Kiki Wake

Kike Wake:

From Taisen Deshimaru, The Zen Way to the Martial Arts, a question and an answer. It is the question that lingers ever in my mind.

Last year in Kyoto, I watched a contest between two kendo masters who were about eighty years old. They stood face to face, sword in hand, sword-tip against sword-tip, without moving, absolutely not moving, for five minutes. At the end of five minutes the referee declared a tie, kike wake.

No, on second thought, the answer doesn't matter. It is only that question, phrased with no question mark, that matters.

There are times when we meet things stronger than we are. There are times when we meet things as strong. We do, or do not do. We act, or do not act. Strong as we are, wise as we might be, we may change nothing.

Yet you may be a master. Remember.