life change from Budo

[sepai 85]

Did anyone on e-budo have a life changing experience through there budo training ? Whether the change be physical, mental or spirtual does not matter and if you so desire to share that expereince with the rest of the e-budo community then that would be just dandy.

yours in shugyo/budo

[mech]

I cant say I ve changed at all, But to realise that how fragile the psyche, the emotional balance and the human body is sumarizes what I have learned.

Manuel Chiquito Anderson
MECHA
Caracas, Venezuela

[Andy Watson]

I'm not sure it falls under the definition of life-changing experience but something very unusual happened to me through the martial arts once.

While I was living in Chiba, Japan and training in jodo and iai there were occasional weekend courses or gasshuku held near the sea at Kujukuri. These were basically organised p1ss-ups for everyone. We would stay and train at a sports complex and stay the night there where there would also be traditional Japanese hotel lodgings. We would all have dinner on the Saturday night together in a big hall and then get absolutely blotto and sing karaoke etc.

I was sharing a tatami-style room with four of my instructors and I awoke in the early hours of the morning feeling warm and snug in my futon and hearing the light snores of the teachers aroung me. And there I was feeling all snug and warm and comfy and lovely and then I pee'd meself!!! Something just happened and for the first time in twenty two years I lost bladder control. I quietly rushed off to the bathroom and cleaned myself up and returned to bed hoping not to wake anyone. Happily this has not happened since but it always makes me giggle...

ANDY WATSON...EXPONENT OF TRADITIONAL WARRIOR ARTS OF JAPAN...FOLLOWER OF AN ANCIENT TRADITION...OCCASIONALLY INCONTINENT

[mech]

Real ej. I take time to exchange ideas with a high ranked sensei on striking arts, does he takes time to realise how weak he is and how quikly he can die? No, he just talk about how hard he strikes, how high his double kicks are, how dangerous can be in a real situation and how many seconds takes to maim an opponent. "The only change" I see here is that he has become a dangerous human being.

mech
manuel anderson

[sepai 85]

urinating in your pants well your in the room with several high ranking sensei's ! Oh man that must have sucked royal. Anyways yes Gushuko can be considered life changing experiences because they are misogi (spirit purification).

yours in shugyo/budo

[Andy Watson]

Certainly spirit purification is what went on with these judging by the amount of beer, sake, whisky and shochu drunk at these things.

Not sure about misogi but that morning I thought I was wearing a mizugi!!!

(Boo, get off! :( )

[Budoka 34]

One of the coolest feelings I've ever had was while running kata. Our Sensei has us running Taikyoku with our eyes closed.
"Keep together!, feel the movement of those around you!" he would say.

I thought he was just trying to teach us timing. After about the 20th time I suddenly felt like I was surrounded! I could feel the people around me tense/relax and move. It lasted for about three runs of the kata. It was a great feeling!

That was four years ago and I have not been able to recover that "awareness" since. Anyway, not life changing, but cool none the less.;)

:smilejapa

[sepai 85]

budoka 34 ?
I believe what you are describing is called zanchin it is very hard to explain but I will atempt to. Zanchin is a mental state of total awarness per say in the sense that your aware of even the smallest details around you.

[kaishaku]

Originally posted by sepai 85
budoka 34 ?
I believe what you are describing is called zanchin it is very hard to explain but I will atempt to. Zanchin is a mental state of total awarness per say in the sense that your aware of even the smallest details around you.

Actually, "zanshin" is more closely translated as "lingering awareness", zan meaning to remain and shin meaning heart ,mind or spirit.

The concept of "nen" which has a more literal translation of "wish, sense, idea, thought, feeling, desire, attention" is a possibly more accurate interpretation for what was described above. The kanji for nen comprises two radicals, "kon" meaning now and the other "shin" meaning heart, mind or spirit. In terms of martial arts, it can connote an "awareness of the moment" much like "kan" which is perception. The common element in all of these "shin." Perhaps Budoka 34 reached a momentary plateau where he achieved "mushin", mu meaning nothingness.

As always, just my opinion.

Frederick D. Smith

[Budoka 34]

I am aware of Zanshin(remaining mind), and most people who know me say I live in a state of Mushin(no/empty)mind.:D

I have to say that I think this was closer to Nen or Mushin, only because it was less cognative, and more an emotional feeling or sense.


:smilejapa

[sepai 85]

Sensei smith
very nice to meet you. How was your trip to Italy for the symposium with Yamanaka shihan ?

yours in shugyo/budo

[kaishaku]

The trip was excellent, although it was a working trip for myself and Yamanaka Sensei. That said, I wish I was still on the gondola in Venice (that was the "pleasure" part). Yamanaka Sensei has returned to Europe for several weeks to teach at ome of our schools there - it's always work for him, although a labour of love.

There may be photos posted of the trip. If you are interested, try:

www.ykkf.com

and/or

www.ykkf.org

Best Regards

Frederick D. Smith

[sepai 85]

I have seen the photos and they are very nice. I train under sensei Mike and Laura Sywyk in Ottawa.

yours in shugyo/budo

[Markaso]

Mr. Wallace

Went through a state of something when I was going through my Shodan( 1st degree ) test for my Dojo. I was not sure as to what I went through but after talking to many and most all came to the same conclusion I went through a state of mushin. whether it was a state of mind, body or spirit and or all three I could not tell you. But it is something that I will never forget as I was aware of my all.

[sepai 85]

Hai
Mushin and zanchin are both very important aspects to strive for in your budo training

yours in shugyo

[Joseph Svinth]

I used to have no debt and money in the bank. Then I discovered budo. Now I have credit cards.

[sepai 85]

alright thats intresting any other stories dont be afraid to speak up.

[Fitolandia]

Well... Let me introduce myself, my name is Gabriel, i´m 20 years old and i live in Argentina, so jeje, excuse me if my english is very uhm rusty but i speak spanish... i´ve done martial arts since i was a kid, but when i entered high school and that stuff i just quit it... let´s say that bad friends and bad mentality from my part led me to bad habits of drugs... i was just killing myself ´cuz of different reasons... it was an old friend of mine who came and told me to stop, that i needed to train again, because i wasn´t going to last too much if i kept with that... after a few situations (a friend of mine died of overdose) i started again, and it was hard, but through training with my sensei and my partners (now my friends)i was able to leave all that...

Gabriel Castillo