This mentality is also for when you clash with a single strong opponent. The heart of Mixing In is in not knowing a single step of retreat and in getting lost in the crowd.
CRUSHING
Smashing your opponent completely, even if he seems weak and you are strong, is called Crushing. This mentality is important. In martial arts situations involving large numbers, when you perceive that your opponents are few in number—or even, should they be numerous—once you have confused them and found their weaknesses, you crush them. In other words, from the very beginning, you are intent on intimidating them and crushing them completely.
If your Crushing is weak, they will be able to rally. The heart of this is to grasp what you have in hand and crush them. You should understand this thoroughly.
Again, when you are in one-on-one martial arts situations, if your opponent is inferior to you, or his rhythm has broken, or if he appears as though he is going to retreat, it is essential that you crush him immediately, without letting him catch his breath or even letting him glance at you. It is your primary consideration to not let him recover even a little. You should investigate this thoroughly.
MOUNTAINS AND SEAS
The heart of Mountains and Seas is that it is wrong to use the same tactic repeatedly during a fight between you and your opponent. Using the same tactic twice is unavoidable, but you should not use it three times. If you use a technique on your opponent and it is not successful the first time, it will have no effect to attack him once more with the same move.
Attack suddenly with a different technique, and if that has no effect, you should use yet a different one. Thus, if your opponent is thinking “mountains,” attack with “seas”; and if he is thinking “seas,” attack with “mountains.”This is the heart of the Way of the Martial Arts. You should investigate this thoroughly.
PIERCING THE BOTTOM
In fighting your opponent and using the principles of this Way, there may be times when you appear to be winning on the surface, but hostility remains in your opponent’s mind. Accordingly, he may be defeated on the surface but not at all in the bottom of his mind. In such situations, it is important that you suddenly adjust your own mind, destroy your opponent’s spirit, and make sure that he has been defeated in the very bottom of his heart.
This Piercing the Bottom can be done with the sword, the body, or the mind. It cannot be defined sweepingly.
When your opponent has collapsed from the bottom of his heart, it is not necessary for you to remain intent; but if he has not, you must remain alert. It will be difficult for your opponent to collapse completely if something remains in his mind.
For the martial arts of both large numbers and one-on-one, you should practice Piercing the Bottom thoroughly.
RENEWAL
When you and your opponent are fighting and nothing is going right, nor is there progress, be of a mind to throw off your former intention and start entirely anew. Take on another rhythm and see your way to victory. With Renewal, whenever you think that you and your opponent are just grating along, you should change your mind on the spot and take the victory by using another tactic.
In martial arts involving large numbers, as well, it is essential to discern a point of Renewal. It is a matter of using your strength of knowledge of the martial arts and seeing through things immediately. You should investigate this thoroughly.
HEAD OF A RAT, NECK OF A BULL
Head of a Rat, Neck of a Bull applies when you are in battle with your opponent and you are both entangled in concentrating on the finer details, yet you feel that you are going nowhere.3 In the Way of the Martial Arts, you must consider Head of a Rat, Neck of a Bull constantly and repeatedly. No matter how engrossed in the details you are, you should suddenly show great heart and exchange the great and the small. This is one of the dispositions of the martial arts.
It is essential for the warrior, even the ordinary soldier, to think in these terms. You should never depart from this mentality, whether in martial arts involving great numbers or in those of one-on-one. You should investigate this thoroughly.
THE GENERAL KNOWS THE SOLDIERS
In order to fulfill your intentions, and regardless of what kind of fight you may be involved in, you must always put into practice the rule The General Knows the Soldiers. Grasp your strength of wisdom of the martial arts and consider your opponents as your own soldiers. Accordingly, you should make them follow your own intentions and move them around freely. When you think in these terms, you become the general and your opponents become your soldiers. You should make efforts in this.
RELEASING THE HILT OF THE SWORD
There are various meanings to Releasing the Hilt of the Sword. There is the understanding of winning without a sword and the understanding of not winning though you have a sword. There are various meanings, but I will not write them all down. You should practice this thoroughly.
THE BODY OF A ROCKY CRAG
The Body of a Rocky Crag refers to how, grasping the Way of the Martial Arts, you suddenly become like a rocky crag, unmoving and struck by nothing. This is an oral tradition.
The above is what I have written concerning my own style of swordsmanship and is something I have thought over unceasingly. I have written these principles down for the first time, so the order in which they are noted is confused and it is difficult to discuss them in detail. Nevertheless, they should become mental signposts for the person who would study this Way.
From the time I was young I have set my mind on the Way of the Martial Arts, practiced the one subject of swordsmanship with my entire being and experienced various and different understandings. Looking into other styles, I have found that they were either speaking with clever pretexts or demonstrating detailed hand maneuvers; while they looked good to the eye, none of them had the heart of truth.
Of course, you may think it good to learn such things and to practice them with both body and mind. But they all become injurious to the Way and will be impossible to wipe away even in distant generations. Accordingly, they will corrupt the true Way of the Martial Arts in the world and will be the cause of its abandonment.
The true Way of swordsmanship is to fight with your opponent and win, and this should not be changed in the slightest. If you grasp the strength of wisdom of my martial arts and put it directly into practice, there should be no doubt of victory.
Twelfth Day of the Fifth Month, Second Year of Shoho
Shinmen Musashi
In the martial arts, you know the Way of other styles. As I write about these other styles of martial arts here, I have designated this as “The Wind Chapter.”
It would be quite difficult to understand the Way of my style without knowing the Way of others. When you inquire into the other martial arts, you see that there are styles that base their techniques on grasping a large long sword and specializing in strength. There are others that use a small long sword (that is, a short long sword), and exert themselves in their Way. There are yet others who make contrivances with many sword techniques and teach their Way by stances with the sword, saying, “These are the outer stances; these are the inner.”1
In this chapter, I will express with certainty that none of these are the True Way and will show you what is good, what is bad; what is based on principle and what is not.
The rationale of my own school is completely different. The other schools get along with this as a performance art, as a method of making a living, as a colorful decoration, or as a means of forcing flowers to bloom. Yet, can it be the true Way if it has been made into a saleable item? Moreover, the other martial arts in the world only give fine attention to swordsmanship: teaching ways of handling the sword, body postures, or hand positions. Can you understand how to win by these things? None of them are the unfailing Way.
In this chapter, I will write down the deficiencies of the other styles one by one. Investigating this thoroughly, you should understand the advantages of the Two-Sword Style.
CARRYING A LONG SWO
RD IN OTHER STYLES
There are other styles that prefer a long sword.2 From the standpoint of my own martial art, this can be seen as a weak style. The reason is this: not knowing how to defeat others in any situation, they put virtue in the length of the sword and think they can win by their distance from their opponent. For this reason they prefer a long sword.
The common saying “A hand longer by an inch has the advantage” is but information quoted by those who do not know the martial arts. Without knowing the principles of the martial arts, they would win at a distance by using a longer sword. Because of their weak hearts, this can be seen as a weak martial art.
When your opponent rushes in close, the longer your sword, the less efficient it becomes. Accordingly, you will be unable to handle your sword freely, it becoming only so much baggage, and you will be at a disadvantage to a man brandishing a small short sword.
Those who prefer long swords will have their explanation, but it is only their own individual quibbling. It is unreasonable when seen from the True Way in this world.
Would you be sure to lose if you did not carry a long sword, but carried a short one instead? Or, according to the situation, what if you were in a place closed in at the top, bottom, and sides? Likewise, if you were intent on preferring length and had only a short sword, you might come to doubt your martial art and enter a bad frame of mind.
Depending on the person, there may be those with less strength.3 Yet, it has been said since ancient times that the large goes together with the small. This is then not a matter of disliking the long unreasonably, but a matter of disliking the mind that prefers the long.
A long sword is like having many men in martial arts situations involving large numbers, while a short sword is like having few men. Do large and small forces not meet in battle? There are many examples of small forces defeating large ones.
In my martial art, we dislike such one-sidedness and narrowness of mind. You should investigate this thoroughly.
USING THE SWORD FORCEFULLY IN OTHER STYLES
There should be no such thing as forceful or weak strokes with the sword. The sword handled with a forceful frame of mind is going to be rough, and it is difficult to win with roughness alone. Moreover, when you go to cut someone forcefully with your sword, you will try to cut with unreasonable strength, and this will not be the right mentality for cutting at all. It is wrong to cut with great strength even when you are testing your blade.
When you cross swords with an opponent, no matter who he is, do not think about cutting forcefully or weakly. Simply, when you consider cutting someone down, do not use a forceful frame of mind. Nor, of course, a weak one. Think only so far as your opponent’s dying.
If both you and your opponent strike forcefully with your swords, the strain will be too much and the result undoubtedly bad. And, if you hit someone’s sword forcefully, your own sword will probably break as well. Therefore, do not use your sword forcefully.
Even in martial arts situations involving large numbers, if you are thinking of going into battle with a strong number of men, your opponent will likely be thinking of doing the same. Accordingly, both sides will be equal. In my style, you do not think about overdoing anything in the least. Be intent on winning in any situation by your strength of knowledge of the martial arts. You should make thorough efforts in this.
USING THE SHORT SWORD IN OTHER STYLES
To think that you will win using only a short sword is not the True Way. Since times past, the terms long sword and sword have been used to express how long or short a blade is.4 In this world, people of great strength are able to easily handle a long sword, and so there is no need for them to unreasonably prefer a short one. Accordingly, for the sake of length you carry a spear or a long long sword. With short long swords, people think they can thread their way through the gaps of others flailing regular swords, dash into their midst and lay hold of their opponents. But this is one-sided thinking and wrong.
Moreover, aiming at unguarded moments can be considered the same as being constantly on the defensive. This is undesirable because your mind becomes entangled. It will be useless in the middle of a large number of opponents to take a short sword and rush into their midst hoping to take a trophy. Some may think they can use a short sword to cut their way into a large crowd, leaping and moving around, but they will always be on the defensive and entangled. This is not the sure Way. All things being the same, mine is a Way in which it is important that you attack vigorously and directly, chasing your opponents around, making them jump back and confusing them, and gaining the victory with certainty.
This principle applies, as well, in martial arts situations involving large numbers. All things being the same, it is an essential point of the martial arts that you are intent on rushing into your opponents quickly with a large number of men and crushing those opponents immediately.
When people in this world study these things, they ordinarily learn parrying, dodging, withdrawing, and evading. But these draw their minds from the Way and allow them to be pushed around by others. Because the Way of the Martial Arts is direct and true, it is essential that you be intent on pursuing others and subjugating them with true principles. You should investigate this thoroughly.
USING MANY TECHNIQUES WITH THE SWORD IN OTHER STYLES
Teaching people many techniques with the sword makes the Way into a saleable item, and the knowledge of many sword techniques is for the sake of impressing the beginner. This is undesirable in the martial arts. The reason for this is that thinking of the various different ways of cutting someone down confuses the mind.
In this world, there are no extraordinary ways of cutting someone down. For those who know, for those who don’t know, for women and children as well, there are not many ways to strike, beat, or cut. Other than the method of “cutting down,” there are only those of stabbing and slicing. Since this is, first of all, a way of cutting a person down, there are not so many fine details.
Nevertheless, according to the place and condition—as in being cramped in from above and at the sides—you can carry a sword without using it. There are fives ways of doing this, and they are called the Five Directions. Otherwise, cutting people down by additionally twisting your hand, contorting your body, jumping, or opening up is not the True Way. Cutting someone down cannot be done by twisting, contorting, leaping, or opening up. Such things are absolutely useless.
In my martial art, it is essential that both body and mind are composed in a straightforward way, and that you bend and warp your opponent, taking the victory by twisting and distorting your opponent’s mind. You should investigate this thoroughly.
USING OTHER STANCES WITH THE SWORD
It is harmful to specialize in stances with the sword. In this world, taking stances should be done when there is no opponent present. The reason for this is that, in examples from the past and practices from today, establishing hard-and-fast rules is not the Way of victory. That (Way) is in devising difficulties for your opponent.
In all things, the heart of taking a stance is in not being moved. The idea of taking a stance at a castle in battle array, for example, is that you stand strongly unmoved even though you are attacked. This is normal.
In the Way of victory through the Martial Arts, you are intent on taking the initiative—always the initiative—in all things. The heart of taking a stance is in waiting for the initiative. You should make thorough efforts in this.
In the Way of victory through the Martial Arts, you move the other person’s stance: you do something your opponent is not expecting, fluster him, make him uncomfortable, threaten him, or grasp the rhythm of his confusion. If you seize the victory in these ways, taking a stance will be understood as taking the defensive, and this will be undesirable.
Accordingly, my own Way is that of Stance-No-Stance, which is to say, taking a stance by having no stance at all.
In martial arts situations involving large numbers, it is important for the battle that you consider
the number of your opponents’ troops, understand the condition of the battlefield, know the abilities of your own men, and, grasping the virtues of these things, set up your men and start the fight. What doubles the chances of winning or losing is whether the other side takes the initiative or you yourself take the initiative.
To think that you will take up a fine stance with the sword, adroitly parry your opponent’s sword and then strike him well is the same as using spears and long swords as boards in a palisade. Again, the crux of this is that when you strike your opponent, you can pull up a board from a palisade and use it as a spear or long sword. You should investigate this thoroughly.
FIXING THE EYES IN OTHER STYLES
How to fix the eyes goes according to the style. Some fix their eyes on their opponent’s sword, while in other styles they fix their eyes on their opponent’s hands. Others fix their eyes on the face, and others on the feet. All of these, as they fix their eyes on one special place, confuse the mind and pose a malady to the martial arts.
This is the reason. Although those who play kemari do not fix their eyes on the ball, they are able to execute the difficult techniques of the game.5 Because they have become accustomed to it, it is not a matter of a certain place to look. For the techniques of people doing acrobatic tricks, each becomes accustomed to their Way, whether it be balancing a sliding door on the nose or juggling a number of swords. For such things as these, though they do not fix their eyes in one certain place, it looks natural because they have practiced habitually.
In the Way of the Martial Arts as well, by becoming used to fighting with different opponents, by learning the proportions of a man’s mind, and by grasping the practice of the Way, you will be able to see through the distance and speed of his sword. Fixing the eyes in the martial arts is looking into the large picture of a man’s mind.
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