“Knocking the Heart Out” - Musashi and Zen for the Modern Bushi

” Knocking the Heart Out-

When you fight and adversary and appear to win by your skill in this science, your opponent may still have ideas and, while appearing to be beaten, still inwardly rufeses to acknowledge defeat. Knocking the heart out is for such cases.

This means that you suddenly change your attitude to stop the enemy from entertaining any such ideas; so the main thing is to see that adversaries feel defeated from the bottom of their hearts.

You can knock the heart out of people with weapons or with your body or with your mind. It is not to be understood in just one way.

When your enemies have completely lost heart, you do not have to pay attention to them anymore. Otherwise, you remain mindful. As long as adversaries still have ambitions , they will hardly collapse.

In both large-and small- scale martial arts, knocking the heart out should be practiced thoroughly. ”

The Water Scroll
-Miyamoto Musashi 1643

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