THE FIRST ATTACK POSITION

 by Phillip Starr

At last...we reach the novel's climactic fight scene. Having gone through a couple of hundred pages filled with domestic and foreign intrigue, exotic romantic encounters, and plenty of very detailed violence, we've reached the moment when the good guy meets the bad guy. Finally! Up to this point, larynxes have been crushed and bodies dismembered with Japanese katanas and now we know this is going to be a real hellion of a battle because our hero, katana held firmly in his hands, has taken up the “first attack position.”

These kind of novels (and movies) are exciting to read and watch and they sometimes show that the writer has done a bit of research. But...when the plots calls for characters to take up their trusty swords, we see that most of the time, much more colorful imagination is employed rather than reliance on reliable background sources. The “first attack position” is a good example...

It seems that many (if not most) books/movies of this genre place the hero in similar positions as they brace for battle. Perhaps this is because Western fencing makes use of something similar, numbering various attacks and defenses. However, every kendo practitioner or devotee of other martial arts that utilize swords have been taught that defense and attack must be as nearly simultaneous as possible. In so far as Japanese swordsmanship is concerned, there are no “attack” or “defense” positions. Likely, the authors mean “kamae” when they refer to a particulr position. Kamae actually refers to an attitude expressed through posture rather than some dramatic pose.

Fight scenes often include other misconceptions... The writers/choreographers often spice things up a bit by including acrobatic flips and kicks! Such theatrics may keep audiences tuned in, but they're as phony as the teeth-clenching tsuba-zeriai where the combatants stand glare-to-glare with their swords crossed, locked at the guards.

Most unarmed combat systems developed because their exponents didn't have ready access to weapons or for religious or other reasons, preferred not to carry them. Well-armed combatants did not deliberately compromise the effectiveness of their weapons in favor of kicking and punching. Despite romantic claims to the contrary, in a fight between skilled and experienced exponents, a weapon is a great advantage. Only under the most extraordinary circumstances would one kick at an opponent armed with a sword and leave the skirmish as a biped.

And only under the most desperate and dire circumstances would a skilled swordsman ignore the great value of his weapon and resort to striking with his hands and feet....and related to this kind of dramatic fantasy is the literary and cinematic device of the hero tossing his weapon aside to engage his enemy with bare hands. This is an unbelievably stupid strategy and a classic example of cross-cultural confusion.

An even more dramatic example is that wherein our hero, armed with a katana, overcomes a gun-wielding enemy! Not likely. At. All. But although the serious martial artists realizes that these films and books are nothing more than pure fantasy, they have still managed to have some impact on our arts. Oftentimes, prospective students enter class expecting to be able to perform such impossible feats. It is sometimes very difficult to dissuade them. What are we to do?

Just assume the “first attack position” and carry on, I guess...