Meditation and Martial Arts Superpowers
The mind is a muscle.
Pop culture often ascribes a certain air of mysticism around traditional martial arts – especially to those who are especially adept. These individuals are perceived as possessing heightened perception and reflexes that appear to be precognitive. So many movies, television, and comics depict martial arts masters evading strikes and flowing effortlessly through scores of foes without sustaining a single blow. Furthermore, many of these fighters are rendered as being heavily invested in meditative practice – which are nearly always shown to be mystical, metaphysical practices. These martial arts stereotypes owe much of their origins to general stereotypes around the Asian cultures so many martial arts systems come from. The close historical association of Buddhism and Taoism with traditional systems further reinforces these conceptions.
Such depictions of master martial artists in fiction have informed many real-life claimants to such precognitive superpowers. Countless mountebanks litter the martial arts industry claiming to have these powers. Displays of their powers come through YouTube videos and live demonstrations (with their own students). In nearly every case, these performances are part of a marketing campaign to separate the gullible from their money. The “masters” selling this “secret knowledge” present carefully curated personas that play true to the stereotypes: spiritual practitioners who meditate profusely and impart cryptic philosophy through a stoic countenance.
Meditation and Fighting
Though precognition and magical powers do not exist, the role of meditation in martial arts is very real. The mind is a major factor in the dynamics of fighting. Knowing how to punch and kick, even with perfect form, is worthless if you cannot maintain composure and focus. Fighting is stressful and is overwhelmingly so in a real self-defense situation. Unless you can control how you mentally respond to the stress and chaos of a fight, you are at a tremendous disadvantage. Success in fighting (and any other intense activity) requires mental discipline.
A crucial benefit of meditation for fighting is that it arms you with an important tool to avoid many fights in the first place. In so many cases, fistfights break out due to uncontrolled tempers and hurt egos. The more primitive parts of our brains are wired for territoriality and aggression. This, combined with our sense of “pride” and the adrenaline released by our body, feeds into the need to fly off the handle in tense situations. Interpersonal combat is dangerous and nearly always counterproductive for all involved - the best way to survive an encounter is to avoid violence unless absolutely necessary. This is the most prudent, mature, and moral way to approach violence. Meditative training grants us the internal discipline and control to fight against our tempers and ego and make the right decision.
One of the most tried-and-true methods of fostering mental discipline is meditation. Meditation is often misunderstood as being a spiritual practice. This stems from its close association with certain religious traditions – particularly Buddhism which, like other Dharmic religions, emphasize meditative contemplations. Though the Abrahamic faiths also have meditative dimensions, they are seldom thought of as meditation by Westerners. Consequently, the term inaccurately retains a foreign and esoteric flavor.
Meditation applied within Asian martial arts (and their derivatives) is based on the Chan model – known better in the West by its Japanese name Zen. This association is indicative of the role of China as the principle cultural influencer in Asia as both its religious and martial traditions were transmitted out of the region. (Note: Buddhism originated in India but spread to the rest of Asia via China)
Mental “Superpowers” for Marial Artists
Zen meditation is particularly suited to the needs of martial artists. It helps to cultivate alertness, focus, reaction time, emotional control, and perseverance. Through sufficient time meditating, you can call upon a meditative state at-will when you need it. Contrary to some popular misconceptions, a meditative state is not a trance or “zoning out”. It is a state of absolute alertness and presence in the moment. Reductively speaking, this mental state is one in which your internal chatter is subdued – allowing you to focus the entirety of your mental capacities on the situation or task at hand.
Meditative practice begins in the standard static position – seated or lying down. Once a martial artist is proficient at entering and maintaining a meditative state this way, they progress to “moving meditation”. Most traditional martial arts systems utilize kata, or forms. The fundamental objective of mastering these forms is to be able to perform them while in a meditative mental state – with absolute focus, clarity, and alertness. It could be argued that martial arts forms are ultimately practices of moving meditation.
Stages of Meditation
The mind is often likened to a muscle in many contexts – from learning to habit forming to conditioning. The more you use it, the more adept it gets at the task at hand – much like a muscle. More time spent meditating makes it easier to enter the meditative state. In addition, more meditating makes it easier for the mind to maintain this state for extended periods. This is important, because it is at the deeper levels of meditation where the so-called mental superpowers of martial arts experts lie.
The initial stages of meditation are centered on cultivating an undistracted mind. This is the crux of the effort to ignore and distance yourself from your inner chatter. This voice can never be eliminated, but you can control whether you are distracted by it. The Zen term for this state is called Mushin, the undistracted mind.
Once the mind is sufficiently able to disregard internal distraction, it can move to the next level of meditation. This is where the mind is able to create and maintain focus on a single idea, object, or situation with every ounce of its capacity. The application of this ability in fighting is clear, but it can also pay great dividends in just about any other activity. In Zen, this mental trait is called Isshin, the focused mind.
To be able to focus your entire mind on a single thing is great, but it cannot come at the expense of awareness of everything else in your purview. Focus and awareness might seem to be contrarian forces, but in meditation, the two are integral to one another. This type of mental focus is not one where the mind is distracted but unfettered. The mind perceives the totality of the moment while focusing on the task at hand. This type of perception emerges only when the mind is adept at focus and non-distraction. Known as Zanshin, the undistracted mind, this state can only be realized through exercising the mind like a muscle through meditative practice.
An Invaluable Martial Arts Tool
A complete martial artist possesses technical prowess, strategic thinking, agility, and strength. The final element that brings all these components together is the mind. Just as you lift weights to develop your muscles, so must you develop your mind. Meditative training creates a mind that is undistracted, focused, and utterly alert. Such a mind is inoculated against the fear response and emotional highs that are innate to interpersonal combat. No amount of muscle strength or technical aptitude will help in a fight without a focused, alert, and calm mind. Make meditation an integral part of your martial arts training regimen. It might just make the difference between life and death.
As with all other aspects of martial arts training, the benefits of meditative practice apply to everyday life. The ability to focus deeply on the task at hand marks the difference between an efficient and incompetent work ethic. Life is also full of stressful moments, from asking for dates to job interviews, and being able to regulate your mental state can make these situations more manageable. In addition, the efficacy of meditation on stress management is well-documented. It is an activity well-worth exploring.
The Martial Way is a powerful and rewarding way of living derived from the martial arts. To learn more about the history, development, cultivation, and application of the Martial Way, check out my book NOBLE ECHOES: Gifts from the Martial Arts for Modern Life. Available in paperback or Kinde e-book.