Battle Meditation

Battle Meditation (戦闘瞑想, Sentō Meisō)is one among a series of techniques developed in the Han Empire for the use of its high ranking officers, as well as one of the basic fighting tenants used in the numerous martial arts schools established there. Battle meditation functions as a supplementary skill adopted by fighters who focus on the spiritual and mental aspects of fighting rather than physical nature of it, enabling the practitioner to draw out their innermost focus to the surface, meditating to go beyond the mind and experience one’s own essential nature, allowing them to harmonize with their own fighting abilities at a much deeper level.

Transforming and improving upon traditional meditation skills, this iteration was designed to improve the practitioner's ability to concentrate and redirect their energy toward strengthening their will and overall spiritual power, achieving tremendous feats through in-depth control and discipline via mastery of the mind even amidst the harshest of times, with the end result being the attainment of personal enlightenment that is accompanied with tranquility and serenity.

Description
Based off simple zen meditation, with a few alterations made on the result achieved after practice, Battle Meditation can be accessed in several ways, with the most common being that the practitioner use a certain posture to focus with and concentrate on liberating their mind from any sort of distractions, calm their heart and then focus their sense outward, typically on the sound of their own breathing. The goal of this skill is for the user to enter a deep focus that deprives them of all emotions and feelings they have, attaining a mental state that balances them between the tip of tranquility and the edge of hostility. In this state of mind, the practitioner attains a heightened degree of focus on whatever they are doing or going to do, finding their center inside themselves that deprives them of their ability to lose concentration from outdoor distractions. In these conditions, the meditator’s sense become enhanced toward reading their surroundings, facilitating their ability to sense others nearby and whatever else is around them. One of the biggest reason as to why fighters practice it is mainly due to the unique sense of hyper cognition they place themselves, requiring them to use very little concentration or thought into using certain attacks, techniques, or maneuvers that would in normal instances require a great deal of effort and attentiveness to initiate, throwing the thought process out the window and enabling them to recite it based on purely on instinct and muscle memory. With a relaxed body and mind, the practitioner becomes more equipped to focus on techniques with less distractions. Maintaining this relaxed state of mind also promotes them to react faster and be more efficient with their energy—as the mind calms, the body relaxes.

With such a high level of mental, rather than physical, conscious control over their own body, it saves them the trouble of having to exert too much energy into over thinking their next move and reduces the stress and exhaustion they would feel. This hands over to the meditator a better sense of control over their abilities without suffering the negative exertion they would feel in full effect. Interestingly, this skill can be applied toward the concept of magic that a wizard can summon at a given time, typically when said individual operates or trains their mind to forcibly induce a mode of consciousness that draws out more energy than what could be done consciously. With further practice in meditation, the internal effort to self-regulate the mind becomes significantly easier to use in both speed and duration, meaning that a wizard who is sufficiently adept in its use can train their mental/spiritual stamina toward sustaining their magic energy for longer periods of times during spell casting. However, its greatest application is found in the hands of martial artists, with the full effectiveness of Battle Meditation revealing itself more pronounced to those that apply its power toward the mind and spirit rather than actual magic. With their intentions being the focal point of their training, their mental focus is reinforced through through every meditation, continually being improved, as well as their capacity to learn martial arts at an increased speed. One of the notable advantages of applying a fighting style toward Battle Meditation is the broad variety of practices that it includes, such as techniques designed to promote relaxation, build internal energy or life force (Qi, magic, etc.). A particularly ambitious form of Battle Meditation aims at effortlessly sustaining a single-pointed concentration meant to enable its practitioner to enjoy an indestructible sense of unbroken-concentration while engaging in any life activity, including battle.

When mastered by those who have discipline themselves under its teachings, they gain not only mastery over their state of mind, but a number of factors associated to it. By learning to grasp their internal effort to self-regulate their mind, the user can clear it from all manner of debilitating conditions that would hold them back, such as fear, anger, lust, anxiety, etc., as a form of mind-training. It then serves as a natural method to deal with any physical or mental occurrences that would distract the practitioner from utilizing Battle Meditation, commonly in the form of debilitations found in pain and hunger, to name a few. This in turn disciplines their minds from wandering or focusing on anything that would distract them, conveying the utmost command in keeping themselves in control and free from the domination of others. This characteristic can be referred to as mental silence, which is regarded as a meditation that involves 'switching off' certain aspects of the mind that the meditator deems “unnecesary”. In this sense, at its highest peak of practice, employed meditation draws itself toward sharpening their mind in the attempts to quickly speed up the recovery of their stamina, while also healing their wounds, reinvigorating their exhausted body and overall battle prowess of an individual while simultaneously reducing the erosion of their combat-effectiveness over a period of time.

Techniques

 * Geichu Dama (芸中黙, Geichū Dama; lit. “Art of Silence”):