雉も鳴かずば撃たれまい
Kijimonakazubautaremai
The pheasant would not be shot but for its cries. - Proverb
The best martial artist learns to say nothing. To say nothing is a skill. Most talking is meaningless and is usually an attempt to manipulate, influence, shore ourselves up, or fill an otherwise uncomfortable silence. Martial artists understand this and thus train themselves to say nothing. As martial artists, we are supposed to be trying to find a place in our training in which we are seijaku (静寂) or “quiet.” This stillness is a place void of pretension, grandiosity, and fakeness. In class, students and teachers alike are supposed to be quieting not only their movements, but their minds as well. To quiet one’s movement doesn’t mean move quieter. To quiet one’s movement is to iron out all the extraneous nuances and wasted movements in our techniques. These movement affectations are what our opponents will exploit in order to defeat us. In Japanese, they say kijimonakazubautaremai (雉も鳴かずば撃たれまい) which means “to avoiding unnecessary talk can prevent disaster” but this proverb literally translates as “The pheasant would not be shot but for its cries.” To quiet one’s mind is to smooth out the constant inner chatter. This includes negative self-talk, self-doubt, or any other distracting banter that might be going on in our minds. A quiet mind is a mind that is calm and composed. Typically, when our minds are quiet, then there is no need to engage in meaningless talking because we no longer need to manipulate, influence, shore ourselves up, or fill the uncomfortable silence. Silence in this case is a measure of our aptitude. The philosopher Lao Tzu said, “Those who know do not speak. Those who speak do not know.” Quietness has a sort of gravitas to it in mind and movement. From a swordsmanship standpoint, this quietness can be referred to as seichu no do, do chu no sei (靜中動 動中靜) or “movement in calmness, calmness in movement.” Furuya Sensei commented on this by writing, “This calmness does not come from a mental other-worldliness or from a psychological denial of what's going on around yourself. It is a calmness which is derived from complete training which allows you to think and move freely at will.” Creating calmness within ourselves creates the ability to be comfortable and capable with saying nothing. By saying nothing, when we do say something, we open the door to saying something profound or meaningful which would obviously demonstrate our true level. The best martial artists are supposed to have restraint and thus train themselves to say nothing.
Today’s goal: Think before you speak and ask yourself, “Should I say nothing?”
Photo credit: https://www.artstation.com/davidbenzal
Watch this video to better understand silence.