[christicake]

Stupid martial arts teacher just learn the way you learn!!!1!

[militaryinteldoesntequate]

I would think of it as like me getting into the mentality of running, it helped me train when I would use music to drown out my thoughts on the treadmill and then after a while I would get bored with it and I would simply run naturally without the music to the same rhythym.

[Conrad the Cat]

When I am training martial arts I usually have to "understand" the movement involved in a technique, which is done by thinking and trying untill I get it right but not necessarily fast. My brain must understand why I am moving my body parts in a certain way. Then it is just a question of doing it over and over again until the body remembers the movement and no concious thought is necessary.

[Conrad the Cat]

I just remembered reading or hearing somewhere about different kinds of intelligence. The point was that some people need to move to be able to think. If I remember correctrly, it was about a dancer who by moving triggered the brain into coming to new insights. Perhaps this is similar to an extrovert needing to talk with someone in order to process thoughts. Anyway, if some people need to move to be able to think, the opposite might be true too. Perhaps an INTJ needs to think in order to move.

[ChanceyRose]

@mindful, do you drive? What do you do when you see another car coming at you head on? What do you do when your car starts to slide because of wet or icy road conditions? Do you think or do you simply react?

I've never trained in the martial arts but instinctive reactions you're looking for are, I think, similar to any sport that requires quick reflexes. I use a visual technique that I heard called soft focus. Essentially, you don't focus your eyes on any one thing but let them take in the entire scene. Anytime I focus on a particular item, my brain starts to analyze it but when I don't focus my body simply reacts to the sensations it is receiving -- visual, aural, tactile, kinesthetic.

Takes time and lots of repetitive practice -- ass in the saddle time -- before your muscle memory is good enough to not require your brain to be actively engaged.

[Green Girl]

If I'm trying to quiet my brain down, I need to focus on sensation - basically, embrace my Se. At the beginning of your training session, take a few minutes to focus on the immediate - the feel of the mat, the way the light comes through the window, the tension in your muscles, the ticking of a clock. After a little while the mind starts to quiet down and just go with the flow. This is a technique used to center oneself when meditating and is like the experience you can get when running, and it really works. It takes a little practice, and some people find it easier than others. If you are very tense or distracted it is harder to do (but that's probably when it is most useful).

[Agni]

I've been doing martial arts for a while now. (About a little over a year). I have everything down very quickly: the forms, the history, pretty much all the mental concepts. My problem is the more physical part of it. Every time while I'm sparring with the other students, my instructor and the much higher ranks tell me I think too much. They tell me to not think. I know what they mean, but I just don't seem to be able to do that. Of course, the typical INTJ tries to find answers through research.

But I guess what I need is personal advice. I'm very certain many INTJ's have experience with martial arts, both the physical and the mental aspects of them. I'm just not tied down to the concept of "not thinking." How does a thinker not think? How do YOU not think?
Did any of you have any trouble with "not thinking" or with any concept in martial arts? (And I mean trouble, like some kind of block--like writers block, but with martial arts)

(I'm asking INTJ's because I relate to you the most, so don't take it as some kind of attack on INTJ's. Believe me, there's always that one guy who gets on the offensive.)

Problem as I see it is not that you think too much but that you think in wrong situation(s). I learned this the hard way I.E. I learned that it's no use to think when you are brutally trying to beat some sense to someones fist with your face. My coach told me that I should think what I want to do before I start the round and that I should base this either on what I think that will work against my opponent OR something that I want to learn how to do.

[JackParrish]

Excellent points here.

The thing I can most liken it to was that I used to play football (american) and rugby in college (and bit after in the scummy minor leagues). I played fullback in football. Contrary to popular belief, football is a very complex sport. The "sort" on a play happens in seconds, when all plays are carried and blocks picked up and assigned. It's like 3D human chess, and the point is that an offense, if it acts quickly enough and with enough skill, can create an imbalance and then exploit it.

To get good at this took days and days in the film room. All intellectual work. Breaking down film, learning to read 15 moving parts and understand how one things evaluates and reacts to another. Very complex.

But on gameday, it was different. The play is called and you have to compress all of that intellectualized info into a series of responses in only a few seconds. You must watch the play evolve and then respond to it in blink. And if you're wrong, you get the everloving shit knocked out of you.

Do you turn your brain off? No. But you must train it to only work on certain things, and drive all the other actions into the gut level sensing and responding. Green Girl stated it excellently above. Your INTJ brain is a huge part of this, but you must learn when to make it ACTIVE in the "front" of your mind, and when to set it to certain tasks only. And the more time you spend outside of the actual moment studying, learning, and processing, the better you will become when you are IN the moment.

[luemb]

You might find these two blog posts helpful, in some way. You will probably have to use Se more ( but using more Se may also be tied to using Ni well, and not using judging functions... I'm not completely sure)
How to use Extroverted Sensing from an ISTP's point of view. - Blogs - PersonalityCafe
Using Ni effectively (beta) - Blogs - PersonalityCafe

[jeffbobs]

I've been doing martial arts for a while now. (About a little over a year). I have everything down very quickly: the forms, the history, pretty much all the mental concepts. My problem is the more physical part of it. Every time while I'm sparring with the other students, my instructor and the much higher ranks tell me I think too much. They tell me to not think. I know what they mean, but I just don't seem to be able to do that. Of course, the typical INTJ tries to find answers through research.

But I guess what I need is personal advice. I'm very certain many INTJ's have experience with martial arts, both the physical and the mental aspects of them. I'm just not tied down to the concept of "not thinking." How does a thinker not think? How do YOU not think?
Did any of you have any trouble with "not thinking" or with any concept in martial arts? (And I mean trouble, like some kind of block--like writers block, but with martial arts)

(I'm asking INTJ's because I relate to you the most, so don't take it as some kind of attack on INTJ's. Believe me, there's always that one guy who gets on the offensive.)

It is about turning actions into instinct. When you do something or train your mind to do something so many many times over and over again, it no longer becomes a thought but a reaction to something faced.