The Art of Mushin

The art of mushin is the concept commonly known as Zen Buddhism and taught in various martial arts. Such as Kendo (Kenjutsu), Kyudo (Kyujutsu), Judo (Jujutsu), Karate and Aikido. Mushin is a state of mind where pure mental clarity, is achieved by the control of one’s ego or limited self. In karate it commonly taught as a “empty mind “ or “mind without mind”. What this means is having a state of mind where the mind is not fixated or occupied by any thought or emotion. But in the sense that distractions, preoccupations, fears, worries, are absent from the mind, regardless if you are training in martial arts or going about your daily life.

BRUCE LEE’S FAMOUS QUOTE ABOUT MUSHIN

If you are a martial artist then you have probably have come across this quote by Bruce Lee. “Empty your mind, be formless. Shapeless like water. If you put water into a cup, it becomes the cup. You put water into a bottle and it becomes the bottle. You put it into a teapot, it becomes the teapot. Now water can flow or it can crash. Be water my friend.”

To me he is saying he means that we shouldn’t allow themselves to be trapped in a certain mindset. But instead, learning how to become more open-minded. We should be able to adapt to certain situations, grow, and change. That’s how you can adopt these qualities of water. This is the art of Mushin. 

THE MARTIAL ARTIST MINDSET

 

When most people start their martial art journey. They know absolutely nothing about martial arts and have no idea how to defend themselves. Let’s say a non martial artist is attacked on the street, they will react based only on their instincts. They don’t know what pre attack signs to watch out for.  If they get struck in the groin, you would naturally protect your groin. When you are hit in the face, your hands instinctively go up to protect your face. If choked, you would frantically grab your attacker’s arms and hands struggling to break free before you lost consciousness.

Once you slowly begin to become absorbed in your training. Suddenly your mind is filled with various techniques, strategies, and principles. Now when faced with a would be an attacker. You are more aware and will start assessing the attacker’s size, strength, and what the motive might be . Additionally, you will probably be aware of how you’re standing. Also what strategies you may use against the attacker in order to escape.

GROWING AS YOU PROGRESS IN YOUR TRAINING 

After you become a more advanced martial artist with years, or even decades of training. All your techniques, strategies and situational awareness will become a natural instinct. Now all those observations, assessments and premeditation are done by your subconscious.  Then you’ll be in the mushin state of mind. So what does this mean ? Now you will face any potential threat with a newfound clarity and calmness.  Letting your subconscious do all the fighting for you both physically and mentally. Everything is natural, timely and effortless.

HOW IS THE ART OF MUCHIN BENEFICIAL?

Just imagine how beneficial Mushin would be. From taking your final exams, nailing that difficult presentation at work or simply achieving your blackbelt. Letting your mental state of being free from distracting thoughts. While also to be able to perform to the best of your ability. This is because your mind is clear, calm, open and free of engagement, external factors. But also being completely engaged in the present moment. I have always stated in previous posts the importance of the mind-body connection.

Mushin is an important concept not only in martial arts. Because this state of mind allows martial artists to perform at their highest abilities. But also as we go about our daily lives. You’ll find is often referred to as “a state of flow”.  Where someone is fully engaged in a task, uninhibited by any mental clutter or self-consciousness. The aim of cultivating mushin or “the flow state”. Is by achieving a harmonious integration of mind, body, and spirit. That enables people to perform their best with clarity and focus.

HOW TO APPLY MUSHIN IN YOUR DAILY LIFE

Mushin isn’t just a concept for martial arts or meditation practices; it can be seamlessly integrated into your everyday life. By embodying the principles of Mushin to everything you do. You will soon experience a difference and benefits of how you interact with the world.

EMPOWER YOUR MIND ( THE ART OF MUSHIN)

• Meditation: Regular practicing meditation can help you develop a clearer, more focused mind. This helps in achieving Mushin by allowing you to be present in the moment. And react without the influence of negative thoughts.
• Breaking Free of Ego: Mushin involves detaching from your ego. This means not letting your personal feelings and dictate your reactions. It’s about responding to situations based on what is happening, not on how you feel about what is happening. You often de-escalate situations, without having to resort to getting physical.
• Practice in Difficult Environments : Start practicing Mushin in small, stressful scenarios. Let’s say, someone cuts you off in traffic, instead of getting frustrated, try to accept the situation and remain calm.

MORE TIPS ON ACHIEVING MUSHIN 

• Physical Activities: Engaging in physical activities, especially martial arts, can help in achieving Mushin. Martial arts requires you learn a high degree of focus in order keep your mind to stay present and react instinctively.
• Everyday Tasks: Try to perform your daily tasks with full attention and awareness. This practice of being fully present in mundane activities can help cultivate Mushin.
• Spontaneity: Mushin is about natural, spontaneous action. Try to reduce overthinking and allow yourself to act more spontaneously in daily life.
• Continuous Learning : Mushin is not something you achieve once and then you no longer need to practice.  It’s a continuous process. Just like martial arts you need to remain open to learning and adapting new ways to maintain and cultivate this state of mind or your martial art.

I  will explore the concept in more depth and the context of martial arts in the section below.

FREE OF THOUGHT

In we practice the art of mushin, when facing an opponent either on the street or on the mats. We shouldn’t need to remind ourselves to stay calm at this moment you should simply be.

When facing an opponent in the  dojo, you shouldn’t let your mind start to wander or allow negative thoughts creep in. Don’t get over confident, think you’re no good enough, take the easy path or think about how many people are watching you at that moment.

As soon as you start thinking about something, whether it’s to motivate yourself or remind yourself of something you must pay attention to, your mind stops with these thoughts. You may think that you are capable of multi-tasking and you can still observe and react accordingly, but your mind is already clouded by these thoughts and your performance will be affected. I remember when I first learnt a kata or new technique, the moment I started overthinking about what I was doing. The more mistakes I seemed to make. I had to learn the concept of “Don’t think just do”.

MUSHIN FREE OF EMOTION

In the state of mushin, we do not want to consumed with emotions regardless if they positive or negative. If we looked at this in the context of martial arts, being overly influenced or controlled by our emotions can hinder our performance.

Negative emotions such as fear, anger, anxiety, or tension can trigger the release of adrenaline setting off our fear or flight response to a perceived threat. Your heart rate, blood pressure, and breathing rate will increase. These changes help to accelerate energy and you may feel like your physical strength increases. However, in this state, the mind-body connection is affected, your body will become tense and your reaction time will decrease.

Similarly, positive emotions such as joy, happiness, gratitude, and inspiration can also cloud your judgment, reduce your focus and affect your performance.

While the aim is not being completely detached from emotions, in activities that require focused attention and absolute clarity of the mind, being free from the burden of the fluctuating nature of emotions allows one to remain present and attuned to the present moment and achieve optimal performance.

TUNNEL VISION

As stated above the art of mushin is about have a clear mind and not letting our emotions dictate our actions. It also above not getting tunnel vision by getting  fixated on a specific objects.

When facing an opponent, in the state of mushin, we should not fixate on the opponent’s eyes, feet, weapon, or surroundings. The reason for this is because as soon as attention is focused on a particular object. Your mind becomes occupied with that object, diminishing your situational awareness of another threats.

If you are only focused only on your attackers hands, then you will miss out on eye movement and possible kicks. You may be able to react quickly if they a strike but not if they decide to kick instead. Similarly, it works the other way if you are focused on their legs and not paying attention to the shoulders, eyes or the hands. You’ll be able to detect it decide to throw a kick, but then you will leave yourself open to a strike to your head.

MUSHIN IS LIKE A MIRROR OR FLOW OF WATER

The philosophy of the art of mushin often reference this art to the mirror image or flow of water. This constant state of flow allows you to gather relevant information and react instantaneously and instinctively. Here a few quotes that states this concept perfectly. “The perfect man employs his mind as a mirror; it grasps nothing; it refuses nothing; it receives but does not keep. And when anything comes in front of the mirror, it reflects it instantly, the mirror doesn’t wait to reflect it”.

Also “If the mind moves about the entire body, when the hand is called into action, one should use the mind that is in the hand. When the foot is called for, one should use the mind that is in the foot. But if you determine one place in which to put it, when you try to draw it out of that place, there it will stay. It will be without function”.

THE IMPORTANCE OF MEDITATION

As both a martial artist and a yoga practitioner. I vouch the power of meditation is a powerful tool not only in helping your martial arts.  But also help to achieve a mushin mindset.Just dedicating just between 15-30 minutes to daily meditation can improve your life.

There is a saying “As Buddha says “when we sit we know we are sitting; when we sleep, we know we are sleeping; and when we eat, we know we are eating”. If we do even the simplest thing in life with our mind fully present, it will become a habit and we will do the same when we need to face our enemy and fight a life-or-death battle.

To meditate, find a nice quiet place and sit in a comfortable position, whether it’s on a chair or a yoga mat on the floor. Keep your back straight but relax your body. Focus your attention on your breath. Simply breathe in through your nose, following the breath down your throat, into your chest, and down to your abdomen. Exhale slowly through your mouth, tracing the breath from your abdomen, up through your chest, out of your throat, and beyond. Release any thoughts or distractions as they arise and bring your attention back to your breath.

NOT ENOUGH TIME

If you find yourself lacking time for dedicated meditation, there are plenty of opportunities in your daily life to practice the state of mushin.

You can practice mindfulness throughout your day by paying attention to your surroundings, sensations, and actions. Train yourself to let go of worries about the past or future. And bringing your attention back to the present. When you practice martial arts, be it kihon, kumite or kata. Try to clear your mind and any outside distractions and be completely present in every movement or technique.

FINAL THOUGHTS ON THE ART OF MUSHIN

In short, mushin is not a philosophy that can be achieved quickly. You must go through many years of dedication before achieving the state of no-mind.

The art of mushin can only be attained through diligent practice, real-life experience, deep contemplation and personal realization.

When the mind is not burdened by emotions or conscious decision-making nor occupied by external factors, martial artists can react instantaneously, appropriately and unconsciously to any situation. In this state of mind, you no longer fight with your intellect but with trained unconsciousness.

For a martial artist, the ideal is to face an opponent with mushin, a state of clarity and calmness and free from the distractions of thoughts, emotions, and attachments, and let their body does the fighting the way it has been trained to do.

https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/what-is-the-japanese-state-of-mushin.html

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