Sekiwake Mitakeumi is a young Sumo wrestler in the highest division of the Grand Sumo Circuit in Japan and he had something very interesting to say in an interview before the September Basho 2017- “Taking the first step is easy, but the one who can take the second step first commands initiative”. This had caught my attention. The context in which Mitakeumi was speaking was about the Tachiai or the moment when the bout commences with the wrestlers lunging towards each other. To Mitakeumi the first lunge is easy but to take the second step following the commencement of the conflict is the most important aspect to win the initiative. The moment before the Tachiai the wrestlers are either calm thinking nothing or going over the game plan inside. All the planning, strategy and training comes to pass right at the Tachiai- two 150 KG plus wrestlers lunging at each other. There is no priveilege or safety of contemplation here as the participants are right in the vortex of the contest.

In any moment conflict, either prepared or unprepared for, there is a surprise element where how one responds is always unpredictable. Through training this response is disciplined and chanellised but the there will always be aspects which will remain off the charts. Our knowledge can only go so much that we will have to surrender at the conflict to see what we reveal about ourselves when it matters. What transpires will always be a discovery that can provide an opportunity to enrich oneself. What matters then is not knowledge but readiness. In TaiChi this aspect is captured by the notion of how much Jing one has cultivated within to address any conflict. This is a higher concept or a transcendental quality that goes beyond the mundane realms of technique and strategy. Jing in plain English is the readiness at any place any time to face a challenge.

Jing though cultivated by discipling Qi or breath through practice is of little consequence without the resolve to seize the moment- Carpe Diem. That resolve evolves out of the spirit or as referred to by Chinese as the Shen. Here no amount of training helps and ones’ own unique experience would serve as the guiding light to channel ones’ spirit. What is enough is to appreciate the fleeting moment that one is in and being open to all that is transpiring and all that one responds to. The warrior will be revealed if one is steadfast in this. All that practice helps is clearing the channel between the thriving Jing and disciplined Shen. This is the weapon that a warrior wields and spends at will.

The hallmark of a great warrior is the plan. Its a sign of the clairity of thought to follow through challenges. Ones a conflict is manifestly commenced it has to be clear in ones’ action as to the best response to the contingencies. No anger, no rage only a clear action to counter the situation. Anger only reflects how unprepared one is. Anger leaks away the jing, stiffles Qi and compromises the Shen. Immediate priority to shift focus to the second step following placement of all the bets on the table quickly will determine whether one dictates terms of the engagement or be dictated upon.

For Mitakeumi his words reveal that he has a plan- take the second step fast and solid. He is in the business of seizing the moment and from what I have seen there is no fear even if he is to face a top ranked Yokuzuna. The simple plan hides like an enormous iceberg the gravity of possibilities for a careless titan to run into.