Mushin
(State of Complete Emptiness)
Mushin is very difficult to describe and understand for most people who have not spent enough time practising the Martial Art. It is impossible to attain that level straight away.
In this state, the mind and spirit become like a mirror or a settled river capable of perfectly reflecting the image of the moon.
For your martial art to be effective, you must enter the state of Mushin as soon as you are in front of your opponent. In laymen's terms, this means that you become completely receptive to your opponent.
You have no preconceived ideas of what you are going to do to your opponent (Intellect) or how cool you are going to look while doing it (Ego).
The spirit and the mind are blank and not blinded by either the ego (Emotions) or the intellect (Thoughts).
The techniques are thrown with such blinding speed that the intellect doesn't have time to process the information.
The INTELLECT
The Intellect only serves the purpose of Learning and understanding the basic tools and techniques. When in a situation where you need to apply the technique, the Spirit should take charge.
The BODY and The SPIRIT
The Body and The Spirit should be unified so that they move at once in perfect synchronisation.
The EGO
(Manifestation of Emotions)
The Ego blinds the Spirit and disconnects it from the Body and also from the opponent.
In our club we cultivate the spirit of Mushin by not spending too much time intellectually analysing or breaking down the technique.
We try instead to flow straightaway even if the form is not completely right.
As the flow gets better we correct the technique, one detail at a time, without losing the flow. It is very similar to carving, where you start by getting a rough shape and you refine it as you go along.
We also keep a friendly atmosphere to avoid building undesirable Ego (emotions) that will prevent us from reaching our true potential.