The water chapter is very much involved with movement, action, flowing motions. Thus the name. This time we will also deal with sword work.
To continue our examination of Musashi’s text, we will look at the section he entitles “The five positions”. He doesn’t go into a lot of detail other than saying what they are called. He does that in a couple of sections.
Very simply the position’s names are: upper, middle, lower position, as well as right and left guard. More important is what he says about them, in the usual, off-handed way which one must catch onto to realize that something important has just been said.
The positions, or directions as he also calls them, all have the aim to cut men. That is quite a statement that warrants closer examination.
There is no waste in sword fighting. No waste of energy, no waste of movement, no waste of intention. Quite often, when watching beginning fighters, one notices how often these novices tend to strike blindly at the shield of their adversary, as if trying to break through by sheer force or will power. It is a wasted and useless effort.
When a sword is picked up, outside of training, your purpose is to kill. I am mentioning killing and not winning honor, because killing is what this section is about. This means, don’t waste anything in achieving your purpose. For those starting their training, next time you are in a bout, try to hit your opponent, not his shield. And if you do in fact his shield, then it should be with purpose to distract and/or to set up some other killing blow.
Just as the five directions only have as their aim to cut men. Musashi goes even further in highlighting this point, by that one should not think of the positions as just position, but to think of them as a process of cutting. The intent is clear.
Musashi calls the middle position, chudan, the essence of his school. It is the general of positions, which all others follow.
Once again, there is much meaning in that small analogy. When we fight in the SCA, we tend to assume a basic stance. Mine is at 45 degrees to my opponent, with my shield roughly at right angles to my body (ask me and I’ll show you), with the sword at rest, my knees slightly bent, a loose grip on my sword, my weight roughly 70/30 on the balls of my feet.
This is my chudan and everything else follows from here.
The interesting part is, even if you are a beginning fighter, you will have your chudan as well, but I would advise you to ask an experienced fighter for his advice on good middle positioning and then take your clues from what you are told. In the end you still have to find your own middle position.
In the next section he discusses the way of the long sword. I will keep this brief, because while certainly a worthy section, it really does apply primarily to the use of the long sword. He makes the point again of carrying the sword lightly and wielding it freely, even when just using two fingers. Think as if you were a conductor. The delicacy in holding the baton, while much to feeble for sword work, does display a level of grace that is akin to what Musashi is explaining.
Interestingly and contrary to what many may think, Musashi says that one should not try to wield the long sword quickly, as he puts it, like a folding fan or the shorter sword. To handle it properly is to handle it calmly. The same is true for our style of fighting, but different than you might think.
And here we come to one of the big differences between our style of fighting and real fighting, especially fighting with Japanese catana. Because of the regulations we have had to come up in order to make bludgeoning each other with hard sticks into generally pain free martial art, artificialities have been introduced that lie far from reality.
Many of the sword strokes which are dealt out by inexperienced fighters would not do the type of damage those fighters like to image they would. Most of them are in fact “taps”. There is a certain level of technique necessary in order to deliver a good blow.
In eastern martial arts, this technique is the cutting motion, something we don’t do. We do in fact hack and bludgeon. This why a catana looks like a catana and a broad sword like a broad sword.
While a samurai will aim to cut, a knight will aim to bludgeon. Both require control, calm, suppleness and speed. The quick motions of the short sword are once again found in both styles of fighting. Of course a calm wielding of the long sword also does apply to glaive, halberd and other pole weapons.
To see a master of the two handed sword wield his weapon with grace is a true joy to behold, as much as it is to much somebody with the long sword.
Next time will go into more detail on the five positions from which to strike. As Musashi puts it, there are only those five. Those familiar with Liechtenauers work will find certain similarities.
Maximilian Ritter von Brandenberg
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