C.S. Sloan's Integral Strength

The Importance of Proper Breathing in Budo      I have been training in the Budo for more than 40 years.  In the last few years, I have been to a few dojos and I’m sad to say (or write in this case) that modern budokas don’t know how to breathe.  Most of them aren’t taught how to breathe in the first place, so they’re not even aware that there is a way that a budoka should breathe.  This is typically because the teachers in these dojos weren’t taught it themselves.  When they are taught breathing techniques, it’s only on a superficial level, such as to breathe in through their nose and out through their mouth when executing a technique in practice, whether it’s a block, punch, or kick.  But there is more to breathing in Budo than this, and that may not even be accurate, either.  There are different ways to breathe, depending on the technique and the art.      The one thing that I’ve noticed modern budoka a...

On the Physical Practice of Zazen and its Application to the Martial Ways      This is the 2nd part in my new series on the Budo Zen path for the martial artist.  Although this series is written for the martial artist, I hope that even those of you who may be lifters might benefit from its insights.  In many ways, it is as much about the intersection of Zen and physical practice in general, meaning that some of its insights will carry over into active pursuits outside of the Asian martial arts.      My intention is for this series to be practical.  I hope that it does have some degree of depth to it but, at the same time, my wish is for it to be easy to understand and easy to apply, though you do have to apply it.  Not applying what is written here would be akin to reading my pieces on strength training but never actually working out.      The cornerstone of Zen is the practice of zazen or ...

  I haven't written any "budo philosophy" pieces of late because, well, they don't get near as many views as my essays on old-school strength training, powerlifting, and bodybuilding.  But I enjoy writing them, and, to be quite honest, I think they're some of the better essays here on my blog.  The idea for this one had been churning away in my mind for a few weeks, so I thought it was time to put pen to paper and see what comes of it.  I hope you find it, at the very least, to be an interesting take on an "obscure" subject: The Budo That Can’t Be Seen “Do the budo that can’t be seen,” ~Morihei Ueshiba “It is bad for those who are learning Zen to become like those who are studying Zen but do not sit.  After all, you must have the discipline to sit everyday.” ~Omori Sogen      The first quote comes from the founder of Aikido, also known as O-Sensei, and it’s the primary thing I want to discuss in this essay: how one does the budo that ca...