisation and the likes would

have been somewhat radical. Now

sports science is investing heavily


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pendent of the physical body. In this state

the physical body remains detached and

tangible to the conscious occupant of the

mental plane.

Many people will have experienced such

a state of consciousness in moments of

trauma, as in near death experiences or

in cases of near perfect mental/physical

harmony as many athletes have experi-

enced. Prisoners of war have reported this

phenomenon too - observing their own

physical bodies being tortured as they levi-

tate in some plane of mental conscious-

ness above the physical body.

Many people have reported experi-

encing this profound state spontane-

ously, but dont always recall how

they got there.

Many have

been looking

to make that

journey back

again... Is it

possible to train

to consistently

enter the stateat will?

My work has

focused

exclusively

on trying

to put a

scientific

model

to the out of

body state.

The subject

is rather unfortunately littered with half-

scientific, anecdotal ideas but I have man-

aged, despite this, to achieve a very refined

understanding of the state and I currently

manage to enter the state at will for up to an

hour at a time. The methods I employ can

be learned by anyone to achieve consist-

ently high results.

How does one typically enter this

state with intention - can you please

outline the basic principle?

Broadly speaking there are two types of

inductions, both of which add up to the

same state of consciousness. The idea, in

principle, is to achieve a state of conscious-

ness whereby the mind is awake and the

body is asleep (MABA). When this state is

entered, the consciousness has limited

information as to

the wherea-

bouts of

the physi-

cal body

and starts

to speculate

and reconstruct

the body in a men-tal plane. As the eyes

are generally

closed, it will

also recre-

ate what it

believes to be its physical

surroundings in a mental

plane. So we literally end

up consciously aware

as a mental construct in

a mental plane. To enter


DREAM WARRIOR

LANCE LEWISWORLD KICKBOXING

CHAMPION

I am speaking about these

experiences publically for

the first time in my life.

These did not happen all

the time, just at certain

periods in my fighting

career. The first was in

1979, the night before

my third title defence against Howard Brown. I remem-

ber falling asleep and waking up in a Boxing ring with

Howard just in front of me, but against the ropes. I

watched myself throw a right hand against his jaw and

he then fell down. Needless to say, the following night

in the actual fight, that is exactly what happened - but

this time from the inside of myself, actually doing it

rather than watching myself doing it.

During the late eighties/early nineties my perform-

ances became quite inconsistent - this was due partly

to what I now know was an out of body experiece

(OBE). In 1987 I fought in Tunisia. During round one

I simply left my body. I came back at intermittent

periods during the fight, at one point I watched myself

catch my opponent with a perfect right cross to the

eye. It wasnt til after the fight, in the changing room

I remember looking over at my opponent and, Wow!,

he had a massive shiner on his left eye where I had

caught him with the right cross. Ironically, I recalled,

in an earlier OBE experience in Detroit in 1982 whilst

sparring at Kronk Gym No.2 - I incurred a similar

shiner as I watched myself get caught flush on with a

left cross by a south paw!

Another time I recall is when I fought Peter Sugarfoot

Cunningham. I remember leaving at one point in the

fight and floating off over the ropes somewhere, then

returning to my body intermittently throughout the

fight. I didnt understand these experiences

because I didnt know, at that time, about

OBEs. I did think though, that maybe due to

pressure and stress that I was having some

kind of physiological episode and that my

mind was playing tricks on me.

RONNIE GREENFIVE TIMES WORLD THAI

BOXING CHAMPION

Many people talk about my fight with

Sombat. That was an OBE that was all in slow

motion in the rounds. As I was moving out

of the way, I saw myself looking like I was

sat watching

myself. I had left

my own body,

watching what

I was doing... A

stillness came

over me and I saw

everything I was

doing, I was in a

place that was out

of my own body. It

was peaceful.

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this state, we may either let the body

fall asleep and then wake up the mind

in the dream state or we may carry our

consciousness directly into the dream by

maintaining a thin thread of conscious-

ness as we allow the body to fall asleep.

There are many terms for this kind of

practice - Astral Travel, Dream Walking,

Lucid Dreaming, I prefer the latter term.

A profound experience, no doubt.

As a frequent out of body explorer,

how would you describe the first

hand experience to those who

have never experienced

such a state?

The reality expe-

rienced in

the statelooks

and feels a lot like our own waking

physical reality except one is conscious-

ly aware that the reality being occupied

is a mental construct and does not

represent any physical boundaries. With

this in mind, one can negotiate the non

physical environment without limita-

tion - so one can walk through walls,

fly through the air and even travel great

distances to meet a variety of dream

characters, both living and dead. As it

is essentially our own minds that are

directing the scenes, it is possible to

manipulate the environment so one

could, for example, change the colour

of the sky or cause something to appear

at will. It is really just a matter of using

your imagination. However, a great deal

of training and understanding will benecessary to achieve high results.

Tell me about more about OBCS

and how a martial artist can devel-

op their skills from this practice...

The concept is like an advanced form

of visualisation. There is much yet to

be learned about visualisation, but

one theory that I like is that your

Many people will have experienced such a state ofconsciousness in moments of trauma, as in near deathexperiences or in cases of near perfect mental/physical

harmony as many athletes have experienced.


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mind is afraid of new experiences. They can

be referred to as unknowns and the mind

considers them to be pain, while it consid-

ers knowns (or things previously experi-

enced) to be pleasure, regardless of how

unpleasurable they may actually be... This

means that once you have put a technique

or experience into the knowns category

in your mind, your brain will stop fighting

against you and will do everything possible

to make it happen. This can work for physi-

cal or emotional challenges.

OBCS allows the martial

artist to experience just

about any situation

imaginable and

confront it without

any possibility of

physical body

harm. Frequent

practise in this

state can lead to

a very high de-

gree of return

in technique

devel-

EMIL MARTIROSSIAN

OBEs are highly emotive - they can be

either deeply disturbing or profoundly

moving. My personal experience hap-pened to me when I was in competion

way back in 1994, my firstITF National

Tae Kwon Do Championships. I remember really having

a calm mind at this point when fighting, yet I was on

a different plane mentally and my body felt extremely

light as I came round to do a roundhouse kick. He

countered with a back kick and, as spun round, I

caught him dead-on with a reverse turning kick, but I

saw this kick as I was standing outside the ring. It felt

as though my soul had left my body for two seconds

- a very unusual experience. I also remember having

a conversation with Sigung Taky Kimura over dinner

and he mentioned that, when Bruce Lee was fighting

he said he was looking down on himself fighting. Taky

said, at the time, we didnt understand what he was

saying, but since he passed away there have beenmany cases of outer body experiences. It just goes to

show that we are spiritually linked and martial arts has

a very deep meaning and root that we are in the proc-

ess of discovering - this is the key to enlightenment.

THE YELLOW BACK COBRA

It was in the summer of 2006. I was in Afghanistan on

a routine patrol when I saw two children playing with

a football. All of a sudden it was like bonfire night, we

had come under a Taliban ambush. We returned fire

but the children were stuck in the middle... I couldnt

have this on my conscience so I ran out, took my body

armour off and wrapped it round one of the children -

my friend also did the same. There were rounds flying

past our heads, just missing us. As I was running back

with the child I felt a sting - I thought I had been bittenby a snake... I got 200 metres away from the enemy

fire, I looked down and

saw I had been

shot...

The round

entered

through my

goin and blew

half my side

off. The shock

kicked in and

it seemed

unreal, like

a dream.

I heard the

helicopter

coming in

with medics.

Then, all of

a sudden, I

was stood in

the crowd

- I glided

through and,

as I got closer to the man

on the floor, I noticed a re-

semblence...then I looked

down and saw a tattoo onhis arm. I couldnt make

his face out and everything

was discoloured. I couldnt believe what I

was seeing, I just remember coming around

on the helicopter. When I opened my eyes

they all said, youre very lucky, you died for

a few seconds.

TONY SOMERS

I decided to take a long hot bath, it had been

a hard day and I needed to relax. I lay in the

hot soapy water and let it sooth my aching

muscles. The house was quiet, in fact all I

could hear were the birds happily singing in

the garden as the suns rays squeezed and

wound their way through the cracks in thebathroom blinds. This was a peaceful feel-

ing, I didnt have a care in the world, and I

lay back and closed my eyes. The only thing

I was aware of was my breathing and the

rhythm in which, with each breath, my chest

would raise and then fall with each exhala-

tion. I became more and more focused on

each breath and, as I did so, I became more and more

relaxed. Each breath in felt deeper and each breath

out felt longer. I felt as though I was in a trance-like

state and then I suddenly felt as though I was floating

up and out of my body (this felt weird and yet, at the

same time, exciting). I looked down on myself laying

in the bath, eyes closed and looking very relaxed

and contented. I floated higher above the house and,

looking down at my roof, I went even higher - I couldsee my gardens and the surrounding roads (this was

spooky). I started to go higher, I was in the clouds, my

view was obscured, but still this was a great feeling. I

went higher and it started to get dark - where was I, I

wondered? I then realised I was in space amongst the

stars - it was dark and yet I could see very clearly. At

that precise moment, just as I was filled with awe and

wonder, a thought came into my mind - what if I cant

get back? I started to panic - what should I do? It was

great to be amongst the stars (my mum always said I

was a star), but I didnt want to stay here for ever... The

sense of panic and fear started to grow - I

had never had an experience like this

before and then, as suddenly as it

had began, it was over - I was back

in the bath, only this time my heartwas racing and my breathing had

quickened...

I questioned myself as to what had just happened - did

I imagine the whole thing? I still dont know the an-

swers to this day. What I do know is that it was a great

experience - exciting, exhilarating and a little bit scary

all at the same time. I felt a little ashamed of myself

for panicking and getting scared - if I hadnt panicked,

where would my journey have taken me? I have tried

many times since to recreate that feeling of being out

of my body, but I have never been able to repeat that

experience...

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em

owis a

is f

was discoloured I cou

DREAM WARRIOR


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martial arts illustrated /13

opment. Moreover, it can be a lot

of fun - one can think of it as like

being literally in a video game!

When you enter the out of

body state, how can you be

sure you are in the non-

physical reality as opposed

to this physical reality? How

does one differentiate be-

tween the dream and awake

state for certain?

Earlier, I mentioned the funda-

mental difference between the

realities is that one is a mental

construct layered on to a physi-

cal state and the other is just a

mental construct.

The non physical nature of

this latter reality is such that it

responds to action in a pecu-

liar way that is not observable

in waking physical reality. For

example, because the body we

occupy is nonphysical, we may

push our index finger through

the palm of our hand (yes you

just read that and yes it looks

and feels very strange!). Such a

task would be impossible in the

physical world. We may therefore

use this method to test our real-

ity. We refer to this manoeuvre as

a reality check (RC).

Can you talk us through abasic induction method that

one could use to achieve

this state of enlightened

awareness?

Certainly, I will show you a good

way to start getting familiar with

the concept of lucid dreaming

and this can also act as a basic

induction for actually becoming

lucid. The principle here is to

teach the mind a habit which

it will subconsciously

carry into the dream

state. The habit

is simply to real-ity check at various

times in the day,

especially first

thing in the morn-

ing and last thing

at night. Further-

more, one should

firmly tell oneself ten

times before going

to sleep Tonight when

I am dreaming, I will look for

my hands and realise that I am

dreaming. One should also start

to keep a dream diary to record

ones experiences. By tasking

the mind with these book end

activities, one is firmly setting

the intention to force the habit to

be observed in the dream state

at which point a positive reality

check can trigger a lucid state.

So what does the future

hold for out of OBCS?

I honestly believe we are only

seeing the tip of the iceberg

in what we observe as reality.

The out of body state could be

evidence of an existence beyond

the physical self, but the only way

we will know for sure is by getting

more people consciously out of

body. I am currently teaching my

methods and holding seminars

in an effort to create a commu-

nity of conscious dreamers. The

plan is to experiment with dream

sharing activities, whereby I will

seek to meet fellow conscious

dreamers and try to exchange

information not known to either

in waking physical reality. This

could prove to have some very

exciting results and I am look-

ing forward to seeing what

happens!

BOB SYKES

Iamaspiritualhealer, mediumandseer,andwanttosharemyknowledgeandthespiritual explanationoftheoutofbody experience orastral projectionexperience.ThroughmyknowledgeI wouldlike togivethoseofyouwhohavehadthisexperienceanexplanationas towhyyouhaveunknowingly

reached thislevelofconsciousnessnaturally. Firstly, martial artsisadisciplinethat hasbeenpractisedforthousandsofyearsanddependsonhigh levels ofconcentration.Mostpeople,whoforwhatever reason,havetakenupthearts,are bringingthemind,bodyandspirittoabalancethroughmeditation,discipline andconcentration.Whenconcentrating,thebuildupofenergyleadsyou toahigher levelofconsciousnesswhere

you concentratesomuchthatthementalenergyisprojectedto anotherdimension.Astralprojection(orAstraltravel)is anoutofbodyexperienceachievedeitherawakeor vialuciddreaming ordeepmeditation. Yourspiritleaves your physicalbody andmoves toanotherdimensionknown

asthe spirit worldortheastralplainandwhenyouastralproject you areconsciouslyawareofthings youencounter while out ofyour physicalbody. Also, in Astral projectionyouremain attachedtoyourphysicalbodybyaSilver umbilicaltypecord. Astralprojectionalsotouchesonlife itselfandwhathappensafterphysicaldeath. FormoreinformationonAmber pleasegotoher website,

www.spiritualwaters.co.uk

AMBER JALEE:A SPIRITUALVIEW

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