The Parable of The Swordsman
Along time ago, in a land on the other side of the world, there were two promising warriors. The first was a young man of strong ideals and an even stronger work ethic. The second was an even younger man with the ability for cunning and stealth, as well as a strong work ethic. Each of these young warriors was very skilled for one so young and each dreamed of being the best swordsman in the land.
The first warrior was given the nickname of Lion by his friends because he was a large, strong and quick fighter who backed down from no one. The friends of the second warrior called him Rat because he was quick minded and nimble, and his cunning made him impossible to strike. Both warriors spent hours each day practicing their arts, each waiting until they felt they could claim the coveted title.
Lion rose early every morning to practice his swordplay and, using his wooden sword, spared with friends and challengers from around the area. His practices were the talk of the village and many would stop by to watch him practice. Despite not having lost a competition for several years, he still did not feel he was ready to challenge the one call the best in a fight to the death. He also though it strange the one called Rat never challenged him, or accepted any of his challenges.
Rat too arose early every morning yet would disappear until mid-afternoon, when he would take on the challenges of friends. Unlike Lion however, he never allowed anyone other than his closest friends to witness his practice or competitions. While sworn to secrecy, Rat’s friends did say that none of them were ever able to best him.
That fateful day came when Lion awoke and rather than practice, he packed a few things, took his sword, and left the village. Everyone expect him to return victorious. When Lion reached the village of the best swordsman he was surprised to see so many challengers there ahead of him. As tradition dictated, the challengers would fight one another until only one was left. If a winner was injured, he would be allowed to heal before his next fight.
Two months passed before Lion faced the champion. His level of skill has risen even more during his trials. His battle to be named the best lasted for many hours until the current champion made the smallest of errors and Lion quickly ended his life. Within a week Lion returned home and word had began to spread that he was the new champion.
Two days after returning home, Rat called upon Lion to challenge him. Lion was stunned that Rat would dare to challenge him now and immediately accepted. The next day the entire village turned out to watch the fight. It quickly became obvious who was the better swordsman. Lion was unable even to touch Rat, and yet Rat seemed able to almost strike at will. As Lion lay dying he asked Rat how he gained such skill. Rat responded, “I watched you practice everyday and I know how you fight. Rather than to have to take on many challengers, I just waited for you to win and then I challenged you.”
Within a short time the son of the warrior bested by Lion came to challenge Rat. By this time there were a number of other challengers in the village. Within the short span of a week, the son had beaten all other challengers and was completely unharmed. Four days later he would face Rat.
By the day of Rat’s challenge the young man’s unique fighting style was the talk of the surrounding area. Rat found it impossible to injure his challenger, and despite his high level of skill, was beaten within an hour. As he lay dying he asked how we could have been beaten so easily. The newest champion simply responded, “While you studied and practiced hard, you spent too much time studying the weakness of one man. I watched all of my father’s battles and studied the weakness of many men.”
There are a number of lessons in this parable. What do you glean from it?
John
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Jul 4, 2009 - 05:07:08The story reminds me of advice my tai chi master gave me just over a week ago. He said to help develop the flow of chi he recommended that I practise the same fist form every single day - choose one and stick with it. He added that this was not sufficient and that I should also continue to learn new forms because each new form would help me understand and improve what I had already achieved.
Wow John
Great post.
There are so many lessons and nuggets found within this post.
When we focus only on one way of getting to our goal, how many other ways, paths and means are we ignoring or neglecting to simply get there?
The journey is so important and there are many path ways to be explored. Making only one path wrong and one right is very limiting. Deciding what your big picture be all end all goal is can be very helpful and will lead you to the path that will work for you. If you only want to win against the champion, and that’s all you focus on,then the style of the lion works great. If you only want to beat the lion, then the rat’s style was perfect. If you want to be alive to tell tales for years to come, then combining many styles like the son did works great.
What do you really want in the end?
Great post John.
Thanks
Mel
Mel’s last blog post..New Video for Local Business now on their website- Canon City CO
I’m a Big Fan of Jet Li movies, and I enjoy martial arts stories just like the next guy. But when it comes to “how to live,” I appreciate the multi-directional approach: health + longevity + combat + philosophy. So I’m thinking that the Rat and the Lion got carried away, and forgot the “longevity” and “philosophy” parts. In the end, this had a bad effect on the “health” part, as well.
Certainly, the cultivation of “contentment” is not the message of this tale you presented, but it’s a big part of the wisdom imbued in the philosophy surrounding martial arts, at least as I understand it. Your story reminded me of that aspect, so I thought I’d mention it.
Bev,,
I have definitely not achieved mastery yet, but I do agree with your master. Learning one thing well - keeping your eye on the ball - while adding more breadth to your knowledge by learning new things seems like good advice.
John
Mel,
I like the last one! Being alive to tell your story is a good strategy.
John
Walt,
You’re right that “contentment” is the missing part of this story. Good point; you might even say it was the elephant in the room that no one was talking about. Looking for balance in life is the best way I think.
John