Mokuso
黙想
Brief silent meditation in seiza at the start and end of training, literally “silent contemplation”. It is ended by the command mokuso yame.
Quick Facts
Term typeEtiquette and ceremony
LanguageJapanese
Formnoun
Pronunciation[moh-koo-soh]
Alternative Namessilent meditation
Readings and romanizations
Reading (kana)もくそう
Hepburn romanizationmokusō
Word breakdown
黙mokuto be silent
想sōthought
Definition
Mokuso (黙想) means “silent contemplation”: moku is to be silent, so is thought. In the Japanese martial arts it is a short meditation that practitioners perform kneeling in seiza, usually at the start and end of training. They sit with eyes closed or half closed, breathe calmly and concentrate. Mokuso begins with the command “mokuso” and ends with the command “mokuso yame”. At the start of training it should help to put aside the day’s worries and focus on practice, at the end to calm down. The bow zarei to the teacher and to the kamiza usually follows immediately.