Skip to main content

SEISHIN


Seishin, the second mental attitude refers to transferring energy or our focus into the technique to make it more effective. 


The word Seishin, I am told, can have several meanings. It can mean “honesty” as in giving a task an honest effort, the proverbial “old college try.” Another interpretation of the word can mean “heart” and/or “mind” referring to applying oneself to a task with passion, putting your “all” into it. 

 Non-martial artists can think of Seishin as directing their mental focus. For example, you have a huge presentation to prepare and present to important clients. You need to focus and calm your mind in order to prepare for the work that lies ahead. 

 Seishin would be the marshalling of that focus and bringing it to bear on a specific item in your presentation. It is the directing of the intense focus you have already invoked. 


 This is Seishin as applied to a non-martial situation, the essence of directing your concentrated focus to a specific element for the completion of the task at hand. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

RETHINKING MY POLITICS PART 1

All my life I have been a far left supporter. Now, I feel let down, disappointed by those whom I had thought shared at least some of my basic tenets and so, I must re-evaluate my position. But in order to do that, I must write down what I think each side stands for, what I stand for, and then decide a course of action. Conservatism is a political ideology that to me appears stilted and not up to the task of making the necessary choices in an open society in the 21st century. Mired in maintaining traditional perspectives and preserving religious beliefs and cultural customs, conservatism remains hobbled in its response to the changing world we live in, a world that runs exponentially faster than it did in the last century due to technological progress in computers, communications and the digital age. The conservative tenet of the rugged individual free to chart his own course is a myth. The US army settled the west first and then pioneers came to claim the land the government had p...
Post a Comment
Read more

Life's Uncertainty Principle

There was a particular moment, a span of about ten seconds, in my life when I chose a course of action that changed everything and with very dramatic effect. It is hard for me to talk about this without telling you the details but I am going to try. It started in 1982, I had worked hard to earn a position within my job. During my course of duty, a situation developed and I had the obligation to choose, literally, to stay where I was or go. I know, " should I stay or should I go now." I could have stayed . I should have stayed . But I didn't, I went . Ten seconds of my life, that's what it took to change my life's path in every way. I am not talking about military service and fighting a war, where one looks back thinking had I gone right and not left, I wouldn't have been shot. No, nothing that noble. I wasn't shot, blown up, or physically injured in any way. But the situation turned sour and the result from that decision of mine played out in the cou...
Post a Comment
Read more

EXISTENTIAL FEAR

Everyone is afraid of something. What is it that you are afraid of? Not spiders, or heights or water. I don’t mean things like that [although I do fear heights and water]. Think more deeply. What is it that truly and fundamentally terrifies you? For me, I fear being a coward. To be faced with a challenge in life and not measure up, that’s what terrifies me. I fear that I might fail to protect my wife, though even at my age and state of decrepitness, my thirty-eight years of martial arts training might stand me in good stead, for a short time, at least. I figure about ninety seconds. But my cowardice could manifest as me being immobilized by self-pity over some crisis or other when I should wish to remain strong for my family, a rock of strength for them. Simple, daily life can be more arduous than we care to credit. The mundane can drive a man around the bend or even to his end. A man must deal with the frustration of earning a living, not getting that promotion, not making e...
Post a Comment
Read more