Question 130: Wouldn't that actually make it impossible to concentrate?

Answer

▶Thinking about tennis makes you worse at tennis

That is not the case.

If you become fixated on tennis, I think you might end up thinking about tennis even while you are working or studying, for example.

Even when you go to sleep, you might recall today's tennis mistakes, reflect on them, analyze them, and lose your ability to focus on falling asleep.

If that happens, you develop a habit of not being able to concentrate on work, study, sleep, or various other subjects, so you end up unable to concentrate on tennis as well.

A habit of not being able to concentrate can also be rephrased as a "habit of thinking".

And that is nothing other than the “thinking-style tennis” described here.

▶“Work hard, play hard”

The keyword for concentration is “now”.

Immersion in the “now, here, this moment” is the concentration that prevents your consciousness from being scattered into the past or future.

Therefore, if you become fixated on one single thing, you will, for example, think about yesterday's tennis or tomorrow's match even while you are working.

That is how your ability to concentrate on all subjects tends to drop.

When you study, immerse yourself in studying; when you play, concentrate on playing.

“Work hard, play hard” actually increases your concentration.

▶Why does “side-jobbing” (studying other subjects) happen?

If you are fixated on “learning,” you will be concerned about “learning” even when you are “playing.”

If you are fixated on “playing,” you will be concerned about “playing” even when you are “learning.”

That is how your concentration drops.

Studying other subjects during class is called “side-jobbing.”

The reason such a technical term exists is that everyone's heart is fickle (non-concentrated) by default.

You might think you are concerned about “math” during a “Japanese” class, but then you are concerned about “Japanese” during a “math” class, and in the end, you cannot concentrate on either, and you risk ending up with neither.

In technical terms, this state of mind is sometimes called “monkey mind,” comparing it to a monkey constantly jumping from tree to tree.

▶What matters is “concentration,” not “fixation”

What matters is not being fixated on a specific subject, but your own ability to concentrate that you can apply to any subject.

I also mentioned this in the memo in question.

The image is that if you have strong biceps, you can do arm wrestling, carry a princess, and assist with nursing care.

Therefore, a person who is good at tennis is not necessarily “also good at work” but (as long as they don't choose the wrong subject to concentrate on) it can be said that a person who can play tennis can also (potentially) do work.

▶What happens if you fixate on a “specialty flavor”?

If you fixate on a “specialty flavor,” you cannot taste other flavors.

When you are eating other flavors, you recall the “specialty flavor” and compare them in your head (think about them), so you cannot taste them.

“Consciousness” and “tongue-consciousness” are a trade-off, remember?

Furthermore, by assigning the character for “consciousness” (shiki), meaning recognition/identification, to each of the “six senses” (sight, hearing, smell, taste, touch, and mind), all senses and thoughts are mutually exclusive correlations.

I apologize for always using the same analogy, but when you are reading this text with a certain degree of concentration, the "sound" of the air conditioning might have been playing, but you shouldn't have been able to hear it well (the trade-off between "consciousness" and "ear consciousness").

Therefore, in tennis as well, when you are "conscious" of your form or how to hit, the "eye consciousness" that sees the ball well stops functioning (you become unable to concentrate).

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