Surgery....

I recently had a surgery which disabled me from walking about and doing much. I took the week off school to recover which is really good that I did or else I would be angry like a troll >.<.

During this time I wasn’t able to pray properly as I usually do. Since in Islam when we pray there is a part where we go on our knees and place our heads on the ground in meditation. It symbolizes how small humans are compared to the sight of God and our submission to his divinity. But because of the surgery I couldn’t do this, I had to use a chair to sit on to replicate the motion. This disabled me from putting my head down on the ground.

I decided this Friday when I go to the congregation I will make an effort to put my head down on the ground. It was hard but I was able to do it. When I placed my head down a sense of relief came over me. As if a burden was lifted.

In Islam we practice the idea of patience. Patience is important to everything. Without it people go mad. With it people are calm. The idea of patience is very in depth, perhaps in my future blog entry I will post something on that.

For that to happen I wait patiently for my body to heal until I am able to do some Kendo.

Iaido

So satisfy my MA appetite I have been doing some Iaido in my dojo. Iaido is similar to Kendo were it requires a sword. However, Kendo is about hitting, Iaido is about cutting. Just some other general knowledge Kenjutsu is about killing with the sword.


What I have found so far is that focus is not generally required. It is one of hte factors but not necessary the only factor. Time is really important. When doing the cuts it is more advised to take your time and do things SLOW. Since, our mind is always thinking ahead. In Iaido the idea is to bring your mind back and into the present.

One practice I had all day I was learning how to move slow. It was irritating and frustrating but getting frustrated made it worse. Essentially I had to calm myself and my mind by doing that I was able to execute better quality cuts.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=uTrBlmD8e00

This video can better explain what I mean by slow cuts. The execution is fast but if you look at the movements it is slow.

Cheers!

Busy Bee.....

I haven't posted in a while due my studies and work. It has been a bit difficult to post since I am still trying to cope with my injuries and learn through the injuries.

But when your mind is elsewhere it is hard to realize the problem in front of you. Like The book I was reading yesterday about Zen and MA. You have to seize the moment. Dont waste a moment when you notice the moment go for it. Perhaps I myself have neglected this part.

I had a bit of time here and there to post but I decided "hey I will leave it for now and come back to it later."

In some wasys by me not going to practice for ages has resulted in my mind to be soft. I plan on going on Saturday hopefully to practice. Perhaps my mind will regain its mental strength.