The Mind Without Mind

The mind must always be in the state of "flowing", for when it stops anywhere that means the flow is interrupted and it is this interruption that is injurious to the well-being of the mind. In the case of the swordsman, it means death. When the swordsman stands against his opponent, he is not to think of the opponent, nor of himself, nor of his enemy's sword movements. He just stands there with his sword which, forgetful of all technique, is ready only to follow the dictates of the subconscious. The man has effaced himself as the wielder of the sword. When he strikes, it is not the man but the sword in the hand of the man's subconscious that strikes.

Often referred to as simply No Mind (無心 Mushin), The Ming Without Mind (無心の心 Mushin no Shin) is an altered state of consciousness where an individual's conventional memory are temporarily discarded from his or her consciousness in favor of his or her muscle memory. Whilst within mushin, a martial artist will put his or her years of training to literally perfect use.

Under normal circumstances, an individual is only capable of entering mushin by complete happenstance. Only a few people are able to willingly induce themselves into entering mushin, and even then those individuals are only able to do so in a manner that is more reminiscent of falling asleep than any form of activation. Though it should be noted that The Gravedigger has confessed to the fact that his entrances into mushin are more akin to him being placed into a sarcophagus that is then sealed shut by some random jerk.

It should also be noted that there ARE exceptions. Aaron L. Goosby is fully capable of entering mushin at his very own discretion. To make matter worse, he can do so in an instant. To make matters even worse, Aaron can also exit mushin whenever he desires to do so. Something that is considered to be a logical impossibility by those whom are aware of the mechanics behind mushin.

Contrary to popular belief, Aaron is not simply special. Instead, there is a method to his madness. For you see, Aaron manages an activation of mushin by utilizing Seimei Kikan to reconfigure the status of his nervous system in a manner that is similar to how it is reconfigured during a natural entrance into mushin. Also, the only reason that Aaron's reconfiguration is similar instead of identical is because Aaron makes sure that his reconfiguration leaves a small portion of his conventional memory behind. By doing so, Aaron grants himself the ability to exit mushin by choice rather than by instinct and instinct alone.

To put it simply, there are ways around the limitations of mushin. One just have to be smart enough to find them.