Zen and the Art of Kicking People In The Head

[sharplittleteeth]

I've been doing a little bit of reading about Zen and martial arts. And I came across this quote:

"You must concentrate upon and consecrate yourself wholly to each day, as though a fire were raging in your hair."
- Taisen Deshimaru

I found the quote here: Zen in the Martial Arts.

I don't really know a lot about Zen, but it's always amused me that it's a philosophical practice for both swordfighters and painters.

One of the principles behind Zen is that you don't think, you just Be. Or as Morpheus put it in the Matrix: "Stop trying to hit me, and hit me."

Thinking about an action, analysing it using the conscious mind, can introduce all sorts of doubts and hesitations. If you try to hit someone, you hesitate, and you miss. But if you just hit them, you bypass the analytical conscious mind and the 'subconscious' systems take control. The action seems to flow spontaneously.

John Lennon said he didn't write his best songs, they just came to him*. That's the aim of Zen.

Meditation teaches us to turn off the conscious mind, to allow the deeper lever to take control.

Which is all fine and well, provided these deeper levels know what they are doing.

And that is why we train. First we train with our conscious minds, learning the techniques, correcting them, repeating them so that they are stamped into our subconscious. Then we disengage, and let our "instincts" take over.

I put instincts in quotes because the word carries connotations of "natural' or "innate", and neither of those are true. Our instincts are learnt. They only feel natural or innate because they bypass our conscious reasoning.

First you train. Then you forget.

I can't remember where I heard that quote from. I think it was one of my Tai Chi instructors. First you train, programming your instincts. Then you forget, disengaging the conscious mind and letting the subconscious systems take control.

For an artist, this means free, spontaneous brushwork.

For a sword fighter, it means you act fast, and (literally) keep your head.


* I'm paraphrasing from memory here.

Comments

[http://users.livejournal.com/_ryn/]

Our instincts are learnt.

*uncontrollable twitching*

[sharplittlteeth.livejournal.com]

You disagree?

I was talking specifically in a martial arts context, but I think it applies more broadly.

[http://users.livejournal.com/_ryn/]

An "instinct" is what makes a shark eat fish or a bird build a nest or a person duck when they hear a loud noise. They are something that can only ever be unlearned. Something that's learned, however innate and automatic it becomes, is only ever a skill.

[scoia.livejournal.com]

Actually, re-reading the post, I agree in the context of learnt arts- you couldn't possibly keep in the forefront of your mind all the small things in your diving training that make for a successful dive- you learn them, drill yourself in them, then they become second hand "instincts" under certain situations.

Instinct possibly bad term, but roughly accurate.

Otherwise, you go crazy like, quickly.

[http://users.livejournal.com/_ryn/]

See above. I get annoyed when people misappropriate sciencey words. My favourite is "chemicals".

[sharplittlteeth.livejournal.com]

"Habits" is probably a more accurate word. But using "instincts" in this manner is common usage. It just feels more appropriate, since we're trying to make these behaviours second nature.

If it makes you feel better, just assume it's a specialist technical usage.

After all, Psychologists didn't define what they meant by the term until 1960.

[strang-er.livejournal.com]

I read an interesting article last week that framed this idea in terms of left and right brain function. The basic contention was that one or other side of the brain is dominant at any given time, while the other is diminished in function. So, if the left brain, dealing with analytical thinking, language, logic etc is firing away, right brain functions like spacial awareness, movement, reading non-verbal signals etc will be inhibited. That seems a pretty logical way to look at concepts like mushin/zanshin and "act don't react".

It also makes a lot of sense of the way i've noticed that my constantly chattering internal monologue leaves me walking along oblivious to the world, and why it's important to learn to shut that 'monkey mind' the hell up once in a while.

[scoia.livejournal.com]

For an artist, this means free, spontaneous brushwork.

Hmm. Not entirely agreed here. More like, a level of abstract concentration where you reach an automatic level of confidence and assurance (in whatever you're attempting, not just photorealism) where the immaterial is made material in a focused and precise fashion.

Possibly ending with what looks spontaneous, but is very far from it. Maybe we mean the same things, but that ability to disassociate from your immediate surroundings while remaining infatigably focused...anywho, rambling.

Book sounds ace :P

[jan-event.livejournal.com]

I can't remember the name for it, but there are certain things we learn that have a tipping point from "i don't know" to "how did I ever not know".

For example, riding a bike. I don't really remember learning, but I remember it being difficult. Nothing could be simpler now.

An example I do remember - and one that is used a lot - is learning the stick point of a clutch. When I was learning to ride a motorbike this caused me no end of frustration and now I really do wonder what was so hard.

Martial arts is like that. I watch a fair bit of UFC and the speed at which some of the fighters react is uncanny. There is obviously no (conscious) thought involved, just an if/then sequence in the brain. If opponent does X, my body does Y.

Something related: my housemates left a pull up bar in the doorway of the kitchen and I learned to duck under it. I hit myself sometimes, but not often. Then I clocked myself a really good one and decided to take the bar down. I still catch myself ducking, even though I know there is nothing there; I see the empty space yet my body still ducks.