A Nice Gesture by Jeroen Arendsen

Various enterprises and personal interests, such as Man-Machine Interaction (MMI), gesture studies, signs, language, social robotics, healthcare, innovation, music, publications, etc.

Category: Magic

Gareth Bale’s Free Kick Thwarted by Magic Spell Caster Tal Ben Haim

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On September 7, 2015

In Magic, Sports, The Power of Suggestion

Just when you think you have seen it all:


Watch Israel’s Tal Ben Haim bewitch the ball about to be kicked by Wales’ Gareth Bale

Interestingly, there are more examples of magical gestures being used on the pitch, in sports. For example, there is a story about anchor gestures used in cricket to relieve stress. You can even invent them yourself, much like one can create one’s own mudra. And all of those examples have a lot in common with the creation of magical spells…

This player, Tal Ben Haim II, is worth a google… according to Wikipedia he has only played for Israeli teams and has played for Israel a number of times. Well, nothing else really stands out, so this incident with Bale is really his best claim to fame so far.

How to create your own anchor-gesture

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On February 24, 2007

In Magic, Playing with Gestures, Psychobabble, Sports

In remarkable similarity to how to create your own mudra, I just found a nice prescription to create your own gesture to relax you or give you confidence under stress (in this case on the cricket pitch). Why anyone would feel stress in relation to cricket is none of my Dutch concern, but the procedure seems equally valid for mudras, magic spells and now anchors. It’s all between the ears, I guess.


A stressed cricket player makes an anchor gesture? (source)

I just hope cricket will not become a game whereby a bunch of men-boys only enjoy an easy afternoon relaxing. Without the proper stress the competitive edge required for peak performance may vanish?

A new Mudra for a small lump on my leg

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On June 8, 2006

In Magic, Psychobabble, The Power of Suggestion

Learning of my interest in Mudras, colleague JM, who is also a yoga teacher, lent me his Mudra Werkboek by Gertrud Hirschi, a swiss yoga teacher (a 1999 Dutch translation of: Mudras – Yoga mit dem kleinen Finger, 1998). Hirschi published a new Mudras book in 2006, which I guess is an update.

The most intruiging bit of the book is on page 199, which shows how you can create your own mudra:

  • Study the book and the energies of your hand
  • Show respect!
  • Study the characteristics of each finger and choose the posture that fits [the selected bits?]
  • Formulate the goal of the mudra in positive terms [i.e. I have a smooth leg]
  • Speak the sentence loud and slow thrice with a breath each
  • Picture the outcome
  • Try feeling the result
  • Dedicate your mudra to a divine power or deity of your choice
  • Wish the outcome with all your heart, but remain patient and trusting

Does this sound a bit like creating your own magic spell? Well it wouldn’t be the first time magic and yoga are considered twins. Anyway, I have yet to try it out. The energies of my hands still baffle me. Some serious contemplation is in order, methinks.

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