By: Jason Kraus
Let us continue our examination of 黙想 as a personal development tool.
The following two techniques may be a bit esoteric, but they are neither New Age mysticism nor supernatural magic. They may not even be necessary to the development of good karate waza.
Instead, they are both conscious efforts to discover and develop direct, nuanced experience of your mind and body and their connection to each other.
This may not help you in a fight – either kumite and self-defense – but may give you better understanding of this space you inhabit.
Once we are comfortable with our seiza posture (rooted and poised) and our breath (measured and calm), let’s consider exploring new depths in our consciousness.
Exploring 黙想more deeply requires visualization – which is at the root of success in life and in karate and really everything and is worthy of its own study – but just accept that much of what comes next originates with your mind.
First, we dive within. Quiet your mind (box breathing is perfect for this) and seek out your heartbeat. Feel it.
The discovery of that feeling may not originate in your chest. Instead, you may feel it as a pulse in your throat. A thrum in your brow. A throb across your skin. If you are having trouble, do this shortly after a period of high physical exertion, when your heart is really thumping.
Pay close attention to how your body feels as your blood circulates. Your heart pushes blood outward to your extremities and pulls it from there back to itself.
Can you feel your heart beat?
Can you hear blood roar?
Is it one strong beat?
Or does it become two smaller ones, close together?
Dwell here as long as you can, deeply connecting to one of the fundamental processes of your physical existence.
When focusing deeply like this, time may dilate a bit. You may lose track of it and the call of “Yame!” may come as a surprise.
That’s fine.
You did good.
Now that we have dived inward, let’s try to expand outward. With each inhale, visualize drawing your immediate environment toward you. Imagine each inhalation filled with all the space around you, like a bubble collapsing with you at its center.
If you are in a dojo, breathe in the dojo. If you are in a field, breath in everything under the sky. Then with each exhalation, spread your consciousness outward to fill all the space around you. Expand your bubble.
Relax what you think of as the limits of your physicality. You are the dojo. You are the field.
If you are in a group, try to feel the presence of those beside you and around you. Hear them breathe. Feel the heat of them. Visualize expanding your edges outward to incorporate it all.
Again, time may get squishy here. That’s perfectly ok. You are playing with the control panel of your consciousness. Enjoy it.
As stated earlier, these two methods do not offer any special abilities or super powers, unless you consider greater control of your mind and body a super power…. which it actually may be.
Good luck.
Jason Kraus is a lifelong martial artist. Jason spent decades in various martial arts including traveling to and living in both Japan and Korea. He has most recently returned to his first love, Shotokan Karate.
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