Meditation and the Martial Arts

We've all heard the classic tale of Bodhidharma teaching Martial Arts to his disciples to strengthen their bodies for Meditation. The Martial Arts and Meditation have a long history that continues through today. Kenpo has a tradition of doing a brief "meditation" before and after class in a horse stance. Silat, as I am told, also utilizes meditation in the upper levels as part of the curriculum. And although I am new to Jiu-Jitsu, I have already heard mention of meditation in context of the art.

In Kenpo we often go into a meditative horse before and after class. It's a quick break, done at all levels, lasting about a minute to prepare your mind for class or for settling down after an intense workout. There really isn't much meditating going on. You just relax and catch your breath.  That's as deep as it gets and I really don't recall reading much about it in any of Mr. Parkers books, if at all.

Silat is a somewhat secretive system. Serak, the mother art of Bukti Negara, is only taught to close friends and family. If you want to learn Serak, you'll have to learn Bukti. Even then, there is no guarantee that you will be trusted with the art of Serak. Even in Bukti, a student is only shown certain principles and applications when the teacher sees that he's ready. Meaning he's already fully grasped the lessons he was previously taught and can apply them. I started Silat in February of 2010 and am just finding out, though not directly, that meditation is part of the teachings at the upper levels. I am guessing it's part of Serak, but it's only a guess...

In the movie Choke, Rickson Gracie talks about reaching a very special stage of meditation during his routine. He talks about clearing his mind and staying in the present moment. He mentions controlling your breath in order to control yourself mentally and physically and in order to understand your fears and emotional stress. At my own school, our Coaches talk about making Jiu-Jitsu an experience for yourself. About leaving all other stresses off then matt and just training for yourself. So being present physically and mentally undoubtedly is beneficial to your practice.

I really believe that any serious student of the Martial Arts should explore the benefits of Meditation in his own practice. It doesn't matter which style you're studying, chances are that it has a history of not only cultivating the body but also cultivating the mind in preparation for combat. The benefits extend beyond self defense and competition. Having a strong healthy body improves the quality of your day to day life and longevity. Having a focused mind that can manage challenging thoughts and emotions will undoubtedly also improve your day to day experience as well as the experiences of those around you.

Personally, I have found that incorporating meditation at the end of my daily routine adds a sort of sacredness to the practice. I like to set an hour aside each day. I start by working on whatever techniques or drills I am doing that day. I go for about 30-40 minutes of intense physical exertion, until the sweat is pouring and I'm breathing hard. Then without allowing myself to cool off, I start my meditation. I've tried meditating before my workout, but both the meditation and workout seem less intense when I do it that way. Something about the rush of a hard workout followed by the calm focus of a 20 minute sit has a synergetic mind altering effect. I feel at peace and completely untouched by whatever drama might be happening at the time. It makes my daily workouts something I truly look forward to and enjoy.

But it's not just sitting with your eyes closed. Meditation is an art. There is a technique for focusing your mind that has been tried, tested and improved for over 2,000 years. You're working on focusing on the breath or some other object of meditation such as equanimity. The key point is presents of mind and concentration. It is not a religious practice it's literally a mental technique of concentration. And just like any other technique, you have to practice it in order to get better. At first, you may fall asleep or repeatedly get lost in thought without any focus, but over time, you'll start to reap the rewards of presents of mind.

A good place to start is by picking up some guided meditations. Headspace has a great app that's free to try for 10 days. It's totally straight forward and free of any B.S.. The book Mindfulness has a great range of meditations to try. You can also checkout some free guided mediations on YouTube. I like Big Mind by Joseph Goldstein.  Dan Harris also has an app, though I haven't tried it myself. Do whatever works for you. Do some research and start. Then share your experiences, I'd love to hear about them.

Train. Even if you're tired.

Some days I just don't feel like working out. It usually happens when I'm tired, sleepy or just drained overall. Sometimes over nothing. I could feel drained from just sitting at a desk all day or crawling through traffic. Other times I'm drained from other workouts. It can be hard to find the motivation to get to class and train. A little voice will popup and say: "Rest, you've earned it". Sometimes it's true, other times, I know I'll regret it.

This is how it goes... I'll miss one night and then the next day something always comes up. The wife will call me and say she needs me to watch Isaac because she's running late. Or I'll have no choice but to work late myself. It always seems to be that something else will come up and I'll be forced to miss another night. Then I'm two down and usually my schedule only allows me 2-3 nights of training at any one school... so I start to fall behind.

I know for a fact that once I start moving, the energy comes on it's own. As long as I am focused on using correct form and am intent on creating a proper attitude, before long the sweat will be streaming and I'll be putting out 100% effort. It doesn't matter if I start slow. As long as I am focused on not half-assing anything, before I know it, class will be over and I'll feel fully recharged.

So unless I'm sick or injured, my intention is to always go to class. Unless something comes up. Or I need some family time. Or laziness wins the battle...