Approaches to Teaching and Learning pt. 5

Expression Method

Next is the Expression Method (EM). Counter to IM, the Expression Method seeks to draw personal ability out of the student and makes his thinking a large part of the development process.

Instead of forcing him to accept indoctrination, he is guided through several stages of empowerment, namely physical (re)education, attitude orientation, affinity identification, skill development and practical application.

Because of the unpredictability and delicate psychological processes involved, it can sometimes take years or a matter of months before any noticeable change can be observed. This training method can also be described as experience-guided learning. It is the hallmark of many traditional martial arts and to be fair, traditional education.

A fictional scene reflects this training orientation. A student who had come to study from a silat master was told he had to perform physical duties around his master’s home. The reason is often and justifiably so, that if the master was to devote time to training him, his energies couldn’t be put to sustaining his livelihood.

However, tending to the garden or performing menial tasks served a double purpose. It was meant to educate the student in physical efficiency. Not only would he be taught to swing a hoe properly – using minimal strength and maximum leverage – to reduce long term physical damage and increase work efficiency, he would obviously receive superb physical conditioning.

Going to the gym always ends up with no productivity and glistening muscles, but farmwork got you that and potatoes as well.

Doing work would eventually bore the young student and once in a while, for displaying patience, kindness, diligence – and other good qualities that the master would have deliberately inculcated within him – he would be rewarded with a lesson of empowerment.

The master then identifies the student’s strength in a particular area and develops him towards mastering that end. If his coordination leans toward high fighting, his skills would be developed in that direction.

If he seems comfortable on the ground, then ground fighting and so on. However, the student wouldn’t be forced into any direction, simply given the opportunity to develop.

Finally, the student is given the opportunity to see for himself what he has achieved. He is tested not for what he has learned from his master, but for what he has discovered about himself.

Thus, confidence-breakers such as wrestling with wild animals, engaging full-fledged masters of rival schools, jumping into pits full of sharpened bamboo or being buried alive ensure that the student brings not his master with him to his tests, but that he has all the tools already at hand. He just had to discover them with a little help.

Brotherhood of the Blade Gathering

It's Coming!

Approaches to Teaching and Learning pt. 4

Disadvantages of IM

Unfortunately, there are two sides to every coin. A fighting-focused student usually shies away from the more esoteric aspects of the art such as ethics, responsibility, philosophy, religion, etc. Only a small percentage actually do find themselves interested in such topics and even less finally adopt it as an integral part of their worldview.

Secondly, a realistic setting doesn’t necessarily mean real. A reflex-conditioned fighter may find himself dealing with situations that were not inherent in his training. Since his analytical mind has already been trained to take a back seat to his reflexes, he may survive by sheer effort, but will rarely escape unscathed.

Thirdly, large group training creates minor mistakes and bad habits that unless attended to personally by a trained instructor (and not mass-produced carbon copy yes-men), could result in the ineffectiveness of the technique when applied combatively, or worse, muscular and ligament injury that will lead to permanent damage.

Fourthly, strict IM style training often mentally cages a student and teaches him to think within the box and rarely outside of it. This cuts off important avenues of creative and lateral thinking in problem solving. In combat, life or death hangs in the balance.

IM arts have been very popular in Malaysia because of their apparent systematic pedagogical style and are quite well represented among the major silat styles. Silat Seni Gayong[1], Silat Cekak and Silat Lincah are some of the better examples. Each of them has encountered the setbacks of the Impression Method and have compensated for them in their own ways.

For example, in Silat Cekak, after the initial memorisation and drilling of the standardised buah to completion, students are taken through a Skill Set. Unusual and sneaky attack styles are introduced, of which no standard answer was provided for in the syllabus. Students are guided to analyse the tools provided in the memorised buah and apply them in their unique fashion to counter these new threats.

Approaches to Teaching and Learning pt. 3

Teaching Pekiti-Tirsia in West Africa

Impression Method

The Impression Method (IM), which is technique or buah-based, relies heavily on the impression of the syllabus upon the mind and physique of the student.

This involves the creation of standardised blocks of movement with a set beginning and an end. The student begins with nothing and is taught to mimic and act out the blocks and eventually string them together.

The key characteristics of this system is the initial rigidity of the process, the stressing of reflex as against analytical thought and the belief that a particular block of movements (often termed technique) are a result of strenuous research and is the best possible answer to a particular incursion.

Although the term ‘buah’ is also used to describe any strikeform that makes contact with the opponent, even if it isn’t a reflex action but a result of strategic analysis, most modern Malaysian Silat styles subscribe to this impression method to achieve immediate results.

The advantages are numerous. It keeps the student’s attention focused upon the apparent physical goals of silat: that is learning how to fight. It creates a realistic setting in which the student learns: reacting off a partner who is simulating violence.

It also allows for minimal supervision of a large group: several instructors could monitor a group of hundreds. It allows for training of large numbers of students in a short span and it also produces immediate results: The student usually apply the technique drilled into him almost immediately.

Approaches to Teaching and Learning pt. 2

I. Impression

II. Expression

III. Activation

The truth is that all three methods are considered standard practise by many Melayu martial artists in Malaysia. Ironically, because of the often exclusiveness of major Silat Melayu styles in Malaysia, not many pesilat are aware of alternative training methods. That is, alternative to their own.

Approaches to Teaching and Learning pt. 1

Learning from the Master

We'll resume the knife discussion soon. In the meantime, we had an out of town visitor last week. A gentleman came to train with us from the West Coast who very little in the way of previous experience. I only had a few days to teach him, and I had no gauge of his ability nor capacity to learn. I wanted him to have the best, most fulfilling training experience possible under the circumstances, and I considered what would be the best approach to teaching under these parameters. In that spirit, I want to share an article written by my brother in Malaysia - Mohd Nadzrin Wahab - in serial form as promised...

Learning Silat: Nurture, Nature, or Gnosis

It is a standard scene. The student has come here to study silat. He harbours a personal goal in wanting to be able to defend himself. It may be for revenge, for protection, for self-development or simply for recreation.

He sees the other students milling about, talking about things other than martial arts until one of them becomes aware of the teacher approaching. He is the first to stand at attention followed by the others.

The teacher says a few words and indicates the beginning of the class. The students salute the teacher, their friends and begin training. Here, the commonality of this scene fractures into three separate realities.

I.

In one reality, the teacher asks one of his students to strike him in the chest. One obligingly does and is met with an evasion and a parry, a strike to the vitals, usually just indicated, followed up with a lock or takedown.

The teacher then repeats it a few more times, ensuring they remember what they see. Once he is satisfied, he tells them to copy his exact movements and apply them on their partners.

End of scene one.

II.

In a second reality, the teacher has prepared his student for months in the field. The work he does on the farm has given him proficiency in his physique.

When he executes the wardance, it is something neither master nor student has seen before. It comes naturally to him, and yet, each blossoming of the hands and prancing of the feet are calculated, as if reacting to an unseen enemy.

Every angle is in his control, every imbalance correctable, every muscle in its proper place, every beat of the accompanying rhythm matched note for note. His movements are both pleasing to the eye and intoxicating to the self.

End of scene two.

III.

In a third reality, the teacher sits in front of his student and clasps his right hand, or recites some verses into a glass of water, which he drinks, or pats the small of his back, or, or, or... Almost immediately, the student feels empowered, as if his sinews have been charged by a battery. He is pit against a senior student and they fight.

He defends successfully against all his senior's attacks and manages to beat him back and wins the round. He has never studied a martial art before. End of scene three.

Three foreign students who come to Malaysia with the specific intention of studying Silat Melayu may get a shock of their lives when they meet each other at the airport to compare notes on their way home.

Each of them has trained in a different system with different methods and has been indoctrinated with a different idea of what silat is. None of them can comprehend what the other is rambling about because the methods they studied make no sense. Is this a familiar problem?

(stay tuned for part 2)

Coming to you LIVE from Manila!

Philippines 2005

I interrupt my own blog for the following special announcement:

The next Brotherhood of the Blade Gathering will be held in Rochester, New York in October and will feature a very special guest instructor from the PI:

Mandala Magino'o Rommel Tortal is the Nephew of Grand Tuhon Leo T. Gaje Jr, and will be doing his first USA tour featuring the Dynamic TRI-V method of Pekiti Tirsia Kali.

A big 'thank you' to Kuya Doug Marcaida for organizing what can only be described as a monumental event! Nearly everyone who has trained in Pekiti-Tirsia in the Philippines has had the distinct pleasure of studying with Kuya Rommel. We are proud to consider him a Brother - he is knowledgeable, patient, and fluid as a fucking cobra. I personally am honored to have almost had my head cracked open by him during one particular training session in Tagatay (it was sword-and-dagger).

Email Kuya Doug for details. Detroit will definitely be there!

Serial Knife Posting 1

Tuhon Gaje and Me in Detroit

Looking a little closer at the difference(s) between the Batangas knife style of Manong Leon “Tito Jun” Saludo and the Kol De Mama Daga/Dagaso-Tirsia knife method from Grand Tuhon Gaje can give deeper insight into both methodologies for the practitioner.

SOME BACKGROUND

The Pekiti-Tirsia system of Kali has been taught and practiced around the world for more than 30 years. It is in my opinion, one of the first bona-fide systems of Filipino Martial Arts – as opposed to a style. Through the genius of Grand Tuhon Leo T. Gaje Jr., a guy with no previous knowledge or training in weapons-based Arts can start from the very beginning and develop an incredible level of skill as he progresses methodically through the system. The drills and exercises are for the most part cross-transferable between knife, stick, and empty-hands.

Over the years, Pekiti-Tirsia knife techniques have been referenced, augmented, co-opted, pirated, and/or plagiarized by many practitioners from many other styles. In fact, if you study FMA (or even Silat) in the United States, and your training includes the knife – you can be very sure that there is at least some Pekiti-Tirsia there in 90% of the cases.

I began studying Pekiti-Tirsia in 1987 with a second-generation instructor in Michigan, and I learned the same knife techniques that almost everybody else that went through the ‘old school’ curriculum was exposed to. In 1999 when I began to study directly with Grand Tuhon Gaje, we didn’t do much that related to the old curriculum. We focused almost exclusively on the knife – to be specific, we focused on an entirely different approach to blade combat that Tuhon referred to variably as Kol De Mama Daga and Dagaso-Tirsia. Tuhon made it clear that this method could be considered as a “sub-system” within the framework of Pekiti-Tirsia, whereby a student could specialize in a particular weapon if deemed appropriate. I have to assume he deemed it appropriate in our case because it was almost all we studied for the next few years.

The training was much different – much more “alive” than the old school Pekiti knife material – so far beyond the standard “Knife-tapping” exercises. One afternoon we were sitting in Barnes and Nobel drinking coffee following a training session, and Tuhon said to me “You can spend 5 years just learning the knife and you will still not know everything!” In retrospect, I admit that I took that the wrong way. He wasn’t saying that there was so much material that it took 5 years to learn. I realize now that he meant that based on his ‘new’ curriculum, a capable student could devote a lot of time exploring and developing his own expression of the Knife Art.

Pekiti-Tirsia is a living Art. Like it’s Grandmaster, it is not frozen in some period or place in time, but is yet evolving and refining toward the higher levels. If you look at how the Art has developed over the decades, you might say that Tuhon Gaje was attempting to convey a particular “message” through his teachings.

What was the “message” in the old days? What is the “message” today?

Serial Knife Posting

Handmade Bowie from my student Panday

I promise I will get to the KDL camp review presently. In the meantime, I've been told by some of the few people that read this blog that short(er) posts are easier to read and digest than longer pieces of text. Never let it be said that your humble narrator does not oblige. In the next series of concise posts, we will talk a bit regarding PTK as compared to the Batangas knife in theory and practice.

Six Degrees of Kuya Doug

Doug Marcaida

Kuya Doug Marcaida is not as high-profile as a lot of other people in the FMA world, but he’s really a big deal around here. Our paths first crossed about 7 years ago in the Pekiti-Tirsia universe, when my students and I were in search of like-minded practitioners under Grand Tuhon Gaje to practice, refine, and grow in the material we were given by the Great Man. When we “found” Kuya Doug, something clicked.

Tuhon Gaje gave his blessing for Kuya Doug, myself, and Ka Jay Saludo to form The Brotherhood of the Blade - dedicated to mutual support and refinement of the Filipino Martial Arts and related disciplines.

There has been tremendous positive growth and development for us over the past few years, and much of it can be sourced directly back to Kuya Doug. Here are some examples:

DETROIT-to-TEXAS-to-MALAYSIA

It was through Kuya Doug’s introduction that I met the legendary FMA/Silat teacher Cigku Omar Hakim of Austin, Texas. Eventually I was invited by Cikgu Omar to attend a special training camp in Texas where I (along with 3 other people) became one of the first candidate instructors of the Malaysian martial art of Silat Kuntau Tekpi.

That experience opened the door to some important and highly valued friendships with notable Silat Melayu practitioners in Malaysia such as Mohd Nadzrin Wahab of Silat Cekak Hanafi (who became my mentor and younger brother at the same time), Ustaz Saiful Muhammad of Silat Telapak Nusantara, and Guru ‘Lan Tekpi’ of Silat Kuntau Tekpi Malaysia .

Another important relationship that grew from the Tekpi training camp is our friendship with two patently amazing martial artists: Ricky Rillera and Robert Slomkowski - see earlier posts. Thankfully, our friendship has endured over the years, and we were able to meet up again in Texas last year in San Antonio for an awesome weekend of sharing and training. BTW, Ricky Rillera and Kuya Doug happen to be old training partners.

DETROIT-to-SASKATCHEWAN-to-BATANGAS

It was through Kuya Doug that we met Ka Jay Saludo, leader of the Saskatchewan Pekiti-Tirsia group and co-founding member of The Brotherhood of the Blade. We became fast friends. During a training seminar in Rochester, New York that Kuya Doug was hosting, I had the opportunity to spend some quality time with Manong Leon Saludo (Jay’s father) who was kind enough to give me a spontaneous demonstration of the Batangas knife style he’s practiced since his teen years. In retrospect, I’m really glad he was using a rubber knife because 20 years of my martial arts career would have been brought to an abrupt bloody conclusion at his first counter.

I’ve discussed the differences between Pekiti-Tirsia knife training and Batangas knife training elsewhere on this blog. After a period of me requesting (begging) Manong Leon to teach me his method, he finally and graciously agreed, and we now pass this fearsome style to carefully selected members of our student body.

DETROIT-to-ROCHESTER-to-TORONTO

We were again in Rochester some years back for a seminar hosted by Kuya Doug featuring the incomparable Tuhon Leo T. Gaje. It was one of the largest seminar groups I had ever seen. As I recall, Tuhon Gaje’s flight from Korea was delayed, and Doug stepped right up to the plate to teach the first day on his own. Meanwhile in an adjacent area, my students and I were treated to a special training session led by Ama Guro Jun De Leon of Toronto. We couldn't know that this experience would shape our Kali quest for years to come.

That was our first exposure to the “KDL Methodology”, and even though we had a really hard time with it, everyone saw the value. We needed more. Over the next few years we trained with Ama Guro Jun every chance we got, and with his guidance, and hours upon hours of grueling practice – and we got better. The Maestro graciously allowed us to join the KDL family two years ago, and we continue to take advantage of every opportunity to study this world-class system under this world-class Master.

INTO THE FUTURE

So you see, all the influences that make up our practice: Pekiti-Tirsia, Kali De Leon, Batangas Knife, and Silat Kuntau Tekpi – in one way or another have been undeniably inspired by the great Kuya Doug Marcaida. Like a true brother and friend, he’s always looking out for us; always pushing us to become better; always pushing us to grow and develop.

Thanks Kuya - it's been a fantastic journey so far. We’re all looking forward to even greater things to come!

Kali De Leon!

We just got back from the amazing Kali De Leon Summer Camp in Toronto. Give me some time to get my thoughts together and I'll be back with a review soon, G-d Willing.

A Perfect Metaphor

Someone sent me this photo, saying it was the perfect representation of our Martial Arts practice. I agree. BTW, that is a live cobra (I hope he used a zoom lens).

True Kali Skills

This is how I really learned the Art of Kali. Of course, I did not study with the great Patato Valdes shown here – but those who know how to watch and listen to this can learn so much about our martial art.

As profound as this is, it is grade-school compared to some of the guys I know in West Africa. The bata players from Oyo not only play their hearts out, they play yours out as well.

That’s Kali.

A Memorial Day Thought

Further on a previous post

Tuhon grapples my student Mike in the Philippines

I’ve been getting a lot of email questions regarding my post about dumog. The majority of these inquiries come from people who are familiar with Tuhon Gaje’s dumog or jujutsu (Japanese and Brazilian) and are wondering how and what we’re applying from Silat Kuntau Tekpi. I’ll share some thoughts here.

DUMOG and JUJUTSU

Unless you’re just rolling around for fun with a game partner, I don’t think there is much from Tuhon’s dumog that can be applied in a jujutsu-style grappling match. My student Panday knows a lot more about these things than I do, so if I am mistaken I hope he’ll correct me. It seems to me that the BJJ or JJJ is more concerned with jockeying for and establishing some kind of “position” and then going for the submission hold or choke. Whereas, dumog should begin with Pangamut (striking techniques) and then the opponent’s weight is loaded onto a joint -such as the shoulder, elbow, knee, or often the neck – before his weight and yours comes crashing down on that joint, against the hard ground.

The closest thing we do to anything that would remotely resemble Japanese Jujutsu is Cambod, which involves grappling against the opponent’s limbs. However, unlike jujutsu, instead of locking-stepping-throwing in a circle (like koto gaeshi) Cambod more involves wrapping the limb and using it to “collapse” the opponent’s body into your follow-up strike. That’s the best explanation I can give without a video, and we won’t be posting any videos. The bottom line is that I think you can play pretty hard with Jujutsu and both guys can still be friends at the end of the day. The more you resist against dumog or cambod, someone is going to be injured.

JUJUTSU and SILAT KUNTAU TEKPI

My SKT teacher Omar Hakim as well as my friends in Malaysia would tell you that Tekpi is a “War Art” and is not meant to be adapted for sport on a theoretical or technical level. Some Malaysian Silat methods such as Sendeng and Lian Padukan are based on pukulan (hitting) and others like Silat Kuntau Tekpi are more oriented toward kuncian (locking). But how is a Tekpi kuncian different from a jujutsu lock? Although each of the buah kuncian (locking techniques) from SKT make use of the opponent’s limbs and/or torso, the real secret (in my opinion) is how to lock a guy from his center, so that he is entirely immobilized. I remember at one point during my training, Omar had me in an extended arm lock, yet I couldn’t even lift my foot off the ground. When I remarked about it, he related how his Silat Kalimah teacher in Malaysia had done the same thing to him – and Omar’s a big dude!

DUMOG and SILAT KUNTAU TEKPI

If you are lucky enough to study Silat Kuntau Tekpi and have people of different sizes and body types to train with, you may eventually discover what I’m talking about in the above paragraph. Then, you’ll know how it feels to lock an opponent from his center so that he can’t move or step out. Then, if you know enough buahs, you’ll be able to do this regardless of whether you are in front of him, side to side, behind him, etc. There’s a relatively simple “trick” to learning this principle (which upon second thought I’ve just deleted from this article…sorry!). Once you understand this, you should be able to accomplish this same thing in your dumog applications. The result will be that your dumog locks and throws will be more efficient and explosive, and you will reduce your “counter-ability” to a huge extent.

Well, there you have bit from my perspective. For those of you that wanted to know if/how you can apply dumog and Silat Kuntau Tekpi in your next cage fight or grappling contest – sorry. I don’t even want to know how to train that.

...Sums it up...

From Moonbattery:

"Far from altruism, what actually motivates most of the progressive left is malignant narcissism. The lefty troll doesn't want to debate, he wants you to pay attention to him. And when lefty activists say, "We need to change the world," what they are actually saying is, "I want the world to notice me." Progressivism activism is a route to fame and public approval for star-wannabes who lack physical attractiveness, talent, or whatever it is that keeps getting Janeane Garofalo work."

Dumog

Typical: Tuhon kills me while Bassam films from a safe distance

This evening's training focused on the Silat Kuntau Tekpi principles of kuncian as applied to dumog in close-quarter grappling standing and on the ground. Hopefully proving once again (to those present) that if you understand the principles - the techniques create themselves.

I can't say at this point that my expression of dumog is 100% percent Pekiti-Tirsia, but...you do what you know!

Dalam Kenangan Abadi

Mbah Sartono
08/1937 - 04/2008

I would like to take this opportunity to pay tribute to the memory of a most honored elder as we near the anniversary of his passing, Mbah Sulieman Sartono. I was blessed to meet him in Central Java in the fall of 2000, and was most fortunate to be able to accompany him on an eventful pilgrimage to several holy sites in Mataram (along with Mas Martin Lubis, Mas Agus Hiriyadi, and Mas Gus Fud). There in Central Java, Mbah Sartono gave me a gift that I will “carry within” for as long as I live. After I returned to the United States, we continued a long correspondence via mail. I’m thinking one day it might be a good idea to publish some of the wisdom that came through those letters (that is if my friend 'Kancil' will help me with some translation).

Mbah Sartono was wise, kind, and soft-spoken, with sincere Javanese nobility. He was a man of keen perception, with the ability to fathom secrets beyond our physical world. He was well known as an expert in the traditional Javanese spiritual disciplines. Even now, so many years later I often find myself listening to the recordings I made of his melodious voice reciting prayers, stories, and history in old Javanese.

I made a promise to his family that I would always remember this great man - and indeed – his memory inspires me until today.

SANGKAN PARANING DUMADI

More Ancient Wisdom

Continuing the theme from Guro Jeff's post from January 18th, Wisdom of the Ages, I found some gems from Hagakure, The Book of the Samurai, by Yamamoto Tsunetomo. This book was something of a "how to" guide for Samurai, written around the year 1700 when Japan had already been closed off from the rest of the world for nearly a century.

While I find many aspects of Bushido and Japanese Martial Arts to be difficult to reconcile with Pekiti Tirsia, I thought these were interesting:

(page 30)

Even if it seems certain that you will lose, retaliate. Neither wisdom nor technique has a place in this. A real man does not think of victory or defeat. He plunges recklessly towards an irrational death. By doing this, you will awaken from your dreams.

(page 38)

There is something to be learned from a rainstorm. When meeting with a sudden shower, you try not to get wet and run quickly along the road. But doing such things as passing under the eaves of houses, you still get wet. When you are resolved from the beginning, you will not be perplexed though you still get the same soaking. This understanding extends to everything.

(page 46)

A warrior should be careful in all things and should dislike to be the least bit worsted. Above all, if he is not careful in his choice of words he may say things like, "I'm a coward." or "At that time, I'd probably run." or "How frightening," or "How painful." These are words that should not be said even in jest, on a whim, or when talking in one's sleep. If a person with understanding hears such things, he will see to the bottom of the speaker's heart. This is something that should be carefully thought about beforehand.

(page 47)

In the words of the ancients, one should make his decisions within the space of seven breaths. Lord Takanobu said, "If discrimination is long, it will spoil." Lord Naoshige said, "When matters are done leisurely, seven out of ten will turn out badly. A warrior is a person who does things quickly."
When your mind is going hither and thither, discrimination will never be brought to a conclusion. With an intense, fresh and undelaying spirit, one will make his judgments within the space of seven breaths. It is a matter of being determined and having the spirit to break right through to the other side.

(page 51)

No matter what it is, there is nothing that cannot be done. If one manifests the determination, he can move heaven and earth as he pleases. But because man is pluckless, he cannot set his mind to it. Moving heaven and earth without
putting forth effort is simply a matter of concentration.

(page 51)

Until the age of forty it is best to gather strength. It is appropriate to have settled down by the age of fifty.

(page 53)

When on the battlefield, if you try not to let others take the lead and have the sole intention of breaking into the enemy lines, then you will not fall behind others, your mind will become fierce, and you will manifest martial valor. This fact has been passed down by the elders. Furthermore, if you are slain in battle, you should be resolved to have your corpse facing the enemy.

(page 60)

Until one reaches the age of forty it is better to put off wisdom and discrimination and excel in vitality. According to the person and the rank, though a person has passed the age of forty, if he has no vitality, he will pet no response from others.

(page 60)

When one has made a decision to kill a person, even if it will be very difficult to succeed by advancing straight ahead, it will not do to think about going at it in a long roundabout way.

(page 61)

The resolution of the men of former times was deep. Those between the ages of thirteen and sixty went to the front lines. For this reason men of advanced years hid their age.

(page 69)

Yamamoto Kichizaemon was ordered by his father Jin'-emon to cut down a dog at the age of five, and at the age of fifteen he was made to execute a criminal. Everyone, by the time they were fourteen or fifteen, was ordered to do a beheading without fail. When Lord Katsushige was young, he was ordered by Lord Naoshige to practice killing with a sword. It is said that at that time he was made to cut down more than ten men successively.
A long time ago this practice was followed, especially in the upper classes, but today even the children of the lower classes perform no executions, and this is extreme negligence. To say that one can do without this sort of thing, or that there is no merit in killing a condemned man, or that it is a crime, or that it is defiling, is to make excuses. In short, can it not be thought that because a person's martial valor is weak, his attitude is only that of trimming his nails and being attractive?
If one investigates into the spirit of a man who finds these things disagreeable, one sees that this person gives himself over to cleverness and excuse making not to kill because he feels unnerved. But Naoshige made it his orders exactly because this is something that must be done.
Last year I went to the Kase Execution Grounds to try my hand at beheading, and I found it to be an extremely good feeling. To think that it is unnerving is a symptom of cowardice.

(page 115)

By waiting to get the agreement of others, a matter like taking revenge will never be brought to a conclusion. One should have the resolution to go alone and even to be cut down. A person who speaks vehemently about taking revenge but does nothing about it is a hypocrite. Clever people, by using their mouths alone, are taking care of their reputations for a later date. But a real stalwart is a man who will go out secretly, saying nothing, and die. It is not necessary to achieve one's aim; one is a stalwart in being cut down. Such a person will most likely achieve his purpose.

(page 141)

If you cut a face lengthwise, urinate on it, and trample on it with straw sandals, it is said that the skin will come off. This was heard by the priest Gyojaku when he was in Kyoto. It is information to be treasured.

(I'm not quite sure about that one, but it was too novel to omit)

(page 153)

A helmet is usually thought to be very heavy, but when one is attacking a castle or something similar, and arrows, bullets, large rocks, great pieces of wood and the like are corning down, it will not seem the least bit so.