I have never done any martial arts, but as a human being definitely experience anger. You described so beautifully how delegating a concrete expression for anger in martial arts allows people to let it go. And that's a fascinating process: sitting in meditation, and then going out to fight, finishing it all with a bow.
Thank you, Shmuel! I like your term, a lot: "a concrete expression for anger". That sums it up really well. I'm grateful to have you as such a thoughtful reader!
Aloha! You might enjoy adding Eugen Herrigel's ZEN IN THE ART OF ARCHERY to your reading list :-)
He writes that the purpose of training in Japan and Zen is to train the mind (or shin—Heart-Mind) rather than gaining specific technical skill. So in that way, if we're training in the "right" way, we should have ample opportunities to apply the lessons we've learned from a given martial art (not like having a hammer so everything looks like a nail).
Thanks for your kind words about my grasp of the martial arts. Expressing my kiai in a more refine and expert way, inside the Dojo and out, is something I'm still working on, though!
Beautiful post, thank you!
I have never done any martial arts, but as a human being definitely experience anger. You described so beautifully how delegating a concrete expression for anger in martial arts allows people to let it go. And that's a fascinating process: sitting in meditation, and then going out to fight, finishing it all with a bow.
Thank you, Shmuel! I like your term, a lot: "a concrete expression for anger". That sums it up really well. I'm grateful to have you as such a thoughtful reader!
Aloha! You might enjoy adding Eugen Herrigel's ZEN IN THE ART OF ARCHERY to your reading list :-)
He writes that the purpose of training in Japan and Zen is to train the mind (or shin—Heart-Mind) rather than gaining specific technical skill. So in that way, if we're training in the "right" way, we should have ample opportunities to apply the lessons we've learned from a given martial art (not like having a hammer so everything looks like a nail).
Thanks for your kind words about my grasp of the martial arts. Expressing my kiai in a more refine and expert way, inside the Dojo and out, is something I'm still working on, though!