Training the mind is as important as training the body.
In many ways, the mind prevents us from achieving an outcome. If you do not believe you can perform a
technique, or learn a new form, or break a board, etc. then you most likely
will not. If you get distracted from a
task, then you may not be able to perform the activity at hand well. The mind is important – and training the mind
is important.
For this blog, I am going to concentrate on the staying focused part of
training the mind.
In class we train the mind to stay focused, in the moment, through
drills like performing hyung while someone tries to distract you, the kaniuk
drill, executing the techniques and ignoring any inner critique on the performance
of any technique, and unbendable arm to name a few. Another practice in class is to stay totally focused from the moment you
go into Attention until you are told to relax.
This means you don’t wipe your forehead, scratch, adjust your stance, or
tug at your uniform. During a fight, any
of these actions would be seen by your opponent as weakness. A total lack of these activities would be perceived
as intense focus and power. If you saw
your opponent perform any of these actions, you could treat it as an
opportunity to take advantage, and you would be smart to do so.
One of the reasons I do not want people to bring their cell phones into
class or check them in class is to reinforce this mindset that while you are in
class you are in class. If you think you
need to check your phone during class then you need to take it outside (bowing
in and out to again reinforce when you are in class, you are present and
focused on class), but my real preference is you set it aside for the entire
class session so you can practice being present for the entire hour without
distractions.
You can train your mind outside of class as well and not just while
doing physical activity. Training your
mind starts with awareness of how easily or often you get distracted. Are there certain sounds that distract
you? Are there certain activities that
you get distracted from easier than others?
Being aware of what distracts you is the first step in training your
mind. After being aware and noticing
what distracts you, you can the start to come back to the focus or task at hand
allowing the distraction to pass you by without judging or analyzing it.
At work, can you go 10 minutes and focus on the task at hand and not
stop because of an email, IM, or text message coming through? 15 minutes? 20 minutes? Can you have a
conversation with friends for 10 minutes in person and not check your phone? 15
minutes? 20 minutes?
Try it – for some, this may be easy, for others it may be
difficult. I challenge you to see how
long you can focus on any task and stay present.
If you practice training your mind, whatever your starting place may be
for now where you can stay focused, over time, you will eventually be able to
go longer and longer without being distracted.
This is basically one way of meditating.
Meditation can take on many forms – the one most people are familiar
with is sitting quietly, but meditation can also be practiced as a single point
concentration while performing a task mindfully: walking, driving, cooking, gardening,
cleaning. In class, this could include
basics, hyung, etc.
I challenge each of you to discover how long you can focus on a task
without being distracted – whether it is at work, at home, in the dojang, or
with any other activity you preform.
Once you discover that, I challenge each of you to practice training the
mind so you can go 5 minutes longer, then 10, then 15, etc. until you can stay
focused as long as you choose. This is
not an easy practice by any means, but it is an important practice, and in a
self-defense scenario, it may turn out to be the most important practice of
martial arts.
Regards,
Kelly
"Be master of mind rather than mastered
by mind." ~ Zen Proverb
