MEDITATION AND THE MARTIAL ARTS

Why do some people who practice the martial arts also meditate? I can’t tell you why they do it, but I can tell you why I do. For me, meditation is an essential step in cultivating a mind and body that acts in unison. Only when your mind and body act together can you unleash your peak performance. Let me explain.

I was in great shape when I first started training in jujitsu. However, despite my cardio conditioning, I became gassed within minutes each time I entered the clench. Out of breath and sapped of energy, I quickly tapped. My instructors continually told me I was too tense. “Relax, relax,” they would say. Why was it so important that I learn to relax?

The answer is simple. When you enter a sparring or grappling match without relaxing, your adrenaline surges, your heart races, and breathing becomes erratic. This causes your muscles to become tense and deprives them of the oxygen they need to operate. Once that happens you get sloppy and make mistakes on the mat. Meditation teaches you to relax the body by stilling your thoughts and focusing your breathing. Making yourself relax and staying relaxed takes more effort than you think. Actually, it’s hard work. With practice, you can bring yourself into a relaxed state on command. Once you learn to relax in a state of quiet repose, you can bring yourself to relax while in engaged in physical activity.

So, the question is, do you have to meditate to learn how to relax your body? No, there are probably other ways. But meditation is the probably the easiest way. Mediation is to learning to relax like training wheels are to learning to ride a bicycle. There may be other ways, but none are as practical. The amount of time you spend in meditation depends on your goals. I strive for ten minutes when I wake up in the morning and ten minutes before I go to bed at night. Sometimes, I only get the evening ten. Consistency here is the main key. It’s probably more important to have a daily regiment of ten minutes, than doing twice a day every other day.

THE ZONE & NO-MINDEDNESS

The Zone and No-Mindedness are related concepts and essential in experiencing Zen in the Martial Arts. As discussed earlier, the Zone is that realm we enter into where action is automatic, instinctive. It's the place where the mind is clear and we perform at our highest levels.

The traditional term for The Zone is Wu-shin, or "no-mindedness." Before we can talk about what it is, let's first talk about what it is not. No-mindedness is not mindlessness. It's not a thoughtless mind or blank mind void thoughts or emotion. It's not just a quiet mind either. So then, what is it?

In essence, the no-mind is a state where the mind operates freely without the interference of the separate thinker. In other words, the mind functions in a state of wholeness without you distracting it with your thoughts, feelings, or emotions. For example, you're driving down the road thinking of nothing in particular. You turn into a neighborhood. You notice the trees dotting the subdivision and the cars parked along the edge of the street. You absorb the scene as a whole without thought or impression. You make no judgment about what you see. You simply drive.

Suddenly, a child runs out into the street chasing the ball. There's no time to stop or think. The action must be immediate. Without thought, your adrenaline surges. You instinctively take your foot off the gas and slam on the break. How did that happen? You didn't stop to think about it or even tell yourself what to do. Your mind simply took you (the separate thinker) out of the equation and took action freely without permission.

In this situation, the mind took the correct action because it was free to observe the environment in total without becoming bogged down on a fixated point. The no-mind is like a river flowing down its natural course, never becoming stagnated. Or, the no-mind is like a mirror - it never grabs on to anything or keeps anything, but receives every image placed before it. Make sense? Think of watching a football game. You don't concentrate solely on the player with the ball. You watch the field as a whole - aware of the total movement. In like manner, the no-mind observes the whole. It does not anchor itself to a fixed point or thought. In doing so it is moves unencumbered. It takes action freely.

So, how do we cultivate the No-mind? And what is the relationship between the No-mind and the martial arts? We'll address those items in the next post.