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Mushin No Shin
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I don’t think mushin translates well into English, it means “no-mindedness.” Mushin no shin is a zen expression meaning mind of no mind. It’s a little confusing, but it is the secret of flow. Some of the guys who write about mushin don’t know it’s about flow, but it is.
“Mushin is achieved when a person feels no anger, fear or ego during combat.” This is a great definition of mushin. The reason I don’t like the “no-mindedness” translation of mushin is that it’s not really the absence of one’s mind; it’s the suppression of thought. Thought corrupts movement—fear, ego, and anger are manifested in the mind, and developed through thought, and it is thought that slows us down, It is thought that gets in the way.
I like the social network site Facebook because every once in a while someone will write something that makes you think, Scott Willingham wrote “Jitsu’s easy… we make it hard. Trust it.” Willingham said it perfectly, it’s when we think too much that messes things up—it’s thought’s fault. We should put our confidence in the art of jiu-jitsu and just go, like Rickson says “automatic pilot.” No thought just movement.
The most dominate man in BJJ will be the man that can quiet his mind, will be the man who uses his technique and subconscious—the man who masters mushin.
Its true my best jiu jitsu comes when I am to tired to think, I just react.