I have a moment in between counseling clients now and after my last post and reading ZenHG's post on Prajna-Paramita Kata (go read it if you haven't)...I feel compelled to write about finding freedom within structure. It is about finding Emptiness within the Form...and I guess also Form within Emptiness.
Kata for instance is Form. It is the action of Karate and without Kata there is no Karate. Now, granted over the years, certain Kata change and evolve dependent upon the practitioner's interpretation and life situation. However, it is important as we grow in the Arts to try and keep the Kata as close to the original as possible. Why? To find the Freedom or Emptiness within it. Once you find the Freedom/Emptiness then the Kata's outer form begins to change...naturally.
Here's an analogy for you. Imagine a mountain with water flowing down one of its valleys. The rocks that comprise the valley provide the form through which water flows down. As the water flows down the valley it follows the contours of the rocks, however, over time the water begins to change the very rocks themselves. They will eventually look different.
Your Kata are the rocks. As you practice your Kata you will begin to feel the flow of your Ki. Your inner Ki or Chi or Spirit is the Water. As your Ki flows, and follows the Kata, eventually it will begin to reshape the Kata itself. Eventually you may even have a brand new looking kata.
Make sense?
Just a thought for us to ponder. Gotta go back to work.
Be Well,
Shinzen
ARE YOU PREPARED?
20 hours ago
I guess there is, as I've read recently, a certain amount of Faith involved in separating time in a day to do a kata you've done countless times before in the hope a truth will bubble up to the surface. Your body traces the well-worn path anew, like a prayer that runs wordless through your mind the many time you've uttered it.
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