Shingitai
Shingitai:
Mind – Technique – Body
The
first line of our student creed states: “As a student of
USA Karate, I will train my mind, my body and my spirit.”
Most people understand that we are working on three different
aspects so that we can improve ourselves as a whole, but
many fail to understand that it is the unification of all
three that is the real key.
When
it comes to karate techniques, many people understand the
physical laws of generating body power, angles of movement
and physical strategy or tactics of defense. The real key,
however, is the harmony of “shin” the mind and attitudes,
with the “gi” (technique) and the “tai” (the body). To understand
this concept, let us discuss briefly the concept of natural
laws.
There
are basically two types of laws in the universe – man-made
laws and natural laws. While you may be able to violate
man-made laws and not get caught, and therefore not see
the ramifications of those actions, natural laws are different.
Natural laws work all the time, in all circumstances, for
everyone. If you try and break a natural law, you will get
caught every time. These natural laws can further be broken
down into physicals laws and mental laws.
Physical
laws are those laws that can be demonstrated in the lab
in a controlled environment. Mental laws however, are only
proven through experience and intuition. These mental laws
which are harder to see and understand, are centuries old
and were at one time not shared with the general public
because they were afraid these principles would be misunderstood
or abused. Today these concepts are openly discussed, but
still only a small percentage of the population are aware
of them. The knowledge of these principles is an operations
manual for increasing human potential.
Be
assured that these laws are universal. If you jump off a
10 story building in New York or Tokyo, you will go splat
just the same. It doesn’t matter if you were never told
about the law of gravity, whether you believe in it or even
if you agree with it. It is neutral and applies consequences
evenly to everyone and is in effect 100% of the time.
Mental
laws work exactly the same. When your life is going great
it is because your thoughts and actions are in harmony with
these natural laws. If you are experiencing problems, it
is almost always as a result of you having violated one
of these mental laws, whether you are aware of them or not.
The only way you can tell if you are in harmony is by the
results of your actions or the consequences.
An
example of a mental law is the law of control. You basically
feel positive about yourself to the degree to which you
feel in control of your life. On the other hand, you feel
negative about your life to the degree that you feel some
external force, person or influence controls you. The feeling
of not being in control causes most stress, anxiety and
tension in a person’s life. This explains how a martial
artist is able to remain clam during a crisis situation,
because they feel that even in the worst-case scenario,
they could still control the situation.
Today
there are many people that play karate – for sport or as
a hobby. The karate-ka however, follows the path of karate
when he or she understands the concept of shingitai (mind-body-technique)
and encompasses that into their daily life and training.
