Mokusō & Mushin

This photo was taken during one of our regular yoshinkan aikido Saturday morning practices on February 7, 2009. In particular, this is our class during Mokusō - moment of meditation.

Method: After lining up at the beginning of class, wait until sempai (most senior member) instructs you to be seated (seiza). Move into kamae, sit down gently, under control, and avoid plopping to the floor with a thud. Assume the seiza position by stepping back with your left foot and lowering your left knee to the floor. Bring your right foot back and under, next to your left. Slowly lower your body until your buttocks are resting on your heels. Make sure your knees are about one or two fists apart. This may be the first test of the difficult nature of aikido. Also, if you have bokutō (wooden sword), or jō (approximately 1.276 m (4.18 foot) long wooden staff) try not to let it crash to the floor, but rather place it there gently. Check to make sure you are still aligned to the person to your right, knees and buki (weapons, if applicable), in straight lines from sempai to most junior student (kohai).

Sempai will then call the dojo to attention (ki o tsuke). Sit up straight, chin pulled slightly in, mouth closed. Place your hands in your lap palms down with your fingertips overlapping and your thumbs touching tip to tip. Sempai will then call the dojo to engage in a moment of meditation (Mokusō) to clear the mind of distractions and prepare for practice. Breath naturally through your nose, using your abdomen and diaphragm to draw the air into the bottom of your lungs. After a while, sempai will call an end to the meditation (Mokusō yame).

At this point sempai will instruct the dojo to face the shomen, the head of the dojo, and bow (shomen ni rei). Sitting upright and facing the front of the dojo we bow (rei) at the waist placing first your left hand and then your right on the floor in front of you. Your fingers should be extended and joined with your forefingers and thumbs touching, forming a triangle. Keep your back straight and avoid raising your hips. Do not duck your head; keep your neck in alignment with your back. After a short pause, raise yourself back to the seiza position, retracting first your right hand and then your left. Place your hands comfortably on your thighs. Sempai will then instruct the dojo to face the teacher (sensei ni rei). Turn to the teacher and follow the same method described above. However, shout in a respectful tone "onegai shimasu". This lets the teacher know that you are eager and ready to practice yoshinkan aikido.

What is Mokusō and why do we do it? (Note: these explanations were obtained from Wikipedia).

Mokusō is a Japanese term for meditation, especially when practiced in the traditional Japanese martial arts such as aikido. Mokusō (pronounced "moh-kso") is performed before beginning a training session in order to "clear one's mind", very similar to the zen concept of mushin.

Mushin (English translation "no-mindedness") is a mental state into which very highly trained martial artists are said to enter during combat. The term is shortened from "mushin no shin", a Zen expression meaning mind of no mind. That is, a mind not fixed or occupied by thought or emotion and thus open to everything.

Mushin is achieved when a person feels no anger, fear or ego during combat. There is an absence of discursive thought and judgment, so the person is totally free to act and react towards an opponent without hesitation. At this point, a person relies not on what they think should be the next move, but what is felt intuitively. It is not a state of relaxed, near-sleepfulness, however. The mind could be said to be working at a very high speed, but with no intentions, plans or direction. A martial artist would likely have to train for many years to be capable of mushin. This allows time for combinations of movements and exchanges of techniques to be practised repetitively many thousands of times, until they can be performed spontaneously, without conscious thought. If he is capable of truly listening to his teacher, however, he could attain this level in only a few years. Some masters believe that mushin is the state where a person finally understands the uselessness of techniques and becomes truly free to move. In fact, that person will no longer even consider themselves as "fighters" but merely living beings moving through space.

The legendary Zen master Takuan Sōhō said:

"The mind must always be in the state of 'flowing,' for when it stops anywhere that means the flow is interrupted and it is this interruption that is injurious to the well-being of the mind. In the case of the swordsman, it means death. When the swordsman stands against his opponent, he is not to think of the opponent, nor of himself, nor of his enemy's sword movements. He just stands there with his sword which, forgetful of all technique, is ready only to follow the dictates of the subconscious. The man has effaced himself as the wielder of the sword. When he strikes, it is not the man but the sword in the hand of the man's subconscious that strikes."

However, mushin is not just a state of mind that can be achieved during combat. Many martial artists, particularly those practising Japanese martial arts such as aikido or iaijutsu, train to achieve this state of mind during kata (ie; kihon dosa & kamae) so that a flawless execution of moves is accomplished — that they may be achieved during combat or at any other time. Once mushin is attained through the practicing or studying of martial arts (although it can be accomplished through other arts or practices that refine the mind and body), the objective is to then attain this same level of complete awareness in other aspects of the practitioner's life.

Kamae during one of our aikido classes.
Kihon dosa and Kamae are form of "moving meditation" or "mushin"

Mushin is very closely related to another state of mind known as heijoshin, wherein a complete balance and harmony is attained in one's life through mental discipline. Miyamoto Musashi, the great swordsman, alluded to these mental states briefly, and his conversations with Jattaro were often repeated in Japanese folklore as lessons to be learned for the practice of one's life. Mushin and heijoshin are closely related to the teachings of Buddhism, specifically Zen teachings, and indeed the more mental aspects and attributes draw heavily from these philosophies.

OSU.