Edo Wonderland Sword Fight, photo by -ratamahatta- If you are any good with a sword, Hatsumi Sensei says you can win without drawing your sword. He suggests this to us by pointing out the example of the famous Zen sword master, Yamaoka Tesshū (山岡 鉄舟, June 10, 1836 - July 19, 1888), a famous samurai of the Bakumatsu period, who played an important role in the Meiji Restoration. He is also noted as the founder of the Itto Shoden Muto-ryu school of swordsmanship. One day Tesshu had a sword contest with a famous sword teacher, Asari Gimei. They fought for half a day and Tesshu was defeated. Tesshu became Asari's student and threw himself into Zen practice to try to understand the nature of his defeat. As part of his search to understand what happened to him, he was given a koan to study by Tekisui Roshi' "Crossed swords; neither permits retreat. The sword-master, like a lotus in the fire, Has a heaven-soaring spirit." This advanced koan shows both the problem pr...
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