cagemcdermin

welcome, shotokan here also. and not to far from you. welcome

well if anyone finds a chi ball rolling around anywhere it is mine. please return if promptly. i dropped mine about 3 wks ago and still haven't found it.

meditation is many things to many different people. this is evident from all the responses to this post. one post stated that meditation would not help you until you've practiced at least one year possibly two. i'm not sure i agree. although i am certain the more you do it the better. well as long as you try to abide by the old saying "all things in moderation". we all know that to much of a good thing is bad right? meditation is no different. practice in moderation. you can't lift weights 7 days a week 2 hours a day and expect to have a healthy body. i would be willing to bet that you could take just about anyone, teach them to breath deep and relax, and after only a few minutes if done correctly they will tell you they feel somewhat different. some would say "i feel sleepy" some would say " i feel really relaxed" i'm certain there would be a change somewhat anyway. when you combine deep breathing and relaxing the mind you cannot get away from the physical changes that take place whithin the body. its not all about a spiritual change. certain inevitable things happen to the body when you begin to meditate. i've said all this to say that even with the first good session of meditation if done correctly, will bring about some sort of change. most likely a more relaxed (but alert) state of mind. i use this analogy to explain to people sometimes. if you and i were trying to have a conversation, say over the phone or face to face. do you think you could focus and concentrate on what i was saying if one of your friends came by and started talking at the same time we were having our conversation? two people talking to you at once. could you really listen to both at the same time? no, none of us can. so if thats the case then how can we totally focus on what we are doing if the mind is constantly engaged in other thought? we can't. when you are doing kata or sparring or whatever, if the mind is racing with other thoughts you truelly can't devote 100 percent attention to detail. when you meditate you try to clear the mind of unwanted thoughts or images, once you begin to practice this then you can observe clearly. maybe for some it does take years, but from my experience meditation pays off instantly. of course the longer we practice the better we get at it. i mean the first time yo do it is like the first time you try a new kata or form. it takes lots of practice to be effecient. but you're still getting a good work out from day one. anyway meditation is a great tool for anyone. but especially for a martial artist. think about it, your learning techniques that could injure possibly kill someone. do you really want to be going around in a constant state of mind that could cloud your judgement at a critical time? i certainly do not.