Cutting with the Kissaki

During the most recent Seminar our soke (the head of our style our school)  noticed how someone was doing their overhead two-handed cut known as a kirioroshi, one of the basic cuts of iaijutsu in which the sword is swung from behind the back over the head to cut down.  "Dame"  said soke.  "Wrong".

He explained that the way we were cutting resulted with us cutting with the longer edge of the blade known as the ha.  What we actually wanted to cut with, he demonstrated, was with the kissaki, the very tip of the sword.  In order to do this, one has to bring the sword high over head, almost to the point where it is perpendicular with the ground, and then almost cast the blade forward as if fly fishing while changing the tenouchi, the hand grip, to nigiri no kata, the "wringing of hands" as if wringing out a towel, where the hands are so turned to the top of the tsuka (hilt) that the wrists almost sit on top of the sword..  What this combination does is ensure that the tip is accelerating more quickly than the rest of the blade while the grip makes the left arm the force by which the blade is being pushed down, the right hand almost acting more like a guide (when done correctly, this is almost singularly an action of the forearms).  The result is the that the kissaki, the sharpest part of the blade, moves most quickly and is driven down with incredible force for quick and precise cutting.

Practicing this after the fact was difficult, as is any activity in which one has learned and is now having to relearn the activity.  But one could feel the difference almost at once:  the blade almost flies as the top of the arc as it accelerates down and one has to work much more to ensure that the end of the cut is level, instead of the blade angled downward.

It made me think of life in general as I was practicing last night.

So often we attempt to muscle our way through our problems and difficulties by brute force or by energy that we expend or even by the power of the tools that we use.  The reality is that this will not always get us the best results. It is often the precise application of that thing which most needs doing - the kissaki of our task, if you will - back up by the right application of effort - the power of the left hand - that will provide results in a way which, after we get used to it, will most likely stun us in how power, effective, and quick it is.

Force or length of sword alone does not determine the outcome.  It is the correct application of them that will bring victory.