“In most if not all martial arts, there is some form of integrative meditation component that forms the building blocks of a balanced yet formidable martial artist… half the battle is won and lost in the mind,” says Nicholas Bruce in his in depth article in the Business Day, May 2018.
The article explains how martial arts like karate and tai chi can help us develop the ability to prevent ourselves going into the fight/flight response. When we don’t have this ability, we can lose part of our logical thinking faculty and can make less healthy decisions, and we find it harder to manage our emotions.
One of the key ways that martial arts helps one to be stress free, is its meditation component.
We ask Sensei Leo Ming to give his input on this key element of martial arts training, and encourage you to learn more about the science and research into this aspect, in Bruce’s article.
Q: What is Beginners Mind and why is it important in martial arts training?
Leo: Sho Shin…beginner mind… This is such an important concept in the martial arts. We always have the ego which gets in the way of the reason for doing our martial arts. We get side tracked, whether it be from something visual, something external that catches our eye, or from an internal thought. A simple example would be when we are trying too hard to impress others, or wanting to over achieve in class. Once this happens your ‘way’ (or dao) is lost. We need to always remember to keep our training pure and authentic.
There is a saying that in the beginners mind there are countless possibilities, but in the experts mind there is only one. Thus we get stuck because we think that something can only be done in a certain way, and that our way is the ‘correct’ way.
If we look at children, they are very spontaneous and have an open energy. It is free, uncluttered, and natural. They can absorb but they can also let go of. They cry with intensity, and then it’s all over. We want to train to attain our original mind, our spontaneous and empty mind – this is a good example of sho shin.
More often than not we bring our baggage wherever we go, in the dojo, onto the court, on the field, even into our homes. This weight prevents us from flowing and feeling the moment.
Q: What are the benefits of this ‘beginners mind’ for life outside the dojo?
Leo: There are so many. A few benefits are:
- learning confidence
- learning about breath control – for anxiety and for focus
- letting go of the ego – developing humility
- growing your perseverance and overcoming obstacles,
- and overcoming stress build up.
Martial Arts meditation in Wudang Mountains, China
Q: What is meditation in Martial Arts?
Leo: It is essentially learning self introspection, being aware of self, being aware of breath, emptying the mind -having the beginner mind.
Q: What aspects of your teaching do you do to encourage this development?
Leo: Meditation is one of the teachings that I integrate into all my classes- to learn patience with the process. Mindfulness is learnt through meditation as well as through self perfection of techniques. One trains a single technique repetitively until it becomes part of you, or you become part of it, hundreds and thousands of times until you reach a state of ‘no-mind’ or mu-shin. Everything muscle and tendon is relaxed, flowing and natural, yet filled with chi. This is something which cannot be replicated through learning theory. You need to experience it.
We welcome you to join us for a complimentary class, so you can experience a taste of Sho Shin, and the benefits of becoming a martial artist.
For more about Tai Chi and Kobujutso Karate classes in Johannesburg, contact your Sensei, Leo Low Ming, on 0833780468.