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referring to martial arts as spiritual journal journey

Tue, 09/14/2010 - 08:15
mania's picture
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having been involved with traditional martial arts in the past i have heard a lot references to the "great journey" or the "spiritual path". i understand the whole zen thing and meditation, etc. been there done that.

but why when martial arts, traditional included, have evolved so much, do people still talk about the transcendental aspects. granted you are growing and developing skills but i feel like it hinders things a little to be distracted by the new age, esoteric aspect. can we discuss this a little?

if you cant beat them, arrange to have them beaten.
-george carlin

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Tue, 09/14/2010 - 11:42
#1
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i think its just part of the "art" in some martial arts.

-Jimmy

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Thu, 10/07/2010 - 07:26
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I think meditation was created as an excuse to get some ZZZ's after a hard day of training. Its a cover for a cat-nap LOL!

I guess looking at martial arts as a spiritual journey isnt too far fetched. I mean I have never been into the whole zen thing but there are some similiarities in my experience. Wrestling in highschool got me into shape and gave me confidence in myself when beforehand I was overweight and unhappy as a young teen. And now, training in MMA is my passion, it makes me happy, keeps me in shape, gives me confidence and acts as a scapegoat whenever I need to relive some stress. Not sure if my experience can be viewed as a spiritual journey or whatever but it has shaped who I am.

-Adam Mays "Courage is endurance for one moment more" "If size mattered, the elephant would be the king of the jungle." FREESTYLE AMERICAN SHOOT TEAM Thanks to eagles for the sig!

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Thu, 10/07/2010 - 09:11
#3
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I don't understand it either. Grappling is my meditation, the way I center myself.

I think one of the reasons why I love grappling so much is because it forces me to exist in the moment. I'm the sort of guy who over thinks and rethinks everything. So to be put in a situation where I only have enough time to just be in the moment is a refreshing change of pace. It's the same reason why I relax with a drink or two from time to time.

Alcohol slows down the mind only allowing time for the ID to function where as grappling accelerates your surroundings to such a degree that only your muscle memory and reactive thought can save you.

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Thu, 10/07/2010 - 09:38
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I think theft is the most damaging to the warrior spirit.

And this:

http://www.lockflow.com/forum/topic/mark-hatmaker#comment-409359

Grandmaster Red Belt in P(C)JJ

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Thu, 10/07/2010 - 09:46
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I think teaching a little bit of philosophy or meditation would actually be good, maybe it would help weed out some of the egotistical assholes by which my martial arts experience was covered.

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Thu, 10/07/2010 - 12:55
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I agree with Taurus Climber. The first school I trained in was a bit heavier in this aspect. One thing my instructor used to say is that training your body is useless if you dont train your mind and spirit as well. I liked it, thought it was pretty cool. A lot of it has to do with simply clearing your mind. The best example I can think of is from The Last Samurai, when Tom Cruise keeps getting destroyed in sparring and his mentor tells him "no mind" and the 2 have a stalemate.

I still enjoy going through a bunch of my old katas, they clear my head and it focuses me. But I dont think it hinders training in any way, I'm not really sure how it could. Maybe I'm just misunderstanding the post, but if one was to train in some form of martial art, and there were a lot of "spiritual" aspects involved in that art, are you saying that would effect their ability to learn a roundhouse kick? If you go back to the origins of martial arts, they were often tied in very closely with religion, which I believe is where a lot of the spiritual aspects are derived from. Every martial artist has a journey/path, its just a matter of how you look at it. I think the way one looks at it also has a lot to do with what they train in as well.

I honestly dont know if I'm on topic, but there's my 2 cents on the issue lol.

-Jimmy

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