John Maki Evans

by Kurikara: The Sword;the Serpent

  Figure 15. Go No Sen: avoiding and countering (Nakamura Ryu kumitachi kata 1). Above: Suzuki Kunio Sensei and the author with shinken, 1986. Below: The author and Matthew Simpson with bokken, 2010. After swiftly stepping back to avoid the horizontal drawing cut of uchidachi (attacker), shidachi (defender) is about to step in to counter with kesagiri

  Methods of Kumitachi Training

  The goals of kumitachi are best achieved by a combination of three kinds of practice:

  Bokken drills

  Kumitachi kata

  Jiyugeiko with armor and shinai

  1. Bokken Awase Drills

  Beginners learn kihon with bokken, and as soon as they have mastered the rudiments of tsuki, kirioroshi, and chudan kamae, they should begin partner drills where swords are joined (awase). These accelerate the learning of good form, ashisabaki, and how to enliven the sword tip (kissaki o ikasu). This practice is performed at issoku-itto-no-ma (one step, one sword distance), where swords just touch. This is the vital maai, at which the participants are one step away from an attack.

  While moving forward and backward, from side to side, and into the diagonals, one learns to maintain form, correct distance, and contact with the partner. The novice begins to interact with the sparring partner through touch as well as vision. For the experienced student whose touch is elastic, the hands transmit the intention of the opponent to the tanden before the eyes. This lays the foundation for an encounter of kihaku rather than emotion.

  Stepping closer into chika ma (a distance closer than issoku-itto-no-ma) and crossing the swords at the monouchi, one can learn kuzusu waza—the application of force to break the form of the opponent. This develops the technical capacity to attack and the ability to exert one’s weight and center through the sword. The key to mastering this is to differentiate between what Musashi terms “sticking” and “leaning.” Hachinoji keiko (moving the crossed blades in a figure eight from one’s center) develops this skill very quickly. Here the difference between physical strength and ki is easily felt. When this skill is acquired, one can switch direction of attack quickly, which is more important than pure speed—as has been demonstrated in many Kendo bouts.

  Closer still, in tsubazeriai, where sword guards meet, the sensation of opposed weight and blending of energy is most intense. Maintaining this contact and circling the swords horizontally and vertically in wide stances with coordinated breathing is excellent tanren. As with the Tai Chi practice of push hands, mutual resistance activates tanden power and deepens one’s stance, increasing leg strength and flexibility.

  Through these exercises one learns to receive power and use it against the opponent. Such techniques are rarely directly applied in sparring. Tsubazeriai is a particularly dangerous position because one moves into the realm of kumiuchi (grappling), in which leg sweeps are possible, the limbs and sword can be locked, and the sword edge can be pulled across the opponent’s body. In addition, the numerous hidden blades of the samurai would soon come into play, while the opponent might easily draw one’s own shoto (the short sword carried next to the katana) with fatal results. The utility of these drills is that the principles they reveal can be applied later with slight contact of blades and at the highest level, without physical contact.

  2. Kumitachi Kata

  When the sense of maai is adequate and sundome (controlled stopping of cuts) is reliable, one can begin the practice of kumitachi kata in safety. These set movements are choreographed to reflect real one-on-one encounters as closely as is possible without actually cutting through or thrusting into the partner’s body. The uchidachi (attacker) attempts an attack that the shidachi (defender) avoids or parries before or while delivering a counterattack. The senior student takes the uchidachi role so that he may adjust the rhythm and power of the attack to the ability of the partner. The decisive counter-techniques of the shidachi are curtailed to avoid injury.

  Nakamura Sensei devised the kumitachi kata of Nakamura Ryu to closely mirror the simplicities of real combat. As we have noted, complex movements will almost certainly fail in real confrontations, in which fine motor skills are degraded and where the last thing one can expect is the cooperation of one’s opponent.

  Once one is secure in the performance of these kata (usually at fifth dan), these can be performed with shinken (live blades). Two accomplished swordsmen with shinken can bring the kihaku of an encounter to a point of great intensity. During one demonstration at the Tokyo Budokan, Sato Shimeo Sensei and Suzuki Kunio Sensei performed the kumitachi kata with shinken after first demonstrating tameshigiri. The pressure built inexorably with each successive approach. In the fourth kata, shidachi counters kirioroshi (vertical cut) with yokogiri (horizontal cut), pulling the cut to avoid opening the partner’s abdomen. Sato Sensei’s keikogi (training jacket) was a little loose above the obi. As Suzuki Sensei sidestepped, his sword hit the fold of the garment at great speed. The loud sound of the impact drew a spontaneous gasp from the audience in the great hall; a pregnant pause followed as all waited the few moments it takes for a sharply cut incision to open up under the pressure of blood. The kata, however, concluded without incident. The confidence of these men came from the mastery of what Musashi called the issun (one-inch measure) interval. When this mastery is achieved, one can begin to move toward free sparring with bokken, which the famous swordsman and Zen practitioner Yamaoka Tesshu (1836—1888) considered the only real test of skill.

  3. Jiyu Kumitachi

  Modern Kendo has evolved over two centuries, since the first appearance of bamboo swords and protective armor. Before this, the deaths and injuries that resulted from sparring with bokken were considered acceptable given the preparation such training afforded swordsmen, who could expect military campaigns. This changed as the Tokugawa Shogunate enforced an era of peace and stability. Even when shinai and armor were used, the need to train skills that might be applied to real swords meant that techniques stayed close to the necessities of the blade. Once that need also disappeared, priorities changed, and due to the requirements of competition, Kendo developed along similar lines to Western fencing. Even in 1884, Yamaoka Tesshu lamented this divergence:

  Why do present-day schools make use of helmets, gloves, and other protective equipment, seeking nothing more than to emerge victorious in a match? Naturally, in these matches those who are agile will win, and those who are not will lose; technical experts are rarely threatened.3

  The technical differences between shinken shobu (combat with live blades) and modern Kendo are legion. The strikes of a shinai in modern Kendo are a world away from the disabling blows delivered with a bokken and bear no relation whatsoever to the demands of cutting. Ashisabaki, as we have noted previously, is completely different. If one thrusts into a body (whether with a bayonet or a sword) one must pull out with a force 50 percent stronger than the thrust itself. One cannot push through a cut but must draw it through the trajectory and pull through the cut. Those who train in both Kendo and real sword arts must struggle with many contradictions.

  These differences are exacerbated by the extra length of the shinai. This encourages “cleaner” hits by avoiding the clash of bodies (beginners in tameshigiri are always surprised how close they must get to the target in order to cut with the monouchi—the top third of the blade). Tesshu strongly disapproved of the deviation of the “long sword”:

  All those who wish to restore the way of the sword must construct their bamboo swords according to the ancient standards, wielding it as if it were a live blade. Future generations too must preserve this standard.4

  Tesshu required that swords and shinai be twenty hand-breadths, and this corresponds closely to Nakamura Sensei’s formula that when the sword is held hanging at the side, with the right hand near the tsuba and the wrist relaxed, the kissaki should just touch the floor. In combat a blade of just over two pounds would suffice when fighting against opponents without heavy armor. In battle against heavily armored opponents, this weight would need to be increased and the c
haracteristics of the blade changed. Even the best blades would not remain sharp after several clashes and cuts against armor. At this point, Musashi’s advice is to use the thrust. Failing this, the heavy, blunted sword would be wielded like a heavy bokken with the intention of crushing or breaking bones. At this point the katana becomes a kabutowari. The study of swordsmanship should include such techniques, and the strength required for them should be developed. In battle, one could not rely on the cutting edge of the blade, and in other encounters a skillful swordsman should at least have the option of using the mune (spine) or shinogi (ridge) of the sword instead of the blade to disable opponents without taking their life. In armored encounters with heavier weapons, stances are deeper and the feet turn out more to facilitate the greater use of body weight and to avoid the mortal danger of falling to the ground—the fear of heavily armored troops over the centuries.

  Figure 16. Sen No Sen: preempting an attack (Nakamura Ryu kumitachi kata 4). Moving from seigan kamae (see this page), shidachi swiftly moves inside uchidachi’s kirioroshi (vertical cut) and delivers yokogiri (horizontal cut) before the attack can be completed.

  The goal of jiyugeiko is to allow a spontaneous, realistic engagement using a minimum of protective aids. The fukuroshinai, a light split-bamboo sword contained within a loose leather sheath (see photo, this page) has limited use in demonstrating bunkai (applications) of kata. It is not sturdy enough to deliver strong blows and will break if used for thrusts. In addition, the eyes are still vulnerable to injury. The floppy toys used in sports chambara are as safe as they are useless. A heavy yotsuwari (four-stave) shinai cut down to bokken length is the best option and is close to the weapon used in Tesshu’s dojo.

  Even with shinai, some armor is required to prevent heavy bruising, fractures, and damage to the face and head. Kendo armor is admirably suited for this but reflects the limited and unrealistic targets of the modern sport. The bogu (armor) can easily be modified, however, to include more realistic targets. The thrust to the upper abdomen that used to be the main tsuki in Kendo (rather than the thrust to the throat) is utilized by adding a rubber plate onto the mune. Correct kesagiri requires an insert into the helmet that better protects the extremely vulnerable area around the base of the neck as well as an ear guard. Hits on the ear are more likely when trying to target kesagiri, which is much more difficult to strike than yoko men (side of the head), especially when the opponent is moving. Yokogiri should be performed with a horizontal action that ensures correct hassuji.

  Kirikaeshi and kata applications should be practiced until movement is fluent and strikes are accurate. When this is achieved and kihaku is demonstrated, then aiuchi (simultaneous-strike) bouts can be introduced. The partners approach each other and engage without feint or hesitation. They withdraw after the first exchange (or carry on past each other). As soon as intensity is lost in this, they should return to kirikaeshi. The goal should be to spar with bokken in this same spirit, and one can expect to practice a very long time before the necessary control is achieved.

  1. Nakamura, Taizaburo. Nihon To Tameshigiri no Shinzui (The Essence of Japanese Sword Test Cutting). Tokyo: Kodansha, 1980. Extract translated by Guy Power and Takako Funaya.

  2. Translations here by the author.

  3. John Stevens, The Sword of No Sword: Life of the Master Warrior Tesshu, (Boston: Shambala, 2001).

  4. John Stevens, The Sword of No Sword: Life of the Master Warrior Tesshu, (Boston: Shambala, 2001).

  Shinshin Renma—Cultivation of Sensibility

  7

  Swallowing the field of vision

  I am blind. Through me

  Life sees.

  shin: heart, mind

  shin: body

  ren: drill, gloss, polish, practice, refine

  ma: grind, improve, polish, scour

  We have seen how crucial observation and insight are to success in shugyo. A refined sensibility discerns beneath appearances, understands the significance of details, perceives the relationships between things, and senses underlying patterns and cycles. Without this refinement, progress is uncertain, and any power gained will prove self-destructive. Progress in training does not lie in acquiring technical skills alone nor in the acquisition of magical powers but in uncovering hidden aspects of natural being. One is then able to draw on these qualities, powers, and rhythms in training. Refining sensibility involves not only cultivating the mind and the senses but also attuning the body as an intuitive receiver. This complete cultivation is termed shinshin renma.

  Patterns of unconscious behavior create blockages in body, energy, and mind. Each blockage reduces the capacity to access the natural powers within the self and the environment. At the same time, the ability to feel and register these same forces is cut off so that the blockage is unrecognized. The first step in overcoming frustration or stagnation is to recognize that the cause of such difficulties lies in one’s own ignorance—that something is being missed.

  Blindness

  Neuroscience has demonstrated that seeing is not the mechanical process it was once assumed to be. The mind modifies the image received by the retina in many ways and at many levels. “Visual attention” is the term given to the first level of interference by which the mind registers only parts of the complex image presented to it. On deeper levels the mind has the capacity to distort this information further. To a great extent, it only sees what it wants or expects to see. This distortion occurs with all the other senses, including the “inner” senses that convey to us kinesthetic information like the relative position of limbs, tone of muscles, and direction of movement. The strength of these distorting mechanisms lies in the reluctance of the mind to change habitual ways of operating.

  This mental resistance is often strongest in those who persist in the martial arts. Paradoxically, the same willpower that allows someone to endure where others would give up prevents them benefiting from their efforts. On rare occasions, sheer intensity of training can trigger a crisis and a revelation. However, such breakthroughs always come at a price—if not serious injury, then a reduction of life force and longevity. Conscious cultivation is therefore infinitely preferable.

  As we have noted several times, one cannot recognize something one does not, in some measure, possess. Those with physical gifts are comfortable in their bodies and enjoy exercising them but often lack interest in mental endeavors. Intellectuals are at ease in a world of abstract ideas but are often incompetent when interacting with the physical world. The emotionally driven peer through a haze of projected feelings. Those who crave power see nothing but opportunities for self-advancement. Spiritual “seekers” often outdo all others in their blindness by rejecting everything outside a narrow conception of holiness.

  Figure 17. Cutting with the eyes

  This obtuseness leads to lack of progress, confusion, stupor, obsessiveness, impetuous behavior, accidents, and injuries. Crucially for a practitioner of martial arts, it will result in a disadvantage when facing an opponent. The term seigan kamae (literally, “exact or correct eye guard”) is frequently used instead of chudan kamae to describe the standard combative posture. The omote (surface) meaning of seigan kamae is to point one’s sword exactly at the opponent’s eyes, and in some schools the chudan position is modified accordingly.1 The ura (hidden) meaning of seigan is that one’s seeing is without defects. In order to detect weaknesses and opportunities for attack (suki), one must see the opponent clearly and in his or her entirety.

  Seigan kamae unifies several ways of seeing—focused vision (metsuke), peripheral vision, internal awareness, and projection of seme (assertive life force). All are admirably expressed in the combative stance of Agyo (see chapter 3). A kamae does not exist in isolation. It is a stance assumed in relation to an adversary, not a physical shape but a total tuning into a situation. One “sees” through the sword and the body as well as with the eyes.

  Five Stages in Seeing

  According to Mikkyo, perception involves an exchange of many k
inds of energies, not just the processing of sensory data. In Mikkyo (and its Indian antecedents) all phenomena throughout the cosmos and within the individual are termed dharma and are considered forms of primordial energy. One of the attractions of the Mikkyo system to those who practice complex disciplines is the way in which it helps to structure and clarify categories of object and levels of action. This is especially useful to those who are more interested in assessing the results of practical endeavors than in philosophical conjecture.

  Central to the Mikkyo model are the Godai2 or five “Greats”—Earth, Water, Fire, Air, and Space (or void). These elements have been used to describe the different qualities, functions, and stages of development in many arts and disciplines. The best-known example of this is the Gorin no Sho of Miyamoto Musashi, in which he arranges his five chapters under the headings of the Godai.

  The most sophisticated description of the relationships between the many dharmas and principles underlying them is to be found in the matrix mandala (Taizokai) of Shingon Mikkyo. One such important relationship is that between the five elements and the five ways of perceiving (Gochi). These ways of perceiving are inseparable from their originating elements. If an element is not expressed in the body of the practitioner, the associated way of perceiving will be inaccessible no matter how much mental training is undertaken. When the expression of these elements is blocked, the Gochi are distorted and manifest instead as the Gosho, the five poisons or afflictions.

  To take the example of the first element, actions with Earth qualities manifest grounding. This requires the release of all tension downward through the acceptance of the effects of gravity. Power is then built up from the ground and projected out through the limbs. Sword techniques of this level involve deep stances and large, full swings. Power is returned to the center and reabsorbed back into the ground. The sequence of movement is feet first, then body, and finally sword. The energy that governs grounding is termed apana in Sanskrit, and for its full functioning, the legs must be flexible and powerful enough so that circulation is maintained even when low stances are held for prolonged periods. When one can stay relaxed in the deep horse stance for five minutes, the connection between this physical position, the descending energetic current, and equality of awareness will be self-evident. The mind is released of all projections, peripheral vision spreads, and internal awareness permeates the tissues.