Many ways exist to improve your
skills in the dojang outside the dojang.
One way students can improve their skills in the dojang faster is by
incorporating what we do during class into their everyday lives and everyday
activities. And there are many ways to
approach this. In this blog, I will
focus on a principle that is one of the essences of martial arts: the
mind-body-breath connection.
This mind-body-breath connection
can be explored and practiced in almost any physical activity one
performs. As noted in my August 2015
blog “Samurai
Training versus Today’s Martial Arts”, the elite Samurai practiced tea ceremony ritual, flower
arranging, music, and painting. In these
activities, the Samurai practiced deep focus, concentration, awareness (mind);
along with steady, conscious breathing (breath), while they performed the
physical aspect (body).
Eugen
Herrigel,
in his 1948 book “Zen in the Art of Archery”, describes how he learned and
mastered over the course of six years the mind-body connection through studying
archery.
So you may want to know where you can
sign up for tea ceremony, flower arranging, or archery classes? The bad news is these classes may not be easy
to find, but the good news is you can apply the principles of mind-body-breath
to any, yes, any activity.
We have students in the club that have described how they practice these principles when they race motorcycles / cars, shoot at the gun range, garden, woodwork, pottery, walk, run, bicycle, play golf, and lift weights. Any physical activity is a chance to practice and master mind-body-breath connection. Any physical activity is an opportunity to integrate into your life this principle so it is part of who you are, not what you do.
I, for one, have integrated these
principles in my other activities: yoga, softball, hiking, bicycling, and
lifting weights.
If you want to improve your
balance, grounding, focus, discipline, breathing, coordination, etc. in the
dojang then start, continue or increase the integration and principles of mind-body-breath
connection in every physical activity you do.
I think you will be amazed at not only the improvement you see in your
techniques in the dojang but in all the activities you like to participate in.
Regards,
Kelly
"The man, the art, the work--it is all one.” ~ Eugen
Herrigel (1884 –1955), a German philosopher and author; his most famous work Zen in the Art of
Archery
