Thought for the Week (October 15th, 2001)
Sensei Sal Scaglione, San-Dan

East Meets West Karate Club of Northern VA
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Knocking the Heart Out

Thanks to Seeger Sensei for a great TFTW last week.
This thought is a follow-up to that thought provoking
post.

When we find a situation that indeed has us “standing
up,” how must we react—how do we move forward? I
often look to the “Book of Five Rings” for inspiration
and have found an excellent passage for strategy when
we feel compelled to make that decision to defend
ourselves. In the “Fire Scroll,” Musashi points out
that in order to achieve a decisive and ever-lasting
victory we must do one thing and it must be executed
with vigor.

We must take out our
opponents heart—take out their will. When fighting
for our life it’s clearly not enough to merely take
out an opponent with offensive and defensive skills if
the opponent is left with the thought they may triumph
over us in the future. If the opponent inwardly
refuses defeat—we have not truly secured victory.
When our opponents still have ambitions, they will not
collapse. Knocking out the heart is for such cases.
Musashi points out the nessecity for an adversy to
feel defeat from the bottom of their hearts. This can
be accomplished with weapons, our body, or our mind.
It is then our mission to enable our resources and
thoroughly and soundly put our adversary to defeat.
This way to victory is never to be taken lightly as
our Karate practice has taught us, but when we do find
ourselves in a situation that we are willing to “stand
up” for then this is to be the only course of action.

Keep Moving Forward....

Domo Arigato,

Sal Scaglione
San-Dan
Northern VA Karate Club