The way I see it there are two states of mind that I need to have for my karate training.  I would guess that many others use something sort of the same mindsets.

At the start of learning something new or perfecting something I need to be mindful of what I a doing. I need to watch and listen to my teacher and absorb what is being said. I need to be able to practice what I was taught effectively paying close attention to the details of the task sat hand. Being mindful helps me to be careful in how I am training my muscle memory. Trying to change your muscle memory after even a short amount of time  can be enough to drive some batty.

 The mindful part of training can make or break you in someways. It is so important in making a persons basics a strong foundation to their karate training. You can practice for years and years, but all of that practice can be a waste of time if what you are doing is incorrect. Incorrect practice just reinforces sloppy bad techniques that not even you mother likes. If feel we must be mindful in our techniques and our practice.

Mushin, or ”without mind”. This the other half of the puzzle for to me. You need your Mushin to take over when you need it in a real life or death situation, while you are playing kata at a testing/grading or tournament or anywhere that you need to get specific job done and you need your training to take over. The last thing you want is to be looking like you are thinking all you are in front of judges or being thinking too much as someone tries to end your life for enough money to their next hit of crack.

Part of the way I see the mushin is that it is a state of mind where you need your training to take over from (hopefully) years of mindful training to save your life.

Hopefully I will write on this more later, since I feel like I haven’t even scratched the surface of what I could say about this.

IF anyone actually reads this and they disagree or or agree, let me know! I am no expert on this (or anything else for that matter), but I like to always learn and hear no ideas.

What are the best days in the dojo?  The day that you win in sparring? The day you learn a new part of your kata? The day that you feel that you have finally made your teacher proud? The day that you…? I believe there are many best days for us all. I recently had a “best day” last Thursday   (or was it Tuesday? Hey, I said it as good, not that i could remember when it happened). The first signs of it being a good day was when my chest muscles were already sore 20-30 minutes into the class. Due to some wrist and hand issue when I was younger I have not been doing many push ups in class. This day I decided I had given my wrist  enough time to heal that I should be able to do at least a few push ups. A few quickly turned into many push ups. Many push ups I should add that were pain and discomfort free! Almost right away my body greeted this long lost and forgotten work towards my Pectoralis muscles with the lovely feeling of muscle burn. The kind of feeling you get after you change your routine  or start working some part of your body that hadn’t gotten the work it deserved in a while. It felt so great! It is a simple victory for me, but one I feel great about.

Clue 2 to being a good day was just looking around at all of the younger students that had been pushed up to the second “older” class really getting down to some hard work. Sometimes the transition from being in our “Younger class” to being in our “Older class” can be hard for them, but 99% of the class is doing very well! Nothing fancy really if you think about it. Just students working hard, and one teacher getting back in the saddle.

Sometimes the “Best Days” are the days filled with the simple things. We don’t all get to pull someone from a burning building with our amazing supper powers developed through the martial arts, but everyday there are little, simple, things that happen in and outside the dojo that can mean just as much to you, or someone around you.

I say take hold of the little things and be grateful. little things mean something too!