Karate, Zen, and Humidity as One

As I've written previously, Sensei Nagamine talked a lot about Ken Zen Ichi Nyo — Karate and Zen as one — and how karate is only effective if we are engaging with it mindfully and intellectually.

 

In spring and summer, with pollen flying around, the temperatures climbing, and humidity spiking, karate offers an opportunity to cultivate awareness of our bodies, to practice how to be uncomfortable but still get things done, and to deal with distractions without getting sidetracked. In short, we have an opportunity to apply his ideas to our practice in a way that can help us get stronger mentally as well as physically.

 

In Zen meditation, you’re not supposed to daydream or let your thoughts run away with you. Thus, one of the things people learn, when they learn to meditate, is how to acknowledge having a thought and then to letting it go without fixating on it. So when we have itchy eyes, or sweat running into our face, or a gi that is uncomfortably damp? This is a time to practice saying, “Yep, that’s annoying, but I’m here to practice karate and that’s what I’m focusing on.” We don’t complain (audibly anyway) about a difficult exercise, we don’t take water breaks, and we don’t wander off the deck to sit down. We keep going. 

 

Sensei Carvalho and Schwab have both talked in their classes about “learning to be uncomfortable”. This is one of the ways in which we can practice this skill, and make no mistake, it is a skill — when people talk about cultivating resiliency, this is what they mean. As we become habituated to practice in hot weather, the annoying things become less so in our minds.

 

That said, we’re also here to cultivate an awareness of our body to help us train safely. One of the things we learn is how to calibrate our efforts to stay on the right side of the line between hard work and going overboard. Working up a good sweat and leaving the deck tired is great; going until you faint or get sick is counterproductive.

 

Please hydrate and eat well throughout the day so that you have the reserves to work hard during class. When you are working out, stay aware of how you’re feeling. Judge when you can crank up the effort, and when you might need to dial it back a hair. Hopefully this never happens to you, but if you feel lightheaded or sick, bow out and step off the deck. If you recover enough to rejoin after a few minutes, step back in. If you need to step off a second time, you’re done for the day.