Zyaga Writing about whatever the hell I want, cuz it's the Interwebz!

Thursday Reflections: Know the principles of the crafts.

“Know the principles of the crafts“, is very vast and unspecific, but there are a couple of ways I look at this. It may be different than how you perceive it, which is fine, because who is to say who is right and who is wrong?

There are principles behind every craft, no matter whether that craft is a martial craft or not. Think of artists, whether you they draw, paint, or make things out of wood, there are many principles behind each and usually they vary. One of the things they all have in common though is that they are all creating something new through the use of their hands. Their hands may be using other tools, but aren’t their hands really the tools themselves?

Depending on your point of reference, you could say warriors, of any kind, are the creators of death and chaos. They’re destined to shed others blood from their weapon of choice in their hands. Yet, maybe you might say they’re saints, those that enter the battlefield simply to protect their family no matter what. Even in the face of death, they give it all they got and then some. Dying and killing merely become concepts of little importance in comparison of whatever they fight for.

Miyamoto Musashi on the back of a whale!

It’s the same in every art. I can draw death, I can draw life. Which is “right” and which is “wrong“, is based on your perspective, not on fact. No matter how different these arts may be, they all have a large amount in common when it comes right down to it. Personally, I tend to believe Miyamoto deeply understood this. Considering he was very fond of working with wood to create Buddha’s, I can only believe that the art he chose, and all others, provide wisdom in the form of different outlooks on any circumstance. It’s almost like putting a puzzle together. Each outlook, or different point of reference, you have the more you can piece together a clear picture of any circumstance. You may never have the full picture, from having gathered every piece, but just like a puzzle once you get so far along you can simply estimate to the best of your knowledge based on the facts(pieces) you’ve been given.