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When conflicts arise in daily life outside the dojo how does your martial art practice serve you in finding win/win resolutions with fellow human beings? Does the practice of Sanchin raise compassion as well as strength?

I do not know Sanchin, but I recognize kindred spirits in this forum...

Raising compassion, as well as strength ... that is a thought-provoking question. I've thought of Sanchin as a way to learn to hold my space, become calmer and more aware, as well as learning to feel my body's movements. I see its physical affects in everyday life, from not flinching or jerking the wheel of a car during a skid on ice or when the snow/rain hits your windshield to walking through this world confidently with personal power.

When life gets very stressful I often do Sanchin wherever I am and always feel much better afterwards as I experience the expansion of Spirit.

Sometimes after a particularly strenuous Kata training session, I 'hit the wall' and come in contact with emotions and feelings that are buried. I grieve, cry, and wail (in private) -- not often even knowing why I do - just that there is something that needs to be released or opened. I learn to first feel compassion for myself which is then transmuted to others.

All this is accomlished through Breath and our connecting link with God, Spirit, the Buddha within -- whatever you choose to name it. And in that way Sanchin helps me to feel or have "right intentions."

It is said that men think with their heads and women with their hearts. Each must learn to do the opposite -- men to put their thoughts into their heart and women put their feelings into their head -- to become more fully balanced. Until we achieve union with our mind and heart in our body, we cannot achieve union with our Spirit, or higher self.

Thanks, Joseph for asking the question.

Jackie..

joseph,

Sometimes, there is no "win/win" in a given situation. One does what one must willingly and accept the consequences of what may. Even here, there can exist a peace coming from a conviction from within. This means there may be strife around us, we may be in it, but that we can accept that too.

I prefer not to have conflict, but it exists. I prefer not to have use my "marital" skills, but I have. In the past, the conflict outside matches the conflict within. I don't feel that way much anymore. I don't readily engage in conflict. But I don't shirk from it when I perceive it necessary. In this way, I have a greater sense of peace than I ever had in the past. My approach to conflict is similar to my approach to death. It's there. Accept it and embrace it fearlessly when it comes.

david

Anthony.. so a flying fish gets the best view? you have a good feel for groundedness. There is a vision, spoken of by a native woman, of eagles perched on the backs of buffalo "arriving" across the plains together...

Jackie.. Your Sanchin practice sounds like my zen practice... Thank you for 'coming forth' in your response... I sense a Dharma sister in you, whatever your practice.. Is it the kata Sanchin or the authenticity of your practice that resonates so deeply in your being?

david.. too true, not all situations appear to end win/win. perhaps our adversaries will gain by our fearless opposition, even if it appears otherwise...no matter what the outcome we must meet what arises with our full attention and conviction. and if we are clear in this we are fearless.

I am involved in a rather bewildering conflict right now with a client who refuses to communicate with me and has ignored my every attempt to discuss the final billing. I feel compeled to take legal recourse to resolve the issue, though it has always been my heartfelt desire and intention to do what is necessary to "leave the project with a satisfied customer." This is a slow motion conflict with plenty of time to reflect before acting. Somehow this seems more difficult to me...maybe the not-knowing

joseph

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At this point in time, it is hard to separate the one from the other. At my first class, when I did my first Sanchin -- mimicking the moves of others -- something resonated in my being. I had tears in my eyes, and felt like I "came home." It was unexplainable at that time and still is.

Kata happens not because of me, but in spite of me. When I'm totally in my center, open-minded, not caring ... I find that there are no limitations, just pure energy giving birth to form.

One of my teachers said that a person would truly know that she was on their 'path with heart' when it would be difficult to speak about it ... when the heart opens and emotions flow freely when engaged in the practice of exploring the way.

Karate is a passion for me as is studying several other ways. I do not practice zen per se, but am drawn to Tibetan Buddhism. The study of Uechi-ryu pararells many other teachings for me.

Ah, I hear your thoughts on the "not knowing." How difficult it is sometimes to stay in the flow of life and take one moment at a time.

In beauty, Jackie

Jackie:

Your comments about post-Sanchin sessions got me to recollecting, that many massage therapists, pain managers and counselors have intimated to me over the years, that experiences can get trapped within the body or have neuromemory that can be released with rigorous kinesthetic stimulation. I wonder if Sanchin does this for you, releases your neuromemory and becomes a melding of the mind/body/spirit? How marvelous for you if true! Think I'll do Sanchin just one more time myself!


JohnC

[This message has been edited by JohnC (edited 01-26-99).]

John,

Yes, I'm familiar with the concept of cellular memory and have worked with it over the past 14 years thru massage and bioenergetics (2 years before I started Uechi-ryu). I've experienced an acceleration of a release of personal memories as result of karate.

I first noticed it when we started doing arm and body pounding. Lot of issues would come up for me that I had to deal with later. In Sanchin, I would often experience a tremendous rise of body heat. Sometimes, I felt I would be bouncing off walls because I would become very agitated or nervous. I've learned that I would need a discharge of energy which my Sensei and Sr. Instructor would help me faciliate through use of the breath and helping me move my body in other ways (kinesthetic exercises, bouncing movements, push/pull exercises etc.) I've learned to do extremes of Sanchin -- very hard/fast, very slow/soft.

You'll often hear me say that I feel that Sanchin and Kata have helped me "erase personal history." On Bill G.'s forum there's is an excellent thread on breathing ... All is in Sanchin and all is in the Breath.

I've been fortunate to have a very open-minded Sensei and black belts to train with. They may not have fully understood my process, but really helped me move through it.

What I find as I continue to train, is that deeper layers of Self become uncovered. As more emotions are released, I replace them with new muscle memory of Spirit. The renewing of Mind/Spirit transforms my Body.

In Beauty, Jackie

PS:

When first attaining Shodan, my training was all fire ... energy, expansion, explosive moves. As I moved around the circle to Nidan, I experienced introspection, intuition. My energy was really quiet -- like retreating deep into a cave. Sometimes I felt like I had the "Nidan Blues". Now, the circle turns one more time and as a Sandan I am experiencing working more the Heart and flowing like water. I feel that Sanchin and the Katas also awaken the elements within us. Have others experienced such movement?

What an interesting discussion!
Draeger and Smith have called Sanchin "karate for the master." Who could have enabled my understanding of this concept when I first saw this dumb looking form! That's what I thought at the tine. Ha!!!
I have entertained the idea for some time now that Sanchin training is one way of training induction of autohypnosis. To that end, the state of relaxed focus allows greater access to the unconscious and the totality of its content including, I believe, the ability to recognize our connection to all things.
For myself, the karate dojo historically was never a venue in which I would allow myself vulnerability and hence I never experienced any of the release of deeper feelings others have discussed. Nor until I worked through those feelings did I have much joy in training. I went through a very turbulent period in which I actually stopped training as I couldn't tolerate the intensity of the unpleasant feelings involved in sparring. Feelings which I ultimately discovered to relate to my fear of hurting someone rather than being hurt myself - I had plenty of experience in that. The wonder of the karate process though is that if you keep training, whatever needs to happen does.
For those who may have similar experience, another avenue such as yoga is frequently helpful to access feelings in a less threatening way.



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Good training,
David