 The potency of the katana comes from the marriage of the two metals, steel and iron, in the proper ratio. These hard and soft elements make it possible to have a razor edge and resilience in the same blade.
So too with the martial artist, the elements of hard and soft must be balanced. The hard element is turned upon the martial artist himself. He must continually challenge himself to greater effort, ruthlessly seeking out his own weaknesses and overcoming them. A good teacher, like a good swordmaker, shall instantly see the weaknesses in a student and concentrate on eliminating them.
The process cannot begin until this is done. Weaknesses may include being too strong, over-confident and too opinionated. What is demanded is a casting aside of expectations. Do not be in a hurry to progress; you may be moving in the wrong direction. I came up with a good formula - TURN UP AND SHUT UP. I had been training for around eight years and had my dan grade from one master when another took residence in Britain. My concept of aikido along with myself was turned on it's head. I was not given instruction, simply shown a technique and told to practice it over and over again.
This develops the hard edge. Continual rigorous training in simple, effective and pragmatic techniques. The soft backbone of the art is in studying the underlying principles gaining the ability to be flexible in body and mind, capable of acting instinctively to changing circumstances.
When the swordsmith has married the two metals together and beaten out the impurities the sword begins to take shape. So too with the martial artist. Having mastered his own weaknesses, learned solid techniques and gained a knowledge of the principles of his chosen art - he can now begin serious study.
This usually begins at shodan, the first level of black belt. Many students think that achieving black belt is the be all and end all of martial arts. It is in fact only the beginning. Perhaps by now our sword is ready, but now it must be polished. | previous page | |
