Instead of my usual mindless web surfing and hanging out on KGS, I shut down my computer and got out my goban. I played through Shusaku's ear reddening game and I played through most of the third Kisei final game. I took about 45 minutes to just sit calmly and put stones down, calming my mind, feeling the flow of the stones, and slowing down my breath.
It worked very well. I think go is just as much influenced by state of mind as it is by knowledge. Yes, I still lost, but I felt I was doing better than usual. I guess I'll make this a habit. Amazing how powerful state of mind can be.
4 comments:
In most things we, do state of mind is very important. Knowledge is only a tool. But knowing you have knowledge often help your state of mind.
For me sitting down at a real goban also help me come into a good state of mind. The computer is a to big distraction. But also the computer is also a great tool for knowledge. Especially repeated training.
I've found that your mind listens to your suggestions. Things you know that you will never remember don't get remembered. Not because they are hard, but because you told your mind not to remember them and it listened.
When you mentioned calming your mind, it reminded me that before the insei games started, there was a mandatory "meditation" period (1-2 minutes or so), when we all had to just sit quiet in front of the goban. Only after that was the "start your games" announcement given.
Sorin
Thanks for all your comments. I am going to try to do this more often, just either meditating or replaying pro game on the board before playing a game.
Will be interesting to see whether it helps. I am working on my 'calm play' and let's just say that I have not always been successful at it yet ^^
Nanny
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