Victory without fighting
One day in the Japan of the 1540s, in a ferryboat crowded with farmers,
merchants, and craftsmen, a young samurai regaled all who would listen
with tales of his great victories as a swordsman, wielding his three-footlong sword as he spoke to demonstrate his prowess. The other passengers
were a little afraid of this athletic young man, so they feigned interest in his
stories to avoid trouble. But one older man sat to the side, ignoring the
young boaster. The older man was obviously a samurai himself - he carried
two swords - but no one knew that this was in fact Tsukahara Bokuden,
perhaps the greatest swordsman of his time. He was in his fifties by then
and liked to travel alone and incognito.
Bokuden sat with his eyes closed, seemingly deep in meditation. His
stillness and silence began to annoy the young samurai, who finally called
out, “Don’t you like this kind of talk? You don’t even know how to wield asword, old man, do you?” “I most certainly do,” answered Boku-den. “My
way, however, is not to wield my sword in such inconsequential
circumstances as these.” “A way of using a sword that doesn’t use a
sword,” said the young samurai. “Don’t talk gibberish. What is your school
of fighting called?” “It is called Mutekatsu-ryu [style that wins without
swords or fighting],” replied Bokuden. “What? Mutekatsu-ryu? Don’t be
ridiculous. How can you defeat an opponent without fighting?”
By now the young samurai was angry and irritated, and he demanded that
Bokuden demonstrate his style, challenging him to a fight then and there.
Bokuden refused to duel in the crowded boat but said he would show the
samurai Mutekatsu-ryu at the nearest shore, and he asked the ferryman to
guide the boat to a tiny nearby island. The young man began to swing his
sword to loosen up. Bokuden continued to sit with his eyes closed. As they
approached the island, the impatient challenger shouted, “Come! You are as
good as dead. I will show you how sharp my sword is!” He then leaped
onto the shore.
Bokuden took his time, further infuriating the young samurai, who began
to hurl insults. Bokuden finally handed the ferryman his swords, saying,
“My style is Mutekatsu-ryu. I have no need for a sword”—and with those
words he took the ferryman’s long oar and pushed it hard against the shore,
sending the boat quickly out into the water and away from the island. The
samurai screamed, demanding the boat’s return. Bokuden shouted back to
him, “This is what is called victory without fighting. I dare you to jump into
the water and swim here!”
Now the passengers on the boat could look back at the young samurai
receding into the distance, stranded on the island, jumping up and down,
flailing his arms as his cries became fainter and fainter. They began to
laugh: Bokuden had clearly demonstrated Mutekatsu-ryu.
Interpretation
The minute Bokuden heard the arrogant young samurai’s voice, he knew
there would be trouble. A duel on a crowded boat would be a disaster, and a
totally unnecessary one; he had to get the young man off the boat without a
fight, and to make the defeat humiliating. He would do this through
maneuver. First, he remained still and quiet, drawing the man’s attention
away from the innocent passengers and drawing him toward Bokuden like amagnet. Then he confused the man with a rather irrational name for a
school of fighting, overheating the samurai’s rather simple mind with a
perplexing concept. The flustered samurai tried to cover up with bluster. He
was now so angry and mentally off balance that he leaped to the shore
alone, failing to consider the rather obvious meaning of Mutekatsu-ryu even
once he got there. Bokuden was a samurai who always depended on setting
up his opponents first and winning the victory easily, by maneuver rather
than brute force. This was the ultimate demonstration of his art.
© Chapter 20 Maneuver Them Into Weakness - 33 Strategies of War, by Robert Greene