Shouri wa saya ni ari ( 勝利は鞘にあり。). Victory lies in the scabbard is one of the many precepts covered by Sun Tzu in his “The Art of War”. It is a phrase with some deep connotation. It speaks to the ability of ending a conflict before one can erupt. This isn’t limited to the conventional battlefield however. This principal has a powerful significance in the martial arts, and it’s a concept that isn’t at all difficult to wrap our minds around.
When Taisho first came to me for training he brought with him like many of us a history of dealing with difficult people and the persistent shots at his ego in attempt to draw him into a physical altercation. Be the attacks verbal or physical Taisho was prior to darkening the door to the dojo by no means a soft target. He merely wanted to explore another avenue by which he could learn to handle these situations in a different way. After a couple years of training things began to change for him. Recently we briefly discussed how things had changed concerning how Taisho had progressed regarding his conflict resolution skills. He said that he still doesn’t come across as an aggressor nor is he a pushover, but when a bully attempts to roust him he stands firm and shows the bully that he won’t be pushed around and is thus more capable than the bully is willing to handle. This makes the bully disengage and leave Taisho alone. The conflict is then averted without a punch having to be thrown.
RSS Feed