Likes Likes:  0
Page 2 of 2 FirstFirst 1 2
Results 16 to 22 of 22

Thread: Fudoshin

  1. #16
    Join Date
    Jan 2005
    Location
    NE Lincs United Kingdom
    Posts
    299
    Likes (received)
    0

    Default

    Hi Damien, All the best for the New Year.

    I don't know what discipline you study however, I found study of Nihonto a very good way of developing high levels of concentration, that said, any form of kata based study where you are not directly influenced by others has pretty much the same effect providing you put the same level of commitment into its practice.

    I study and teach Aikikai aikido and stress the importance of fudoshin and the avoidance of suki. Budo is a struggle of the mind and the physical self thus, having a relaxed mind in co-ordination with a relaxed body has helped me enormously to leave the pressures of the normal day outside the dojo.

    I have found three specific aspects help to develop a good mindset

    1: Mokuso - a good period of time before practice
    2: Kata - repeating and re-repeating
    3: Juwaza - a minimum of three man randori

    Kind regards

  2. #17
    Musha Guest

    Default

    I'm not sure what Fudo shin is my self. Fudo is a Buddhist warrior god. I guess fudo shin is the spirit of this god who is unmovable.

    The way to calm your mind is endless kata and suburi. Kata and suburi can become meditation if done correctly, meditation is the calming of the mind so meditation in action is the key to a still mind in kendo. Here is a story of Omori shogen a Buddhist priest who practiced the martial arts.

    At age 25, after twenty days of preparation in a secluded mountain temple, Omori Roshi and Onishi Hidetaka began the hyappon keiko, the grueling practice of doing the Hojo a hundred times a day for seven days. Omori Roshi recounts:

    We got up at four in the morning, went down the mountain, and bathed in a river. Before breakfast we did the Hojo fifteen times. After that we rested a while then practiced thirty more times. After lunch we rested and did the Hojo fifty-five more times until dusk. We did zazen in the evenings.

    By the third day I could shout more loudly and powerfully during practice, but my voice was so hoarse I could not speak at all. At night my body was so hot that I could not sleep. Food would not go down my throat; I had only water and raw eggs. My urine was the color of blood. The arms that held the wooden sword could not be raised. We were resigned to death. I could not go before Yamada Sensei and say, "I failed." Onishi and I got out our notes and letters and burned them all as we prepared to die.

    On the fourth day a strange thing happened. The same arms that had difficulty in even holding the wooden sword went smoothly up over my head. As my arms went down, I felt a strength that was not physical coming out of both arms. It felt as if this downward cut extended to the other end of the world.

    In this manner, for seven days, we practiced the Hojo a hundred times daily. After the seven days, Yamada Sensei praised me saying, "This is the Muso (No-thought) Style." I was able to cultivate mental strength entirely because of this Hojo.

    Eric Hewitt

  3. #18
    Join Date
    Oct 2002
    Location
    West Midlands, UK
    Posts
    13
    Likes (received)
    0

    Default Fudoshin

    Damien. IMHO Kukomi's advice is very sound indeed.

    Go to a man who knows (yes, easier said than done).

    Don't read books - they can point you in many different directions and without an experienced teacher who has already 'trodden the path' before you, for lack of better words, you may pursue a course that will take you father and father off track. Fudoshin is something experiential - it cannot be found in a book and reasoned mentally. The more you grasp, the less you receive.

    Meditate (again directed by a man who knows).

    I hope this aids you in your quest.

  4. #19
    Join Date
    Oct 2000
    Location
    Leicester England
    Posts
    168
    Likes (received)
    0

    Default simple - yet difficult

    Never give up - it is so easy, so simple. Do not ever give up!

    Unfortunately there are much easier things to do than "never give up" and we instinctively resort to those paths.

    practise (at least) Never giving up.



    So simple


    so hard
    Simon

    www.kanojiujitsu.co.uk



    Dog barks at the moon
    so much noise without meaning
    why do I listen?

  5. #20
    Join Date
    Aug 2001
    Location
    California
    Posts
    359
    Likes (received)
    0

    Default

    In over twenty years of martial arts practice I have met very few individuals who have fudoshin. Some of them may have an incredible ability to be in "the zone", but very few people are able to take this into their daily lives. Same thing goes for navel contemplaters (unless they practiced in conditions of REAL durress, like under threat of persecution and death). But take a look at your average beat cop, or career soldier, and you will see fudoshin. These are folks who look life in the eye, put their feelings aside and do what has to be done.

    If you are going to read, I would suggest starting with Col. Dave Grossman's books (On Killing; On Combat). Or maybe Bruce Siddle's books. There are effective ways to achieve things like "stress inoculation" without putting life and limb on the line.

    I would also like to note that reading through the other replies quite a number of people are confusing fudoshin with mushin. I have met plenty of empty minds over the years
    Best regards,
    Bruce Mitchell

  6. #21
    Join Date
    Jul 2006
    Location
    Colchester,Essex, UK
    Posts
    881
    Likes (received)
    1

    Default

    My opinion for what it is worth is that fudoshin is a state of mind achieved after many, many years of practice, but not a visual goal that you aim for at a specific level.

    It is a spiritual thing, totally calm and determined that lets you face your opponent with extreme courage but without going crazy. This is a state that some martial artists (soldiers of war) achieve - a sort of state of grace, but probably only in moments of extreme trauma and danger.

    I would like to know more about fudoshin. I think I have experienced it from time to time but I cant call it up at will.

    Osu
    Trevor Gilbert
    ("If I had to select one quality, one personal characteristic that I regard as being most highly correlated with success, whatever the field, I would pick the trait of persistence. Determination. The will to endure to the end, to get knocked down seventy times and get up off the floor saying "Here goes number seventy-one" - Richard M. DeVos)

  7. #22
    Join Date
    May 2000
    Location
    Blue Ridge, Texas
    Posts
    2,000
    Likes (received)
    125

    Default

    It seems to me that there are a number of differing ideas about just what constitutes fudoshin. One of the best articles I've read discussing just what fudoshin should be, was written a while back by Stephen Fabian for Furyu ... http://www.furyu.com/archives/issue9/fudoshin.html

    That is the model that I strive for.
    Paul Smith
    "Always keep the sharp side and the pointy end between you and your opponent"

Page 2 of 2 FirstFirst 1 2

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •