遠慮なければ近憂あり
Enryonakereba kinyuuari
Those that don’t think ahead will soon have worries
A martial artists is always hitoashisaki (一足先) or “a step ahead.” A step ahead also means a cut above. The Japanese say, “hana wa sakura gi hito wa bushi” (花は桜木人は武士) or “Sakura among flowers, warriors among men.” This means that a person who follows the warrior’s way is supposed to be an extraordinary person and exceptional people are always forward thinking people. A normal person only thinks about things short-term while a martial artist always thinks about things long-term. In chess, it is thought that a good chess player can think five steps ahead but compare that to the current World Chess Champion Magnus Carlsen who has stated that he “can see 15 moves to 20 moves ahead.” Thinking ahead enables us to manage risk. By thinking ahead, we can foresee possible problems and manage them before they get out of hand or not even engage in them at all in the first place. The best martial artists might appear to be “a step ahead,” but they are actually thinking something like 10 steps ahead. An average martial artist is mainly occupied with the movement and doing it correctly which of course is the baseline. From there, a good martial artist begins to think farther than just the nuts and bolts of the technique and so they are roughly a step or two ahead as they think about things which pertain mostly to the self like stance, breathing or zanshin. A really good martial artist is about five steps ahead and their thinking starts to stretch outward from the self and incorporate things like spacing and timing into their technique. The best martial artists are 10 steps or more ahead because not only do they think about out maneuvering their opponent but also think about things which don’t directly concern them like the welfare of their opponent or other people and how their actions might impact them. Anyone with a little bit of training can smash the average person, but the best martial artist thinks deeper than just winning. The average person only thinks of themselves while the exceptional person thinks more globally and that’s why the best martial artist always seems to be a step ahead of everybody else.
Today’s goal: As we enter the holiday stretch, what can you do to think ahead?
Watch this video to understand how Magnus Carlsen thinks ahead