Karate and Meditation

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Karate, a rather old art, is often seen as a hard, physical form of fighting.
But, it is grounded in all of the indicia of Zen- focus, being in the moment, spontaneity, and concentration- all hallmarks of both arts (Zen and Karate).
At the heart of both arts is meditation- which might be defined as a disciplined way of "letting the mind go".
It is not an easy thing to do- and it does require training- but it is achievable almost immediately- at least on some small level.
The karate student achieves this "letting go" by doing kata- which is a form of karate exercise- and it requires total focus- it's a form of moving meditation- and at it's core, yes it's about fighting- but fighting itself contains the seeds of a greater concept- and that is the total management of one's being in time and space.
How to move economically, how to focus, how to concentrate all fo one's power- in effect- how to "be" in the most efficient and powerful manner possible- that is the heart of karate- and the doing of that- accomplishing that- is also, a Zen moment- one of pure "being there".
The art of karate- which is synonymous with Zen, is the central meaning of everything- at least of the student of karate- and other students of philosophy.
It is about learning to accommodate current realities in light of what one has learned- and trained for- and adjusting one's self to survive- and perhaps thrive- in that reality.
So, karate is, to a significant extent, all about being a warrior- that is an important word in the lexicon of the martial arts- a warrior is a master of one's self- way more important than being a fighting champion- it's about doing something in a total, completely holistic manner- and that can take a lifetime to master- but, importantly, it's the DOING that matters- not arriving there, that counts.
It's the process- not the goal.
Karate- and Zen- are all encompassing arts- that cannot be fully described in any one article- but this article might be described as the tip of the iceberg- so that the interested reader might investigate further the many layered connections that exist between karate and zen- and how to get to a good level of being.
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