無刀の心
Muto no kokoro
Strength of our spirit
The best martial artists never give away their power. Lao Tzu said, “He who controls others may be powerful, but he who has mastered himself is mightier still.” What Lao Tzu could be referring to is the buddhist/samurai concept of jiriki (自力) or “personal power.” The term jiriki comes from the Japanese idiom jirikikosei (自力更生) or “to improve one's way of life without relying on the help of others.” In other words, a samurai was supposed to live or die by their own efforts. People can help us, but in the end, we have to do it all on our own and to do so requires inner strength. In swordsmanship, a martial artist’s inner strength is often talked about within the idea of muto no kokoro (無刀の心) or “The heart of no sword.” Muto no kokoro is a concept that illustrates that our true strength doesn’t come from our ability with a sword, but rather from the strength of our spirit. Unfortunately, it takes a long time to develop our muto no kokoro or inner fortitude. The prolific swordsman Miyamoto Musashi alluded to the length of this process when he said, "It takes 1,000 days to forge the spirit and 10,000 more days to polish it.” Based on Musashi’s assertion, if we trained every day, 1,000 days would take a little less than three years or much longer if we only train once a week. During that first 1,000 days, we need the support and guidance of our parents, teachers, friends, and comrades in arms. Their guidance molds and shapes us into the people we are to become - it helps forge us. After the forging process, we begin the journey of acquiring our own wisdom. From here, we use their guidance and wisdom as a sort of polish which brings out our own beauty or humanity or in this context our personal power. This process is supposed to take 10,000 more days or around 30 years if we trained every day or much more if we trained much less. Ideally, at the end of the 10,000 days, we would have polished ourselves and brought out the beauty of our wisdom or jiriki and would have a knowing or awareness of who we are not only as martial artists but as human beings as well. Theoretically, based on the old traditional way, this whole process was supposed to take around 40 years if we started training when we were six and half years old. 40 years seems like a daunting amount of time, but perhaps we can shrink that number down because we now have the internet and are so much smarter and clever - haha! This whole arduous process is just to realize that the root of our power comes from knowing ourselves and taking ownership of our lives. Understanding this, the Soto Zen monk Shunryu Suzuki said, “The most important point is to accept yourself and stand on your two feet.” To take ownership of our lives and stand on our own two feet is the true foundation of our wisdom. A good martial artist knows that asking for help isn’t a weakness and accepts the help and guidance of others. However, a wise martial artist knows who they are and informs themselves with the guidance of others but doesn’t rely upon it because in the end they are alone and solely responsible for their lives. That is why the best martial artists never give away their power.
Today’s goal: Before you do something, ask yourself, “Am I giving away my power?”
Watch this short video to better understand self-worth