Anyone here practice zazen meditation and the martial arts?
My early karate days (Tani-ha Shito Ryu Shukokai Karate-do) involved a form, as does a koryu system I train in (as an unofficial study group), in both the instruction is limited. Essentially, there is a series of instructions (Seiza.... mokuso.... yame) and I was guided (in my karate days) to just sit there and meditate (?).
It was only many years later that I started to come to an understanding of exactly what I was really meant to be doing at that time; focusing internally, taking control of my body and mind, etc, and I gained that in no small part to the way we practice it in my schools today. For us, zazen starts each and every class, and is used to clear out the day we've had, prepare us for the class ahead, move energies (through guided visualisations) around, and more. These meditations are led by the instructor, and there are quite a few we use depending on the energy of the class in the beginning of the night.
We also use a deeper form of it for other personal development uses, again guided by the instructor, and geared towards specific goals,typically pertaining to the class at hand, although also geared towards improving the internal side of things (mental, emotional, spiritual, based on beliefs, values, behaviours, and methods of understanding and forming designed appraoches to life).
In the koryu system I use my methods from my regular classes to improve my koryu training. But that is done internally by myself for myself.
How has your sitting help with your movement, and vice versa?
Well, it hasn't really. My sitting hasn't helped my movement at all. My movement, on the other hand, has helped my movement quite a bit. My movement from a sitting position has helped my movement from a sitting position exponentially, for example. But sitting hasn't helped. At least, not in my movement. What it has helped in, though, is in my ability to push discomfort out of my mind (after being in seiza for a while), it has increased my awareness of the edges of my physical body (I become more aware of how far my arms are from my sides, for instance), and in other ways.
Have you learned to manage your anger and stress through zazen?
While I believe that that can be one of the benefits, it hasn't been related to that for me at all. For me it is more about focusing on the instant, becoming aware of what's really going on around me, and more. I don't believe that anger has any place in martial arts, so I don't involve it in the class, and that means that zazen has to be for other factors for me.
Do you think that meditation can be a help, or a hindrance to budo?
As I said, I use it to focus on the instant, the moment I am in, and as that is the essence of martial arts methods, then a help, absolutely! But it needs to be taught with the correct context. Just sitting there with your eyes closed does nothing, really, but a true meditation can have far-reaching benefits beyond even those mentioned here. In martial arts and more.
After all, how can one do no harm and practice killing at the same time?
Well, who says martial arts are about not doing harm? But if you want the philosophical answer, we simply need to look to Satsujinken and Katsujinken (the sword that takes life/kills, and the sword that gives life). The "bad" one is Satsujinken, as it is destructive, and will ultimately lead to the demise of it's wielder, whereas the Katsujinken is positive, being used for the betterment of people in general. It is used to destroy negativity and evil, and in doing so may "kill" some people, but the greater number will be saved by doing so. This concept was most famously associated with the Yagyu Shinkage Ryu and Yagyu Munetoshi, although the Katori Shinto Ryu also begins it's teachings with a similar concept "Heiho wa heiho nari (the ways of war [heiho] are the ways of peace [heiho - different kanji])", although they also teach that a fully trained student of their system should be able to cut anyone down with only a single stroke of their sword...
As to how you reconcile that within yourself, well that is up to the person. Jack Hoban (Bujinkan 15th Dan) has a great book on philosophy (Ninpo: Living and Thinking as a Warrior) in which he expresses his approach, taken from his training, experiences, and one of his mentors, Robert L. Humphrey. Part of his creed is "Wherever I go, people are a little bit safer because I am there". This, to me, succinctly expresses why I train. Not so much for my protection, but for those around me. I train so that if called upon, I can do what I need to do without hesitation. This has been called on more than a few times, not always in the sense of violent confrontations I might add.
My approach to martial arts and self defence training is not about doing no harm. I really have no problem "doing harm", provided of course the situation warrants it, or more accurately, demands it. My approach is that I and my friends/girlfriends/family/loved ones/whoever I happen to be out with have the right to have an uninterrupted night. And I train so that should those interruptions occur, I can minimise their impact on my life, and the lives of those around me. That's how I see it, anyway.
This is an open discussion. All are welcome.
