Note: In these two two-part series, I discuss 12 rules (teachings) from sword fighting principles from the 16th century. This first part discussed the first six rules and this second part discusses the other six rules.
As stated in part one of this two-part blog, the principles
the masters taught and conveyed to their students even hundreds of years ago are
still very relevant today. An example of
that is The Twelve Rules of the Sword taught
at the Itto School in the 16th
century. The remaining six rules are discussed below.
7. The Heart of a
Fox
This rule is to “not
allow yourself to doubt.” If an assailant
attacks you, any doubt, hesitation, or being cautious can lead to severe injury
or worse. So, you must train so you are
confident in your techniques mechanically and you should always have an
attitude and intent that your techniques are effective. I discussed training with attitude and intent
in my October 2017 blog, Training
The Mind Through Attitude/Intent.
8. Pine Tree in the
Wind
This rule is “to not get trapped by the opponent’s rhythm”. We
discuss this a lot when practicing sparring to not match an opponent’s timing
but to be the one controlling the timing and to not make it predictable. We use drills like Mr. Kim’s Timing Drill to accelerate
timing to throw an opponent off or practice variable timing while practicing hyung
so timing is not predictable.
9. The Ground
Beneath Your Feet
This rule states “Depending on the situation or the strategy,
you may be employing, retreating or advancing .., despite its negative
connotations, may be the best way to respond to an opponent.” We practice moving forward and backwards. What is key when “retreating” is continuously
enforcing that forward energy and intent, so while it may appear to be you are
at a disadvantage, you are not.
10. Focus/Preventing
Extraneous Thoughts
This rule is “to not allow distracting thoughts to plague
your mind”. Being completely present in
the moment is a critical principle of self-defense. This principle is the same
as the martial arts mindset known as Fudoshin - the immovable mind. I discuss how to train your Fudoshin mind in
my January 2020 blog, Training
the Martial Artist's Four Mindsets.
11.[Physical] Interval Between You and Your Opponent
This rule is to study and learn the distance relative to your
opponent and apply it. For me this also
means understanding your strengths or disadvantages against an opponent. For example, if I am sparring against a taller
person, I will tend to move in closer where I can still effectively use my legs
and arms, but they are unable to use their legs. It also means paying attention to any timing
or tells they have that you can take advantage of. I have seen some students slightly tap the ground
before launch a kick. This was a tell
that could be taken advantage of if I move in right as I saw the tap the on floor
and jammed the kick
12. Lingering Mind
This rule is “to strike without any lingering thoughts or
doubts”. The rule concludes “If you
entered a hundred battles and struck this point a hundred times, never doubt
you will achieve victory a hundred times.”
This rule is very much related to the Heart of a Fox and Focus/Preventing
Extraneous Thoughts rule. Being
confident (not arrogant) but confident with no doubts is also a critical
concept in self-defense. The minute you start
doubting yourself is the minute you can go from beating your assailant to
losing. When we teach board breaks, one
of the things we ask is if you think you can break the board. If there is a lot of hesitancy, then we waited
for another day to try to break the board.
Mindset is critical including the attitude/intent to do damage with each
strike. This principle is the same as the
martial arts mindset known as Zanshin - the remaining mind. I discuss how to train your Zanshin mind in
my January 2020 blog, Training
the Martial Artist's Four Mindsets.
Regards,
Kelly
“Once
you understand the way broadly, you can see it in all things.” ~ Miyamoto
Musashi (c. 1584 –1645) - famous Japanese swordsman, the author of The Book of
Five Rings
References:
The Twelve Rules of
the Sword by Ito Ittosai, Translated by Eric Shahan, 2018
