Harmony

Balance, Breath and Timing  

I everybody busy or is it just me?  I find myself asking this question when I'm up to my neck in work, with no time to do some of the activities that are important to me.  The situation occurs all too often, so often in fact, that I felt I should re-evaluate how I spend my time.  I started by making a list of everything I currently do including work, school, projects, chores, family, etc.  I then assigned what I thought was a reasonable number of hours that I should spend on each activity every week.  When I totaled up the time spent, it equaled 24 more hours than there are in a week!  This was definitely unsatisfactory.  I needed to drop some of the activities that I do... or did I?  Enter the concepts of Balance , Breath and Timing .  As I understand them, when applied to Kata, the three concepts mean: 

Balance - equal distribution of mass around the centre of gravity 

harmony between grace and power

fusing of form and practical usefulness

Breath - the exchange of oxygen and carbon dioxide 

the awareness of one's own body

the life force of Karate

Timing - execution of the appropriate move at the correct time 

coordination of different body parts to achieve synergistic results

the focus and summation of body, mind and spirit throughout a technique

I felt I could take these concepts a little further however, and was ready to apply them to my life.  After all, life is a process of movements much like Kata, except it's on a grand scale.  I came up with a broader set of meanings that could be applied to life.  As I understand them in the context of life they mean: 

Balance - equal distribution of physical, spiritual and social activity around one's life philosophy 

harmony between grace (stopping to smell the roses) and power (getting things done)

fusing of goals with everyday accomplishments

Breath - breathing deeply, stretching, good nutrition 

getting proper rest, exercise, and taking care of one's own body

being happy and living in harmony with one's environment

Timing - doing things when they should be done -- efficiently 

coordinating tasks to achieve synergistic results

the focus of the body, mind and spirit throughout one's life in everything that is done

Once I had developed the framework and principles to assemble my life, I was set.  I got rid of some of the activities that were redundant or unimportant, I made sure I was getting the essentials for life, and I reduced my required hours by doing activities concurrently and synergistically.  Alas, as with the Kata, I will spend my life trying to achieve perfection. 

By Ron Sky  
Dojo Damachii-ji 

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