Returning to the Zen of Iaido

At the beginning of the month, I returned to martial arts training. I was on hiatus for approximately five years, so I was a bit rusty. When I visited my dojo in September, I found that I was craving stillness. My body, mind and spirit were yearning for the zen of Iaido. Why did I stop?

As you well know, there are only so many hours in a day. I wanted to dedicate more time to my own professional development as a musician. During that time, I accompanied five choirs, studied jazz piano, took a contemporary music examination, singing lessons and sang with a live band. Oh, and started to play other instruments.

Fast forward to today. Although my studio is smaller than it was back then, I am writing more and exploring other projects. My days are still abuzz and it's a challenge to find that stillness.

There was a sense of homecoming on my first day back to Iaido training. Ka Muso Kai has changed too during my hiatus: new name, new training location and other folks have come and gone; but when I stepped into the dojo, all that vanished. I was home.

During my first week of training, I made several discoveries:

1. I was completely out of practice with meditation. When sempai called out "Mokuso", my heart was racing for quite a while. With each progressive week,, it has improved.

2. Muscle memory is extremely powerful. Holding my iaito was akin to hopping onto a bike for the first time in years.

3. Having some knowledge of the Japanese language levelled up my understanding of Iaido. For instance, although I was rusty on the steps to "Kesa giri", I knew that I would have to do a diagonal cut.

4. My problem spots of old are still my problem spots.

5. Using a mirror during at-home practice makes a huge difference.

One thing that I've been doing when I practice at home is to empty my mind of nearly all thought. I focus on what my next action will be. Then, I try to quickly attain stillness before executing the action. I can't remember whether I did that the first time round, but has resulted in less corrections and repetitions.

Being able to shed all unnecessary thoughts and emotions, save for the ones needed to execute the kata efficiently is a skill that can be transferred easily into any situation or crisis. That calm but steely focus sure came in handy when dealing with a minor fire recently.

In truth, you can find zen in any activity - baking, writing, photography - it doesn't have to be martial arts. For me, however, the zen of Iaido is where it's at. Jodo, is another thing altogether, which can wait for another time.

Exploring Meditation in Movement

I first knowingly explored active meditation in the late 1990's with Tai Chi. At the time, I found the movements too slow and my companions and I were too immature for this ancient art.

The next time I flirted with mediation in movement was when my coworkers and I signed up for a pottery class around Y2K. I loved being able to focus on only one thing: the clay that I was shaping. My senses seemed augmented as I felt the clay on the wheel, listened to the hum of the wheel, watched and breathed in the art of making. I wasn't particularly skilled at it, unless you count being skilled at wrecking my fingernails. At least I was able to create some serviceable pen cups.

What is Active Meditation?

In Active Mediation: A technique of the future, Eliza Mala Dalian describes it as "an evolutionary process of releasing our stress and pent up emotions from the body while simultaneously being engaged in witnessing and dis-identifying from our thoughts and emotions." Unlike passive meditation, you are actually doing something.

Ms Dalian describes Osho meditations, which has been practice throughout the the world since the 1970's. However, based upon her definition, I recognize meditation in movement in various activities that either my family, friends or I do, such as: nature or landscape photography, painting, drawing, knitting, origami and flower arranging. The way I see it, so long as it is an activity that requires you to move around, allows you to lose yourself into it and ground you in the process, it qualifies as active meditation.

Martial Arts and Active Meditation

I did wind up revisiting Tai Chi last year, taking classes from Jane Sponair. Having a much smaller class and different companions made my Tai Chi practice more successful. I was able to love myself into the movements.

However, at the end of the second course, I was yearning for something more. That something more "stares" at me in my office: my iaito.

After Christmas, I'll be resuming my Iaido studies. I know that it will be bumpy in the beginning (five years is a long time for your skills to dull).

However, I know that some of it will come rushing back to me. For instance, I still practice my sword cuts occasionally as doing so releases some of the tension in my shoulders. In Mushin: The State of Mind, Chris Caile defines it as follows: "The Japanese term Mushin is a shortened version of the Zen expression "mushin no shin" which translates as "the mind without mind" or "no-mindness." It is a nice way to describe active mediation.

These are just a few ways that one can practice active meditation. Are there any activities that you engage in that qualify as meditation in movement? Please share.

Exploring Stillness Through Photography

Last week, I went to Halifax for a music teachers' convention. I hadn't been to Nova Scotia since I was in elementary school, so I was looking forward to the opportunity to simply explore. Stillness can be attained in many ways, I find. Sometimes, traditional meditation just doesn't work. Active meditation, such as martial arts, crafts or in this case - photography - works. At least, for my family, it does. We have several talented amateur and pro shutterbugs in our family.

Some of these photos were from my solo jaunts through this very hilly city. While others are from a boat tour and walk I took with a friend/colleague: