One of the most important aspects in Budo, or Japanese Martial Arts as a collective, is to always keep a confident but humble mind. We practice today the various arts of the Samurai not really to go on a feudal battlefield sword in hand, but to honor that tradition and bring from it something of value in our daily lives. However if we are conceited, arrogant in our ways, we will never be able to truly progress as a human being AND as a martial artist. This does not mean that we should not work hard or be confident in what we do and are able to do, it just means that we should always keep an open mind and learn something of value from anyone. Takeda Tokimune, the last Soke of the ancient Daito-ryu Aikijujutsu, a koryu I practiced for over 10 years, always said that you should never be conceited, because your achievements, as high as they can be, are insignificant opposed to the ones that generations of predecessors made, often training every day, all the day. Learning from their experience is today learning through the forms that they passed to us, as faithfully but also as "alive" as possible. An ancient Confucian saying reminds us that you can only fill a cup of tea if it is not full; if you believe you know everything and you learned all about the world and Budo, your cup is always full, and nobody can pour more tea. It is always best to leave space for more tea in your life, and catch the opportunity to learn: I learned as much from my students as they learned from me, for example. Kendo and Iaido are individual's paths and require a big effort for you to progress after a certain level is achieved; one of my teachers, Inoue Shigeaki Sensei (Kendo 8 dan Hanshi) during one seminars told us, we should practice with "Jibun wo, Jibun de, Jibun suru" spirit - which very roughly translates in practicing "For ourselves, with ourselves and make ourselves learn" - it broadly means that you need to put an effort constantly, and without your own help nothing can be achieved. And being arrogant, conceited and aggressive towards other people's help and suggestion totally blocks you from doing that. So drink that tea, put a strong effort to improve, and always listen with grace to suggestions, taking the most advantage out of it, and never, ever, let you life's cup of tea be completely full. We organize regular courses of Iaido in Singapore, anyone can join and try at anytime. Please check our relevant page or directly contact us on our email.
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One of the questions I often get asked is about Iaido competitions. The All Japan Kendo Renmei (ZNKR) and its international FIK not only is the sole governing body for Kendo but the biggest federation for Iaido as well; landmark of this Federation is including a competitive aspect in the kata-based disciplines of Iaido and Jodo, together with Kendo. While in Kendo it is somewhat easier to understand the scoring and judging systems, for Iaido many outsiders find it puzzling: how does it happen? Basically the two competitors execute the same katas side by side within a time limit, and a panel of 3 judges at the end votes on who expressed the best Iaido. Far from vilifying the practice, competitions inject an element of stress that somehow echoes "dueling" that obviously does not and can not take anymore place in the modern world. As a result, no matter if winner or loser, everyone takes home something of value and the level of each practitioner increases as a consequence. It is a feeling in a way similar to exams, even if they are done in a slightly different setting and with different purposes. Taking exams regularly and practicing in a shiai (competition) every now and then will definitely hone one's spirit and one's technique in ways that no other form of training can achieve: that dimension of stress, fear, anticipation, doubt is able to thus connect us to the Samurai of the past, even if for just a diluted instant, and love even more what we do and ultimately why we do it: controlling, dominating and winning over your opponents within and take that strength of will and courage in our everyday life. |
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