You can jump and twirl around and whip about your sword as quick as you want. If you aren't applying grounded techniques with your body and mind then you're just performing what I call SAMURAI THEATER.
The sword is made of different elements, heated, folded, beaten, folded, etc. etc. We begin as the unassembled elements.
Like the sword, forge yourself through the practice of true budo which utilizes more than just cute outfits and elaborate names of waza. Think about your practice carefully.
I understand, Steven-Sensei.
Lol. I’ve tried the twirling and whipping of the bokuto. It felt like a foolish thing to do. I’ll work hard to wield the blade with authenticity. Thank you, sensei.
Thank you for this exhortation, sensei. Cultivating true budo may take a lot more time and work than “samurai theater,” but it’s so much more worthwhile.
Thank you, Steven-sensei. I like the thought of forging a sword from scratch when opposed to something showy like Theater; it’s reflective of the idea that while someone may judge a technique from the surface alone, but it’s what you can’t see that counts. A sword requires an immense amount of detailed craftsmanship, but on the surface its end result is just a fancy piece of metal to the untrained eye. By comparison, for as flashy as Samurai Theater can be, there’s nothing BUT the end result. Beauty is nice, but with no depth it’s hollow, unreal. A gorgeous illusion.
In fact, it makes an interesting point about learning. If there was some kind of android that could perfectly mimic every single movement and angle of every single kata, it still wouldn’t be a true swordsman. It would just be very convincing theater. Without the depth of understanding that comes from learning the reasons behind the movements and building your skill up from scratch and just jumping to the end result, you’re just playing monkey-see monkey-do, not truly learning.
I hope one day I’ll be able to pick up the katana and that my body and mind will know how to move accordingly.
Thank you Sensei!
I really liked the thought of starting off as unassembled elements and then gradually getting folded and beaten and heated!
Sign me up!