The Profound Impact of Experience

In the Summer of '69 Brian Adams bought his first guitar. In the Summer of '96 I travelled to France for the first time. How are these two things similar? At first glance they don't seem to have anything at all in common. But, I believe that if we look closely enough at seemingly unrelated events, eventually we can find something that they have in common. The example given above is no different. Both events profoundly changed the lives of the individuals involved and impacted the lives of many others there after. I  don't mean to compare myself to a famous musician or imply that we have made the same global impact. However, the chain of events that have occurred since travelling to France in 1996 has shaped who I am today just has finding the guitar in 1969 did for Brian Adams. And, to be honest with you, I just wanted to find a way to use "in the Summer of '69" and "in the Summer of '96" in some meaningful way. The rest of this post will be more serious, and this will connect to my point, I promise.

Our Lives are Shaped by our Experiences
It is no secret that our experiences shape us. Our training in the martial arts makes us aware of this fact more quickly than someone who has never trained because training in the martial arts is really a process of self-cultivation that develops, among other things, our levels of self-awareness. With our heightened sense of self-awareness we are able to take away important lessons from our experiences and productively apply them to our lives. Through the process of 心技体 Shin Gi Tai; developing and strengthening the connection between our mind and body through the repetitive practice of specific techniques we develop, not only stronger bodies but also a stronger sense of self. The more I reflect on my past experiences the more I am able to get out of them, making their continued impact more profound to me.

(Shin Gi Tai, written by the Author, 2014)

Health Benefits of Karate Do Training (Continued) 心 Mind, 体 Body, (人の) 精神 Spirit

(Photo taken from meditationcommunity.wordpress.com )

Mind, Body, and Spirit
心 Shin, Mind, 体 Tai, Body and 精神 Seishin, Spirit these are the three things that I have felt grow as I have continued my Karate Do training from a young boy of 10 through adolescence and into adulthood. In this post I would like to continue to explain what I mean by Mind, Body, and Spirit. As you read these posts, please try to apply the techniques that we have learned to deepen our understanding of the Kanji presented and contemplate your own interpretation relating to your unique situation and experiences.

 

As I stated at the end of my last post:

I would like to talk more about the mind and body connection as well as address a statement I made when I started this series that Karate Do can offer us a "map" or an outline to healthy living in three main areas: Physical, Mental, and Spiritual. I realize that this is a very heavy statement to make and I am aware that I need to back it up with fact. I am working on how to verbalize the experiences I have had and the feelings they have caused within me. Both the experiences and the feelings shaped my growth, as I am sure they have shaped yours.

 

The above paragraph is how I ended my last post, as you may remember. Since then I have been really thinking specifically about how to provide you with an adequate definition of the term 'Spiritual' as this seems to be the most personal and the hardest to define. Attwood & Attwood (2014) discuss spiritualism in their book Your Hidden Riches and they also provide a definition for the term spiritual that, I feel, can be applied to how I intended to use it in the Karate Do context. They state that, "Every accomplishment requires steps that are physical, mental, and, yes, spiritual (defining spiritual as whatever you are most devoted to and truly revere)" (p. 82). Indeed our Karate Do journey is defined by our accomplishments; As practitioners of Karate Do, the inner journey that we are on is one that reveals more to us with each step we take and it is a very personal journey indeed. It requires great physical and mental effort to pursue our training goals, but we still thirst for more, so much so that we "devote" ourselves to our training in ways that make others sometimes shake their heads. But, we keep going to the Dojo and submit ourselves to the sweat and the pain and the fatigue because we all believe, deep down in our souls, that we are becoming better people on multiple planes through our training. We actually, as my Sensei, Michael Delaney pointed out on a number of occasions, "humble ourselves to our training" and when we reach this point, I believe, spiritual growth occurs. I further believe that we all have the potential to accomplish our life goals through our studies and training in Karate Do the physical and mental tools that we possess become evident to us and as we continue our training these tools become polished and sharpened.

Two Important Concepts Within Karate Do Practice (Part 1)

I want to talk about 文武両道 Bun Bu Ryo Do, the concept of balancing one's cultural and martial development. This is a concept that is deeply rooted in the philosophy of many Japanese martial arts especially Karate Do. However, before we can talk in depth about this topic, I believe that we need to first look at another important concept which will help us to better understand Bun Bu Ryo Do as well. This is the concept of 心技体 Shin Gi Tai, The Heart/Spirit, Technique, and the Body. I am sure you can find a lot of information about both of these important topics on the Internet and in martial arts magazines. It is rarely ever enough to just simply translate concepts like these. Personal interpretations and relating those interpretations to your own context is strongly recommended. How do you relate these two important aspects of the martial arts to your daily training? How would deepening your level of understanding of these and other important topics improve the quality of your training? We all have to ask ourselves these questions and make efforts to understand these concepts more deeply.

(The Kanji, Chinese Characters for Shin Gi Tai written by the author, 2014)