Lessons from martial arts for (work) life

I started doing judo when I was 6 years old. I had some problems with keeping my temper and my mum was told judo is good for me. Now, more than 40 years later, I can tell this has been good advice.?

Practicing judo requires a state of mind, whether you are doing a ceremonial kata, a training or a fight, randori. When I enter the dojo, I forget everything that has been worrying me, like that difficult project at work, or the troubles with the kids at school. The Japanese call this Mushin, a free state of mind. During judo class this free state of mind is optimal when performing the techniques that I know best, so I can move completely from senses like sounds, pressure and movements of my opponent. In work Mushin can be practiced by being in a meeting and not getting distracted, give all your best knowledge of what you have become expert in, be open to the opinion and expertise of your ‘opponent’. When your mind is not at the task you are in at that moment, whether you are sad, angry or happy, you will fail. Mushin is not easy, but by being aware of your distractions, you make the first step.?

Every process follows a natural rhythm of a calm start, acceleration and a fast ending. When you follow this natural rhythm and live consciously in the moment, you will be able to keep your mushin. Whether this process is a meeting, a project, growth of your company or anything else, it will follow the natural rhythm. When you let yourself get distracted by focussing on the result, or by logical or conceptual thinking, your mind is not free to respond to what is going on at the moment.

Becoming an expert requires dedication and dedication requires internal motivation. You can be internally motivated when you have found your goal in life. Finding your goal in life is again a natural process, with a very slow start, so give it time.

When you are in the moment and have a free state of mind, you will also start to be able to have Zanshin, a mind alert and aware of your surroundings and yourself. Zanshin is choosing to live your life intentionally and acting with purpose rather than mindlessly falling victim to whatever comes your way.

A good example in my work where I had a lack of zanshin, was for a project for designing and supplying seals to a big automotive company. We have spent many months getting to talk to the right persons and many months more to offer our solutions. During extensive meetings I have been explaining all the details of the technical solution, the production technology and the quality assurance. Then one day, I got the wonderful message that the customer decided to continue the project and would like to have a call with me to discuss some last details. I was so happy that we had won the project and relaxed in the moment, losing my awareness. Then the call came to discuss some last details, but during this call I was surprised to see there was not just my contact person, but a great deal of final decision makers asking again for all the details that I had not prepared for. When he told me that they decided to continue the project, he meant that THEY will continue the project, but they still had to make a decision whether this would be with us or with the competitor. By losing my awareness I was not prepared for the next ‘attack’ and lost the project.

When you have found focus with an undisturbed mind and awareness of your surroundings and your body, there is another hurdle on your path to success: emotions. Anger, fear or doubt can take your mind off your goal. When you have a project with a clear target to reach, nothing should take your mind off reaching that target. However, you must not go for your target at all costs. In martial arts this is called Fudoshin, the immovable mind.

The martial artist who manages to achieve the "immovable? mind", has met all the challenges of life and has achieved a state of complete composure and fearlessness, at the same time is determined to be peaceful with an unshakable will. Although he is calm, his spirit is determined to win, he is full of courage, resistance and firmness to overcome every obstacle.

The point of this story is that you become aware of these three states of mind that can help you in your daily life. You can learn and improve by studying and practicing in your work or family life. Practicing martial arts is helpful to learn faster, because you are faced with the consequences immediately and lose the fight. None of this is easy and surely most people will not become a master, but starting to live consciously will help to improve and keep control of your life.

If you like to talk about this process, you can contact me.?

I wish you all strength in the process,

Jan Boomsma

Note and references:

Next to my 40 years of judo, I have found inspiration for this text and used some quotes from:

• Book: Lessons from a Samurai, Bj?rn Aris, 9789081927772.
• https://genecrawford.medium.com/three-states-of-the-warriors-mind-f2e66866c59d
• https://jamesclear.com/zanshin
• https://www.accademiadellaviamarziale.it/2018/02/15/fudoshin-lossimoro-del-guerriero-pacifico/

The calligraphy shown in this text has been made for me by Naoko-san, who is specialist of Japanese Calligraphy; Hachidan (八段), https://www.japanhollandlink.com/