Do not hold your sword too tightly. If we grip the sword too tightly then we can’t use the sword properly and we also run the risk of fatigue and in battle fatigue is fatal. Conversely, if we hold the sword too weak then we can’t generate power and our opponent can also easily knock it out of our hands and that could be fatal too. In the beginning of our training, we are trying to learn how to “control” the sword and most hold the sword too strongly. As we train, we learn just how much strength is necessary to generate the most amount of power or we learn the best way to “control” the sword. At its highest level, swordsmanship is not about learning how to kill but learning how to put the sword down. Budo is really about learning how to let go and thus training is actually the search for inner peace. One of the biggest barriers to our serenity is the illusion that we are in control and that there is certainty. In Japanese, the illusion of control and desire for certainty is akin to being “taken hold of” by something or torawarete (囚われて). In training, we realize that we can only control ourselves and what happens outside of ourselves is for the most part out of our control and thus we cannot be certain of anything. Furuya Sensei often recounted some wise words by his Zen master, “nothing happens as you like.” Thus, the best warriors do not hold their swords too tightly because in battle and in life, there are no certainties. Learning to let go is the key to self-mastery and living a fulfilled life. The monk Ryokan said it best, “To find inner peace, be still the mind and let go. Live in the now. Breathe.”
Today’s goal: Find something that you are trying to control. Take a few breaths in and breathe out and let it go.
“Let go of certainty. The opposite isn’t uncertainty. It’s openness, curiosity and a willingness to embrace paradox, rather than choose up sides. The ultimate challenge is to accept ourselves exactly as we are, but never stop trying to learn and grow.”