’ichi, “two swords as one.” It is said that he was able to pursue this unusual way of sword-use in part because he was tall and
strongly built.
Gorin no Sho, “Book of Five Elements,” which Musashi wrote toward the end of his life, from 1640 to 1642, is a tract on heih, an all-encompassing term for the art of fighting. In the following translation of excerpts from it, the term may be rendered
variously to express notions ranging from military strategy to actual combat to swordsmanship.
The word gorin in the title of the book refers to the five elements that make up the phenomenal world in Buddhist belief: earth, water, fire, wind, and air (or emptiness, the void). The use of these elements to name the five “volumes” of the book is judged to be largely for convenience, and their philosophical connections are thought to be tenuous. But I have included Musashi’s own explanations given in “The Five Volumes that Make up this Book.”
Musashi’s reputation as a swordsman seems to have been considerable even before his death, but few facts are known about him, not even the exact year and place he was born. Most of his actions depicted in later narratives and dramas are based on legend and fiction. Take the opening remarks of Gorin no Sho:
Ever since I was young, long ago, I’ve been mindful of the art of fighting; I had a duel for the first time at age thirteen.
I beat my opponent then, a swordsman called Arima Kih
, of the Shinto School. At age sixteen I beat a powerful swordsman called
Akiyama, from the Province of Tajima. At age twenty-one I went to the capital and met prominent swordsmen, engaged them in
several fights, but never failed to gain a victory. After that I went to various parts of the land, encountered swordsmen
of different schools, and all in all had sixty-odd fights, but I never once lost my advantage. All this happened while I was
from age thirteen to age twenty-eight or -nine.
This innocuous paragraph already contains a biographical point subject to debate. The original word for “the capital” is tenka, which also means “Number One under Heaven” or the best in the world. Since the heads of the Yoshioka family had served the Ashikaga shogunate as instructors of swordsmanship and could therefore be described as “the best,” the original sentence may be interpreted to mean Musashi’s fights with two Yoshioka brothers as described in Niten Ki (Record of Niten), the biography of Musashi written by his adopted son, Iori:
In the spring of the ninth year of Keich
[1604], when [Musashi] was twenty-one years old, he went to the capital, and fought
Seij
r, the first son of Yoshioka Shzaemon and the Number-One-Swordsman-under-Heaven, in Rendaino, outside Kyoto, to determine
who was superior. Seijr had a real sword, but Musashi struck him with a wooden sword. Seijr fell down, unconscious. His
disciples helped him up on a board, carried him home, and treated him with some medicine; he revived. After this he gave up
swordsmanship and had himself tonsured.
Iori goes on to say that Seijr’s younger brother Denshichir challenged Musashi and was instantly killed, so that Seijr’s
disciples, with his son Matashichir as their leader, challenged him. But Musashi managed to kill Matashichir, too, along
with several other swordsmen, and got away.
However, the record of the Yoshioka family gives an entirely different account: It was Seijr who defeated Musashi by injuring
his brow, and when challenged by Seijr’s disciples, Musashi simply disappeared.
In any event, Musashi has been admired both for his no-nonsense approach to the art of fighting and killing and as a seeker of the Way.
FROM THE EARTH VOLUME
When I was past thirty and looked back upon what I’d done, it occurred to me that I had won not because I had reached the ultimate in swordsmanship. Was it because I was born with a skill in this art or did not stray from heaven’s logic? Or was it because swordsmen of other schools weren’t quite up to it? With a resolve to gain some deeper principles from then on, I trained mornings and evenings and eventually crossed the path of swordsmanship when I was about fifty years old. Ever since that time I’ve had no more path to explore further and have simply spent months and years. In accordance with the logic of swordsmanship, I have followed various arts and skills as they have taken me, so that I’ve had no master in anything.1 Even as I prepare this book, I do not intend to borrow ancients words from Buddhism or Confucianism, nor to allude to ancient things in military accounts and military laws. I simply wish to reveal my view of my own school, its true essence, by making Heaven’s Way and the Bodhisattva Ava-lokitesvara my models, and take up my brush and set out to write it down at three-thirty on the night of the tenth day of the tenth month.
Fighting is the law for any samurai house. Above all someone in a commander’s position must practice it, and even a soldier must know it….
First, as is often said, “A samurai must have both literary and martial skills”:2 to be versed in the two is his duty. Even if he is awkward, a samurai must train in martial arts to a degree appropriate to his status. On the whole, if you are to assess the samurai’s mind, you may think it’s simply attentiveness to the manner of dying. When it comes to the manner of dying, of course, there is no difference between the samurai, priests, women, and even peasants; everyone must know his obligations, think of what would be disgraceful, and be prepared to die when the moment comes. The samurai pursues martial arts, however, in order to excel in everything, be it winning a duel or winning a combat with several men, be it for your master or for yourself, with the resolve to establish your reputation and distinguish yourself. The samurai does these things through the virtue of martial arts.
Some people may think that even if you learn martial arts, they will be useless in actual battles. That may be so, but the true spirit of martial arts requires that you train in ways to be useful at any moment and teach men so that they may be useful in everything.
… [Anyone who pursues the way of the warrior] should not limit himself to swordsmanship. If you acquire expertise only in swordsmanship, you will find it hard to know even what swords-manship is all about. Of course, you will never see the way of the warrior.
“THE FIVE VOLUMES THAT MAKE UP THIS BOOK”
… In the Earth volume, I give an overall picture of the art of fighting and my view of my own approach. It is difficult to know the true Way through swordsmanship alone. From large places one knows small places, from the shallows one goes to the depths. Because a straight road is made by leveling the earth and hardening it with gravel, I call the first volume Earth.
Second, the Water volume. We make water our model and turn our mind into water. Water adjusts itself to a square or round vessel with ease, turns itself into a single droplet or into a vast ocean.3 It has the color of aquamarine depths. With that clarity I will write out my approach in this volume. Once you definitely understand the principle of swordsmanship, the ability to defeat a single person at will means the ability to defeat all the people of the world. … A commander’s strategy, which requires him to make something large out of something small, is comparable to the making of a giant Buddhist statue from a foot-high scale model….
Fourth, the Wind [also, School, Style] volume. I call this the Wind volume because here I do not write about my own approach but the art of fighting in general, along with the various schools that make it up…. Without knowing the others well, you can hardly know what you are.4
In any field, no matter what you do, there’s always a false Way. Even if you work at what you do every day, if your mind is not on the right track, you are not following the true Way when seen from a correct perspective, even though you yourself may think you’re taking a good path. Unless you follow the true Way, what may be slightly off course at the beginning will later turn into a great divergence….
Fifth, the Air [also, the Void] volume. I call this the Air volume because once you mention the air, what can you call its innermost part or its entrance? In the art of fighting, once you comprehend its nature, you let it go; it has its own freedom, you acquire an exceptional skill on your own, and when the time is right, you know the rhythm, you strike, you hit. All this is the Way of the Air. I write about entering the true Way naturally in the Air volume.
“TWO SWORDS AS ONE”
I started to talk about using two swords because samurai, commanding officers and regular soldiers alike, wear two swords
right on their hips. In the old days they were called tachi [big or long sword] and katana [sword]; now they are called katana [sword] and wakizashi [side-arm]. That any samurai carries these two weapons I don’t need to explain in detail. In Japan samurai have worn them
on their hips, whether or not they know how to use them, as a matter of duty. I’ve decided to call my approach nit’ichi [two swords as one] in order to make the advantage of using the two known….
In this “Two Swords as One” approach, the beginner must train by holding the tachi and katana in each of his hands. In giving up your life, you would want to make use of all the available tools of war. It can’t be your true wish not to use all of them but to be killed with one of them remaining on your hip.
Nevertheless, even if you hold a sword in each of your hands, it is exceedingly difficult to use both the left and the right hand at will. This is why I teach students to get used to using a sword with one hand.
I wouldn’t say the same thing about large weapons such as the spear and halberd, but the swords, both long and short, are tools you carry in one hand. To hold a sword with both hands is awkward:5 It’s awkward when you’re on horseback, awkward when you’re running. It’s awkward in the swamps, muddy rice paddies, stony ground, on steep slopes, and in crowded places. In your left hand you hold a bow, a spear, or whatever other tool it may be, so you must use your sword with the remaining hand. Holding a sword with both hands is not the true way. If or when you find it hard to strike the enemy dead with one hand, you may dispatch him with both hands. There’s nothing complicated about it.
For anyone willing to learn to brandish a sword with one hand, I talk about two swords and make him learn to wield the long sword with either hand. For anyone, the first time he takes it up, the long sword is heavy and hard to brandish. But everything is hard the first time you take it up: The bow is hard to draw, the halberd hard to wield. In each case, though, you get used to the tool: In time you gain the strength to draw the bow, and as you become accustomed to wielding the long sword, you will learn the knack and find it easy to wield….
You wield the long sword in a spacious place, the short sword in a confined place; this is the first thing you learn. In my approach you win with the long sword and win with the short sword. For this reason I don’t specify the length of the sword but regard the essence of my approach as the resolve to win with either blade….
In the way of the warrior those able to wield a sword have traditionally been described as heihsha [martial-arts experts]. In martial arts, if you are good at shooting an arrow, you’re called an archer; if you have mastered
the gun, you’re called a gunman; if you can use the spear well, you’re called a spearsman; if you learn to use the halberd,
you’re called a halberdsman. Following this practice, someone who has learned the way of the sword should be called either
a long-swordsman or a short-swordsman. The bow, the gun, the spear, and the halberd are all tools of the warrior, and each
should be a way of mastering martial arts.
Nevertheless, the sword alone is associated with the mastery of martial arts. There is a reason for this. With the virtue of the sword you govern the world, you govern yourself. This is why the mastering of martial arts originates in the sword….6
“RHYTHM IN MARTIAL ARTS”
In everything there is rhythm; however, the rhythm in martial arts, in particular, is something you can’t master without hard training.
Among the rhythms readily noticeable in our daily life are well-tuned, exquisite rhythms in No dancing and in accomplished musicians’ pipes and strings. You move on to martial arts, and there is also rhythm and timing in shooting the bow, shooting the gun, and even riding a horse….
In martial arts there are a variety of rhythms. First, you must learn to attune yourself to your opponent, then learn to disconcert him. To learn, in rhythms large and small, slow and fast, how to be aggressive, to pause, or to go against your opponent’s rhythm is crucial in martial arts. In a martial combat, you must learn the rhythm of each opponent; and, with a rhythm he can’t imagine, you win by creating a sophisticated rhythm out of the rhythm of the Void….
In “Two-Swords-as-One,” you work mornings and evenings, evenings and mornings, and gradually come to have a mind broad enough to comprehend the strategies for both large-scale battle and one-on-one combat….
Anyone who sincerely desires to learn these strategies has ways of disciplining himself:
1. Think of things that aren’t evil.
2. Train yourself in the way [of swordsmanship].
3. Try your hand in various arts.
4. Know how things are done in various professions.7
5. Be able to measure the gains and losses of everything.
6. Learn to be able to pass judgment on various professional matters.
7. Perceive and understand what you can’t see.
8. Pay attention to the smallest details.
9. Do nothing useless.
FROM THE WATER VOLUME
“MENTAL BEARING”
In martial arts, let the bearing of your mind be no different from its normal state. In normal times, and in times of martial arts, try to be no different: Keep your mind broad and straight; do not stretch it taut; do not allow it to grow in the least lax; do not make it lean to one side but hold it at the center; keep it quietly fluid, doing your best to maintain it in a fluid state even while it is fluid.
When you are quiet, your mind shouldn’t be quiet; when you’re moving fast, your mind shouldn’t at all be moving fast. Your mind shouldn’t follow your body, nor should your body follow your mind. Your mind must be cautious while your body is not. Your mind should lack nothing while having no excess. Superficially you may have your mind appear weak, but you must keep it strong inwardly, lest people can tell what you really are.
If you have a small body, you must know whatever there is to know about having a large body; if you have a large body, you must know whatever there is to know about having a small body. Large or small, it is crucial that you keep your mind straight and try not to play favoritism to whatever you are.
Do not allow your mind to become muddied. Keep it broad and maintain your judging ability in a broad place. It is most important that you continue intently to polish your judging ability and your mind. Hone your judging ability; acquire the ability to tell the right and wrong under heaven and know the good and bad of things. Try all the arts to experience what is sought in each field. Then, after you have learned not to be easily deceived by anyone, you can say you have acquired judgment in martial arts….
“PHYSICAL BEARING”
In holding your body, your face shouldn’t be downcast or upturned, tilted or twisted. Do not allow your eyes to be distracted easily. Do not knit your brow, but keep the space between your eyebrows wrinkled, lest your eyes roll. Taking care not to blink, narrow your eyes a little. With your face relaxed, keep your nose straight, your lower jaw a little forward.
As for your head, keep the muscles in back straight, your nape tight. Treat your body from shoulders down as one. Hold both shoulders down, your spine erect. Do not stick your buttocks out. Put strength into your legs from knees to toes. Thrust your belly out lest you bend at the hips. There is something called “wedge-tightening”: you put the weight of your belly on the scabbard of your short sword lest your belt slacken.
On the whole, in martial arts it is most important that you regard your normal bearing as the same as your bearing at a time of fighting and your bearing at a time of fighting as the same as your normal bearing….
“EYEING THINGS”
You eye things in a sweeping, broad fashion.
As for the two manners of seeing things, kan (observing) and ken (seeing), the eye for kan is strong, the eye for ken weak; seeing distant things as if they are close at hand and seeing close things as if they are distant is special to the art of fighting. Knowing your opponent’s sword and yet not in the least seeing it is important in the art of fighting….
This way of seeing things applies both to a large-scale battle and a one-on-one combat. It is crucial that you observe what’s happening on both sides of yourself without rolling your eyes….
“THE PATH OF THE SWORD”
By knowing “the path of the sword” well, you can freely wield the sword you always carry, even with two fingers. If you try to wield it unnaturally fast, its path becomes blocked and you can’t wield it. You must wield it as naturally as you can. When you try to wield it as if it’s a fan or a knife, the sword goes out of its path and you can’t wield it. This is called “knife-whittling” [i.e., useless], and that way you can’t cut a man apart.
After you strike your sword down, you lift it along the path that comes naturally to it, and after you wield it sidewise, you return it along the crosswise path that comes naturally to it. You stretch your elbows in a most comfortable way and wield your sword powerfully. This is what’s called the path of the sword….
“ON ‘POSITIONING AND NONPOSITIONING’”
“Positioning and nonpositioning” means not intending to position your sword. Nevertheless, because there are five ways of positioning it,8 you also can’t help positioning it. No matter which direction you may hold your sword in accordance with the enemy’s move, the place, and the situation,9 the idea is to hold it in a way which will enable you to cut your enemy most easily.
You may start out holding your sword in an upper position, but if you lower it a little as the occasion requires, you are taking a middle position, while if you lift it a little to gain advantage, you are taking an upper position. Likewise, a lower position will become a middle position if you raise the sword a little. The sword you position to either side of you will also move into a middle or lower position if you edge it to the middle, depending on where you are. This is why I say you are and are not positioning your sword.
In any event, once you take up a sword, you must be prepared to cut your enemy down regardless of how you do it….
“STRIKING WITH ‘NO-THOUGHT, NO-FEATURE’ ”10
When you and your enemy are about to strike each other, your body and your mind turn into a single striking movement and your hands strike out of the void naturally, swiftly, powerfully. This is called “no-thought, no-feature,” and is of crucial importance….
“FACING MANY ENEMIES”
“Facing many enemies” is when you must fight a great number of enemies all by yourself.
You draw both the long and short swords, spread them wide to the left and right, both lowered. If your enemies attack you from all sides, aim to chase them in one direction. Of the attackers, you must judge who’s coming first, who next, and quickly step forward to deal with the first one. You must maintain a perspective on the overall situation. As the enemies strike, simultaneously wield in different directions both the sword in your right hand and the sword in your left hand, cutting the enemy in front with the sword striking forward, cutting the enemy moving on your side with the sword being withdrawn. It’s no good to wield the swords in different directions and then wait. You must quickly bring them back to their original positions. As a new enemy steps forward, you vigorously attack him, crush him backward, and, as you do so, move to deal with the next one that comes forward, and destroy him. Do your best to force enemies to form a single file like fish, you as their pursuer, and as you see them get entangled in their formation, strike powerfully.
If you frontally attack your enemies as they form a crowd, you can hardly make progress. Also, if you start wondering which of your enemies will step forward first, that will put you in a waiting stance, and you can hardly make progress. Respond to your enemies’ rhythm, know their weakness you can take advantage of, and win.
If you practice with your friends often until you learn the knack of forcing the whole group into one file, you can deal with one enemy or ten or twenty enemies without any worry….
… Even a road of a thousand miles you can traverse only by moving forward one step at a time. You must take it to be the duty of a samurai to give unhurried thought to this art and practice it, trying to defeat today what you were yesterday, defeat someone inferior tomorrow, and defeat someone superior the day after … never allowing your mind to be sidetracked. No matter what kind of enemy you may defeat, though, if you do so in a way contrary to what’s laid down in this approach, you will not be following the true path. If you grasp this principle, you will see how you can defeat fifty to sixty men single-handedly. When that happens, you will be enlightened in the strategy for large-scale battles as well as one-on-one combats with the wisdom gained through swordsmanship. I call practicing for a thousand days tan, “training,” practicing for ten thousand days ren, “discipline.” …11
THE FIRE VOLUME
“ON CHOOSING YOUR POSITION”
In selecting a position for yourself, we speak of “carrying the sun on your back,” that is, facing your enemy with the sun behind you. If the place doesn’t allow you to have the sun behind you, try to have it to your right. In a room, you likewise try to have a light either behind you or to your right.
You want to have the space behind you not too small, the space to your left ample, and the space to your right somewhat small.12 During the night, too, if it’s a place where you can see your enemy, you must remember to position your swords by “carrying a fire on your back” or having any light to your right.
We also speak of “looking down on your enemy”; this means you try to place yourself higher, if only a little. In a room, one such place is the side of the room with the alcove.
Once a fight begins and you start chasing your enemy, try to chase him to your left and corner him in a spot where he has little maneuverability behind him–or, in any case, into an nmaneuverable spot.
Concerning such an unmaneuverable spot, we speak of “not showing the place to the enemy,” which means not allowing him time to look around, but continuing to close in on him without relaxing a moment. In a room, too, as you chase him toward a threshold, a lintel, a door or sliding door, a latticed balcony, or toward a pillar, the notion of “not showing the place to the enemy” applies. No matter where you chase him, it must be toward a place with poor footing or with some obstacle on either side or both. You must concentrate on taking advantage of the place, on “gaining victory through the place.” …
“KNOWING THE SITUATION”
In strategy for a large-scale battle, sizing up the situation means knowing the rising or declining state of your enemy’s mood, knowing the number of his soldiers, and making an accurate judgment on how he is from the way things are, so that you may take the initiative and fight with the conviction that you will win with the strategy you have set, including the number of soldiers you have decided to deploy.
Similarly, in one-on-one combat it is crucial to be knowledgeable about the school of swordsmanship to which your enemy belongs, to make an accurate judgment of his personality, and to spot his strong and weak points, so that you may take the initiative and use tactics he doesn’t expect by knowing the high and low of his shifting moods and by cleaving into the rhythmic break.
If you have a strong intellect, you never fail to size up any situation. When you attain freedom in the art of fighting, there should be many ways of winning through a good assessment of your enemy’s mind. Ponder ways of doing so.
“Becoming your enemy” means putting yourself in your enemy’s shoes.
When you think of it, if someone who’s stolen something runs into a house and shuts himself up, we tend to think of him as a formidable enemy to deal with. But if you put yourself in his position, you’ll see that he must be feeling cornered and desperate, having turned the whole world into his enemy. Having shut himself up, he’s a pheasant, whereas you, the one who breaks in to get him, are a hawk….
In large-scale battles, too, you tend to think your enemy is strong and take cautious steps to avoid calamity. But if you have a good number of soldiers on your side, know how strategies work, and have a fair grasp of ways of defeating your enemy, there’s nothing to worry about.
In a one-on-one combat, too, you must “become your enemy.” Most likely he’s thinking that you know the art of fighting well, have a fabulous grasp of swordsmanship, and are, in short, an expert in the field, so that meeting someone like you he’s bound to lose….
“MOVING THE SHADOW”
“Moving the shadow” is something you do when you can’t tell what your enemy is thinking.
In a large-scale battle, when you can’t judge the moves your enemy is planning to make, you pretend to launch a strong attack to see his hand. Once you see his hand, you have a great advantage, and it will become easy for you to win.
In a one-on-one combat, too, when you have an enemy with a sword behind you or on either side, if you make a sudden show of striking, he is bound to reveal his intentions in his sword. Once his intentions are revealed and known to you, that’s an advantage, and you respond to it and move to defeat him….
“BEING INFECTIOUS”
“Infection” occurs in everything. Sleepiness is infectious, and so is yawning….
In a large-scale battle, when your enemy looks restless, hurrying to achieve his goal, you pretend to be paying no attention to it and move slowly; the enemy, infected, will think that’s the way to do it, and become lax. Seizing that moment of infection, you empty your mind and launch a swift, powerful attack, and win.
In a one-on-one combat, too, you make both your body and mind slow down, and the moment your enemy becomes lax, you seize the initiative, make a powerful, swift attack, and win….
“FRIGHTENING THE ENEMY”
One becomes frightened by everything. We are speaking of our tendency to be frightened by something unexpected.
In a large-scale battle, by frightening the enemy, we are not only speaking of something visible. It is possible to frighten him with your voice, by making something small seem large, or by making a sudden move at his flank. He can be frightened by anything. And the moment he’s frightened, you take advantage of it and win.
In a one-to-one combat, too, you can frighten your enemy with your body, frighten him with your sword, frighten him with your voice, or frighten him with a sudden move he doesn’t even have in mind, and responding to that moment of fear, you move on to win….
“THE OFFICER KNOWS HIS SOLDIER”
“The officer knows his soldier” means this: When the matter finally comes to battle, you face it with firm conviction that as far as what you’re going to do is concerned, you have constantly studied the art of fighting and have gained a perfect knowledge of it, so that your enemy is no more than your soldier whom you can dispose of as you like and move about as you wish….
FROM THE WIND VOLUME
… When you seek out and look at other schools of swordsmanship, one school touts the technique of using a longer sword and concentrates on the power of the blow you deliver. Another school upholds a short sword and pursues the art of fighting with it. Yet another school devises a great many ways of using the sword and tries to teach the art of fighting through the positionings of the sword, calling some omote, and some oku.13 I have revealed in this volume how all these are not the true Way….
“THE MANY WAYS OF USING THE SWORD”
Some people devise a great many ways of using the sword and teach them. They do this, I suppose, because they must make something to sell out of the art of fighting and for that they must impress beginners by saying they have devised many ways of using the sword. This is to be repudiated in the art of fighting. The reason is this: if you think that there are many ways of cutting a person, you’ll end up distracted.
In fact, there isn’t much variation in the manner of cutting a person. For those who know the use of the sword or for those who don’t, for women or for children, there aren’t many ways of striking a person to kill. Other than cutting the person down, there’s only stabbing and slashing sideways. Because the purpose is above all to cut the person, there can’t possibly be many ways of doing so.
Nonetheless, depending on the place or in accordance with the circumstance, you may find yourself, for example, in a spot so tight above or at your flank that you must hold your sword in such a way it won’t be obstructed. For this reason, we think there ought to be five fundamental ways of holding the sword. If you add to these and say you can also cut a person by twisting your arms, bending your body, jumping, or moving backward, you aren’t being truthful to the true Way. You can’t cut a person by twisting your arms, bending your body, jumping, or moving backward. Such things are utterly useless.
In my approach you hold both your own body and mind straight and win by distorting and bending your enemy and twisting his mind….
In the art of fighting, how can we call some aspects omote, others oku? In some other arts, people talk about gokui, “the ultimate state or wisdom,” and hiden, “secret transmissions,” and there may be entrances that lead to the ultimate understanding of the art. But when it comes to exchanges of blows with your enemy, you can’t say you’re fighting with omote or that you are cutting him down with oku.
In my approach, the way I teach, I first let those who have just started learn what they can learn fast in accordance with their skills; only later, as I judge that their minds are unwinding, I teach them things that were beyond their comprehension – gradually, those deeper principles of fighting. Still, on the whole I make them learn only those things related to actual fighting, and I must say there isn’t anything like “entrances that lead to the ultimate understanding of the art.”
When you think of it, suppose you go to the depths of the mountains: When you decide to go a step deeper, you often end up coming out of the mountains.14 In any field, there are times when some aspects of oku can be effective, and times when “entrance” aspects can be good.
In any event, as regards the principles of fighting, what shall I hide, what shall I reveal? For this reason, in teaching my approach I dislike things like seishi and batsubun.15 I’d rather weigh the intellect of each person who studies with me and teach him the straight Way by making him get rid of various bad habits that come with the attempt to learn the art of fighting, so that he may attain the law of the samurai, the true Way, and acquire an undisturbed mind by himself….
THE AIR VOLUME
The essence of the art of fighting I call “Two-Swords-as-One” I write out in the Air volume. By air, I mean the place where nothing exists, things that are unknown. Of course, the air is the void. By knowing what is, you know what isn’t; that is the void.
Ordinarily, the vulgar view holds that the place where things are not understood is the void. But that is not the true Void, for there everyone remains lost. In the art of fighting, too, if a samurai who pursues his duties doesn’t know what the law for him is, he hasn’t attained the state of void. Someone like that will continue to be distracted in various ways and may describe something irrelevant as void, which of course is not the true Void.
If he firmly masters swordsmanship while also training hard in other martial arts; if he is not at all in the dark about what he is expected to do as a samurai and practices it, undistracted, every day and every hour; and if he polishes the two mental components of shin, “the mind,” and i, “the will,” and hones the two eyes of kan, “observing,” and ken, “seeing,” thereby reaching the place where nothing is clouded, distracting clouds having all cleared up, then the samurai will know what the true Void is.
While he does not know the true Way, he may think that not the Buddhist law or worldly laws but his own is the sure Way and the good thing. But when seen in the light of the Straight Way of the Heart or in accordance with the Great Square of the World, what he believes in often proves to be contrary to the true Way, distorted as it is by his tendencies to favor his own thoughts and viewpoints.
A samurai must know this and try to base his deeds on the straight Way and make the true Heart his path. When he widely disseminates the art of fighting and grasps that which is correct, enlightened, and all-encompassing, he can begin to regard the Void as the Way, the Way as the Void.