> > Sure beats my "Royal with Chi" joke. > How's that go again?
In 1815, when Napoleon returned to Paris from his exile on the island of Elba, his army ousted Louis XVIII, who himself went into exile for what is now known as "The Hundred Days." Only a few people in my family know the true story of what Louis XVIII did during those Hundred Days, and how he was able to return and regain the power of the crown, but I feel compelled to tell the secret so that it doesn't die with me. With the popular Napoleon's army and supporters all over Europe, there was nowhere for Louis XVIII to go without being spotted and turned in for a handsome bounty. After calling in some very expensive favors, Louis XVIII was able to secure safe passage to China, which he was sure was beyond Napoleon's reach. After his first fitful night of what barely passed for rest, he was startled by an old Chinese man who brought cool water to his room. Surprisingly, he spoke French. As they spoke, Louis XVIII related his problems of losing power to the old man, who simply laughed and said, "A man who thinks he has lost his power never had it to begin with." Louis XVIII asked him what he meant, and the old Chinese man held out his open palm. Suddenly, he thrust it straight through the wooden table next to them, splintering it into a hundred pieces. Louis XVIII was understandably impressed, and asked him how he did that. "A man who masters the Life Force masters life and all that is in it," he said. "Can you teach me this way?" asked Louis XVIII. "Only if you dedicate yourself to learning the ways of the Life force. And if you do, no dictator can stop you from reclaiming that which is rightly yours." For the next month, Louis XVIII studied with his new master day and night, stopping only briefly to take minimal water and food, and to evacuate. He slept only a few minutes at a time here and there, so dedicated was he to mastering such a difficult discipline. The lack of sleep actually focused him even more. At the end of the month, Louis XVIII's master gave him one final test called "The Disappearing Vessel": if Louis XVIII could break a clay pot filled with water with such power that it instantly disintegrated into dust and the shape of the pot was retained by the water for the split second before gravity pulled it down on itself, then he was ready. The master filled a plain clay pot with water from the stream he had studied next to all month, then placed it on a rock at waist height. Louis XVIII's concentration was so focused that he could see nothing but the water standing on its own, without a vessel. Before even the master recognized that anything had moved, the vessel blasted away from the surface of the water into a fine dust, and the water stood, holding its shape for a split second. Signifying recognition of Louis XVIII's mastery, for the first time the master initiated the traditional bow of respect between them, and christened him "Xiansheng Louis XVIII," Mandarin for "Master Louis XVIII." Louis XVIII boarded a fast boat back to France, where he commanded a new army against Napoleon. Within two days, Louis XVIII's army had defeated Napoleon's army. Napoleon took refuge within the palace walls, but Louis XVIII broke down the palace's tall doors with a technique known as Bamboo Open Palm -- the same technique the master had first shown him on the day they met. Louis XVIII stealthily crept in the shadows and around corners as he approached Napoleon, who was armed with a pair of dueling pistols. Louis XVIII soon stood directly behind Napoleon and called out "j'accuse!," (I accuse you!), which startled Napoleon enough to make him fire one of his pistols. When Napoleon spun around, Louis XVIII knocked both pistols from his hands using the same moves he used on the wooden practice dummies in the Shaolin temple where he trained, then pinched Napoleon by the throat to he could not speak. Louis XVIII, now very bulked-up from all his training, easily lifted little Napoleon off his feet and looked him straight in the eye, saying, "You can die here like a warrior, or live in exile like a slug." He dropped Napoleon, who begged for his life, so intimidated he was of the newly powerful Louis XVIII. Napoleon fled, and the rest is basically the history you all know today. Stories of Louis XVIII's mastery of the Life Force quickly became legend throughout France, and the people of France revered him as the powerful man he had so miraculously become. He humbly gave all credit to his Chinese master and the Life Force itself, explaining that he was simply a conduit through which the Life Force flowed. Back in China, everyone called him "Xiansheng Louis XVIII." Do you know what they called Xiansheng Louis XVIII in France? .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. A "Royal with Chi." Respectfully, Adam Phillip Churvis President Productivity Enhancement ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Adobe® ColdFusion® 8 software 8 is the most important and dramatic release to date Get the Free Trial http://ad.doubleclick.net/clk;192386516;25150098;k Archive: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/CF-Community/message.cfm/messageid:259589 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/CF-Community/subscribe.cfm Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/unsubscribe.cfm?user=11502.10531.5
