Do you meditate?

[Gi]

I don't want to come over as a preacher or something but I now a little about Meditation and in my experience you'll always have something going on, your mind doesn't stop, the harder you try to stop it the louder it will become. The trick is not to let it bother you, let it carry on in the back ground and pay less attention to it. Concentrate on the feeling inside. Above all Enjoy it should be a good feeling, the rest just happens.

[thesilentkiller]

I was doin some meditation to control and focus on an object without being attracted to anything. Its damn hard and im still working on it

[Chihua-ku]

Thanks for the advice, Gi. I will let you know how it goes.

[Gi]

Don't try too hard that would be counter productive try to feel the energy inside yourself, breath naturally and feel the point at the bottom of your breath when you inhale, concentrate on that but dont try too hard.

[Chihua-ku]

Traditional internal arts advice to focus on your "dantien" which is roughly the spot about three inches below your navel and try "reverse breathing" which is fancy term for  contracting your belly when you inhale and expanding as you exhale, which is the opposite of normal breathing.

I try to empty my mind and separte myself from thought like Gi said, but is easier said than done. But I like what he said that is more about feeling. Perhaps I am putting too much 'thought' conciously and forgetting to just let go and 'feel' when I meditate. 

[Gi]

certain points inside me. Maybe they are energy points or chakras. I don't focus on anything physical or think about anything as that defeats the point for me. What I do is "separating" myself from thought, it's more about feeling.

[cfKarate]

What do you focus on during your meditation? I need a decent focal point.

[Gi]

We do a little before and a little after class. I personally do much more and it is one of the major reasons for my MA practice. The two go hand in hand. My major goals are internal ones, I personally would find MAs very shallow if there wasn't the meditative element to it. I was a fighter before I started to study MAs. If you just want to learn how to fight you can do that very well on the streets.

[Bluecrab]

Bluecrab, thanks for the explanation about Hapkido. I learned something new. 

You're welcome. 

I point out the distinctiveness of our kwan not because I think we're superior to the kwans that are linked to Ji Han Jae, but because I don't want anybody who doesn't know much about hapkido to conclude that we are in the mainstream of the art. I don't think that would be fair.

We're like the red-headed stepchildren of the hapkido world. 

[Chihua-ku]

I agree with Brandon, there is no conflict between religion and meditation. At least I know Catholics meditate while praying the rosary (although perhaps not in the traditional sense understood by us). And other religons like Muslim and Buddhism do also have prayer beads use for meditation. And so people who do Yoga, although I would'nt call Yoga a religion.

Bluecrab, thanks for the explanation about Hapkido. I learned something new. 

Thanks for the responses. Bring some more.

[Brandon]

Gambatte,
There is ABSOLUTELY NO religious conflict between meditation and religion. Clearing your mind and relaxing your body is not praying to some Shinto god. I believe many Christians even use it. As for it being wasted time, this is absolutely incorrect. Meditation is training. By relaxing and pushing the day's thoughts out of your mind, you become much more able to focus on your physical training. Not to mention that it has always been used in many Eastern martial arts, especially the Japanese, because it helps prepare your mind for violence, both to face it and to commit it. I'd recommend taking a new look at meditation. There are certainly ways to use meditation for religion, and it finds its way there, you're correct, but it does not have to be, especially something like Zen meditation which is so useful to martial arts.

Bladesaint,
I completely agree with you about Chi Gong and Tai Chi as meditation. When I practice my kata, I will sometimes attempt a "moving meditation," in which I attempt to completely empty my mind and allow muscle memory to operate while I'm performing kata. I believe it's functionally similar. Most of the time, though, I train kata more for the physical motions.

[Gambatte Karate]

I have not learned Tensho or Sanchin yet.  The closest I have learned is Shinpatan. It has a few slow movements, but not what you would think. And I don't think that kata is the same as meditation.

[bladesaint]

 Some may view Chi Gong (thinking of a specific task while filtering out others while breathing with some moving)  as meditation and as an integral part in Tai Chi practice then I would have to say yes to meditation breathing in class. Not so much for my "External" Wushu/kungfu class. Atleast until the higher levels. A few years back I attended a meditation retreat for a 3 day weekend. I was impressed with what I learned. I came back with a better understanding of the practice and how it got involved in martial arts for some cultures. Non martial arts related mediation is not a habit for me however.

 Gammbatte do you practice kata such as sanchin or Tensho or something similar? I would thiink that would fit under the criteria of meditation.

[Gambatte Karate]

We do not "meditate". I don't teach much eastern philosiphy in my school. I am a Christian, and while meditation is not "religious" so to speak, I view it as waisted time that could be used for training. If the students want to "meditate", they can do so on their own time.

[Brandon]

We do a little bit before and after class. I find it's not very helpful because we spend so little time with it and you're just waiting for the command to stop. I try to do some on my own, and I find that more helpful.