Ichigo, Ichie (一期一会)

The term ichigo, ichie is inscribed on the side of my bokuto, just below the tsuba. I see it frequently, about half the time that I draw my bokuto from its saya, but I don't always notice it. Recently listening to an interview with Dave Lowry, the author of (amongst other things) 'Autumn Lightning: the Education of an American Samurai', I was reminded of the ichigo ichie concept and why I'd had it put in such an overt place. 

Ichigo, ichie is literally 'one time, one meeting', but it might also be interpreted as 'one moment, one life' or 'one chance in  lifetime'. [1] In the interview, Lowry was using the concept specifically to emphasise the distinction between western fencing and Japanese fencing: in particular, that western fencing tends towards a battle of attrition, with fencers succumbing to prolonged blood loss from many deep cuts and lacerations, while Japanese fencing tends towards short and brutal. 

But Ichigo ichie is clearly of broader relevance to martial artists. For example, it shapes our attitude to the practice of koryu. When we practice kata, we must respond to the moment that is and not to the moment that was or that might be -- in other words, we need to avoid the tendency to intellectualise during the event, to pause and analyse, or to deconstruct as if deconstruction makes sense within a kata that is sensible only as a whole. Furthermore, each kata in Tatsumi ryu [2] ends with a moment of zanshin, a state of relaxed alertness. In zanshin, we are open to the moment and what it holds, not revelling in our victory or thinking of the battle's end. Again, this is a perfect embodiment of the idea of ichigo ichie.  

Ichigo ichie extends to guiding our everyday attitude. We experience each moment only once, and so we should live within it, notice it, respond to it as if it is the only moment we will know. The message is simple and yet, in our hectic lives, we seem to regret and hope, when we might just be. I'm as prone to this as the rest, and so I had the characters engraved on my bokuto. Now all I have to do is notice them when I see them. 

[1] See Dave Lowry's article here for further discussion. 

[2] Keeley, L 1999. 'The Tojutsu of Tatsumi Ryu, Murphy's Law, and the K.I.S.S. Principle', Sword and Spirit: Classical Warrior Traditions of Japan v2, Berkeley Heights, NJ:Koryu Books