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Hands
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Me
wa kuchihodoni monowo ii".
This is a Japanese saying. The
meaning is that the eyes can say
as much as the mouth. It is true
and in kyudo training
"Mezukai" is listed
as one of the five principles.
There are other parts of the human
body that are as good as the eyes
to tell or express our feelings;
such as hands, or more precisely,
the fingers. |
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When
we speak, our hands move to make our
description or expression more clear
or correct for the listener to understand
better. Drawing a circle, describing
objects, accepting or denying, assuring
or puzzling, the hands keep moving as
the speech or conversation goes on.
While we are thinking our hands will
move to our heads, shoulders, hips,
or cheeks and very often they cross
each other. Hands move even when we
want to be calm and still. Hands sometimes
seem to be alive by themselves. While
signing, pointing, signaling and drawing
our hands are busy.
However, when I see a good speaker,
demonstrator, or MC, their hands move
objectively and purposely. Their hands
are seen layered on top of each other.
They are controlled and stay still and
they do their jobs as they are needed.
In kyudo practice, especially when we
perform kaizoe or hadanugi or tasukisabaki,
our hands express how calm or nervous
our mental condition is. Hands should
be subordinate to our mind, and must
be controlled yet they should be enlivened.
Archers with a great control of their
mind have beautiful finger alignment
whatever the movement he or she is in.
Such control creates "Shahin"
and shahin can be seen not only
in the archer's posture of movement
but it is also seen in the controlled
enlivened fingers. In other word fingers
can tell us how good a posture he or
she is composing in a particular situation.
I have seen such hands twice while attending
the 3rd Miyakonojo Seminar. I would
like to introduce one of these excellent
examples. When Mochimato Sharei was
demonstrated by the five senseis there
was a 6th sensei sitting in kiza form
behind the archers. The area where this
6th sensei was situated was about 3m
away from the 2nd archer and just by
the side of the sensei's desk in the
dojo. Some students, perhaps, could
not spot him because of this angle but
from my position the entire shajo was
clearly seen and his posture caught
my eyes. How reserved he was yet, he
was alert. How intently his care was
distributed to all the archers to assist
them but his atmosphere was serene.
I kept watching this sensei until the
demonstration was over. This sensei,
Kazuyuki Sanmaru sensei, hanshi 8th
dan, who was one of the seminar instructors,
kept his posture still and his fingers
were kept on his thighs softly and quietly.
His hands knew their master. His hands
moved as he stood up at the end of the
demonstration but his fingers were still
quietly together and following their
master. Sanmaru sensei's existence was
probably unnoticeable through the demonstration
but such a kaizoe is the best kaizoe
to make the archers stand out. His kaizoe
for the five archers was a living shadow
and it was a valuable teaching to me.
I was very happy and grateful to have
had such a memorable lesson during the
Miyakonojo seminar.
Sanmaru sensei suddenly passed away
in August, a little over a month ago.
He was 74 and still young to be a hanshi
and could have trained many more kyudo
students. He was one of the first instructors
of the first Miyakonojo International
Kyudo Seminar in 1992. I will remember
Sanmaru sensei and his teachings. I
will keep training myself and hope that
I will be able to form such a posture
with living fingers some day. I will
also try to transfer this sensei's valuable
teaching to my kyudo friends.
Note:
I wrote this article because my hands
always move more than they are needed.
I try to keep them still but it is difficult
to do so. I observed many hands during
our practice here and also in Japan
and have noticed that even quiet hands
cannot be kept straight and enlivened.
While standing, bowing and sitting I
often see that our fingers are open.
That is the evidence of an opening in
the mind. We have many areas in the
conduct of shooting that we have to
pay attention to, to make them correct
but we tend to forget or neglect how
our fingers and hands should look like
or we simply can not bring our attention
to our fingers. Some of you may have
noticed that the kyudo movement is referred
to as "Shimai" and
I agree with it. "Shimai"
is one of Japanese dances, which expresses
the theme of the dance in extremely
simplified movements. The dancer sometimes
uses a space of only three square feet
space to perform her dance. In such
limited space and with simplified movements
the dancer's fingers become a large
part of her expression of the theme.
We also extend our views of dances to
the Indian, Thai, Balinese dances and
even ballet and we are always surprised
to find how expressive the dancer's
fingers are and how importantly their
hands move to tell a story.
To maintain proper looking hands and
fingers we need to breath correctly.
When you inhale and exhale, try to get
a feeling that air streams not only
through your nostrils but also your
fingers. If you can, you will feel your
fingers straightened naturally because
such an air stream evokes the strength
of your mind, "Ki" .
Breathing brings up your ki in life
and controls the flow of such ki. Also,
air could stream through your eyes,
which helps your proper gaze. This is
just the beginning of your breathing
practice, and as you practice breathing
correctly you will feel that air comes
in and goes out through your entire
body and then finally you will find
the center of your body.
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by
Yoshiko
Buchanan, Renshi 5th dan, Shiseikan
NCKF
newsletter article Oct. 1st, 1999
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