There’s a saying in Judo, “The goal is to go from empty mind to empty mind.” What is meant by that is that when a person begins Judo that have no knowledge and no understanding of Judo. The student’s mind is empty. Then the sensei, or coach, begins to teach the student and his mind begins to fill up with Judo. However, that Judoka (as a Judo practitioner is called) is still thinking so hard and concentrating on every aspect of every technique so that he’s ridged, and his techniques are mechanical, lacking flow or elegance. But if the Judoka stays with it, in time, it all becomes second nature to him and he can do the techniques without thinking. He can just flow when sparing, or randori as it’s called. It’s as if Judo has become a part of his body as if it were his hand or his foot. In other words, he has returned to an empty mind, but now Judo is part of his being.

This should be the same for Christians. When we first begin our walk with Christ and come up from baptism, we know nothing about being a Christian. Our minds are empty. But the shepherds and mature Christians teach us, mentor us, and guide us. We read our Bibles, study the guidance the Apostles gave, and pray the Spirit give us wisdom and understanding. When we hear someone speak of spiritual things, we search the scriptures to determine if what is true. We might even give ourselves ridged rules to help us with our walk with God. In time our faith becomes as natural to us as breathing. When we hear something we don’t have to search scripture to exam it, because our knowledge of the Bible is so complete we can tell if we are hearing an angel of light or Satan in disguise. We have returned to an empty mind, for our Christian walk is a part of our being.

One more thing to remember. Once a Judoka achieves that return to an empty mind, he continues to train. So that Judo will remain a part of him, for if he stops training, he will lose it. Likewise, a Christian must continue his study of the Bible, and his praying so that his faith never leaves him.

#Judo, #EmptyMind, #ChristianWalk