When playing Rock Paper Scissors, a warrior never throws rock. In the Japanese version called Janken pon (じゃん拳ぽん), the hand gestures refer to the Japanese onomatopoeia or sounds that the hand movements are making. Guu is the sound of squeezing the hand, choki is the sound scissors make, and paa is the sound of the hand opening. Throwing rock is referred to as guu but guu is also the Japanese onomatopoeia sound that one makes when they are being choked or suffering under adversity. So, the warriors of old never threw rock in Janken pon because of the superstition that it might make them fail. Today, we call this subconscious programming or as someone once said, “How you do anything is how you do everything.” Superstition and subconscious programming alike both dictate that even the smallest detail can convey who we are and what we desire. In the book Musashi by Eiji Yoshikawa which is a fictional story of Miyamoto Musashi’s life there is an example of this. At one point, Musashi has become Japan’s most prolific swordsman and he is challenged by Sasaki Kojiro and his famous sword monohoshizao or “The drying pole.” Kojiro and Musashi meet on the beach of Ganryu Island to fight their fated duel. As Kojiro draws his sword, he throws his sword scabbard into the ocean. Musashi sees this and says, “You are already dead.” I’d imagine that Kojiro’s act was to symbolizes that he was ready to die but to Musashi it meant that he was resigning himself to die. Both have similar meanings but a completely different emphasis. Sure enough, Musashi cuts Kojiro down with one cut from his wooden sword. Thus, symbolically like Kojiro, by throwing rock or guu, perhaps we are subconsciously setting up our minds to suffer or “choke” under the pressure of the situation. Also statistically, 35% of people throw rock while 29.6% throw paper so maybe based on the percentages a warrior should just throw paper anyways. A warrior understands the symbolism of “How you do anything is how you do everything” and that’s why a warrior never throws rock.
Today’s goal: What ways are you setting yourself up subconsciously for success or failure?
Watch Furuya Sensei discuss the deeper meaning of the Japanese sword.