Warrior Randomness II
Tuesday, January 8th, 2013“A warrior should not have a favorite weapon, the true way is to be acquainted with all weapons” Miyamoto Musashi
Here is part 2 of the Warrior Randomness article and lesson. So as you look at Musashi’s quote, “a warrior should have no favorite weapon” or in this case maybe even technique or tactic. Instead a ninjutsu practitioner should be fluid and adaptable to their environment. Flowing to whatever weapon or strategy that is at hand or necessary to use in order to survive or successfully overcome the obstacles being presented. Again, this sounds so easy! But of course it takes diligent practice and the ability to be, as Bruce Lee was famous for stating in this quote “Empty your mind, be formless, shapeless – like water. Now you put water into a cup, it becomes the cup, you put water into a bottle, it becomes the bottle, you put it in a teapot, it becomes a teapot. Now water can flow or it can crash. Be water my friend.” Just like water!
So here is your lesson/drill:
1) Look around the room you are in and do the following:
- How many things are at hand that can be quickly converted into a weapon
- What could be utilized as a shield against an attack
2) In your next sparring and training session, let go of all of your “favorite” techniques and apply randomness to how you spar and train. If you are a right lead, swap to left lead, if you are a grappler, start hitting etc.
OK, now go out and have some fun!
Bufu Ikkan
