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What exactly is the Mind Body connection and how can I take advantage of it in freestyle Kumite?
To me, it's a mind that simply and quietly observes everything that is taking place in the moment, including the awareness of one's own thoughts. It’s also a body which is totally relaxed and ready to pounce in a moments notice. The resultant combination of the two creating a powerful "feeling" of letting go...
If I can't even understand the mechanism which is "thought" and how it manifests in my daily activities, how am I going to understand it and make use of it in a highly stressful situation, like a freestyle Kumite match?
Also, if I don't know what it feels like to experience total body relaxation while sitting at home on my couch , how am I going to relax my body when a 200 lb opponent is bearing down on me with a lunge punch?
First of all, the idea of "letting go" of thought and the resulting bodily tension, can be a rather difficult idea to think about...
...mainly because the tool I am using to think about this subject with, is the very tool I am trying to "let go of".
Meditation is very good for calming the mind and seeing how the mechanism of thought works, how it seems to rise all on its own accord without ever have been given an invitation to do so.
Also, if I can sit for a while and watch thoughts come and go, without paying any attention to them, I can experience a temporary feeling of freedom and clarity.
The interesting thing about this type of sitting and observing, is that my body responds in kind, and is allowed to explore even deeper levels of relaxation.
Now in a freestyle Kumite match, I can see how this kind of mind clarity and relaxed body feeling, can be a real benefit to me.
I would be able to see my opponent’s movements almost as soon as they happened as opposed to seeing the "thoughts" about my opponent’s movement.
The benefits of a relaxed body, would be an effortless starting point from which I could make use of the principles of dynamic tension...
So, if you’re having trouble relaxing or are thinking too much, like myself, in freestyle Kumite, try some mind body awareness techniques...
...at the very least, they'll open up a new level of self discovery, and that isn’t such a bad thing...
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RJF
