in Martial Art
THE POWER OF A CALM MIND
A calm mind manifests itself through the body. Your joints, muscles are not tense, and the fight-flight response is neutralised.
This state of mind allows the body to operate at an optimum, even if the body is adrenaline induced. If this sense of calm supersedes that of your opponent in a fight, for example, you have the upper hand.
It is a state of mind encouraged in martial arts like Tai Chi Chuan where you “empty” out everything. This is letting go of tension in your body, allowing flexible and greater mobility. And amongst the many health benefits, you let go of build up tension from our daily life stress. We cannot run away from stress and this stored as tension in the body. Learning to let go of this tension or stress improves our general health mental and physical.
In fighting, this state of relaxation allows better delivery of power when moving. Especially in striking, now you connect with your opponent there is a moment of tension on impact and this is more effective than moving already with tension. It is a process of yin-yang. Yin would be the state of calm or “stillness” and yang the state of motion and transfer of this motion, tensing at the point of contact. Or allowing a whip-like motion where if it were a punch the tension would be a minimum during the recoil.
“The lone wolf does not seek refuge, he is a refuge. He does not seek out the community. He is a community. Now melancholy might settle, and weakness may creep in….”–Harmonious Fist
There are many tools to cultivate this state of mind, certain meditation, or exercises. But this phenomenon does occur naturally from time to time. An example would be the footage of the UFC fighter, Sean O’Malley. During the fight although his moving fast, you can feel a sense of nervousness and just before knocks his opponent out he exhales and an indication of relaxing everything down. He then fakes a jab and then knocks his opponent out. However, the whole manoeuvre is done calmly, compared to his earlier movements. The knock-out appears like a touch.
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