markusan

They're not original. As Jay suggested have a look at some books on Buddhism, buddhist meditation, zen etc. It is a very different way of thinking to our usual western egocentric version of life. I've just tried a few of the ideas out and they work for me. I don't call myself buddhist though. That would be an attachment.

Non-attachment doesn't mean don't have friends. More that the nature of the friendship should be a serving one rather than a dependent one. We can analyse our relationships and judge if they are really two way or essentially self serving. A self serving relationship is an attachment, in a way you depend on it to define your self. I think you can judge non attachment in a friendship when you can let that person go and maybe not see them for years, and when they return pick up comfortably where you left off. Oh... and the path to enlightenment includes letting go of concepts like strength and weakness, they are subjective judgemets and not based in fact..

I don't think enlightenment means no attachment to anything, but dropping off attachments is a prerequisite to enlightenment, among other things. From what I can gather, enlightenment is about seeing things around us as they really are, not as stand alone things but as part of an infinite network of cause and effect. The buddhists and yogic tradition use the rainbow as an example. We see the rainbow and because our eyes see it and we are told it's a rainbow we consider it a real thing that exists. On closer examination we realise the rainbow is only light shining through water droplets, there is no thing called rainbow that has its own inherent existence. They say that if you examine the water and the light in turn you will see similar cause and effects and no inherent "thing" as such. To get to that state one has to rid oneself of all the preconceptions, judgements and assumptions that one has accumulated from birth...and the ones one has inherited. Drop off anger, jealousy, laziness envy etc. If you applied this to martial arts you would have to abandon any notion that your style is the best style, that there is only one way of doing things, that belts, traditions, clean gis etc are important. It's quite paradoxical because thinking they are not important is also a type of attachment. So one should be able to wear a clean pressed gi, tie their belt properly and follow a style without being attached to them. Most improtant is the dropping off of the ego, not in the sense of not being a show off, but dropping the negative parts of ones personality, attitudes, prejudice etc. so that one can see things clearly, not influenced and distorted by one's own baggage.

Running or any other repetitive exercise like cycling and swimming, shortens your muscles so it's important to do a thorough stretch after running. Same as training, you should always stretch AFTER training as well as before and during. If you are jogging then adding sprint work or interval training into your running program, stretch between jogging and sprinting and after your session. The golden rule is always finish with a good stretch...it can't hurt.

Are you suggesting that losing your life to a low life to prove a point is a good thing?

Is it valid to consider qi as a process rather than an "energy"?

I assume by this you mean does the Catholic religion condone meditation as a practice. I know some Christian denominations frown on meditation. Some branches of Catholicism embrace meditation and base their prayer on deep meditative practice. The Benedictines (White monks of St Benedict) for example are a Catholic spiritual community that practices Soto Zen meditation, one of the two main sects of japanese Zen meditation. There are practicing Benedictine Monks in the U-S who are also Zen Roshi (teachers) Whereas a japanese zen practioner might practice shikantaza or meditation on emptiness, the catholi cpractioner would use a subject closer to their tradition like Christ, experiencing God, or a concept like Kenosis, the concept of Christ being God and a man. The Jesuits also have a strong practice of meditation and contemplation. But theses sorts of practices have little to do with the martial arts.

I think enlightenment or nirvana may be substantially more than this. Enlightenment in the buddhist sense is being able to see life as it really is, not through the distortions of our mind, senses and karma. Meditation has nothing to do with sleeping. If one starts to meditate then falls asleep then the meditation is over. Unless, that is, the meditator can maintain consciousness and concentration during sleep, which is quite an advanced practice. During meditation the meditator is always actively aware and in control. In many ways their awareness, consciousness and concentration is heightened, not diminished as in sleep.

I would draw the line at any technique that draws blood. Not because it is ungentlemanly but because of the risk of hepatitis and HIV. That includes punching or striking the teeth, biting etc.

Good post WW. I can't agree more. I still suspect that Ki, like Karma and Hara is an asian word that has been very badly translated into english and its meaning has been turned into a bit of a fairytale. ITs sort of like saying machismo is some special energy field around a man that attracts women. Its obviously not, it is a combination of physical and psychological attributes that combine in some sort of harmony. But nothing magic. In war and peace Tolstoy tells the story of three people on a train platform. The question they are asked is "How does that train move". The scientist explains it has to do with combustion, steam pressure etc. The stoker says its "the fire". And a food seller on the platform says "the devil makes it go".

If the report by the CDC is the one that tested army recruits who stretched before exercise be careful how you interpret the results and how you compare it with MA training. I believe they were static stretching before doing things like running calisthenics etc, not extending their muscles to their full range of motion. I would argue that we need to stretch our antagonist muscles, eg hamstrings, because they are the ones that pull against kicks like the snapping front kick. It is the thigh muscles and hip flexors that lift the leg but the hamstrings work against it. It doesn't take much imagnation to figure what happens if you try a high front kick with cold tight hamstrings. The bottom of the hamstring crosses the back of the knee and attaches to the lower leg crossing the top of the calf. So stretching the calf releases the lower end of the hamsting. Th top of the hamstring inserts in the buttock area under the glutes and rotators so a hip and rotator stretch losens up that end. My theory is warm up first by jogging, situps, pushups, stepups etc(all short range of motion, followed by a calf stretch (and achilles) then a hip and rotator stretch, freeing up both ends of the hamstring. Then hit the hamstrings first with static then dynamic stretches. Then once the hammies are loose do a groin stretch and transition from one to the other (side split to front split). That's at the start of class At the end of class add a really good thigh and hip flexor stretch. Remember all our kicking, and stances like horseriding stance, shorten those muscles and if you dont stretch them after a session they become very short and strong, rotating your pelvis forward and causing lower back problems (sound familiar?) And as for the theory that static stretching doesn't work, ask a pilates teacher. Pilates was developed specifically for dancers doing similar full extension moves to those we do and it is based on static stretching and core strength.

Shorinryu, I think I'm one of those punchers who push off with their foot first. I've tried to break it down and I think the leg and hip start turning then the hand pushes out about the same time. But as far as I can tell the leg starts pushing before the punch lands. Doesn't your above quote sort of imply that the foot hip and shoulder movement precede the fist contact? I can't imagine making contact with the punch then driving with the foot. Could you clarify please.

Once you get the hang of meditation and, through regular practice, can drop into deep concentration at will, you can use it far more actively than for some kind of waking sleep. The idea is to reach a state where the usual mind chatter stops and you can think---yes think--about a problem or subject with great clarity. Zen monks contemplate koans or riddles in their meditation and that is by no means a passive process. Nor is it a logical one. The meditator focuses on the problem with single pointed concentration, and the answer comes, not as a thinking process or a logical progression, but as a direct experience. In the same way the meditator can contemplate a martial arts problem, or just about anything, and if the conditions are right, can reach some level of insight. Often the insight does not come during the meditation but at some point later.

Nice post Hudson. That is meditation in a nutshell.

two tips from the book of five rings, perception is strong sight is weak, and see close things as if they are far away and far away things as if they're close. To me this means do not focus tightly on any one thing. Keep your vision soft and central. It's simple geometry. if you want to see from their head to their knees with your peripheral vision you look mid torso. The giveaways are shoulders, hips, knees, hands. Eyes give away nothing if your opponent is competent. Do a quick test. Get your partner to stand dead straight and still. Look at their eyes and move towards them. Stop when you lose clear sight of their knees. Now shift your sight to about the sternum and notice how much more you can see. This is most important if you want to avoid a kick from your opponent's front foot. If I notice my opponent staring at my eyes I do a snapping front kick off the front foot. They invariably pick it up too late.