About 2 years ago I was to be given a hand made shinai bag as a gift. On it I could chose to have any embroidery that I wanted. After some thinking and speaking to my sempai, I chose the phrase “ippo furyu” from the Itto ryu gokui (written/compiled by Sasamori Junzo).
So what does it mean? Looking at the kanji we have:
一歩 a single step
不留 without stopping
There are many valid ways to interpret this, so for this posts sake I have chosen to present a simple one:
向上は一歩だけではなく、次の二、三歩を目指して努力を重ねるべきだ : Advancement/improvement (of yourself, your kendo, your life, etc), is gained by repeated hard work over time.
There is of-course a more literal meaning that can be applied to kendo as well about the workings of seme… but I will leave that for you to ponder should you choose to.
Bringing this short post to an end, here is my personal interpretation of the kanji and one that I strive to follow on a daily basis:
“Do not limit yourself or be satisfied with what you are today.”
One of my teachers is an accomplished painter as well as being a 7 dan. In mid-December he chooses a theme for the following years keiko and paints a picture illustrating it and hangs it in the dojo. The painting is always bright, positive, and sports the following years animal zodiac.
This one is from 2007. It reads:
自ら燃えなければ火はつかない.
Translated liberally into literal English:
If you can’t fire yourself up, then your flame will never catch light
I will leave it for you to decide your own interpretation.
