A few random thoughts
I've been quiet in the blog-world recently. Been struggling with a virus that's knocked me out for a while but now I'm back! Haven't really got anything coherent to say myself, but I'm working on a couple of posts whilst I'm off work with this particular lurgi....
In the meantime, here's something from my old favourite "The Book of Five Rings" by Musashi...
"The journey of a thousand ri [a ri equals 2.44 miles] proceeds step by step, so think without rushing. Understanding that this is the duty of a warrior, put these practices into action, surpass today what you were yesterday, go beyond those of poor skill tomorrow and exceed those who are skillful later. You should do as is written in this book and not think in a way that will let your mind become sidetracked."
Later he says, "See to it that you temper yourself with one thousand days of practice and refine yourself with ten thousand days of training. You should investigate this thoroughly".
I love the way he says, "investigate this thoroughly"! It's like ten thousand days of training is not enough; which in a very real sense it isn't. How many of us can really say we know something so completely and totally that we don't have to try at it anymore? Not many I would imagine. Musashi studied his 'Way' for his entire life and only just before he died in his sixties did he even begin to write it down. Even then a lot of it is difficult to express in words and was only passed on to two of his students. I guess I am lucky in some sense that the internet and PCs exist so I can share my thoughts but on the other hand I am quite pretentious as I have only a limited understanding to share as yet.
One of my ex-students popped round to visit me the other night and we got talking about fencing, amongst many other things. I explained my current thinking, this blog and what I was trying to achieve and he asked me the following question. "Where is it leading?". At the moment I am not quite sure but for now I am happy to be coaching, sharing my thoughts with a great bunch of students and getting the chance to figure it out for myself. The way is not necessarily obvious but it has a knack of leading me on....
In the meantime, here's something from my old favourite "The Book of Five Rings" by Musashi...
"The journey of a thousand ri [a ri equals 2.44 miles] proceeds step by step, so think without rushing. Understanding that this is the duty of a warrior, put these practices into action, surpass today what you were yesterday, go beyond those of poor skill tomorrow and exceed those who are skillful later. You should do as is written in this book and not think in a way that will let your mind become sidetracked."
Later he says, "See to it that you temper yourself with one thousand days of practice and refine yourself with ten thousand days of training. You should investigate this thoroughly".
I love the way he says, "investigate this thoroughly"! It's like ten thousand days of training is not enough; which in a very real sense it isn't. How many of us can really say we know something so completely and totally that we don't have to try at it anymore? Not many I would imagine. Musashi studied his 'Way' for his entire life and only just before he died in his sixties did he even begin to write it down. Even then a lot of it is difficult to express in words and was only passed on to two of his students. I guess I am lucky in some sense that the internet and PCs exist so I can share my thoughts but on the other hand I am quite pretentious as I have only a limited understanding to share as yet.
One of my ex-students popped round to visit me the other night and we got talking about fencing, amongst many other things. I explained my current thinking, this blog and what I was trying to achieve and he asked me the following question. "Where is it leading?". At the moment I am not quite sure but for now I am happy to be coaching, sharing my thoughts with a great bunch of students and getting the chance to figure it out for myself. The way is not necessarily obvious but it has a knack of leading me on....
posted by Dave at
2:43 PM
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