Reflections on the 2022 Yamate-ryū® Taikai by Dr. Shapiro

It begins with a question.  The question is not well formed but exists nonetheless, deep in the psyche.  

“Can I do it?”

“Can I be the victor when it matters most?”

“Can I control the outcome?”

The journey begins with the question, but the path leads elsewhere.  Reishiki, tachi, utsu, taisō, ukemi, gokyō; these are the guideposts on the cobbled path that shape the spirit and form the body.  Ignore the guideposts and the path is blocked.  Observe the guideposts and the path opens.  

The path is long and the pace is slow.  Practice every day.  Reinforce, refine, and realize. 

But the question remains, “Is this the right path?”, “Can I control my destiny?”

Look left, look right, look in front, and look behind.  You are not alone.  You are a member of the Ryū, a timeless, spaceless, entity that extends forever.  You are raw potential and the Ryū is the hammer forging you.  You feel the blows of the hammer and you know this is a good path.  But you are still raw.  As the blows fall the hard edges are broken.  Subtlety, refinement, and nuance emerge.  You develop sensitivity and awareness.  You feel the “lines” and “curves” of force.  You become aware of tension and learn to release it.  You “find the groove”.  

Reishiki is the polishing compound, Gokyō is the leather strop, and the sharp edge of your spirit begins to reveal itself.  The tradition, and it is a damn fine tradition, is working.  Yet the questions remain. 

“I am a sharp blade, but can I cut?”  

“There have been sharper blades, and they bent or shattered.  Is this really the path?”  

You return to the practice; reishiki, tachi, utsu, taisō, ukemi, gokyō.  This is what you know.  But now there is also kokyū and zazen.  Before there was an archetype, now your airway is open, now there is play.  There is freedom, there are possibilities, and there is the pursuit of possibilities.  

Your awareness expands in time and space and you learn that each moment is the “Absolute critical moment.”  At this moment of uke te your kiai is received as aiki and two become one, heaven and earth meet, 2 and 8 sum.  The hammer strikes, but now you are the hammer, you are the polishing compound, you are the leather strop.  

You have penetrated through the husk to the seed.  You wake in the morning and look in the mirror as you practice taiso and tachi, you sit and merge with the ground, you look across at the yudansha and the mudansha, and you look inward, and you see no difference. 

We are the Ryū.  There are no questions.  There is just keikō.

THE END