Yagyu Munenori (1571 – 1646)
Japanese swordsman, founder of the Edo branch of Yagy? Shinkage-ry?, which he learned from his father Yagy? "Sekishusai" Muneyoshi.
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When you practice archery, if your mind is occupied with shooting the arrow, the shot will be disturbed, and will not be settled (smooth). If you are wielding the long sword, and your mind is fixed on wielding the sword, the sword will not move smoothly. The archer should forget about shooting the arrow, and shoot as he would doing nothing special. Then the shot will be smooth. When wielding the long sword, or riding a horse, do it as though you would not wield a sword or ride a horse. Stop doing everything, have an empty, everydays mind, even when you have lots of things to do, do it easily, smoothly. The man who has nothing on his heart is the man of the Way.
If you gaze at a single leaf on a single tree, you do not see the other leaves. If you face the tree with no intention and do not fix your eyes on a single leaf, then you will see all the many leaves. If your mind is preoccupied with one leaf, you do not see the others, if you do not set your attention on one; you will see hundreds and thousands of leaves.
It is bias to think that the art of war is just for killing people. It is not to kill people, it is to kill evil. It is a strategem to give life to many people by killing the evil of one person.
Once a fight has started, if you get involved in thinking about what to do, you will be cut down by your opponent with the very next blow.
If you have attained mastery of swordlessness, you will never lack for a sword.
It is easy to kill someone with a slash of a sword. It is hard to be impossible for others to cut down.
It may be said that the swordsmen neither vies in a contest, nor concerns himself with strength or weakness, nor advances or retreats a single step. His opponent does not see him; he does not see his opponent. If he concentrates on the area where heaven and earth remain unseparated and yin and yang do not show, he should achieve success straightforwardly.
There may be a hundred stances and sword positions, but you win with just one.
A stroke of the sword that does not hit its target is the sword stroke of death; you reach over it to strike the winning blow. Your adversarys inititive having missed its mark, you turn the tables arround and get the jump on your adversary.
Conquering evil, not the opponent is the essence of swordsmanship.
See first with your mind, then with your eyes, and finally with your body.
When you strike a blow, do not let your mind dally on it, not concerning yourself with whether or not it is a telling blow; you should strike again and again, over and over, even four or five times. The thing is not to let your opponent even raise his head.
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