Haragei, soft focus, and samedhi (was Re: Nage's Eyes) ======================================================== From: Larry Novick ------------------------------------------ There is, as many people may know, a concept known as Haragei in Japanese martial arts. It is an idiom that would translate as "listening to the silence." It is the developed sense of shifting energy, intentions, and thoughts that allow someone to sense the formulation and initiation of an attack. This is important training in Aikido, in my opinion, and when one engages in it, you don't have to think about where to look, you are guided by this other sense. But when in this "expanded state" you are generally in "soft eyes" as your kinesthetic sense is heightened and this naturally occurs. You can then take in the entire person, and even very small movements and intended movements, are perceived much more easily. Haragei is taught many different ways - one way to think of it is - as if you were in a pool of water. The water is still. Anything that moves within the pool disturbes the water, and you can feel the ripples and currents as they emanate out and disturbe, or touch, you. That's one way to relate to it. From: Cady Goldfield -------------------------------------------- Is this the same thing as just clearing the mind of conscious (i.e. verbal) thought, and using "soft focus" to take in one's surroundings? Its seems that if your eyes are able to observe an entire scene, rather than a fixed point, and your mind is not cluttered, then you will just instinctively be open to changes or "ripples" in the vista before you, and respond accordingly. If this is not what you mean, how does one achieve the state that you're describing? From: Walter Peterson ----------------------------------------- I try to apply a state of being called samedhi that I got a glimmer of from Zazen: part of it is clearing the mind of attachment to verbal or perceptual themes, the other part is [the sense of] a strong outpouring of ki called kiai. When I can get it, it provides both a passive and active aspect to awareness where you can sometimes lead your partner's mind with neutralising effect as when they continue an attack to a place that you no longer occupy; or you get a sense in advance of what your partner's next move is, allowing seemigly simultaneous initiation of your response with their attack. From: Cady Goldfield --------------------------------------------- Thanks! I'm glad you did. I think we're saying the same things about ridding the mind of verbal/conscious thought, which is a barrier to action. Although this was never covered "philosophically" in either my taekwondo or my aikido training, in tkd we were exposed to intensive training (including freesparring) that forced us to respond intuitively to the movements of our opponent. A state of "clear mindedness" occurs when we practice at a fast pace, You simply don't have time to think; if you do, you get hit, grabbed, thrown. And, you telegraph your intentions for your next move. When the cognitive, verbal part of the brain gets left in the dust by the speed of external events, the other parts of your brain -- that control reflex and motor action -- have a chance to do their thing unimpeded. Kiai. Now there's another concept entirely. Do you mean, the application of it in which you emit a shout (from the diaphragm) when executing technique? In my aikido dojo, kiai is very rarely used in that context, except when accompanied by a shomen with the bokken, jo or shinai. Even in the taekwondo dojang where I train, it is not often used -- never used in kata, in fact. Yet, it is a great way to add that extra focus to technique. In sparring, it has bought me a split second of time to attack, after startling my opponent. There was a study done some years ago, by an exercise physiologist, I think, in which it was shown that using kiai added 12% more power to a punch. Interesting! Do any aikidoka on the list use kiai as an external application (i.e. as part of executing technique)? From: Larry Novick ---------------------------------------- This is the Beginning of what I mean. From there, what one could call floating-point consciousness, Haragei begins. But it is not "empty-mind" so to speak or just the clearing of thoughts - it is, from a cleared-out place, the conscious use of ki from one's center to cognitively sense things, like impending movement etc. It's energy training that brings this about. It is bringing your awareness down to another, subtle level. From: Brian Baquiran ------------------------------------------------------- Haragei, soft focus, and samedhi all sound strangely similar to a technique used by some artists. They draw on the right side of the brain (the side that deals with spatial perception) instead of the left (the side associated with linear, analytic thinking and verbal communication). I read about this in a book entitled "Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain" (or something like that) which is about learing how to draw. The way the author describes it, it seems that when the right mental state is achieved, the artist stops analyzing the subject, and starts drawing what he percieves (or sees/touches). It's quite an interesting book, and after trying some of the exercises (copying an upside-down picture, drawing your hands without looking at the paper) I was surprised to note that the drawings that I made were remarkably detailed. This is from someone who draws trees that looks like lollipops! What has this to do with Aikido? You tell me. From: Larry Novick -------------------------------------- Drawing from the right side of the brain has, perhaps other things to do with Aikido, intuition, anf flow. Haragei is much more than this kind of thing. Samedhi (sp?) is a "concept" far beyond the rest. But, each in their own way, they can be related to Aikido if one goes from the intuitive level to the perceptive/energetic level to the spiritual level. That is - if one wants to.