The Water Book

The spirit of the Ni Ten Ichi school of strategy is based on water.

This Water Book explains methods of victory as the long-sword form of the Ichi school. This can be grasped intuitively.

The principles of strategy are written down here in terms of single combat, but you must think broadly so that you attain an understanding for ten-thousand-a-side battles.

Strategy is different from other things in that if you mistake the Way even a little you will become bewildered and fall into bad ways. If you merely read this book you will not reach the Way of Strategy.

Absorb the things written in this book.Do not just read, memorise or imitate, but so that you realize the principle from within your own heart study hard to absorb these things into your body.

Spiritual Bearing in Strategy

In strategy your spiritual bearing must not be any different from normal. Both in fighting and in everyday life you should be determined though calm. Meet the situation without tenseness yet not recklessly, your spirit settled yet unbiased. Even when your spirit is calm do not let your body relax, and when your body is relaxed do not let your spirit slacken.

Do not let your spirit be influenced by your body, or your body be influenced by your spirit. Be neither insufficiently spirited nor over spirited. An elevated spirit is weak and a low spirit is weak. Do not let the enemy see your spirit.

Small people must be completely familiar with the spirit of large people, and large people must be familiar with the spirit of small people. Whatever your size, do not be misled by the reactions of your own body.

With your spirit open and unconstricted, look at things from a high point of view. You must cultivate your wisdom and spirit. Polish your wisdom: learn public justice, distinguish between good and evil, study the Ways of different arts one by one. When you cannot be deceived by men you will have realized the wisdom of strategy.

The wisdom of strategy is different from other things. On the battlefield, even when you are hard-pressed, you should ceaselessly research the principles of strategy so that you can develop a steady spirit.

Stance in Strategy

Have your head erect, neither hanging down, nor looking up, nor twisted. Your forehead and the space between your eyes should not be wrinkled. Do not roll your eyes nor allow them to blink, but slightly narrow them. With your features composed, keep the line of your nose straight with a feeling of slightly flaring your nostrils.

Hold the line of the rear of the neck straight: instill vigour into your hairline, and in the same way from the shoulders down through your entire body. Lower both shoulders and, without the buttocks jutting out, put strength into your legs from the knees to the tips of your toes. Brace your abdomen so that you do not bend at the hips. Wedge your companion sword in your belt against your abdomen, so that your belt is not slack - this is called “wedging in”.

In all forms of strategy, it is necessary to maintain the combat stance in everyday life and to make your everyday stance your combat stance.

You must research this well.

The Gaze in Strategy

The gaze should be large and broad. This is the twofold gaze “Perception and Sight”. Perception is strong and sight week. In strategy it is important to see distant things as if they were close and to take a distanced view of close things. It is important in strategy to know the enemy’s sword and not to be distracted by insignificant movements of his sword. You must study this. The gaze is the same for single combat and for large-scale strategy.

It is necessary in strategy to be able to look to both sides without moving the eyeballs. You cannot master this ability quickly. Learn what is written here; use this gaze in everyday life and do not vary it whatever happens.

Holding the Long Sword: Continuous Cut

When you attack and the enemy also attacks, and your swords spring together, in one action cut his head, hands and legs. When you cut several places with one sweep of the long sword, it is the “Continuous Cut”.

You must practice this cut; it is often used. With detailed practice you should be able to understand it.

Cut the Fire and Stones

This means that when the enemy’s long sword and your long sword clash together you cut as strongly as possible without raising the sword even a little. This means cutting quickly with the hands, body and legs - all three cutting strongly. If you train well enough you will be able to strike strongly.

The Red Leaves Cut

This is an allusion to falling, dying leaves. It means knocking down the enemy’s long sword. The spirit should be getting control of his sword.

When the enemy is in a long sword attitude in front of you and intent on cutting, hitting and parrying, you strongly hit the enemy’s long sword with the Fire and Stones Cut, perhaps in the spirit of the “No Design, No Conception” Cut.

If you then beat down the point of his sword with a sticky feeling, he will necessarily drop the sword. If you practice this cut it becomes easy to make the enemy drop his sword. You must train repetitively.

The Body in Place of the Long Sword or the long sword in place of the body

Usually we move the body and the sword at the same time to cut the enemy. However, according to the enemy’s cutting method, you can dash against him with your body first, and afterwards cut with the sword.

If his body is immoveable, you can cut first with the long sword, but generally you hit first with the body and then cut with the long sword. You must research this well and practice hitting.

Cut and Slash

To cut and to slash are two different things. Cutting, whatever form of cutting it is, is decisive, with a resolute spirit.

Slashing is nothing more than touching the enemy. Even if you slash strongly, and even if the enemy dies instantly, it is slashing. When you cut, your spirit is resolved.

If you first slash the enemy’s hands or legs, you must then cut strongly. Slashing is in spirit the same as touching. When you realize this, they become indistinguishable. Learn this well.

Chinese Monkey’s Body

This is the spirit of not stretching out your arms. The spirit is to get in quickly, without in the least extending your arms, before the enemy cuts. If you are intent upon not stretching out your arms you are effectively far away, the spirit is to go in with your whole body. When you come to within arm’s reach it becomes easy to move your body in. You must research this well.

Glue and Lacquer Emulsion Body

The spirit of “Glue and Lacquer Emulsion Body” is to stick to the enemy and not separate from him. When you approach the enemy, stick firmly with your head, body and legs. People tend to advance their head and legs quickly, but their body lags behind. You should stick firmly so that there is not the slightest gap between the enemy’s body and your body.

To Strive for Height

By “to strive for height” is meant, when you close with the enemy, to strive with him for superior height without cringing. Stretch your legs, stretch your hips, and stretch your neck face to face with him. When you think you have won, and you are the higher, thrust in strongly. You must learn this.

To Apply Stickiness

When the enemy attacks and you also attack with the long sword, you should go in with a sticky feeling and fix your long sword against the enemy’s as you receive his cut. The spirit of stickiness is not hitting very strongly, but hitting so that the long swords do not separate easily. It is best to approach as calmly as possible when hitting the enemy’s long sword with stickiness.

The difference between “Stickiness” and “Entanglement” is that stickiness is firm and entanglement is weak.

The Body Strike

The Body Strike means to approach the enemy through a gap in his guard. The spirit is to strike him with your body. Turn your face a little aside and strike the enemy’s breast with your left shoulder thrust out.

Approach with the spirit of bouncing the enemy away, striking as strongly as possible in time with yout breathing. If you achieve this method of closing with the enemy, you will be able to knock him 10-20 feet away. It is possible to strike the enemy until he is dead.

Three Ways to Parry His Attack

There are three methods to parry a cut:

1. By dashing the enemy’s long sword to your right, as if thrusting at his eyes, when he makes an attack.
2. By thrusting the enemy’s long sword towards his right eye with the feeling of snipping his neck.
3. Or when you have a short “long sword”, without worrying about parrying the enemy’s long sword, to close with him quickly, thrusting at his face with your left hand.

You can always clench your left hand and thrust at the enemy’s face with your fist. For this it is necessary to train well.

To Stab at the Face

This means stabbing at his face, following the line of the blades with the point of your long sword. If you are intent on stabbing at his face, his face and body will become rideable. When the enemy becomes as if rideable, there are various opportunities for winning.

You must concentrate on this. When fighting and the enemy’s body becomes as if rideable, you can win quickly, so you ought not to forget to stab at the face. You must pursue the value of this technique through training.

To Stab at the Heart

To stab at the heart means, when fighting and there are obstructions above, or to the sides, and whenever it is difficult to cut, to thrust at the enemy.

You must stab the enemy’s breast without letting the point of your long sword waver, showing the enemy the ridge of the blade square-on, and with the spirit of deflecting his long sword.

The spirit of this principle is often useful when we become tired or for some reason our long sword will not cut. You must understand the application of this method.

To Scold “Tut-TUT!”

“Scold” means that, when the enemy tries to counter-cut as you attack, you counter-cut again from below as if thrusting at him, trying to hold him down.

With very quick timing you cut, scolding the enemy. Thrust up, “Tut!”, and cut “TUT!” This timing is encountered time and time again in exchange of blows.

The way to scold Tut-TUT is to time the cut simultaneously with raising your long sword as if to thrust the enemy.

You must learn this through repetitive practice.

The Smacking Parry

This is when you clash swords with the enemy, you meet his attacking cut on your long sword with a tee-dum, tee-dum rhythm, smacking his sword and cutting him.

The spirit of the smacking parry is not parrying, or smacking strongly, but smacking the enemy’s long sword in accordance with his attacking cut, primarily intent on quickly cutting him.

If you understand the timing of smacking, however hard your long swords clash together, your swordpoint will not be knocked back even a little. You must research sufficiently to realize this.

One versus Many

In this case, draw both sword and companion sword and assume a widestretched left and right attitude. The spirit is to chase the enemies around from side to side, even though they come from all four directions. Observe their attacking order, and go to meet first those who attack first.

Sweep your eyes around broadly, carefully examining the attacking order, and cut left and right alternately with your swords.

Waiting is bad.

Always quickly re-assume your attitudes to both sides, cut the enemies down as they advance, crushing them in the direction from which they attack. Whatever you do, you must drive the enemy together, as if tying a line of fishes.

When they are seen to be piled up, cut them down strongly without giving them room to move.

The Advantage when Coming to Blows

You can know how to win through strategy with the long sword, but it cannot be clearly explained in writing. You must practice diligently in order to understand how to win.

Oral tradition: “The true Way of Strategy is revealed in the long sword.”

One Cut

You can win with certainty with the spirit of “one cut”. It is difficult to attain this if you do not learn strategy well. If you train well in this Way, strategy will come from your heart and you will be able to win at will.

You must train diligently.

Direct Communication

This is how the true Way of the Ni To Ichi school is received and handed down.

Oral tradition: “Teach your body strategy.”

Recorded in the above book is an outline of Ichi school sword-fighting.

To learn how to win with the long sword in strategy, first learn the five approaches and the five attitudes, and absorb the Way of the long sword naturally in your body. You must understand spirit and timing, handle the long sword naturally, and move body and legs in harmony with your spirit. Whether beating one man or two, you will then know values in strategy.

Study the contents of this book, taking one item at a time, and through fighting with enemies you will gradually come to know the principle of the Way.

Deliberately, with a patient spirit, absorb the virtue of all this, from time to time raising your hand in combat. Maintain this spirit whenever you cross swords with and enemy.

Step by step walk the thousand-mile road

Study strategy over the years and achieve the spirit of the warrior.

Today is victory over yourself of yesterday; tomorrow is your victory over lesser men. Next, in order to beat more skillful men, train according to this book, not allowing your heart to be swayed along a side-track.

Even if you kill an enemy, if it is not based on what you have learned it is not the true Way.

If you attain this Way of victory, then you will be able to beat several tens of men. What remains is sword-fighting ability, which you can attain in battles and duels.