by Phillip Starr
In traditional
Japanese swordsmanship there is a poem that tells us,
"To strike the
opponent you must have your own skin cut;
To break the
opponent's bones you must be cut to the flesh;
To take the opponent's
life you must have your own bones broken."
The famous Japanese
swordsman, Yagyu Jubei Mitsuyoshi (first son of Yagyu Tajima No Kami
Munenori, who was head swordmaster for the Tokugawa shogunate) said,
"The different between victory and defeat lies within the
distance of one 'sun'." A "sun" is known an Chinese as
a "tsun" (or "cun", in Pinyin). It is the
measurement of the body inch used by acupuncturists and is generally
found by bending the middle finger and measuring the distance between
the fold of the first and second knuckles.
It's pretty darned
small.
A story is told of a
duel in which Jubei participated. The challenger was a samurai of a
daimyo whom Jubei was visiting and he asked for a lesson with bokken
(wooden swords). Although such "lessons" could easily
result in serious injuries, Jubei agreed. Once the swordsmen squared
off, the action was quick and the two fighters seemed to strike at
each other simultaneously. It was impossible for anyone to really
tell who won. The challenger asked for another chance and it was
provided, but with the same outcome. Members of the audience swore
that the duel had ended in a "hikiwake" (a tie) but Jubei
told them that they were unable to discern the true timing of his
stroke.
His opponent then
demanded that they have another go at it but with shinken (live
swords). Jubei tried to talk him out of it but the young man would
have none of it. Thereupon, they had at it one more time but this
time the challenger's kimono was soaked with blood as he backed away.
He collapsed, dead on the spot. Jubei's sleeve had been cut and he
suffered a slight wound from his opponent's sword. It was then that
he uttered his famous saying about the distance between life and
death being no wider than one "sun."
Author Dave Lowry
refers to this as "yuyo", which is, I think, called
"yaoyan" in Chinese. It means roughly, "critical
distance"...the distance between life and death, the very
essence of timing and distance (which are actually the same thing).
It is mastery of real technique.
If you want to see
yaoyan in action, don't go to the next karate, kung-fu, or taekwondo
tournament. You won't find it there. In those fiascos, one never sees
truly refined, masterful technique. In fact, you'll not see it very
often in today's martial arts schools (an unfortunate fact, but
true).
However, if you chance
upon a traditional school and observe well-trained students
practicing three-step or one-step fight, you may get a chance to
witness it. The attacker will fire his technique with absolute
precision, aiming to just touch the receiver. However, the receiver
will shift and execute a defensive maneuver or technique at the last
possible moment and fire out his own counter-technique, which,
although it is delivered with maximum destructive power, will stop
just short of contact. It is directed at a specific target and its
timing will be flawless. The attacker, putting complete trust in his
training partner, will make no attempt to block or evade the
counter-attack. He might blink, but he won't move because to do so
might cause him to step into the blow and, even worse, it would show
his partner that he doesn't trust him or have much faith in his
skill.
Those who have refined
this technique even further are capable of applying it during
freestyle one-step and freestyle sparring practice.
This is becoming a
real rarity nowadays, especially since the advent of the padded
mittens and footies that are worn by many, if not most, contemporary
martial arts practitioners. Wearing pads and other such protective
devices not only inhibits the development of this fine skill, it
encourages participants to use brute, uncontrolled technique. Since
they're wearing armor they're not overly concerned with running into
their partner's attack (and remember - he's wearing pads, too...).
Real martial skill goes right down the stool in the name of safety.
I say, "get a
grip." It should be understood from the outset that engaging in
a vigorous martial arts program is likely to result in many minor
injuries (split lips, black eyes, bruises, strawberries, and the
like) and the very real possibility of serious ones. It's simply the
nature of the beast. I have never used protective gear in my schools
and I've been teaching martial arts for almost 40 years. To this day,
I've never had a student seriously injured. Not once. It's simply a
matter of proper training with the right attitude.
