MA Training: Mind, Body & Spirit...

[bushido_man96]

Ok. Philospical time for bushido_man! Can you see the smoke? I can.....so here we go.

Many styles of MA will tout the improvements in these 3 phases of your being. The physical improvements are obviously the ones that translate the most, and are more readily visible and noticeable. My question to all is to what extent have your received or sought out training to improve the other two areas; Mind and Spirit? Do you actively seek them out? Do you feel the need to get results in these two areas as well for your MA training to be fulfilling and acceptable?

I'll stave an overly extensive answer for now, but will give a short "no" for the time being.

What say you, oh KF community???

[Rateh]

I'd say yes. I never thought of it as "seeking out" the mind or spirit side. I just tested for 3rd Kup at a school I've been training at for a bit. Since I'm a first degree in another style I did not have to test till I tested for 1st. I decided to test because I thought it would be a good experience for me, I thought that the nurves and the pressure of testing would be benificial. I don't recieve my restults till tuesday, but I think it went well, and I think it was good for me to be back on the other side of the fence so to speak at a testing.

I actually had to write an essay (one of many) for the test, about how to develop the mental/spiritual side of your martial arts. I said essentially that you find something you are weak at, and actively seek out experiences to develop that weakness into a strenght. Such as if you lack patience, help in the kids classes.

I'm not sure if this is exactly what you mean, but to me thats what I think of it as.

[ninjanurse]

The "way" includes body, mind, and spirit so one cannot achieve mastery of himself without all 3 elements. Of course this depends on whether you are studying "-do" or just combat...even then I think Maslow's Heirarchy is in play whether you want to acknowledge it or not.

I give the tools to unlock the "way" to all my students and I will help them any way I can but ultimately it is up to them to follow the path and stay the course.

[bushido_man96]

I'm not sure if this is exactly what you mean, but to me thats what I think of it as.

You are on track with what I mean, 100%.

I actually had to write an essay (one of many) for the test, about how to develop the mental/spiritual side of your martial arts.

If I was asked to do that, I don't know if I could. I just don't think that much of the MA training that I have had has really helped me to develop all that much mentally and spiritually. Perhaps driving myself to push through difficulties and barriers, but that may be about the extent of it. And I wouldn't want to just quote a bunch of former masters about their ideals and philosphies, put them on paper, and then submit things I don't really believe in so that I could meet test requirments. I just couldn't do that.

The "way" includes body, mind, and spirit so one cannot achieve mastery of himself without all 3 elements. Of course this depends on whether you are studying "-do" or just combat...even then I think Maslow's Heirarchy is in play whether you want to acknowledge it or not.

Well, I study a "Do;" two of them, actually. However, I just don't feel that either field is benefiting me in mind and spirit. I think that I could achieve mastery of myself without improving all 3 elements in the same amount. What is important to me is that I know where I stand on each of them.

[tallgeese]

I vote in the no side here, ma's are about combative efficiency. Everything else gained is a secondary benifit.

You might argue that mindset is something besides a physical benifit (maybe spritual), but I lump that in with combative efficiency not other, more esoteric concepts.

You might also agrue that strategy and tactics development is mental. Yes, it requires mental capacity, but it is not a goal of the arts but an outgrowth of fighting. Not a mental training regime.

There are other avenues that, I feel, are more approprite for the development of the spritual side of one's self and the intellectual growth of an individual. Not saying that they are not important, just that ma's are about combat above and beyond all else.

[The BB of C]

I think they all work on two levels - healthy/sick and strong/weak.

I believe the mind, body and spirit are connected and they all effect each other.

The Healthy/Sick side of the level is that if one is healthy, the other two will become healthy and if one is sick the other components will become sick too.

Healthy and sick are metaphorical terms. For example, if someone has a strong body and a good spirit, this person has potential to do a lot of good things. However, if their mind is not capable of solving problems, then the will to do good and the physical strength to do good becomes useless - or sick. And vice versa.

However, if that person can balance all three of those on a Healthy level than it's all good.

Then there's the next level which is Strong/Weak. On this level, though all the components are healthy, some may be stronger than others and will compensate for wherever the person is weak in the other two components. Let's say that a person has reletively healthy mind body and spirit. He can bench 400 pounds ten times and weighs 250 pounds and it's all muscle, but has trouble balancing a check book (numbers wise, not finance wise ). That's a strong body and a weak mind.

Ideally, of course, we want all of them to be equal to minimize weaknesses that opponents we may have can manipulate.

That's just what I've observed in my time. I'm still working out the whole theory in my head, but I think I grasp it a little bit better than most people my age (eighteen years).

[bushido_man96]

I vote in the no side here, ma's are about combative efficiency. Everything else gained is a secondary benifit.

There are other avenues that, I feel, are more approprite for the development of the spritual side of one's self and the intellectual growth of an individual. Not saying that they are not important, just that ma's are about combat above and beyond all else.

I agree here as well. At the age of 30, I already have my outlooks on life pretty well set, and unless someone has a pretty convincing arguement, then I am unlikely to change my views of right/wrong, my moral and ethical outlooks on life, and my spiritual viewpoints. A high-dan instructor or MA style founder's ideals don't necessarily translate to my ideals.