A long time ago, in a galax.... ehm no! This was in a dojo I attended for many years, and not that long ago, but it felt cooler in these Star Wars days of Christmas 2016. I had a fellow trainee who started as a beginner not very young (in his late 30s) but with great natural talent in the use of the Sword. In both Kendo and Iaido he absolutely excelled and easily bested most opponents and he quickly went through all the kyu and first dan exams like a breeze... and this was the worst that could happen to him! This "acceleration" led him to believe that he knew and understood already everything and that it was... easy, to beat any opponent. So, he went to our Japanese Sensei of the time, visiting our dojo, and told him that he will not train at all that year, and directly go for the Nidan exam after the minimum waiting time passed (one year); "I'm strong and I always beat my opponents" he said. Our Sensei looked at him funnily for an instant and warned him that there is more to the sword than beating your opponent, and just doing that won't make him pass his next exam, which required a quality improvement. "But the Nidan requirements are the same as the exam I just did, and I totally owned it! I won't wast my time in useless training", he again answered. With a resigned, but amused sigh, Sensei just waved him off with a half-laugh. About one year later, Sensei came back for his annual visit for teaching and seminar and he immediately noticed that "strong" student wasn't at the training. "What happened to him?" he asked. And this is what happened: he didn't train for one year, he went to the exam, he did the very same he showed previously and clearly bested his opponents, as he predicted! .... and he failed the exam. After the failure, he couldn't accept it and he quit the study of Budo altogether. Training everyday or at every possible opportunity is fundamental; and challenging oneself during training to increase the quality of one's technique or concentrating on those forms that do not come out as they should is maybe even more important. We all tend to want to face the same opponents that we can easily beat; and show off the forms and katas that we know we do well - an almost totally useless endeavor! We have to choose the opponent we are the most uncomfortable with, and focus on the techniques that come the least natural or effective to us! Only then, improvement of one's technique, one's spirit and one's understanding of Japanese Budo is possible, and the deep meaning of why we practice useful in our daily lives. Giacomo Merello (Jack) is an avid practictioner of Japanese Budo since the earliest age. He now practices Kendo and Iaido and teaches regularly the latter in Singapore. For info about the course, please click here.
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