I'm sure you know this feeling!

And a short story of my first steps into the Zone.

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If in your life you’ve dedicated extended periods of time to practicing something deeply and seriously, whether it’s an art, a sport, a manual activity or a martial path, I’m pretty sure you will understand what I’m about to describe.

In fact, I know you know, and I know that you’ve already felt that feeling!

You know, this feeling of near perfection when after hundreds, thousands of repetitions, you execute “that” technique. The only one that gave you this wonderful feeling!
It fell on you without any warning and left as quickly as it came…

This feeling that for a blessed moment, everything was aligned, everything was focused. Your technique, your body, your mind and your soul.

In Budō (武道 - Martial Ways) like Karate-do (空手道), this is the ultimate goal of the entire practice, achieving unification between Spirit, Technique and Body. It’s called Shin Gi Tai and this is the mindset that should be underlying every training.

“Shin Gi Tai” (心技体 - Shin/Kokoro Gi Tai/Karada)
Spirit/Heart - Technique - Body

To describe it in a more understandable way, this is the same feeling that you have already experienced when, watching a magnificent sunset, you have the impression that time has almost frozen, as if everything was blended together and there was only you - as an infinite extension of everything - in this world.

Unfortunately, these kind of feelings come… And go…
But this is somehow a good thing, because it gives us a target, a purpose in our everyday training, and without it - or if we could always reach this point - practice would be very boring! And for that reason - because it’s a very rare and unique feeling - the whole purpose of our practice should be to feel this feeling again, to endlessly search for that beauty. And when you’ve felt it once, you know it, but it can take months or even years to feel it again!

And didn’t the old sword master say that practicing Budō was “cutting off your ego” in the first place?

So, what is Karate all about?