Notes on Practise — with Shkar Sharif

#9 - Liminality and the Edge of Perception

For this episode of Notes on Practise, I step away from martial mechanics and combat training to talk about liminality, high strangeness, and the strange atmosphere that sometimes surrounds inner practise. Not in the sensationalised internet sense of “mystical experiences”, but in the quieter and often more unsettling way that perception itself can begin to shift through long-term practice, attention, solitude, and transformation. I talk about thresholds, altered feelings of place, the strange texture of certain moments in life, and why many traditional paths treated these experiences cautiously rather than romantically. A reflective conversation on practice, perception, and the edges of the ordinary.

#8 - Why Most People Never Change Through Training

Most people believe that time spent training automatically leads to transformation. But years of practise do not necessarily change a person. In this episode I reflect on why some people are deeply reshaped through martial arts and cultivation work while others remain fundamentally untouched by the process. We explore repetition, foundations, psychological resistance, novelty, ego, and the uncomfortable reality that real transformation often requires the dissolution of the person we currently believe ourselves to be. A meditation on training, attention, embodiment, and the long process of change.

#7 - Why Martial Arts and Spiritual Practice Are Closer Than You Think | Combat, Perception, Transformation

Why is it that martial arts training and spiritual practice so often lead into each other? On the surface, they seem completely opposed. One is physical, confrontational, rooted in pressure. The other is often associated with stillness, reflection, and inner work. But if you’ve spent any real time in either, you start to notice the same patterns emerging. In this episode, I explore the deeper connection between the two — not at the level of discipline or mindset, but at the level of perception, identity, and how we relate to reality itself. Martial arts training, when approached properly, exposes how you actually respond under pressure. It strips away the stories you tell about yourself and shows you what holds up when it matters. In a similar way, genuine spiritual practice works to remove distortion in how we perceive ourselves and the world. Over time, both paths begin to converge. We look at: * why the body is not just expressing understanding, but is the understanding * how perception changes through training * what happens to identity under pressure * the role of intent (Yi) and how it shapes the body * why control becomes a limitation, and responsiveness becomes the goal At a certain point, martial arts stops being about fighting, and spiritual practice stops being about ideas. Both become ways of refining perception and removing illusion — until what remains can respond directly to reality.

#6 - How I Teach Qigong and the Internal Arts | Influence, Method, and Practice

In this episode of Notes on Practise, I explain how I teach Qigong and the internal arts, the influences that shaped my approach, and why I always bring the practice back to the body. I talk about the White Crane lineage methods I teach, including standing practice, moving work, body-opening exercises, purging methods, and stepping patterns. I also reflect on the different streams that have influenced my practice over the years.

#5 - Outer Alchemy and Inner Alchemy | What a Teacher Can and Cannot Teach

In this episode of Notes on Practise, I explore the difference between what a teacher can guide and what must be discovered alone. Using the stages of Western alchemy — nigredo, albedo, citrinitas, and rubedo — we look at the process of psychological purification and preparation that many traditions describe as the outer work. Beyond this lies a deeper stage of cultivation often described as crossing the abyss, where external guidance gives way to direct experience. Western traditions speak of communion with the Holy Guardian Angel, while Daoist internal alchemy describes the emergence of the Ling Tai, the embryo of spirit. A teacher can guide the outer alchemy. The inner alchemy must ultimately unfold within the practitioner.