A good martial artist gets straight to the point. One way to say, “straight to the point” in Japanese is tantouchokunyuu (単刀直入). Tantou means “single sword” and chokunyuu means “straight in.” Presumably, a martial artist should be as succinct as stabbing someone with a sword. In the dojo, we learn how to stand up for ourselves physically, but we also learn how to stand up for ourselves mentally and emotionally too. When we bow to our training partners, we are supposed to stand up straight, make a good bow and confidently say, “onegaishimasu.” How we bow and speak demonstrates to others not only our level of training but also our level of self-confidence. To be able to speak straight to the point is a skill that most people only acquire with age and experience. When I was a student, one of the best lessons I learned from Furuya Sensei was how to calmly say exactly what I wanted to say. It seems kind of ridiculous, but when we get nervous, scared, or anxious, we tend to just blurt things out. One of the first times I ever spoke to Furuya Sensei privately, he asked me about a conversation I was having with another student after class. Being a teenager and unsure of myself, I just blurted out, “We were talking about how Aikido doesn’t work.” I neglected to add in that the other person was saying that to me and that I was just listening to be polite. That indiscretion led to a two hour lecture and when I say lecture, that is a euphemism for getting yelled at. That type of error in judgement happened probably a half dozen more times until I finally realized how to speak to Sensei. I realized that I needed to know exactly what I wanted to say before speaking to Sensei because he hated small talk and loathed people who minced their words. It was always painful to watch people squirm as Sensei dressed them down because they didn’t know that he hated to be asked, “How are you?” Watching others successfully negotiate Sensei, I learned to plan out exactly what I wanted to say and how I wanted to say it. Then, before I knocked on his door, I would take a deep breath and gather myself and then speak to him calmly, confidently, and get straight to the point. We were supposed to say, “Good morning, Sensei (greeting). I need to speak to you about the uniforms (subject). Do you have time to discuss this right now? (timing)” If Sensei wanted to talk about this, then I would state my case as I rehearsed it. Seems easy enough but as a teenager this required a lot of discipline and courage. Although it was difficult and painful, I learned through my engagements with Sensei that everything in the martial arts was about precision and precision necessitated that we always be clear and direct with not only our movements but with our conversations as well. Being clear, concise, and straight to the point, helps us to avoid misunderstandings and unnecessary conflicts and that is why a good martial artist gets straight to the point.
Today’s goal: Be calm and get straight to the point.
Watch this video to better understand conciseness