All Forums  Ninpo  Meditation  Meditation

Note: You must be registered in order to post a reply.
To register, click here. Registration is FREE!

Screensize: 640 x 480 800 x 600 1024 x 768 1280 x 1024 UserName: Password: Enter Anti SPAM Code: Click here to refresh this page Format Mode: Basic  Help  Prompt  Format: Font Andale Mono Arial Arial Black Book Antiqua Century Gothic Comic Sans MS Courier New Georgia Impact Lucida Console Script MT Bold Stencil Tahoma Times New Roman Trebuchet MS Verdana   Size 1 2 3 4 5 6   Color Black Red Yellow Pink Green Orange Purple Blue Beige Brown Teal Navy Maroon LimeGreen Message Icon:                             Message: * HTML is OFF * Forum Code is ON Smilies [quote][i]Originally posted by PaulB[/i] [br]As with most forms of meditation, there are two general approaches you can take, The single-pointed approach, where (exactly as jon has described above) you focus intently on just what you are doing, and the Mu-shin (or No-mind) approach, where you focus on nothing at all, not even the technique, and simply allow yourself to move with no concious effort or intent. As Jon discussed, the first approach is the only one that will work when you are learning techniques. Mu-shin will only work in a martial sense when the principles are so deeply rooted in your being that you can trust your body to find its way without interfering, and for that you have to have practiced until they come naturally. The mu-shin approach is often more highly vaunted as a combative technique, as it is unrestrained by any fixed ideas, but you have to have progressed through the single-pointed approach for it to be of any use.. (read up on zen- this concept holds true whether you're talking about static mediation, martial arts or the art of making tea.....speaking of which, I'll have mine with one sugar thanks... ~@) ) So given that I'm just telling you that what jon said is best for your ninpo, and other than for the benefit of the higher grades, why did i just go through all that in order to answer your question? Well, for your ninpo tom, if you're going to bring a meditation aspect into techniques (which i actually would recommend you don't at this point)then it needs to be the single-pointed approach as you're just beginning to learn them, However, in your aikido, depending on how deeply the principles have been absorbed, you may want to start to play with the mu-shin side of things..... -------------------------- As a cautionary footnote, you also mentioned ki/energy work. There are things you can do with it, but they are just little tricks that come in much, much later. It should be a little something extra to help out, rather than forming a basic element of your taijutsu. The reason? If you believe in/feel energy (yes it is a belief, and there is no right or wrong answer as to whether it exists) then it can be affected by outside circumstances (look at taoist energy cycles). Consequently, if you feel it to be low, bad or non-existant at any point, your taijutsu goes down the toilet if you make it a root of what you do. A cautionary tale- About five years ago i went through a phase of being totally focused on energy stuff, and over time i grew to use it as the first port of call for all i did in training. I felt my trainings effectiveness sky rocket, and i was getting away with techniques that really shouldn't have worked. It was wonderful. I then went through a bad patch (one of those times when life kicks you in the danglies) and...... all of my training fell apart. Completely...because my underlying taijutsu, which the energy work had masked, was awful. I had not been paying enough attention to the real things that karle was doing, i'd just been using energy to make things work. Much humble pie was consumed and i set myself back on the longer, but infinately more reliable track of relying on material/real-world principles, rather than energy tricks. Angling, correct use of body weight and alignment, if all these things are there in your taijutsu then you can rely on them in your training through whatever- illness, depression, long-term infirmity, old age (look at hatsumi) even disability (some of the best bo staff work i ever saw was done by a young lady who'd lost a hand). However, the above are exactly the things in life that can detrimentally affect or even cripple your energy work. Paraphrasing the late Dr Morris, who was a bit of a martial arts guru for this stuff "chi should be your claws", never a basis of your training............ Hope that all helps! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ "Although we may be meeting for the first time, I accept everyone as a friend. In truth we already know one another, profoundly, as human beings who share the same goals: We all seek happiness and do not want suffering" -HH the Dalai Lama- [/quote]   Check here to include your profile signature.