Spiral Staircase
"As the beginner knows nothing about either his body posture or the positioning of his sword, neither does his mind stop anywhere within him. If a man strikes at him with a sword, he simply meets the attack without anything in mind.
As he studies various things and is taught the diverse ways of how to take a stance, the manner of grasping his sword and where to put his mind, his mind stops in many places. Now if he wants to strike at an opponent, he is extraordinarily discomforted. Later, as days pass and time piles up, in accordance with his practice, neither the postures of the body nor the ways of grasping the sword are weighed in his mind. His mind simply becomes as it was in the beginning when he knew nothing and had yet to be taught anything at all.
In this sense one sees the sense of the beginning being the same as the end, as when one counts from one to ten, and the first and last numbers become adjacent."
--Takuan Soho, The Mysterious Record of Immovable Wisdom
At the Iaido testing in Ayase on Saturday, many of the sandan and yondan candidates were visibly scared as they performed. I didn't see many shodan or nidan candidates that looked scared, though. So while the sandans and yondans displayed a much higher level of technical skill than their juniors, they didn't necessarily give a more beautiful performance.
There was, however, one yondan candidate who really caught my eye, an older gentleman in a cream-colored uniform, who was utterly unperturbed and unhurried in his movements, and yet clearly very technically proficient. He had a small, calm, and very sincere-looking hint of a smile on his face the whole time, and his iai was very beautiful.
As he studies various things and is taught the diverse ways of how to take a stance, the manner of grasping his sword and where to put his mind, his mind stops in many places. Now if he wants to strike at an opponent, he is extraordinarily discomforted. Later, as days pass and time piles up, in accordance with his practice, neither the postures of the body nor the ways of grasping the sword are weighed in his mind. His mind simply becomes as it was in the beginning when he knew nothing and had yet to be taught anything at all.
In this sense one sees the sense of the beginning being the same as the end, as when one counts from one to ten, and the first and last numbers become adjacent."
--Takuan Soho, The Mysterious Record of Immovable Wisdom
At the Iaido testing in Ayase on Saturday, many of the sandan and yondan candidates were visibly scared as they performed. I didn't see many shodan or nidan candidates that looked scared, though. So while the sandans and yondans displayed a much higher level of technical skill than their juniors, they didn't necessarily give a more beautiful performance.
There was, however, one yondan candidate who really caught my eye, an older gentleman in a cream-colored uniform, who was utterly unperturbed and unhurried in his movements, and yet clearly very technically proficient. He had a small, calm, and very sincere-looking hint of a smile on his face the whole time, and his iai was very beautiful.