Tag: sanchin

Meditation, Enlightenment and Karate

Monday August 24th, 2020

Yesterday, I got up a little earlier than usual for a Sunday and printed out the registration forms for my son for religious school. It will start after Labor Day, and we were asked to turn in paperwork yesterday.

D and I then tuned in to a livestream meditation and lecture by Anam Thubten, a monk of Tibetan Buddhism, and founder of the Dharmata Foundation. We have attended his lectures in person, too, and he is an excellent teacher. I was able to sit through the opening chants, prayers, and a few minutes of the meditation, then I left to drop off B’s paperwork with the Temple.

Yes, please don’t tell our rabbi we moonlight with a Buddhist monk! I’m kidding. In all seriousness, if our rabbi heard we’d listened to lectures on meditation, he would most likely tell us about the role of meditation in Judaism and draw interesting parallels between Buddhism and Judaism through, say, Kabbalah practices or even cite Ezekiel, who, according to Wikipedia, may have been the first Jewish mystic. So a real discussion with our Rabbi would probably end up along those lines.

The Temple was holding “drive through” religious school registration, beginning at 10 am and ending around noon. I did not want to be too late. When I arrived, my car was the only one in the parking lot, and the Rabbi and our Temple office manager were very happy to see me. They took my paperwork, gave me a packet of materials for my son, and presented me with a collection of shakers, tambourines, hand flutes and other cool little instruments, courtesy of the Temple’s music director. I chose a beautiful, polished wooden shaker for B.

The fact that I was the only parent there, of course, worried me. A parent, earlier that morning, had emailed me, disappointed that we planned to hold Religious School over Zoom. She has younger children, and said they are already struggling with school over Zoom. I emailed her that our school has to follow the city and county guidelines regarding opening. Rabbi was interested to know about this parent and hopefully he will call her. We may lose families who simply do not want to pay for Zoom classes. In any case, I chatted with the Rabbi and office manager a good fifteen minutes before the next parent arrived for registration. Then that was my cue to leave.

I’m glad I went when I did. After all, the teachings of Buddhism and the practice of meditation center, to some degree, on minimizing suffering. I fear if I had waited too long to drop off our paperwork at the Temple, I may have caused suffering, in the form of anxiety, in these two kind people. And causing them suffering while they are performing an important service for the Jewish community would certainly be unkind.

Karate transforming discomfort and pain into health

When I arrived home, D was still meditating with Anam Thubten, so I joined them. During the break, something occurred to me: karate, based in Japanese Zen Buddhism, has a different relationship suffering, or, at least, discomfort and pain. Normally we’d lump discomfort and pain in with human suffering and, by extension, the cycle of samsara. In karate, however, we learn to get “comfortable” with discomfort, and tolerate pain. Why? We expect this self-discipline to improve our health and, ultimately, reduce suffering. And they do.

Push-ups, sit-ups and squats can certainly make you uncomfortable in the moment. Pushing your body with jump rope, or going for a run, or by lifting weights can make your muscles sore and tax your breathing. The strength, endurance and increased cardio-vascular performance you derive from these will, then, improve both your mental and physical health. Karate, and other fitness regimens, does recognize that this apparent, short-term “suffering” does lead to better health. This better health, in turn, decreases human suffering by reducing disease and disability.

Karate, when performed properly, transforms suffering to health and strength. Its foundation in Buddhism courts this realization.

Through sanchin (a kata in which your senpais and even kohais may be called upon to hit you), kumite (fighting), self-defense and tameshiwari (breaking boards, bricks, stones, etc.), we learn techniques for tolerating pain, and even channel the energy from pain towards our spiritual practice. This sounds weird, so let me elaborate. The knowledge that we can defend ourselves against attack, through specific self-defense techniques, clearly grants some peace of mind.

Sanchin and tameshiwari, in particular, teach wisdom. How? Sanchin focuses on discipline and self-mastery. When we are completely focused during this kata, we are not thinking about a self receiving blows from other karateka, but rather, keeping the abdomen, thigh and arm muscles tight, correct breathing, and the next move of the kata. This kata is a mediation: the self, including that self receiving blows, is a trick of mind. The goal is to dissolve that self in a resolve to stay rooted, tight, breathing and in motion. Anam Thubten wrote a book called, “No Self No Problem.” Sanchin holds to this principle: there is no pain if there is no self to feel pain.

Tameshiwari pits our mind against our mind. The mind sees a brick and says, “I can’t break that with just my bare hand! It’s too hard!” But the karateka knows this thinking, like the brick, can be broken. Having seen Sensei and other karateka break bricks, bats and even cinder blocks with bare hands and feet, we see that that mind is not correct. Sensei teaches, demonstrates, coaches, discusses techniques, then orders, “Break that brick!” and you do! You chop through both the brick and your mental resistance.

The first time I broke a brick, I must have wacked it six times. It took me a while probably ten minutes or so. My right hand was sore after three wacks and I had to remove my wedding ring and switch to the left, but I broke it. During our holiday demo, the next time I attempted it, I broke it in three fast, successive wacks, but it took me less than a minute.

Sensei says, at the moment of the break, the Universe suddenly opens, maybe for just a split second. Those seconds are exhilarating. Enlightenment seekers want those openings. Of course, the enlightened karateka knows that breaking a break will also give your bones little micro-breaks. If these are allowed to heal properly, your bones will grow stronger. Breaking again too soon, because your mind craves that wonderful feeling, can leave you with broken bones instead of bricks! If your mind still craves the Opening of the Universe, it can seek it through meditation, at least until the body has healed.

So, we who practice karate, we play with suffering and enlightenment. We resist our own minds and try to trick the mind into finding an Opening of the Universe. Anam Thubten offers another, albeit more methodical, possibly slower but less painful approach. The goal is the same: the Self drops away and Consciousness becomes that Opening of the Universe, where we feel all existence–all conscious life–is one.

My Rabbi might say that, according to Jewish mysticism and/or meditation, we also leave the self to the One: “’ehyeh ’ăšer ’ehyeh “, or “I am who I am.”

Sunday July 5th, 2020

This will be a rough summary of the past few days. On Friday, I did do exercises in the morning. The kids and I went with Sensei to a nearby park in Burbank for Shodan preparation training.

He discussed his current ideas about the test with us. Our test week will be resemble a regular testing week: we will teach kihon and self-defense, do the kata “walk,” i.e., perform all the kata we’ve learned, as well as exercises, just as we would under “normal” circumstances. We can teach kihon, self-defense and do exercises over Zoom, but he is hoping to have us do the kata walk in a park, with space appropriate for social distancing. In lieu of a ten man kumite, we’ll be expected to perform a grueling cardio workout and have at least one hard fight. Sensei would like for us and our fighters to be tested for the virus about two weeks before the test. Of course, given how cases of COVID-19 have soared throughout the country and in Southern California in particular, all of this is subject to change.

We will proceed as best as we can, and do what we can.

For the cardio test, he mentioned doing some kind of running hike and mentioned either Griffith Park and Malibu Canyon State Park as possibilities. F lobbied for Malibu Canyon, where we have had summer karate camp-outs in the past. It’s truly scenic and inspirational there, so I’d love to test there, too.

The park, where we worked out, is one we call the “Figure 8” park because of its winding dirt path that resembles an 8. It also contains exercise stations, including a kind of “horizontal ladder” built with a row triangular-shaped bars. Sensei had us try it to see what we could do. S could get across three. Sensei four. F managed two and I struggled with one, I’m embarrassed to say.

Afterwards, he had them run intervals. Sensei had me do stretches, push-ups and sit-ups while the kids ran. While jogging to the park, I had experienced sharp pains in the backs of my thighs, probably due to a gardening injury earlier in the day. Later he drilled kata with us. I knew the Pinans, Gekisai Dai and Sho, but need to practice Tzuki no kata.

Earlier in the day, I pulled a muscle trying to extract spider lily bulbs from my front yard as a gift for Sensei. Last week, he commented on how unusual these plants were, and that his wife might like them. These are hardly and prolific plants; a friend had given them to me a few years ago and they’ve taken over both the median between the sidewalk and the road, and a good portion of my front yard.

I dug up several plants, cutting their bulbs away from the main “batch” with a shovel. While digging, I snapped the blade from one metal trowel, and cracked the handle of my big spade. Of the two plants I potted for Sensei, one had a bulb with roots and shoots, but the other was only a large bulb with shoots and flowers. Only the one with roots, I fear, will live.

I planted my other “mistakes,” plants extracted with bulbs and no roots, in my back yard. Apparently I need to dig much deeper into the earth to get these up with roots. Either this, or I should dig up an entire “batch”, then separate them, rather than attempt to separate individual bulbs from a batch.

That evening, I taught class. T, our senior black belt, was my “monitor.” Our monitor, during a Zoom class, watches everyone and gives individual feedback. I ran kihon for our warm-up, punches and shuto or knife-hand strikes. S lead the kicks. After a short break, we queued up a video of Bobby Lowe performing Tensho. Afterwards, I taught Tensho. A Kyokushin group in Russia, with the website, Center-Satori.ru, posted this awesome video Bobby Lowe:

This is a great kata to practice at home and over Zoom. The space required to do it is minimal. Also, we learn most of the moves it entails during basic kihon. While doing this kata, the karateka practices focused body tightening and rhythmic, deep breathing, similar to Sanchin.

S, who had researched this kata for his junior shodan class last summer, was able to demonstrate several straight-forward self-defense moves based on the kata, including blocking multiple punches (the opening moves), breaking out of wrist holds (yoko koken uke) and responding with deadly strikes (mostly shoteis in painful spots). I played the part of the attacker and S dispatched me with moves from the kata.

Firework displays in Burbank were cancelled this year, due to the pandemic. Some neighbors, however, set off fireworks, which, in turn, set off the car alarms of other neighbors. We shut up the house to keep the cats calm. Our family, including grandparents, celebrated the Fourth by viewing the movie of the musical, “Hamilton,” on Disney Plus. My children and mother-in-law are fans. It was truly moving.

Monday June 22nd, 2020

I had a blood test done this morning at Quest Diagnostics for my annual physical. Initially, while trying to leave the house, I forgot my mask. After arriving and checking in at the clinic, I realized I’d left my bundle of cards in the car.

Instead of carrying a purse now, I take only important cards, such as my driver’s license, credit cards and insurance cards, and bundle them together with a rubber band. I usually put the cards in a back pocket. However, I wore some “skinny” jeans and was not confident about the back pocket. Since I’d planned to leave whatever I wore out in the garage for up to a week, I wanted to wear something I would not miss. So old, less comfortable skinny jeans seemed to fit the bill, except that then I didn’t have good pant pockets. I did wear a comfy plaid shirt with front pockets to compensate. In any case, I had to run back out to the car to retrieve the card bundle.

I will see my doctor soon, so the tests were to prepare for my annual physical. The gentleman who helped me was kind. He said his name was “Bernie.” He wore his silver hair in a braid and had high cheek bones; I couldn’t help but wonder if he is Native American.

Today, my son and I did interval training with jump ropes: per Sensei’s prescription, we jumped for two minutes and rested for thirty seconds, for six rounds. Afterwards, I practiced Tensho, and B critiqued me. B reminded me to pull my hikete hand back while the other hand performs its move. He also tried to distract me during Sanchin. Poking my belly button with a bo staff, even gently, he discovered, made me giggle. During my second attempt at Sanchin, he pushed, slapped, grabbed my hands, made noise, etc.–he performed the more “usual” distraction– and did not poke my belly button. This was much easier for me to handle.

I did not do exercises today. Friday was my last “official” day of exercises for nineties. Soon I should put up that day’s entry, because I timed myself for each set of exercises. This week is my fourth week, so it is the “meditation” week. After work, I set a timer and meditated for ten minutes.

Note to self: wear gi with belt over belly button for actual black belt test Sanchin, if B is helping to test me.

Monday June 15th, 2020

I have not updated this site for a few days. I did do push-ups, sit-ups and squats last Thursday and Friday. Friday evening, we had karate, as well as Saturday morning. Sensei had hoped to have a beach work-out, with appropriate social distancing, but the beaches are not yet open for group activities. He had to cancel it and hold class over Zoom.

The kids, husband and I did go to the beach Saturday afternoon. We tried Will Rogers State Park Beach, but the lot was full and we were unable to stop. We drove on to Point Dume. The kids swam. D and I were cold. A strong, chill breeze kept our ears sore. I wore a towel over my head and pinched the towel closed under my chin to protect my ears.

Once the kids finished swimming, we hiked along the trail. On the way back, we saw seals! Not many, but we could see a cluster on the rocks, close to the shore, from one of the look-out areas.

On Sunday, we had our dojo community planning meeting and managed to agree on a letter to send out. We need to run the letter by Sensei for edits.

I have been keeping the paper journal every day, though finding time to update this site is sometimes challenging. So since this should be the Monday entry, I’ll jump to Monday.

I did push-ups, sit-ups and squats this morning. Sensei posted a black belt training work-out for those of us testing on his Facebook site. He’s suggesting one hundred push-ups, sit-ups and squats. This week, I am still doing ninety. I’ll be at one hundred pretty soon. I do these exercises twice daily, on week days, and presumably, Sensei’s workout is for a day. Hopefully I’m good. This morning I could only do about seventy push-ups on my toes. That’s fifty “tricep-style” on the ground, and twenty “chest” ones on the mat, before I have to go to my knees. I know I’m allowed to do them on my knees, but it makes me feel “less than,” if I cannot do the requirement on my toes.

Senpai H, who tested last year, told me that we only have to do sixty for the black belt test if we do them on our knuckles. I do do them on my knuckles. Sensei likes to mix it up, however. The last time I discussed exercises with him, he’d suggested reaching the point where I could do sixty on my knuckles on the ground. Given we may not be able to do a ten man kumite round, however, or if I end up simply fighting my two children for ten rounds, he will have to make other parts of the Shodan test more difficult, in order to make up for the lack in that area.

He also recommended jump rope intervals for cardio this week, so I did that today instead of jogging. Also included: drilling Sanchin back to back with Tensho, so I practiced those as well. I was rusty on Tensho, but watching a video of Bobby Lowe helped bring it back.

I wrote outside this morning, and, while writing, the squirrels were all over the place. They are in the lemon tree now. I’d never seen them there before. Normally they like the loquat tree.

Thursday June 4th, 2020

I wonder just how much of the current dojo community politics it is wise to include in this blog. While we are forming, everyone is critical: we have to pull together and I do not want to be a divisive force, whatever my personal experiences may be.

That said, I’ve been fielding complaints, and may need to make a couple phone calls. It takes time and negotiation for everyone to be on the same page. Now I need to defer to what I wrote in the paragraph above and stop.

This does give me an idea, one which is basically already being pursued by other members. At the Temple, the Sisterhood will usually vote, before the start of each meeting, to approve the record of the previous meeting. With the exception of one time, these votes were unanimous and uncontroversial. But on that one exceptional day, the Sisters held a debate, with various members objecting to what was written. The notes were amended, and then approved.

We can do the same: each meeting, including committee meetings, should have notes posted somewhere or emailed out, so that the various persons who participated can read, approve and/or if necessary amend the notes. The notes are important, because they are the record of the decisions made by the group as a whole. Various persons among us are already taking notes and either posting them in a Google document or emailing them out. The next step, then, would be to formalize this with a group approval of the meeting notes.

But exercises: back to my own original intent for this blog, that of keeping me honest and on track for my Shodan test. I did them. In the morning, I did get the Japanese count correct. Doing exercises in the evenings is often more difficult. Shedding the stress of the work day is one component, along with the bedroom, where I exercise, simply being hot.

The kids both went to the dojo today to help Sensei pack up. I’m sad this will be their last summer to hang out at the dojo with Sensei, in that physical location. And what a sorrowful endeavor: packing up the place that had been our spiritual karate home for many years; Sensei was there even longer. He had been a student in that location, and had taken over the dojo as a business from the previous Sensei roughly ten years ago. So, for over a decade, Sensei practiced karate in this place, first as a student, and then as a business owner and Sensei, guiding others along the path. I’m glad the kids could go and help. I hope the experience was good for all of them.

Change is difficult, but inevitable. This one, not enviable.

I need to return to reading the Koran. Going to an older Buddhist text that I read years ago simply puts me back into my comfort zone, which is fine for now. At some point, however, I need to approach a new mountain, and climb it. The Shodan test is as much a spiritual, mental test as it is physical. In Germany, I had a good friend, a student from Egypt, who was both a physicist and a faithful Muslim. She was so kind, also intelligent. She had been born Christian but chose to follow Islam. I don’t expect to convert, but I do want to see with my own heart’s understanding the teachings that cast such a bright light on the world through her. While seeking spiritual guidance, I remember her example.

And yes, for Shodan tests, we’ll have to accommodate changes required by the pandemic to keep everyone healthy. It is not likely I’ll be able to do a ten person Kumite test in August. Sensei had discussed having us do some kind of cardio test: kata in the ocean, or Sanchin practice holding jars of sand, Uechi style. I trust that Sensei and the other Shodans will come up with an appropriate test or set of tests for the three of us. In the mean time, I should do exercises, keep records, read and practice. More frequent meditation would help, too.

May 6th, 2020

Yesterday evening we had a good karate class, though F didn’t feel well and sat out. We did two sets of twenty push-ups, sit-ups and squats during class, so I only had to do twenty push-ups and forty of the others after class. I didn’t go in the grass this time but stayed on the patio. Sit-ups on concrete, even relatively smooth concrete, are not ideal.

Sensei focused the class on Sanchin. Primarily, he taught us the IFK counts for breathing: four count when you draw your fist back and breath in, then two as you punch out. B had a question about breathing during transitions, but Sensei didn’t see he was trying to ask.

Also, the computer logged us out twice, apparently after five minutes of “inactivity.” Our internet connection from the back patio was not great, either. Twice we lost connection with the Zoom class.

There are two squirrels, one in the loquat tree and another in the adjacent Tree of Heaven, just barking and squawking at each other. Sometimes one will chirrup. They sound angry. One makes noises like that when our cat sits in the window, so I assume it is asserting its territorial rights.

Last night, the kids angered me by leaving the kitchen in a mess. F, in particular, had left a cooking project half complete, and dirty dishes scattered. She had started a dessert, then decided she was too tired to finish, clean up or attend karate. Later, after resting, she came downstairs to finish her dessert but still did not clean up.

At ten pm, I played task master over both kids, ordering them to clean. I helped too. B washed everything. I thanked him later. I told him I found it stressful to get up early to clean and disinfect the kitchen, work all day, then, after class, I spent time looking at job boards. When I’m ready to relax with them and watch a show, we can’t because the kitchen is a mess. B said they, too, were feeling stressed by being stuck inside. They can’t see their friends, participate in activities like jazz band, or go out for very long.

I visited the websites of three large studios where I’d previously worked. Their job boards simply erred, as if someone removed those pages in a hurry. It was odd.