KI, TEPPOU, TAI, ICHI
There are two components to Ki, Teppou, Tai, Ichi:
ACTION IN UNISON
This essentially means that the spirit, marker and body work as one. The marker is an essential part of the sport (second only in importance to safety equipment). When the Spirit, Marker and Body work as one, you will have a player who is more well rounded. Many of the lessons in Shi-Tamajutsu revolve around accomplishing this.
ACTING WITHOUT CONSCIOUS THOUGHT
The second component of Shi-Tamajutsu is to act without conscious thought. This idea is not all encompassing, however. Paintball is a thinking game and conscious though, planning and forethought is essential.
Where Ki, Teppou, Tai, Ichi comes into play is for all those actions which should not take conscious thought. These are (but are not limited to):
The purpose is to have less things for the conscious mind to control and allow it to be freed up for the aspects of the game that DO require conscious forethought.
The key to this is a martial arts technique known as "visualization". This technique has been adopted by other sports as a form of a "practice anywhere" philosophy. Visualization is the conscious attempt to see in your mind (or visualize) yourself doing a particular movement. For instance: The perfect backhand stroke in tennis. More to the point: Pulling out a tube, loading your marker and returning the tube.
Visualization can be done anywhere at almost any time, when your concentration is not immediately required. Travelling as a passenger in a car (NEVER as the driver), during commercial breaks when watching TV, riding on public transportation, or even in the tub or shower. The reason why visualization works is because the brain makes no differentiation between what you have actually done from what you imagined yourself doing. Visualization trains the mind and the mind controls the body. So when you visualize yourself using your squeegee, it is the same as if you were using your squeegee.
You must remember that the act of visualizing takes practice as well. It also does not require devoting all your conscious thought to the task. Don't try to ignore distractions, etc. You will obviously have distractions while you are actually performing the action during a game, so distractions (during visualization) may help you. If you are new to visualization I would suggest starting this in a quiet area, without distractions, so you can master the technique.
I personally use this technique with great success. On most days it takes me one or two games to get into, what I call, "paintball mode". What I do now is to visualize playing for around 30 minutes, before I go to bed , the night before a play day. Now I am finding that I am in "paintball mode" for the first game of the day. I don't do this before each play day, only when it is essential for me to be at the top of my game for the very first game. Especially when we are playing in local recreational tournaments and special events when I have to be sharp right away.
You can even target practice like this! The mechanics of shooting (how you hold the marker, aiming, and trigger control) are as important as actually hitting the target.
-
-
