“When you think you’re safe is precisely when you’re most vulnerable.”
- Shimada Kambei, Seven Samurai
A good martial artist never lets their guard down. An often-quoted trope in martial arts training is that we should be “striving for balance.” The interesting thing is that we must strive for balance but never attain it. That is because to be balanced is to have “the right amount — not too much or too little — of any quality, which leads to harmony or evenness.” To be “vigilant” or youjinkengo (用心堅固) means that we “keep a careful watch for possible danger or difficulties” and to do so requires that we be ready to attack or defend at all times. Therefore, to be vigilant, we have to at least be 51% or more on the ready and if we are in a state of balance, then we are neither ready or not ready but since we are neither then we are not ready. Therefore, by definition, balance is the opposite of vigilance. An argument can be made that by being balanced or at ease, we have a better sense of clarity from which to spring from. This might be true but most of us might find complacency and mistake it for balance. Perhaps that is why we encourage people to “strive” for balance instead of advocating that they “attain” it. To be ready means to not let our guard down. In Japanese, one way to say “to let one's guard down” is ki wo yurusu (氣を許す). Ki in this sense means “mind” and yurusu means “to allow” and so it is implied that to let our guard down is to allow our minds to drift or lose focus. When I was a student and we got lazy, Furuya Sensei used to scold us by saying, “Don’t fall asleep.” Explaining this, Sensei once wrote: “We must continually be determined in our own minds and hearts to be constantly aware and on the ball. Without this strong commitment and direction in our heads, we will always be a little slow and always and always late to the draw. Eventually, when the opponent attacks and beats us and has already left, then we might even wake up!” Thus, Sensei didn’t mean to literally not fall asleep physically but to be ever vigilant and not lose focus mentally. One of my favorite quotes from the movie Seven Samurai is where Kambei says to Shichiroji, “When you think you’re safe is precisely when you’re most vulnerable.” Victories and feeling safe have a way of lulling us into complacency and all martial artists know that complacency is the road to defeat. The best opponents are willing to wait and be patient for us to fall asleep and for complacency to set in. When we lower our guards and our swords get dull, then they will attack us. A Japanese proverb that supports this idea of being ever vigilant is kattekabutonoo wo shimeyo (勝って兜の緒を締めよ) or “to tighten your helmet after a victory.” The meaning is that when we are victorious or when things are going well, we have the tendency to let our guard down and so we must be vigilant even in victory and tighten our helmets just to be safe. Understanding this, a good martial artist is ever vigilant and thus never lets their guard down.
Today’s goal: Don’t be a good victim. Always be diligent in your efforts but completely aware of your surroundings.
Watch this short video to better understand vigilance