[indocrew]

I just got some new bogu, so the dye is still running a bit, hence the blue smilies!

[johnsonjunior]

Well... sleepless nights (and days). I'm trying to add some to the huge collective intellect of Kendo.

[Uvgsgssu]

Hi Ted,

Hmmmmm...Not really an easy question to answer. I think that Inoue sensei (the guy who wrote the article in the last magazine) was trying to say that many people go through the motion of mokuso without really knowing the origins. Hence, his article was an attempt to let people know that the act and the postures actually have a rich history.

Any way, as for you question about how to do mokuso properly...All I know is what I'm told by my sensei in the dojo I go to. Straight back, eyes narrowed but not shut, breathing in deeply through the nose, and out through the mouth. Don't try and think about 'nothing', but just try and get your breath back into a controlled rhythm, go with the flow, and chill out, basically...The fact of the matter is, more often than not, yame is called only after about 30 seconds, which leaves you no time to do anything really.

My level of kendo is by no means high enough to really understand what mokuso is supposed to achieve, but I do feel able to concentrate and focus before starting training, and it relaxes me considerably, and helps me regain a different perspective after. Having said that, my attitudes to mokuso have been constantly changing (dare I say maturing) over the years.


That's just my personal observation, and I think every body would have their own theories and experiences pertaining to mokuso. Probably none of them are more right or wrong than anybody elses opinions. At the end of the day, what you get out of mokuso depends on how far you want to pursue it. That, again was one of Inoue sensei's points.

Hope this has been of some help.

Alex

[MaugleeRobins]

Hi all.
I've heard that the secret of mokuso breathing is to do an active exhale instead of inhale. What I mean is that you slowly exhale until you have almost nothing left in your lungs. Then when you relax, if you emptied them properly, air automatically flows back. Compare this to a normal relaxing sigh wich is opposite. It is easiest if you think of a tone or sound that you can pretend that you are saying for as long as you can. Anyway... the point is that we are stronger and physically more focused when we exhale. The rhythm of your heart also decreases on a controlled exhale.

Don't know if it makes sense but I hope you follow.

[BigBobdd]

I think another key point in mokuso is that you breathe using your stomach and try to accumulate chi in your lower belly or what's called tanden. I think that this point also goes back to the point on "active exhale" that someone mentioned.