Hi Al, I'm a Kyokushin karate practioner and have represented Australia (actually I'm Welsh, but it's a long story..) at the international level. I have found Zen to be indispensable when fighting in competitions. If you start worrying negatively about the outcome of the fight, or regret not training hard enough then by the time you get on the mat you'll have expended too much nervous energy and/or react too slow to your opponents strikes and kicks. In training the same Zen principles applies - the kick or punch you throw NOW is the most important kick or punch you will ever throw in your life so put 100% into it.
The outcome of this training is the development of mushin (or 'no mind') where the fear of losing and injury doesn't exist. The Japanese call this spirit 'Budo'. Any focus on 'Chi' is minimal or non-existent although that's not to say it doesn't exist. It's just that focusing on the mind/ego thru zazen is much more important and crucial to this development. I've often seen kung fu players performing intricate chi-type exercises before a competion and then come out and get their arses kicked by fighters who wouldn't know their chi if it jumped and bit them on their [EMAIL PROTECTED] Mike. ----- Original Message ---- From: Fitness63 <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: [email protected] Sent: Wednesday, 10 September, 2008 12:26:56 Subject: [Zen] JUDO By the way, I learned a lot from that old Judo instructor. He is a very nice guy and now he is in his 80s. I think that he felt that Judo and Zen were intertwined and that zen helped him focus his CHI to be better at Judo. I think that is why the samurai also were devoted to zen. It was not because they were atheists who believed in nothing. I would like to hear from those who have experience in Judo or other martial arts and whether or not you are aware of CHI and if it has any relationship to zazen in your experience.
