Tales & Traditions

The Big-Thinking Swordsman

Long ago there was a great swordsman. As he approached his 80th birthday, he realized that the time had come to select a successor to teach his students for the next generation. His top two students were both great swordsmen and teachers. He decided to devise a test to see which of the two should be the next master of the school.

He called the young men together to explain their test. They could study with anyone they chose and work with any craftsman they could find. The assignment was simple: each student had exactly one year to come back with the sword that best represents the quality and integrity of the teachings he had shared with them. The winner would become the next headmaster of the school.

On the appointed day, the two students returned after being gone for a whole year. Both presented their master with a beautiful sword. The other students were in awe and argued amongst themselves as to which was the better sword. The master took all the students down to the canyon, where the river was quiet and peaceful. The students gathered around the master on the bridge.

He asked the first student to lower the blade into the water. He then asked a senior student to pick up some straw and throw one strand into the river upstream of the bridge. Because the river was flowing so slowly in this area, it took several minutes for the straw to drift down toward the sword. The students could feel the suspense as the straw approached the sword.

When the straw brushed up against the sword, it was sliced cleanly in two. This was indeed a great sword, to cut a straw floating down this lazy river. The first student humbly bowed to his master; the pride in his eyes was evident. The second student was then asked to place his blade into the water at the same spot. The senior student placed a piece of straw in the river, and everyone waited anxiously for the current to carry it to the sword.

To everyone’s disappointment, as the straw approached the sword, it moved, as if by some strange current, away from the sword so it was not cut. The master smiled, and asked for another straw to be placed in the river. As the second straw approached the blade, it seemed to be caught by the same current and drifted around the blade. The master then ordered a handful of straw to be cast upon the waters. To everyone’s amazement, each and every straw moved around the blade, so that none were cut.

The master declared the second student the new master of the school, because he understood that the true purpose of the art of the sword was not to cut, but to avoid cutting whenever possible.