Tatami and Dust Motes

Hyogen's teacher, nearly 90 years old, was a demon when it came to technical swordsmanship. However hard Hyogen tried to master the details of a technique, the old master would find fault.

"Keep your eyes on your opponent," Hyogen would hear, "Keep your back straight," or "Put the other foot forward."

Near the end of a particularly tough training session, Hyogen was performing suburi (repetitive cuts with a heavy bokken). He found himself staring at the tatami in front of him, immersed in the intricate pattern of the woven straw and the dust motes rising in the late afternoon sun. Just then, the wizened teacher looked over to inspect Hyogen's performance. "Perfect!" said the old man.

Nicklaus Suino teaches iaido, judo, and jujutsu at the Japanese Martial Arts Center in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and at seminars around North America. See the Art of Japanese Swordsmanship website.

Mmmmm, Rice

It is too clear and so it is hard to see,
A dunce once searched for a fire with a lighted lantern.
Had he known what fire was,
He could have cooked his rice much sooner.

Zen Flesh, Zen Bones, ed. Paul Reps, Tuttle.

Commentary: If you cook your rice with a candle, don't
complain about how long it takes to cook!

Nicklaus Suino teaches judo, jujutsu, and iaido at the Japanese Martial Arts Center in Ann Arbor, Michigan, home of the University of Michigan. He also offers judo seminars through www.artofjudo.com.

Forgetting the Sword

Those who are carrying a sword as a symbol of their authority or political power, holding on to their positions, tend to forget that one's worth can only be discovered by oneself, by gazing at and examining the soul. Yamauchi Yodo was well aware of this. He possessed two fine swords of the Kamakura period, one forged by Kunitoshi and one by Masamune, which he gave away very easily. He once left his residence incognito and in joke exchanged his swords with a painter who acted for him as a guide, saying he felt more comfortable without the heavy swords. Yodo's retainers, worrying about their lords attitude toward swords finally presented him with a magnificent but light and slender sword according to his fancy. On the following day, Yodo, carrying the new sword through his belt, left his residence alone on his horse to pay an acquaintance a visit. But Yodo, to the shock of his entourage, returned home without his sword. He had already exchanged it with his acquaintance for a hanging scroll made by the Neo-Confucian scholar Rai Sanyo, with which he was particularly pleased. - from Muso Jikiden Eishin Ryu: The Iai Forms and Oral Traditions of the Yamauchi Branch. Kyoto: Maruzen. 2004.

Nicklaus Suino teaches iaido and other martial arts at seminars throughout North America. Information about his seminars can be found at www.artofjapaneseswordsmanship.com. He teacher iaido, judo, and jujutsu at the Japanese Martial Arts Center in Ann Arbor, Michigan, home of the University of Michigan.

Tough Love

Three days before his death Diagu wrote a short poem praising himself as "unique in his generation." At the end of the poem he put the words "three days before." Did he regret having boasted and wish to write a different poem? The following day he requested that his attendant bring him writing paper, and as the latter was about to hand it to his master, Daigu hit him. A day later Daigu died.

- Japanese Death Poems, edited by Yoel Hoffman. Tuttle 1986, pp 93-94.

Every time the Sensei threw him, Yoshi got back up. "Why don't you stay down, Yoshi?" the Sensei asked. As he stood up to be thrown again, Yoshi was enlightened!

Nicklaus Suino teaches iaido and other martial arts at seminars throughout North America. Information about his seminars can be found at www.artofjapaneseswordsmanship.com. He teacher iaido, judo, and jujutsu at the Japanese Martial Arts Center in Ann Arbor, Michigan, home of the University of Michigan.