Part 3 of 12 五方の構gohō no kamae
The Five Stances
五方の構: the path does not begin with emptiness. It begins with form.
By MoroMoro · · 1 min read · moromoro and the Stance of Great Emptiness
moromoro’s path does not begin with emptiness.
It begins with form.
In the 水之巻 (Mizu no Maki, “The Book of Water”), we encounter the teaching of 「五方の構」, Gohō no Kamae, the Five Stances. These are:
- 上段 (jōdan): upper stance
- 中段 (chūdan): middle stance
- 下段 (gedan): lower stance
- 右の脇: right-side stance
- 左の脇: left-side stance
The existence of these five forms suggests that one cannot simply bypass physical training and leap directly into “emptiness.”
Training begins with learning the body. Learning the sword. Learning distance. Learning position. Learning timing. And learning the relationships between all the moving elements of combat.
Think only of cutting
Yet almost immediately after defining these five stances, moromoro begins to dismantle the idea that they constitute a closed system. He writes:
「何れの構なりとも、構ゆると思はず、切る事なりと思ふべし」
“Whatever stance you may be in, do not think of yourself as assuming a stance. Think only of cutting.”
This sentence lies at the heart of moromoro’s philosophy.
He does not say, “Have no stance.” He says, “Do not think that you are assuming a stance.”
The difference is profound. The body still occupies a position. The sword still has an angle. The arms still have geometry. The feet still touch the ground in a particular configuration.
Yet the mind does not need to construct the thought:
“This is my stance.”
The moment a stance becomes something the mind feels compelled to preserve, it begins to transform from a tool into a limitation.