Right Under Their Nose

Confucius (Kung Fu-Tze), the Chinese philosopher we often quote, lived from 551 B.C. to 479 B.C. He was born in the ancient county of Lu, which is now in modern-day Shandong province.

Confucius is known for his teachings on morality, ethics, and politics, which he often expressed in the concepts of how an “upright man” would conduct himself in his personal and societal life. He emphasized the importance of morality at all levels, and especially in the government; and spoke often about justice, sincerity, and correctness in social relationships.

Its interesting that, Confucius wrote during the Warring States period, an era in ancient Chinese history from 481 B.C. to 403 B.C. Also interesting is that most of the people he was writing to, never understood that they were being chastised for their lack of morality, ethics, and sincerity.

Miyamoto Musashi was a master of the Japanese swords, who lived in the 17th century. He wrote a book called “The Book of Five Rings,” which is considered a classic treatise on military strategy and martial arts, and is widely read in modern day business circles. In the Book of Five Rings, he uses the phrase “humble grasses” to describe the importance of paying attention to small details in combat.

And yet, in his own art he was so involved with domination and defeating his opponents, that he left no record of what his actual techniques were. Indeed, you have to be a master swordsman yourself in order to glean any real techniques from his writings. Many of the techniques in his book are cryptic and can have many meanings, depending on the level of understanding possessed by any particular individual.

I believe it was the great karate master Choshin Chinbana who said (not an exact quote) this about Musashi:

"Yes a great swordsman, and yet he left no record of his art. Even the humble grasses spend a tremendous amount of time and energy in reproducing themselves."

Funny how things can be right under your nose and you don't see it. If you have any stories you can relate to this article, please share them with us!