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THE CUTTING EDGE
Author: ANTONY KARASULAS
Well, here we are again. I have received many calls from all over the country - especially from Melbourne and other parts of Victoria - commenting on this column. Fortunately, all were complimentary! Thanks again for letting me know that you enjoy it. Letters of comment and news items etc are also welcome for publication. We'd like to hear about your club news, school details and views or opinions. This column is intended as a forum or meeting point for all sword enthusiasts, so let's hear from you ...
I'VE NOTICED a tendency - not only with my own students, but with practitioners in other schools too - to spend great amounts of energy in trying to increase the speed of their technique. It seems to be a very natural thing to try to do and is probably the result of wanting to do it the way the instructor does, and also some idea that a technique has to be fast to be effective.
With some people, I think it's a reflection of the desire to 'look good' by being flashy - they think that fast equals an appearance of ability. However the psychology of this tendency comes about, it is not safe and does not lead to any advanced ability by itself.
The only way to good ability is practice ... followed by more practice. I'm sure you must have heard this said before. It's certainly true, but what needs to be understood is that it isn't just practice that makes perfect, but correct practice. And if you are expending energy measurable in litres of sweat to be the fastest swordsman in the west (or east, etc) then you are likely not training correctly.
Speed comes of its own accord, the result of a deep degree of familiarity with the techniques and weapon. Speed cannot, in my view, be learnt deliberately without harming your understanding and correct application of the technique. I have seen it happen time and again, in almost every class, that one or another (sometimes the lot) of my students will try to go faster than before. Inevitably something doesn't quite work and when we analyse the technique, the biggest culprit is excessive speed. Without the complete understanding of the technique and the total familiarity with the movements born of frequent repetitive practice, you cannot get your body to do it properly at any speed faster than it is ready to do.
For example, there is a technique we do which is a cutting pattern of all the major cuts strung in arow. It's not a waza, but a memory aid, and also has the advantage of having everyone going the same way while wielding their lethal weapons! In this pattern we do a variety of cuts, each perfect as an individual action, as well as being part of the greater flow of the pattern.
The exercise teaches the most important cuts and simultaneously teaches the skill of moving smoothly from one cut to the next. When done at a speed that is not in any way forced, it soon becomes a very attractive thing to watch, and great fun to do. But as soon as you try to do it fast (perhaps to look good, or out of nerves while performing a demonstration) the flow is the only thing you have, the cuts being sacrificed in the process.
Go any faster and the flow starts to suffer too. You get a messy blur of action. If viewed on a slowed video, you would see that none of the cuts followed their optimum trajectory or, in some cases, anything like a cutting line at all! And that the movement from one cut to the next, at speed, has meant that the cuts have got shorter and a great deal more curved than is acceptable. (A cut is inevitably along a straight line, regardless of the way it looks in motion ... ).
In terms of safety, this is very dangerous territory. I have not had the problem of injury in my school, because of a very good grounding in the concepts of safe practice. In many Martial Arts injury, to some degree, is to be expected, because of free-sparring or because of the rigorous nature of the techniques. But this is not something we can allow in a live-blade training session. There is no free-sparring as such and, although we can certainly work up a sweat, the leaping-about natural to some unarmed styles is absent. Any injury can only come about due to inattention or poor control. And any injury is likely to be a cut of some sort. With a live blade this is too dangerous to risk. We all want to end our days with at least as many limbs and digits as we started out with ...
Now, by going too fast you are sacrificing control of the intricacies of the techniques and disaster is around the comer - not only for the practitioner, but for his fellow students too. I have often watched in horror as someone works up a sweat grunting his way through a technique, flinging his blade about with gusto and gay abandon, fighting both gravity and the mass of his sword, and working up an unstoppable amount of speed. This has, on occasion, led to the sword going off on a flight of its own or, most usually, in a narrow miss with some part of the budding swordsman's anatomy. This is how bits get lopped off - you are supposed to save that fate for the enemy!
When I do a demonstration I al ways try hard to see that what we do is both representative of our training, but also entertaining to the audience. Given that we want to look our best, we try to be as precise as possible in the way we do the techniques. In these cases, I actually have a tendency to move more slowly than when I am training alone. Firstly, it is much safer and in a demonstration there is some stress, so mistakes happen more easily. And secondly, when you watch a technique executed with complete control and confidence, each move beautiful in itself, it looks very professional and quite exciting.
Speed does not enhance the appearance of ability (knowing eyes in the crowd will see this) but has every chance of doingjust the opposite ... and will possibly injure you too. If you want to not only become a very good swordsman but also to look good while you do it, then do each technique slowly and deliberately, at such a speed that you can monitor each aspect of what you are doing. Note the angle of cut, the length of cut, entry and exit points in your imaginary target, feel ofthe blade, positions of the various parts of your body, balance etc, as you do it. If you are moving too fast to be able to mentally watch yourself, you cannot improve your technique and you are exposing yourself to unnecessary risk.
Remember, to beat your opponent does not require you to be faster than him ... but to be better than him.
Bringing swords and swordsmen together .
Recently, I have been receiving swords from people to sell to students, and also receiving requests for swords. So if you either want a sword, or have one you want to sell, let me know and I will be happy to try to bring sword and swordsman together. It's always difficult to find one suitable for training with - so many are more suitable for a collection or, in some cases, for gardening than they are for use. However, I do currently have some swords that are well balanced and shaped for the dojo, and suitable for tameshigiri too. Use either the telephone number or address below and we can "talk swords a bit" ...
In our last issue I mentioned a planned seminar with Sensei Jan De Haan, from Europe. Thank you for all the interest shown in this event. Unfortunately, however, Sensei De Haan had to postpone his visit and this all came about after AF A had already gone to print. I am very sorry to have to disappoint all who have expressed interest, and I hope we will be able to host Sensei De Haan during 1993. I'll keep you posted in future issues of AFA.
• Obata Sensei: Next issue we'll publish an interview with Sensei Toshishiro Obata. A truly awe-inspiring Sensei, he is one of the most professional and samurailike instructors I have ever come into contact with. He gave me more than three weeks of almost undivided attention during a recent overseas tour and I learnt a lot from him - all of which I hope I can pass on in the next issue.
• Aikido & sword training: Also next issue, we'll publish an article from the Takemusu Aiki Association about sword training and its relationship to Aikido. It covers very well most of the important points about sword training today, so it should be of interest to all swordsmen. It says all the relevant things, which I also believe, about the Way Of The Sword in its original form.
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