C.S. Sloan's Integral Strength

  My son Garrett Sloan trains, eats, and looks  like a warrior.      One of the problems I often see in strength-training/muscle-building circles is an emphasis on aesthetics over performance.  Aesthetics can be “tricky” and even misleading if you only go by the “mirror” instead of what you are actually doing in your workouts.  So—you might now be asking—how should you approach your training, not to mention your diet, if the emphasis is on performance instead of mere aesthetics?  What follows are a few thoughts on exactly that. Train the Movement or Train the Muscle? Go By the Mirror or Go By the Weight on the Bar?      This is one of the “arguments” that you will often hear/read about, and one that can sometimes become heatedly debated.  Some bodybuilders, for instance, will argue that you should train the muscle, and not so much the movement.  They will talk about feeling the muscle, and about how ...

  Essays and Thoughts on  The Dokkodo Part Ten Resentment and Complaint are Appropriate Neither for Oneself or for Others "Clouds gather around the Enso."  The clouds represent fleeting thoughts.  The enso represents the stable, grounded mind of the Budoka. Have you ever been around a co-worker or an acquaintance who seemed to whine or complain almost all of the time?   I had an acquaintance years ago - a fellow budoka  - who trained with me at the karate dojo of my youth.  He was the kind of guy who others in the dojo didn't want to be around because he made everything  about himself.  If he hadn't achieved something, anything, then it simply wasn't his fault.  It was the fault of society, the situation in which he was raised, the fact that his genetics could have been better - the list could go on and on. There is nothing worse than this sort of pettiness. Success has nothing to do with the support you receive, or don't, not ultim...

 Essays and Thoughts on The Dokkodo Part Nine Never Allow Yourself to be Saddened by a Separation 16th century painting of Musashi (public domain) Another translation that I like of this musing is David K. Groff's that reads, "On whatever the path, do not be sad about parting ways."  If you are following a "way," then you must be prepared for the fact - inevitable some might say - that you will have to separate yourself from others who are not following the same path that you are embarked upon. When one first reads/hears a maxim such as this one or one similar, our initial reaction is to recoil from it.  We - as a human race - love our attachments!  Not only are we saddened by a separation, but we never want to be separated in the first place.  Of course it's natural for us to feel saddened upon separation, right? We are attached to many things other than just people.  Some of these attachments are subtle and we might not even be aware of what it is we are ...

  Essays and Thoughts on  The Dokkodo Part Seven Do Not Regret What Has Been Done Woodblock print by the artist Ichiyusai Kuniyoshi of a man holding a mirror to Musashi in order to get a better look at the swordsman.  Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. (digital. id. jpd 01793) Often, regret is nothing more than a way of "holding on," of our inability to truly let go .  In this way, you can see how this maxim relates to our previous one of being "detached from the desire" for worldly things.  Our regret, when looked at from this perspective, is something that we are actually attached to .  We don't want  to let go of our past.  And so we don't! Our regrets - as with many other things - are nothing more than our attachment to the past.  We think, we ruminate, we worry about what we might have done different.  And so we stay stuck in a past that only exists in our mind, or in our thoughts , to be a little more precise.  For we could...

Essays and Thoughts on The Dokkodo Part One C.S.'s Note: I hope you enjoy the essays that follow in this series.  These essays are really the seed of a book idea I've had brewing for some time.  I have been apprehensive in starting it as a book, seeing the odd "niche" that it abides in might find it hard for it to get picked up by a publisher.  But niche as it MAY be, I finally decided that it would work best as a series of essays on Integral Strength, and we'll just see what happens from here. Contemporaneous painting of Musashi from the Edo Period (courtesy Wikimedia)       Terao Maganojo gazed at the dojo ahead of him.  Over the past decade - when he retired from one of his many successful duels - he always came here to refine his technique, to improve his speed, to perfect his timing, and to learn the history of the sword school in which he practiced.  But most of all, he came to spend time at the foot of his master.      ...

...Enter Phase 3 of Integral Strength      It has been too long since last I published an entry here at Integral Strength—the end of February to be precise.  Before that, I think things were rolling along.  I always tried to publish quality material, not just from myself, but from my son, and from Jared "JD" Smith.  And I think the last year has seen some of the best material since I first started this blog—primarily as an outlet for my writings that many of the magazines wouldn't touch—perhaps some of the most informative training articles you will find anywhere on the internet.      But something happened to me a few days after our last entry, at the beginning of March: I was rushed to the emergency room.  I had lost all control of my arms, my legs, and my ability to speak. As I was being transported to the hospital in the ambulance, I thought I was going to lose consciousness.  And I thought, if I did, then my life had...

     While reading Nick Horton’s good blog “The Iron Samurai” the other day [1] , I came across this quote by the samurai Yamaoku Tesshu: “ In order to learn about the Way, forget about self and awaken to the truth… Exerting self is a mistake… We should not say “myself” — in truth there is no such thing… When there is no thought of self, true Bushido develops.” the samurai, and Zen master, Yamaoku Tesshu      The essence of Bushido is summed up in the last sentence.      When there is no thought of self, true Bushido develops .      Bushido—for those of you who are unaware—is often translated as “the way of the warrior” or, a more literal definition, “the samurai’s way.”   It is the way of one who practices Budo.   (Budo means “martial path”.)      I have often thought of lifting as a form of Budo, and my gym as the dojo.   (This is one reason that I enjoy ...