Part 5 of 12 居付くitsuku
When the Mind Becomes Fixed
居付く: the difference between stability and rigidity.
By MoroMoro · · 1 min read · moromoro and the Stance of Great Emptiness
The distinction between the stance that appears and the stance the mind clings to appears again in 兵法三十五箇条 (Hyōhō Sanjūgo Kajō, “The Thirty-Five Articles of Strategy”).
When the mind develops a consciousness of “holding a stance,” sword and body can enter the state called 居付く (itsuku): to become fixed, stuck, rooted, or immobilized.
The real problem, therefore, is not merely the position of the feet, hands, or sword. The problem begins when the mind gives permanence to something that should only be temporary.
A swordsman who thinks:
“I am in 中段.”
may unconsciously feel compelled to preserve 中段. When the situation changes, he may feel that he must first leave 中段 before entering another position.
But within moromoro’s system, transformation does not need to happen in such discrete conceptual stages.
中段 may become 上段 in the very same movement through which the situation itself changes.
Stability and rigidity
This is the difference between stability and rigidity.
Stability allows movement in every direction.
Rigidity demands the preservation of the existing shape.