THE CONNECTION HIT
When you are about to strike your opponent and he tries to either parry or brush the stroke aside, hit his head, hand, and foot in one stroke. The Connection Strike describes a strike made any place at all with one path of your sword. Learn this strike well; it will be effective at any time. Use this in fights often, and you will understand it.
THE FLINT-AND-SPARK HIT
The Flint-and-Spark Hit is executed by striking with great certainty and strength, without raising your sword at all, when your sword is joined with your opponent’s. You should put strength into your feet, body, and hands, and strike quickly with these three.
THE AUTUMN-LEAF STRIKE
The heart of the Autumn-Leaf Strike is in striking down your opponent’s sword and picking it up yourself. When your opponent takes a stance in front of you and is intent on striking, hitting, or parrying with his sword, strike his sword strongly with either the No Thought–No Concept Strike or the Flint-and-Spark Strike in mind. In the same moment, without letting up for a second, if you hit him again with the lowered point of your weapon, he will invariably drop his sword.
THE BODY TAKING THE PLACE OF THE SWORD
This could also be called the Sword Taking the Place of the Body. As a rule, when you strike at your opponent, you do not strike with both body and sword at the same time. Depending on the circumstances of your opponent’s attack, you use your body first in the strike, causing your sword to then strike regardless of your body. Though it may be that, without moving your body, you strike with your sword, for the most part, the body strikes first and is followed by the strike of the sword. You should investigate this thoroughly and put it into practice.
THE STRIKE AND THE HIT
The Strike and the Hit are two different things. The heart of what is called a Strike—no matter what kind of Strike—is to do so consciously and with certainty. A Hit is when you have advanced toward and collided with your opponent, even when, by virtue of your strength, he dies immediately. This is a Hit. A Strike is executed consciously. You should examine this. Whether you are going for your opponent’s hand or foot, the Hit comes first. This is so that after the Hit you can strike with strength. Hitting may be understood as touching. When you have learned this well, it is a special thing. You should make efforts in this.
THE BODY OF THE SHUKO
The essence of this technique is that the shuko does not extend his arms.5 When you advance toward your opponent, do not have the least thought of extending your arms, but rather rush in quickly before he strikes. If you think of extending your arms, your body will retract. Thus, be intent on entering quickly and striking with your entire body. It is easy to approach with your body in the same time it would take for your hand to reach out. You should investigate this thoroughly.
THE BODY OF LACQUER AND GLUE
The essence of Lacquer and Glue is that when you have come close to the body of your opponent, stick to it without separating. When you have closed in on your opponent’s body, stick to it with strength—head, body, and feet. Often people will close in with their head or feet but will leave out the rest of their body. Keep your body pressed to your opponent’s, without letting even a small space in between. You should investigate this thoroughly.
COMPARING STATURE
Comparing Stature refers to the avoidance of contracting your body in any way whenever you have closed in on an opponent. Close in with strength—extending your legs, waist, and neck—and align your face with that of your opponent. In measuring yourself up to him, be intent on exceeding him. You will then gain in height and rush in with strength. You should make great efforts with this.
APPLYING GLUE
When you and your opponent strike together and he has checked your blow, continue to apply your sword to his as if you were applying glue, and close in. The essence of this stickiness is to make it difficult for your swords to separate, but you must be mindful not to use too much strength. When you make contact with your opponent’s sword, apply the glue and close in; do so with great tranquility and you will feel no distress. The difference between being sticky and being entangled is that stickiness is strong and entanglement is weak. You should make a distinction between the two.
THE BODY BLOW
The Body Blow is executed by closing in on your opponent and hitting him with your body the split second before he takes action. Turn your face a little to the side, extend your left shoulder, and hit your opponent’s chest. The action of hitting him should be done with great bodily force, with breathing and rhythm and while being mindful to close in with momentum. When you grasp this way of closing, you will become strong enough to throw a person back a great distance. You will be able to hit him with such strength that he dies. You should practice this well.
THREE PARRIES
When closing in on your opponent and parrying the sword with which he strikes, make as if to stab him in the eye with your own sword. Then, draw his sword toward your right shoulder. This is the first parry. The next, the “stabbing parry,” involves parrying the sword your opponent strikes with by making as if to stab his right eye, then stabbing him with the intention of jamming your sword into his neck. Again, when your opponent strikes, close in on him with a short sword6 and, without much regard for the sword that you parry, close in as if to strike your opponent’s face with your left hand.
These are the Three Parries. Keep in mind the tightening of your left hand and making as if to strike your opponent’s face with your fist. This is something you should practice thoroughly.
STABBING THE FACE
When you have faced off with your opponent and your swords are equally set, it is essential that you be constantly intent on stabbing his face with the tip of your sword. If you keep your mind on stabbing your opponent’s face, he will pull his face and body back. If you can make him do this, you will have various advantages for victory. You should make thorough efforts in this.
In the midst of the fight, if you are intent on making your opponent flinch, you will have already obtained the victory. For this reason, you should not forget about stabbing at your opponent’s face. Among the disciplines of the martial arts, this is a principle you should practice.
STABBING THE HEART
Stabbing the Heart means that in the midst of a fight, when you are obstructed both above and at the side and are completely unable to slash your opponent, you should stab him. The instant you are aware of having evaded his striking sword, expose the ridge7 of your sword directly at your opponent, draw back so that the tip does not waver, and stab him in the chest. If you have become tired, or your sword will not cut, this technique can be used exclusively. You should understand this thoroughly.
KATSU-TOTSU
For Katsu-Totsu,8 when making your attack and closing in on your opponent—and he, in turn, goes to make a counterattack—raise your sword as if to stab him from below and strike him in return. Both actions should be done with a quick rhythm, striking with a Katsu-Totsu: that is, Katsu when you make your rising stab, Totsu when you strike. Whenever you are in the middle of an exchange of blows, this rhythm is particularly fitting.
The proper execution of Katsu-Totsu is to keep a sense of stabbing your opponent as you raise the tip of your sword, but then, in that very instant, to strike him. That is the rhythm. You should practice and investigate this well.
SLAP AND PARRY
The Slap and Parry is used when you are engaged with an opponent and the rhythm becomes one of just banging away at cross-purposes. When your opponent strikes, you slap and meet his sword with yours. The heart of slapping and meeting is not simply in a fierce slap or a simple parry. In responding to your opponent’s sword, you slap it as it strikes and then, immediately, you strike your opponent. The essence of this is that you take the offensive with both the slap and the strike.
If your slap is done with a good rhythm, even with small intent, the tip of your sword will not fall no matter how hard your opponent strikes.
> ENCOUNTERING MANY OPPONENTS
Encountering Many Opponents is of concern when you alone are engaged against a large number of men. Unsheathe both sword and short sword, open left and right arms broadly, and take a stance with your swords tilted laterally.
Even when your opponents come at you from all directions, be of a mind to drive them into one place. When your opponents attack, see clearly who is in front of you and who behind. Quickly engage the man or men advancing in front of you, but watch peripherally and understand the position of your opponents. Handle the sword in your right hand and the sword in your left at one time, but independently. It is not good to hesitate. The essence of this is to quickly take stances toward your opponents on both sides; where opponents come forth, cut into them vigorously and put them into disorder; then immediately charge to where other opponents advance and rout them as well. Above all, be intent on driving your opponents into one direction like a school of fish. When you see that they are falling all over each other, you should wade into them vigorously and without any pause.
If you do not chase in directly toward the place where your opponents have gathered, you will not make progress. And, if you start thinking about the direction from which your opponents will come, your mind will be waiting and you will have the same result. Parry your opponents’ rhythm, know where they will crumble, and you will have the victory.
From time to time practice herding your opponents into a group and chasing after them. If you understand the heart of that, you will be at ease whether your opponents number one, ten, or even twenty. Investigate this and practice it well.
THE PRINCIPLE OF EXCHANGING BLOWS
The Principle of Exchanging Blows refers to being able to understand victory in terms of the martial arts and the sword. It is not in writing it down in detail. Practicing well, you will know victory. By and large, it is the sword that manifests the Way of the Martial Arts. This is an oral tradition.
ONE STRIKE
If you keep the One Strike in mind, you will assuredly gain the victory. If you do not study the martial arts well, they will be difficult to understand. If you do train yourself thoroughly in this, the Way will be there for the martial arts to develop in accordance with your mind, and for your mind to take the victory on its own. You should practice thoroughly.
DIRECT TRANSMISSION
The heart of Direct Transmission is handed down by receiving the true Way of the Two-Sword Style. It is essential that you train thoroughly and make it a part of you. This is an oral tradition.
I have recorded in this chapter the main points of the swordsmanship of the Two-Sword Style. In the martial arts, you take up the sword and learn how to overcome others.
First, with the Five Fundamentals, you gain knowledge of the Five Stances, you learn the Way of the Sword, your entire body becomes flexible, your mind becomes quick, you become skillful on your own with the sword, your body and feet work harmoniously with your mind, and you move as you please. Over-coming one person or two goes according to your knowledge of right and wrong in the martial arts.
Practice what is in this book line by line, engage your opponents, and gradually you will grasp the principle of the Way. Keep this unceasingly in mind, but do not be hurried; try your hand from time to time, and learn the heart of each step. And no matter whom you fight, know his mind.
The journey of a thousand ri proceeds step by step, so think without rushing.9 Understanding that this is the duty of a warrior, put these practices into action, surpass today what you were yesterday, go beyond those of poor skill tomorrow, and exceed those who are skillful later. You should do as is written in this book and not think in a way that will let your mind become sidetracked.
Therefore, no matter what kind of opponent you fight and defeat, by turning your back on this teaching you will not be on the True Way.
If these principles are recalled to mind, you should be able to discern how to beat any number of opponents on your own. This being so, grasp the Way of the Martial Arts with the strength of your knowledge of swordsmanship, for many opponents or only one. See to it that you temper yourself with one thousand days of practice, and refine yourself with ten thousand days of training.
You should investigate this thoroughly.
Twelfth Day of the Fifth Month, Second Year of Shoho
Shinmen Musashi
In the martial arts of the Two-Sword Style, I compare battle to fire. Thus I have written about the matter of contest in battle as “The Fire Chapter.”
First of all, everyone in this world fancies the insignificant principles of the martial arts, whether in knowing how to give the wrist a three- to five-inch advantage with the fingertips, or in understanding how to gain the victory by extending the forearm by handling a fan. Or again, by taking up a bamboo sword or something like it, all may study the simple advantage of speed and, in learning the functions of the hands and feet, specialize in the lesser advantages of alacrity.
In my martial art, you put your life on the line many times by engaging in battle, you distinguish the principles of life and death, you study the Way of the Sword, you know the strengths and weaknesses of your opponent’s striking sword, you discern the Way of the edge and back of the sword blade, and you practice how to strike and defeat your opponent. In doing this, you do not bother your thoughts with insignificant or small matters.
Above all, when it comes to the principles of bracing yourself with the six kinds of armor, you will not be thinking of insignificant techniques. Moreover, my Way of the Martial Arts is to know the Way of victory with certainty when you are fighting for your life alone against five or ten men. Accordingly, what kind of difference can there be in the principles for one man defeating ten and in those for one thousand men defeating ten thousand? You should investigate this thoroughly.
Nevertheless, gathering one thousand or ten thousand men and studying this Way is not something that can be done during ordinary times of practice. But if you only take up your sword on your own, by gauging each opponent’s strategy and getting to know his strengths and weaknesses, and by virtue of your knowledge of the Martial Arts, you will plumb the depths of defeating ten thousand men and become an expert in this Way.
Who in this world can obtain my correct Way of the Martial Arts? Whoever would get to the heart of it, let him do so with conviction, practicing in the morning and training in the evening. After he has polished his techniques and gained independent freedom of movement, he will naturally gain miraculous powers, and his free and easy strength will be wonderful. This is the spirit wherein, as a warrior, he will put these practices into action.
CONCERNING PLACE
In distinguishing the conditions of the place (of combat), the sun should be at your back. You should take up your stance with the sun behind you. If, according to the place, there is a time when you are unable to put the sun at your back, you should try to put it to your right side. It is the same even if you are in a room: the light should be behind you or to your right. You want to take your stance with no obstruction behind you, with your left side at ease, and so that you have closed off the right. To have your opponent visible even at night, you should take up your stance with the same understanding: fire should be at your rear, light should be off to your right. For looking down on your opponent, you should consider taking your stance in a slightly elevated place. In a room, you should think of the seat of honor as the elevated place.
As for chasing your opponent about in battle, it is essential that you chase him to your left, that you get the difficult terrain to his rear, and that you then drive him, above all, toward those difficult places. In regard to such difficult places, do not let your opponent assess the situation; keep his face from being able to turn by attacking and checking him, leaving no moment unguarded. Even in a room, you should likewise drive your opponent toward the threshold, the lintel, the door, the shoji, the veranda, or pillars without letting him evaluate the place.
In any case, when you drive your op
ponent before you, do so toward a place where there is difficult footing or some sort of obstruction at his side. It is important that you be intent to use the advantages of the place, and so gain the victory with the place itself. You should investigate this thoroughly and put it into practice.
TAKING THE THREE INITIATIVES
* The Initiative of Attack is when I attack my opponent.
* The Initiative of Waiting is when my opponent attacks me.
* The Body-Body Initiative is when both my opponent and I attack at the same time.
These are the Three Initiatives. In the beginning of any confrontation, there are no other initiatives than these three. You can quickly gain the victory according to the circumstances of these initiatives, and so they rank first in the martial arts. There are various distinctions involved with these initiatives, but you select your own according to the moment. And, as you will be victorious by seeing into your opponent’s mind and by the wisdom of the martial arts, I will not write down all the details.
First, in the Initiative of Attack, when you consider attacking, remain calm, then suddenly attack first and quickly. This is an initiative in which you move your body with speed and strength, but leave plenty of margin in your mind. Moreover, while your mind is using great strength, your feet will move a little more quickly than usual. Thus, the initiative is quick and vigorous as you approach your opponent. Again, unfetter your mind and, from beginning to end, be intent on one thing: smashing your opponent. By this, your mind will be strong to its very core, and you will gain the victory. This is, in all events, the Initiative of Attack.
Second, in the Initiative of Waiting, when your opponent attacks you, stay completely unruffled, but show a weak appearance and, as he comes close, move away briskly. Looking as though you are now ready to leap away, watch for the moment he relaxes, then take the victory directly and vigorously. This is one initiative. Another is when your opponent attacks and you come on even more strongly. Here, gain the victory immediately by taking advantage of the moment his rhythm changes. These are the principles of the Initiative of Waiting.
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