Mindfulness Based Meditation and Martial arts

Mindfulness Based Meditation and Martial arts – A Discussion.

Mindfulness.......... the new buzz word to promote emotional health, life style balancing and stress management at home and work.  So what is it all about? Psycho- mumbo-jumbo dressing up old approaches to sound better or is there really something to it – and does it apply to martial arts?

Modern life has caused us to become blasé over small things, most people being caught up in the rat race, trying to catch up with yesterday’s deadlines and rushing to be ahead of tomorrow – very seldom being present today and paying attention to what is happening from moment to moment. The automatic nature of our doing minds taking us away all the time, as explained by the founder of Mindfulness – Jon Kabat –Zinn.

 “Wherever you go; there you are” (Jon Kabat-Zinn, 1994).

Whatever we do in any given moment in time is what we are doing…. Whatever we are thinking is what we are thinking…… whatever we are feeling is what we are feeling.  Unfortunately we often fall in automatic pilot mode when we go about our daily activities and in the end loose valuable moments of experience and learning. We often assume (incorrectly) that what we are thinking and feeling is fact while often it just isn’t. We call it mindlessness traps (Kabat-Zinn, 1994).

Mindfulness is thus:

Ø  Paying attention in a specific way – on purpose, in the present moment and non-judgementally. 

Ø  A meditative approach with formal and informal practices,

Ø  Direct awareness and experiencing every moment as it is without trying to change the actual experience,

Ø  Being your own best friend,

Ø  Mindfulness is thus awareness and experiencing every moment as it is without trying to change the actual experience – accepting it as it happens. Being your own best friend and living your life as it is happening now, not in the future and not in the past.

Key Concepts:

Ø  Awareness of the present moment

Ø  Non-judgemental attitude

Ø  Self-acceptance and compassion towards self

Ø  Breath as an anchor.

Ø  Practice and Commitment

Does mindfulness apply to martial arts?

By practicing the art of Karate Ai-Do karate ka is already practicing Mindfulness by developing conscious and unconscious awareness.

For example:

Doing standing and moving basics repeatedly we cement our practice to ensure an automatic response to threat.  We step out of our “automatic” state of unawareness into a state of awareness e.g. state of Zanchen to be able to react instinctively to danger and threat.

While Kumite and Randori create states of hyper awareness by being ultra- alert to the “imminent attack” and defending oneself appropriately, Kata is the ultimate state of mindfulness in martial arts – being aware of every single movement of the body, totally tuned in with kata application. The subtleties of Kata create a state of awareness that triumphs all. The formal practice of Kata “Tempers the Sword” (quoted: Sensei Johann van Tonder), and prepares the karate ka to react without thinking which may sound paradoxical but achieves exactly what mindfulness strives for – automatic awareness at all times.

By doing Kata the karate ka develop the mindfulness  “being mode”, the ability to pause, reflect, think and choose how to respond by evaluating every situation on its own merits in a split second with a controlled assertive response;  stepping out of the “doing” mode where one reacts emotionally with a knee-jerk reaction without assessing the situation properly.

By practicing the art of Karate- Ai- Do I developed my practice of mindfulness before I even knew it existed. When I was introduced to Mindfulness practice as part of my job I was astounded by the similarities of the principles of Karate-Ai-Do and the mindfulness approaches.

The Seven Pillars of Mindfulness

1.    Non-judging

• We constantly judge our experiences and react to our perception to it – people and events are judged as good – if they make us feel good or bad – if the make us feel bad.
• The rest we judge as neutral as we have no emotional response to it.

By being mindful we become aware of automatic judgements and  intentionally take the stance as an objective observer – an impartial witness who just watch and observe.

In practicing karate we place emphasis on training despite obstacles, to “just practice” the process of learning will take care of itself – not judging  whether we had a “good or bad” training session but to keep on training – the importance is that we trained – the process of training add to personal self growth and tempering the karate ka to overcome personal obstacles.

2.   Patience

Ø  Whatever comes up for you is what is happening now and it is important not to rush through the experience to get to better ones.

Ø  Each experience is in your life at this moment and it is important to experience it.

Ø  Be completely open to each experience in each moment.

Ø  Learning mindfulness is a process, it is important to be patient and allow the learning to take place.

The learning in Karate is a process. The karate ka learn patience by doing basics over and over again, doing Kata 10 000 times and waiting and preparing for grading. At times patience is the biggest learning curve especially while waiting for 1^st Dan grading. Once again it is the process of learning that takes place on subconscious level that is the karate ka needs to allow without trying to force it.

3.    Beginners’ Mind

Ø  Being willing to see everything for the first time, free you from any expectations and just enjoy the moment, be open to new possibilities, realising that no moment is the same.

Ø  Prevents one from getting stuck in a rut.

A big test while doing basics and Kata over and over again while training – especially when wanting to get on with the new and exciting senior kata just learned. Having a beginners mind EVERY time we punch, move or do kata Heian is a huge challenge. Once again this may be seem as a paradox as in karate  we work towards a deep state of awareness that becomes so automatic that we do it automatically – a state of unconscious awareness. This does not imply unawareness but that a state of Zanchen has been achieved and it is there at all times.

4.    Trust

Ø  By doing mindfulness you develop a basic trust in yourself and your body.

Ø  You take responsibility for yourself.

Ø  The more you develop trust in yourself, the more you’ll be able to develop trust in other people.

By doing the art of Karate we learn what our bodies are capable of and what our personal limitations are. We develop a trust in our bodies and our responses which develops a quiet sense of confidence and self worth.

5.    Non-striving

Ø  In modern life everything we do is linked to achieving a purpose,

Ø  which feeds into the habit of rushing,

Ø  This undermines the cultivation of mindfulness as mindfulness is about non-doing,

Ø  It is simply about paying attention to one-self – to whatever there is at THIS moment in time,

Ø  Just allow whatever is present for you at this moment to be here.

Another pillar that seems to be paradoxical to the principles of Karate-Ai-Do as we “we have a never-ending quest for perfection” (Funokashi, 1975).

Ultimately by doing karate we strive to be present in every moment, to step out of the automatic mind and to be just be – confident that the state of Zanchen will trigger the appropriate response.

6.    Acceptance

Ø  Seeing things as they actually are

Ø  It does not mean that everything will be a positive experience or be ‘nice’,

Ø  It just means that whatever is…is,

Ø  Try not to have any ideas of how things should be,

Ø  Be open and receptive to whatever arises for you,

AND

7.    Letting go

Ø  There are certain thoughts and feelings that the mind want to hold on to ,

Ø  Pleasant thoughts we hang on to

Ø  Unpleasant thoughts we push away,

Ø  When thoughts about the past or future comes up for you – acknowledge it and let it go – let things be as they are and accepting things as they are.

Ultimately by practicing karate we learn to let things be, to accept experiences and detach from evaluations and judgements. That whatever is...is. Emotional responses become more regulated and karate-ka often portrays a level of maturity beyond their years. Karate-ka who achieves this level often has an aura of calmness and control. It is easier to let go of trivial matters and accept others as they are. More emphasis is placed on being in the moment and making the best of each moment as they are.

Research and Applications

A lot of theoretical research has been done to satisfy the westerner’s need to have a scientific evidence based explanation for mindfulness as a therapeutic approach.

Ø  MBSR – Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction – the initial application of mindfulness for chronic pain management in cancer and HIV.

Ø  MBCT – Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy – research done in Mindfulness to prevent relapse in Depression  – (Segal, Williams and Teasdale, 2001)

Ø  ACT - Acceptance and Commitment Therapy – (Hayes et al, 1999)

Ø  DBT – Dialectical Behaviour Therapy – (Lenihan, 1993)

Ø  Part of the ‘Third wave of Psychotherapy’ and is being researched for various applications e.g. Eating Disorders, Anxiety management, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, Autism spectrum disorders etc.

Conclusion:

Introduced to meditation when I started my karate training opened a whole new world for me. I’ve used formal and informal practices of meditation for the last 20 years, not fully understanding what I was doing but yet benefiting from the mediation by reaching silence and calmness.

Mindfulness helps me to step out of habitual patterns of thinking and behaviour, to stop and smell the roses, appreciate a bird in flight and to be passionate and excited about life. To be curious and interested in every day life events – to keep relationships alive and prevent boredom from settling in. To be aware at all times, not judge myself or other.

Mindfulness Tips for everyday living

Saki F. Santorelli

It is often a struggle to bring moment-to-moment awareness into everyday living, especially if we are busy and stressed out.

These tips are ways to bring connectedness into our lives form the moment we wake up until we go to bed at night. These are only tips and it would be useful to find your own way of dealing with it. Even though it might seem simple it is important to notice that pebbles form a mountain and every time you take a moment will help you to be present and connected.

Each of the tips are preventative – strengthening your stress immunity and aiding you in recovery.

1. Take 5 minutes in the morning to be quiet or to meditate, just being with yourself, watching the clouds, having a quiet cup of coffee.
2. While your car is warming up – take note of your breath.
3. While driving become aware of body tensions; hand wrapped around steering wheel tightly, shoulders tense…etc.
4. Decide not to play the radio and listen to your own sound.
5. Go 5 miles below the speed limit.
6. Take a moment to orientate yourself to work life on arrival in the parking area.
7. While at your desk pay attention to your body.
8. At least once an hour take note of your breath – stop for at least three minutes. Allowing the mind to settle and regroup.
9. Use your breaks to completely relax instead of pausing – instead of having a coffee at your desk, get up and take a short walk.
10. If possible change your environment during lunch breaks.
11. Choose to eat two or three lunches a week in silence. Eat slowly and just appreciate the moment to be by yourself.
12. Before you answer the telephone – take three breaths and keep your voice tone down.
13. At the end of the workday – notice rushing, slow yourself down; take note of what is happening around you.
14. On arrival home – take a moment to just arrive home – orientating you to the different role of being at home.
15. Try to change out of work clothes when coming home; take a moment to look into each of your family members eyes as you greet them. If possible take five minutes to be quiet and still.

Debbie van Tonder

2^nd Dan Karate-Ai-Do

References

Funokashi, Gishin (1975), Karate-Do, My Way of Life, Kodansha Internatiol ltd, Japan.

Kabat-Zinn, J, 1990, Full Catastrophe Living, How to cope with stress, pain and illness using mindfulness meditation, 15^th anniversary edition, Piatkus, UK.

Kabat-Zinn, J. 1994, Wherever You Go, There You Are. Mindfulness Meditation for Everyday Life, Hyperion: New York.

Williams, M. Teasdale, J. Segal, Z. Kabat-Zinn, J. 2007, The Mindful Way Through Depression, Freeing yourself from chronic unhappiness,  The Guilford press, London.

Segal, Z.V. Williams, J.M.G, Teasdale, J.D. 2002, Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy for Depression, A new approach in preventing relapse, The Guilford press, London.