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Yellow Bamboo

Drooper

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I have been absent from here for a while and I was looking at back issues of the weekly commentary. I read about the proposed OMD challenge by the Yellow Bamboo sect in Indonesia, which had agreed a test protocol.

Did this go ahead?

If so, what happened?
 
Nope.

Two rec.martial-arts regulars lined up travel arrangements to go to Bali and give them a whack. However it has not yet happened.

Just recently, however, an heretofore unknown poster claimed on that newsgroup to have been anointed Randi's rep and to have been knocked down by Pak in front of witnesses.

Pop the following message ID into a Google Groups Search to read the silliness.

Message-ID: <15e8e9b.0309152017.3b138591@posting.google.com>

There was a chorus of "Yeah, right, in a pig's arse" from other posters. But it does not bode well for a proper test if they are already lying about the issue.
 
There's a teaser about it in today's Swift

Surprise, surprise! A man who visited Bali to test the "Yellow Bamboo" group, who make supernatural claims that they can knock down an attacker just by shouting, has reported to me that he actually fell to the ground during the test! As soon as I get around to looking into this further, I'll give you a full report. This might actually be something….!
Click to expand...
 
I'm reminded of Bill Cosby's stand-up routine, "Karate." This routine, which brought Cosby national recognition, appears on his album, "Bill Cosby is a Very Funny Fellow: RIGHT!"

At one point, Cosby talks about the karate shout, and that it can be about as effective as the karate itself.

Cosby said (slightly paraphrased):
Why bother to break a brick if I know the shout? I mean, if some guy wants to hold me up, where is he? He's down a dark street. Why? 'Cause he's nervous. He doesn't want any trouble; all he wants is my money.

Here I come, down a dark street. Why? 'Cause I'm stupid.

BUT... I know the shout.

And the guy'll put a gun in my back and say, "Give me your dough." I just turn around quick.

"HYAHH!!"

[In the voice of a frightened robber:] "See here, take the gun! What's wrong with you, are you some kind of nut or something??"

[Cosby, in a normal voice:] "If you don't watch yourself, I'll shout again. And, as a matter of fact, you give me your dough."

I held up fifteen people like that.
Click to expand...
 
Cool, for only $9.95 you can join the Yellow Bamboo distance learning program! I wonder if it works the same as the distance 'knocking-someone-over' technique. They might be able to shout at me from indonesia and plant lots of enlightened knowledge in my head! :-) Joke

But really, the YB video clips are pure comedy. Either it's a complete hoax, or involves a spot of post-hypnotic suggestion.

As if by magic, the previously hypnotised attackers fell over as the master flicked his wrist and shouted 'Fall over now you gullible idiots' in a made up language. (This is my skeptical speculation, BTW).

But seriously, the idea that you can make your opponant fall over in a dizzy spell 5 yards from you by a shout and gesture, is an absolute insult to *all* our ancestors who've given their lives defending lands in field battles, dying on the end of a bayonette or sword. (My grand-dad included)

This is serious cloud cuckoo land, and needs debunking ASAP. But maybe it can't ever be, because you have to be specially primed and a believer in YB technique before the master can make you fall over at a distance. Which surely excludes it from a proper testing? :rolleyes:
 
Does their application suggest that the subject must be hypnotised first? I don't recall reading that when Randi first introduced the idea.
 
These guys sound like a bunch of former TV evangelists - they perfected the art of making people fall down by shouting at them long ago.

I don't recall any previous mention of the attackers being hypnotised. Curioser and curiouser.

And I'm still wondering why "an official representative of JREF" wasn't accompanied by at least a couple of independent observers and a video camera. I understand that JREF effectively advertised for people to volunteer to check out the Bamboozlers, but I would still have expected that there would be explicit agreement about the manner in which they were to be checked out and that the subjective experiences of a lone participant weren't all that was asked for.

It sounds like the organisation for this "checking out" was pretty sloppy, which is somewhat disappointing.

Perhaps the rec-martial arts people will do better.
 
reprise said:
These guys sound like a bunch of former TV evangelists - they perfected the art of making people fall down by shouting at them long ago.

I don't recall any previous mention of the attackers being hypnotised. Curioser and curiouser.

And I'm still wondering why "an official representative of JREF" wasn't accompanied by at least a couple of independent observers and a video camera. I understand that JREF effectively advertised for people to volunteer to check out the Bamboozlers, but I would still have expected that there would be explicit agreement about the manner in which they were to be checked out and that the subjective experiences of a lone participant weren't all that was asked for.

It sounds like the organisation for this "checking out" was pretty sloppy, which is somewhat disappointing.

Perhaps the rec-martial arts people will do better.
Click to expand...

The organization for checking it out was just as organized as was called for. Until I hear otherwise, I'm going with the "falling down in sheer laughter" hypothesis.
 
TheBoyPaj said:
Does their application suggest that the subject must be hypnotised first? I don't recall reading that when Randi first introduced the idea.
Click to expand...

Don't think there's any mention of hypnosis in the thread. I was just forwarding this as an idea for a possible explanation.

Neil
 
nwmadden said:


Don't think there's any mention of hypnosis in the thread. I was just forwarding this as an idea for a possible explanation.

I have a feeling that yellow bamboo is somewhat similar to yellow snow

:wink8:
Click to expand...
 
George152 said:
[explanation.

I have a feeling that yellow bamboo is somewhat similar to yellow snow
Click to expand...

I keep thinking the same thing. Everytime I see the title "Yellow Bamboo", this pops in my head...

"Dreamed I was an Eskimo
Frozen wind began to blow
Under my boots and around my toes
The frost that bit the ground below
It was a hundred degrees below zero...

And my mama cried
And my mama cried
Nanook, a-no-no
Nanook, a-no-no
Don't be a naughty Eskimo
Save your money, don't go to the show

Well I turned around and I said "Oh, oh" Oh
Well I turned around and I said "Oh, oh" Oh
Well I turned around and I said "Ho, Ho"
And the northern lights commenced to glow
And she said, with a tear in her eye
"Watch out where the huskies go, and don't you eat that yellow snow"
"Watch out where the huskies go, and don't you eat that yellow snow"

;)
 
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