A highly valuable lesson
A samurai paid a visit to the legendary master Miyamoto Musashi to learn the true way of the sword. The master accepted him as a student. The samurai spent all his time practising what the master had instructed him: carrying and chopping wood, fetching water from a spring and other difficult jobs. He did this every day for a month, and then for two months, for a year, and then three years. Many students might have run away after a week or even just a couple of hours, but the samurai went on with his tasks in order to strengthen his body. At the end of the three years, he asked the master what sort of training he would be given as he had not touched his sword since he had arrived.‚I've only chopped wood and fetched buckets of water. When will I receive training?' 'Very well', the master answered. 'Since this is what you desire, I will teach you to master the true technique.'
He instructed the samurai to come to the dojo every morning to walk around the outer wooden edge of the tatami mat from morning till night without ever missing a step. And so the samurai walked around the edge of the mat in the dojo for one whole year. At the end of the year, the samurai said to his master: ‚I'm a samurai and I've already had a lot of experience in sword fighting and have been taught by many masters. No one has ever taught me like you are doing, but pleaseteach me the true way of the sword.' 'Very well,' said the master, 'follow me.' The master led him along a path high in the mountains until they came to a ravine, where a tree trunk lay across a chasm at a dizzying height. Then the master said: 'And now walk across it.'
The samurai became confused. He started turning dizzy when he looked down and he could not bring himself to cross over the tree trunk. All of a sudden he heard a tapping noise behind him. It was the tapping sound of a blind man's stick. The blind man gave no response and, without hesitation, walked past him over the wooden tree trunk whilst tapping his stick in front of him. 'Aha', the samurai thought. 'I'm starting to understand. If a blind man can walk across it, then surely I should be able to as well?' And the master said: 'You walked around the edge of the tatami mat in the dojo for a whole year. The edge of the mat was much narrower than this tree trunk, so what's stopping you from walking across it now?' The samurai now understood and walked across the trunk to the other side. His training was complete.
* Food for thought
For three years the samurai had worked on his strength, for a year he had worked on his technique. His final lesson was to learn self-control of his mind and spirit. At the edge of the abyss, the samurai was confronted with his fear of death. This was where he received his final lesson. The lessons and training were long and arduous but the most valuable lesson was the brief subtle lesson at the end. Many lessons in day-to-day life and the martial arts are difficult and require much effort. But the most important lessons are often brief but intense and unpredictable.
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