Look For The Ants
A few of my students were competing in the county championships this weekend and this is a story I told them yesterday in preparation.
"Long ago in Japan a great swordsman was approached by a young boy who beseeched his help. It turned out the young lad was to fight a duel the next day with a man who had killed his father and he was seeking advice as his sword skills were basic to say the least. The great swordsman agreed to teach him what he could and spent the rest of the day teaching him one simple technique repeatedly until the young man had got a reasonable grasp of it. Eventually the swordsman called a halt and looked at the boy honestly. "You have grasped this technique and it should serve you well. When you come to the duelling spot, examine the ground at your feet. If there are ants there I assure you that you will prevail. In addition I will remain here and contemplate your victory "
So off the lad went and the next morning he arrived at the duelling spot and examined the ground at his feet. He saw that there were indeed ants crawling around and buoyed by this knowledge executed his one technique perfectly and killed his opponent."
So what does this all mean? Well, the great swordsman knew a number of things, which I carried on to explain:
1. A single simple technique practised well can be very powerful in combat
2. In ancient Japan there were ants in most places. The swordsman knew this and counted on it to give the boy confidence
3. By telling the boy to direct his eyes at the ground the swordsman was encouraging him to focus on something else rather than his fear and also to centre himself without distraction
4. In addition, the suggestion that the swordsman would think of the boy gave added confidence to him
So I explained to my students that in my usual roundabout way I was telling them to keep calm, keep to simple techniques and that they had my full confidence. As it turned out they all did extremely well and I was very proud of their attitude, behaviour and results. Above all, I was extremely pleased with the fact that so many of them were thinking about their fencing...... I couldn't ask for more...!
"Long ago in Japan a great swordsman was approached by a young boy who beseeched his help. It turned out the young lad was to fight a duel the next day with a man who had killed his father and he was seeking advice as his sword skills were basic to say the least. The great swordsman agreed to teach him what he could and spent the rest of the day teaching him one simple technique repeatedly until the young man had got a reasonable grasp of it. Eventually the swordsman called a halt and looked at the boy honestly. "You have grasped this technique and it should serve you well. When you come to the duelling spot, examine the ground at your feet. If there are ants there I assure you that you will prevail. In addition I will remain here and contemplate your victory "
So off the lad went and the next morning he arrived at the duelling spot and examined the ground at his feet. He saw that there were indeed ants crawling around and buoyed by this knowledge executed his one technique perfectly and killed his opponent."
So what does this all mean? Well, the great swordsman knew a number of things, which I carried on to explain:
1. A single simple technique practised well can be very powerful in combat
2. In ancient Japan there were ants in most places. The swordsman knew this and counted on it to give the boy confidence
3. By telling the boy to direct his eyes at the ground the swordsman was encouraging him to focus on something else rather than his fear and also to centre himself without distraction
4. In addition, the suggestion that the swordsman would think of the boy gave added confidence to him
So I explained to my students that in my usual roundabout way I was telling them to keep calm, keep to simple techniques and that they had my full confidence. As it turned out they all did extremely well and I was very proud of their attitude, behaviour and results. Above all, I was extremely pleased with the fact that so many of them were thinking about their fencing...... I couldn't ask for more...!
posted by Dave at
8:46 PM
3 Comments:
Excellent story, and with some very sound conclusions drawn. I must remember to look for the ants in the next sports hall I find myself in!
Just out of interest though, who was the swordsman?!
Jai
Hi Jai,
the attribution I have for the swordsman's identity is (not surprisingly)Miyamoto Musashi. It could well be apocryphal but it kind of fits the idea of a wandering sword-master dispensing wisdom, although whether Musashi would have been so inclined is up for debate. Musashi is such a larger than life figure he tends to accrue good stories like this! There are a few officially recorded and therefore factually based events of his life but this doesn't seem to be one of them. Personally I don't think this detracts from it's usefulness though!
Agreed! I suspect this is the way of most of the pearls of wisdom available in the world today.
I shall still be practising my basics, and I shall still be looking for those ants...
Jai
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