Tuesday, April 15, 2008

The Power Of Ki-Ai, Part Two


Miyamoto Musashi

Miyamoto Mushashi, a Ronin (masterless) Samurai had killed sixty men in sword duels by the time he was thirty-years-old.
In his classic book on strategy "The Book Of Five Rings" he describes "The three shouts":
"The three shouts are divided thus; before, during and after. Shout according to the situation.The voice is a thing of life. We shout against fires and so on, against the wind and the waves. The voice shows energy.
In large-scale strategy, at the start of battle we shout as loudly as possible. During the fight, the voice is low-pitched, shouting out as we attack. After the contest, we shout in the wake of our victory. These are the three shouts.
In single combat, we make as if to cut and shout "Ei!" at the same time to disturb the enemy, then in the wake of our shout we cut with the long sword. We shout after we have cut down the enemy- this to announce victory. This is called "sen go no koe" (before and after voice). We do not shout simultaneously with flourishing the long sword. We shout during the fight to get into rythm. Research this deeply".

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