The Way of the Sword

Dr. Gregory T. Lawton

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The Way of the Sword Dr. Gregory T. Lawton

The Way of the Sword, Copyright 2015

Dr. Gregory T. Lawton

All rights reserved. No part of this book shall be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or

transmitted by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise,

without written permission from Gregory T. Lawton.

Muyblue Productions 2040 Raybrook SE, Suite 104 Grand Rapids, Michigan 49546 616-464-0892

Writing, Photography and Design – Dr. Gregory T. Lawton

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Dedication

I dedicate this simple and small book to all of my remarkable teachers with the hope that I

have lived up to my responsibility to pass along the gifts that they freely provided to me.

If this book embraces any wisdom that wisdom is not from me. It is rather passed along from

my teachers.

“No sword cuts as keenly, no spear pierces so deeply,

as a spirit centered and surrendered to God.” Scent of a Forgotten Flower

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Foreword

To my students, I have written this training manual on the sword for you in the hope that you

will take this knowledge and build upon it. To my peers in the martial arts, relax, I have never

claimed to be an expert in anything. I would suggest that we build upon our strengths rather

than expose our weaknesses, this is a better path to peace and unity.

This book has been written with the wise advice in mind that “The essence of faith is fewness

of words and abundance of deeds." -Baha'u'llah. Therefore, I have written this book for the

purpose of explaining the essential elements of training in the way of the sword and not

burying the subject in an avalanche of words.

A seed is in essence a simple thing. It is a shell and a germ and from a seed can come food,

beauty, and useful things.

Hopefully this book is such a seed…

This training manual has been written in my favorite format which is a 3 ring binder which

allows easy access to the materials in the manual for training purposes and that allows the

addition of new lessons as the student progresses with the course curriculum.

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Dawn to dawn, day to day seek to forge the sword of

your soul in the heat and cold of constant training.

Strive to polish the blade to a mirror like finish with the

burnish of daily life. When you feel dull and blunted

return to your center, train harder, and raise a mighty

cry to summon divine assistance to your aid.

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The Way of the Sword – Lesson One

This morning with the dawn came memories of my first lesson on the use of the sword. My first

teacher of the Asian martial arts was a remarkable man. He was not only an Army Ranger, he

was an Army Ranger instructor at the Ranger school at Fort Benning, Georgia. He had also

trained in Japan for two years at the famous Kodokan Institute in Tokyo, Japan where he had

witnessed amazing demonstrations in Aikido by the founder of Aikido Ueshiba Morihei. Of

course, at the time, and being a teenager, I had no idea how fortunate I was to study with

someone of his caliber.

Although some of my early martial arts lessons were taught outdoors, most of my lessons were

taught at the Merit Shoe Store in downtown Benton Harbor, Michigan. I worked at the shoe

store as a sales clerk while I attended classes at Saint Joseph High School. I also attended judo

classes that were largely attended by older adults who were former military men or local police

officers at the YMCA in Benton Harbor.

The shoe store work hours and pay provided me with the money that I used to buy my first car,

a black 1958 Ford Fairlane convertible. My Kenpo Karate lessons occurred at the shoe store

because the manager was also my martial arts instructor. The pace of selling shoes was often

slow and that led to many hours of martial art storytelling and training.

In the early 1960’s my first sword lesson was taught in a semi wooded area punctuated by sand

dunes and close to the Lake Michigan shoreline just outside of St. Joseph, Michigan. In order to

begin the study of the sword it is important to first have a sword and that was the objective of

my first lesson. To find my sword.

I remember trailing behind my teacher as his eyes appraised the thin oak trees around us. I had

no idea at the time what qualities he was looking for in a suitable tree but over the years I have

come to recognize and appreciate his knowledge. He selected a young tree about 4 to 5 inches

in diameter and he hacked away at its base until he had cut it down. Then we sat together

while he stripped away its branches and its bark. As he worked on my “sword” he talked about

the history of the sword in Japan and told me unbelievable stories about Ueshiba Morihei and a

famous Japanese swordsman and cultural hero by the name of Miyamoto Musashi. I would

later come to study the lives and writings of both of these men. In the late 1500’s a teenage

Miyamoto Musashi killed his first man, with a wooden sword. I was about the same age when I

began my sword training. The similarities stop there!

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The thin oak tree was cut down to about 5 foot in length. A hilt or tsuka that was about 9 or 10

inches in length was carved into the base end. The hilt was measured by the width of my two

hands as they comfortably encircled it. The bark was stripped from the “blade” end of my

sword and a wedge shaped point was carved into the point or kissaki.

So thus began my first sword lesson as I sat at the feet of my teacher as he carved me a sword.

taught me the parts of the sword, and inflamed my imagination with tales of distant warriors

and their valor. It was a perfect beginning.

As I reflect backward over half a century I realize that this moment was a moment of

awakening, a rite of passage, and the birth of manhood.

Then came my first lessons in the use of the sword. How to hold the sword correctly, how to

place my feet, how to assume a proper “cutting” stance, and how to move forward and

backward. But most importantly, how to cut through any object placed before me.

Over the years as I have picked up my sword, and practiced the skills that I was taught that day

in the dunes of Michigan, I have continued to hear the voice of my teacher whispering to me

and guiding me in my practice.

I continue to practice with a hand cut and carved wooden sword, I have learned how to seek

out and find the perfect tree willing to sacrifice itself for the sake of my art and advancement.

I understand now what my teacher was looking for in a sword, and a student, a young tree,

strong but not hardened to the breaking point, resilient and pliable, and able to be shaped and

crafted to the task at hand.

My first sword lesson provided me with more than just a sword, it made me the sword.

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My sword and spear are symbols of my power and

strength, of my resolve and determination to stand

firm, to hold my ground and never waver from my

duty or my destiny.

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The Woodcutter – Lesson Two

In Lesson One, The Way of the Sword I wrote about my first sword lesson and I wrote about

how my teacher began my introduction to the sword by taking me out in the woods and dunes

and cutting down a tree and carving me a wooden sword as he taught me about the way of the

sword. My lessons and practice with the sword have continued from that first day on the shore

of Lake Michigan through the present time.

There are many ways to learn a skill. You can become skilled with a remarkable and highly

competent teacher, through diligent practice and self-study, through reading literature on the

subject, through scholarly research, through teaching others, through fighting and combat,

through real life experience, and through prayer, meditation and communion with your soul.

Over the years I have utilized all of these methods.

In the early days of my training, however, my teacher directed me to cut wood and over the

years I became a proficient woodcutter. Whenever the opportunity arose to go into the woods

with my axe I would locate a fallen tree and begin to cut it into cords of wood which I would

leave neatly stacked for someone else to put to good use. Such as heating their home.

On one occasion a new home owner needed a large stand of trees in a woodlot behind their

home cut down and removed. In stepped the “woodcutter”, not with a chainsaw, but with his

trusty axe and the woodlot slowly but steadily went from a crisscross of fallen trees to multiple

stacks of wood ready for the fireplace.

For my tools I had my axe, a sharpen file and sharpening stone, a machete, and a Swedish saw.

In my frequent backpacking and camping trips these loyal friends were always strapped to my

pack or tucked in a canvas bag on the bottom of my canoe.

So you may be asking yourself, how does woodcutting relate to sword training? Many of the

earliest swordsmen were either farmers or woodcutters and the cutting movements of felling

trees were no different than those used to fell men on a field of battle.

An actual sword fight is a brutal endeavor and is far from the sanitized versions of most

Hollywood movies. Rarely, was an opponent dispatched with a single blow. Real sword fights

typically involved two men sweating, struggling, and bleeding from multiple wounds and

fighting until one of both of them died from a loss of blood. Real sword fights are ugly and

“inhumane”.

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Most students today that study the sword do so under controlled conditions and as a

competitive sport. The use of a foil with an electronic sensor is a far cry from a vicious cut to a

major muscle and artery. Because the intention of sport sword play is so different from the

violent brutality of actual sword combat the similarities might be the same as comparing

modern sport sword play to a domestic cat and an African lion, or a poodle and a timber wolf.

Woodcutting, using an axe properly closely mimics the full power cutting stokes of the sword

and requires that the correct body ergonomics be employed by the woodcutter.

For example, woodcutting, like the use of the sword, requires the coordinated use of the entire

body. Of course, the hands must be strong to hold the axe, the arms and shoulders and upper

back muscles are all important, but the power needed to cut wood or to use a sword comes

first from the feet and legs, is moved through the waist and core muscles of the trunk, and

lastly is directed and delivered by the upper extremities.

When you are cutting wood, such as when you are cutting down a large tree with an axe you

have to know how to cut through the tree. This ability is called focus. When you swing your

axe you not aiming at the outside of the tree you are aiming either deep into the tree or

entirely through the tree. The same cutting principle applies to the use of the sword.

Based upon this cutting principle, the development of my sword “style” and technique became

the ability to cut through my opponent’s sword or weapon, and to move through the

opponent’s defenses as quickly as a hot knife through soft butter. I can remember the

surprised look on my training partners faces as their swords were knocked downward or

completely flew out of their hands from the power of a single stroke. This method of cutting

through an opponent’s weapon and focusing on through the opponent is not only difficult to

defend against, it is dangerous to employ in sport or training environments.

When training with my sword, whether wooden or steel, I train using either a heavy bag or a

large log at least 12 inches thick. I practice repeated cuts against the log until the wooden

sword breaks and it is time to make a new one. I have used old oak boat oars for my swords.

The ones that have been weathered by the sun and water for many years are the best, but

eventually even they will shatter.

Obviously, I only use a wooden sword on a canvas training bag and after a certain number of

strikes to the bag the canvas will begin to split and will need a judicious amount of duct tape for

repair.

The reader, at this point, might be wondering what possible benefit sword training might have

in a world where we no longer use them for protection or fighting and where wearing a sword

around town would not only be uncomfortable (try it in a small sized car), but would most likely

get you arrested. The answer to this question will be provided in the next lesson on the sword.

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With faith in God there is no need to draw your sword.

With knowledge of God there is nothing to be learned.

With the love of God the impossible is child’s play.

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What is a Sword? – Lesson Three

In a modern world how relevant is sword training? I believe that this question can be answered

two ways; not very and very. The “not very” answer relates to how impracticable and illegal it

is to walk around town with a sword hanging from your belt. The “very” answer relates to

several essential concepts that are associated with traditional and modern sword training.

In the traditional martial arts the sword has been prized as the supreme weapon. This is

certainly true within the Japanese culture. The sword, in some cultures, has risen to mystical

significance. In some Asian traditions the sword became a symbol for the human spirit and

soul. Sword training in certain countries became a method (way) by which a person could train

and purify their soul.

I obviously, I fall into the “very” category and for me the sword is a symbol and a metaphor for

personal growth and obtainment. However, for the practical minded martial artist I would

recommend sword training simply as a training method to improve concentration and focus, to

enhance the ability to attack and to enter an opponent’s “space”, and to improve striking,

penetration, and the quality of “pung”. Pung is the ability to hit into an opponent and could be

called penetration but the word pung does not translate well into English equivalents.

But again in a practical real world sense are there direct benefits from sword training (other

than physical conditioning and self-esteem) and do these benefits translate into personal self-

defense? I can only answer this question based upon my personal experience.

In 1975 in Evanston, Illinois, and while walking down Main Street past a small health food store

that I occasionally shopped at, a young sales clerk in the store frantically attempted to get my

attention. Assuming that he had some urgent need to talk to me I entered the store to find

that an armed robbery was occurring. A young man had entered the store and had demanded

the contents of the cash register and had picked up a large 10 inch chef’s knife that the store

used to cut vegetables at its juice bar.

As I stepped into the store I began to chat amicably with the clerk and the robber. I maintained

a respectful distance from the robber and the large intimidating knife. As I had entered the

store I noticed that by the front door there was a mop and a galvanized bucket full of dirty

water. I took the mop from the bucket and I began to mop the floor and as I mopped the floor,

and while acting as if I could care less about the knife, I began to mop in front of the armed

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robber and to force him to step back away from the sales counter and the clerk. I “accidently”

splashed water on the robber’s shoes and while keeping direct eye contact with him I smiled

and apologized for my sloppiness. Others have seen this smile on my face and remarked that I

looked like a cat appraising a potentially tasty mouse.

Please keep in mind that while I am describing this scenario lightly, there was nothing “light”

about my attitude during this dangerous encounter. I learned long ago how to project a calm

and pleasant demeanor while internally evaluating life or death decisions. In my hands the

mop was far more than a domestic tool for cleaning floors, if needed I planned on literally

“mopping up the floor” with the robber.

Consider my weapon. A mop full of dirty water, a wet string mop head that could act as a

bludgeon, and a 5 foot wooden handle, just the weapon that I had spent years training with

(accept for the mop part). As part of my early training with a wooden sword I was required to

demolish concrete blocks. Human bones, the skull, collar bone, and humerus, ulna, and radius

are no match for a strike from a well-placed “mop” sword.

All such potentially violent encounters have a significant psychological component where a

perpetrator is making quick decisions (called an interview) regarding his or her chosen victim

and whether to attack or to move on to easier prey. From the moment that I walked into that

store I was engaged in a mental exchange with the robber and attempting to keep him mentally

off balance. Apparently I gave off the right (or wrong) signals because the robber put the knife

down and began talking like nothing out of the ordinary had occurred and then left the store. It

was only after he had left that I returned the mop to its bucket.

The police were called, I left the store, and the robber was caught attempting to rob another

store just up the street.

This was not the only encounter that I have had where access to a walking stick, a shovel, or a

garden rake was needed in order to prevent an aggressive challenge from becoming a violent

encounter. From my personal experience and perspective my training in the way of the sword

has been a valuable component of my overall training as a martial artist.

Of course, I would not take a mop to a gun fight…

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The foolish have usurped the swords of valor and

courage and laid claim to the warrior craft, but the heart

of error can never prevail. Stand strong within your

circle, Red Lions, Black Dragons are we! Have you not

heard that the poor shall inherit?

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Making the Cut – Lesson Four

In both my opinion and experience training with the sword, as is presented by several different

systems and styles of martial arts, has been made overly complicated. I would also observe

that the more complicated a move or a technique is the less likely it is to be remembered, used,

or to be effective. Especially, under high stress and duress, or when fear is involved.

Offensive sword techniques can be organized into two categories. In category one are the

cutting strokes (or striking if you are using a non-bladed weapon such as a mop handle) and

category two are the thrusting techniques. Add to these two categories defensive techniques

for blocking, deflecting, and redirecting attacks and you pretty much have summed up the kinds

of things that you can do with a tool such as a sword. However, I prefer to skip the defensive

techniques and move right to the attack, or to make the defense and attack a single movement.

If you think that you have a reason to use a weapon you probably do, so use it.

I feel that the most important sword technique that you can learn is how to cut or strike.

Second to this is how to close the distance on an opponent and to get within striking range.

However, I will concede that these two qualities are equal in importance. A separate lesson will

be dedicated solely to how to close the distance on an opponent.

In this simple book and in Lesson One I discussed the process of finding your sword, how to

shape it, and the reasons why I train with a sword made from a living tree. A living tree will

provide you with a sword that is strong and pliable and that is able to handle full power cuts

and strokes without breaking (too quickly). When I have attempted to do this with

manufactured wooden swords made from dried hard woods or even rattan they have broken

after only a few strikes. This gets tedious and expensive. I have snapped wooden swords in

half and in fact I once completely severed a rattan staff with one strike and the break was so

clean that it looked like it had been sawed into 2 parts.

For my style of training the cut is everything. What I train to obtain is the ability to defeat an

opponent with one powerful single stroke. A cut that moves through the opponent’s weapon,

their defenses, and that penetrates into the opponent’s body in a manner that is both

devastating and unanswerable.

To train to do this you cannot simply perform sword forms or kata in the empty air. You have

to learn how to execute full power strokes against solid objects. Solid objects may include

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trees, concrete blocks, and punching bags. But you should learn what it feels like to actually

strike something and to hit it correctly. There are many reasons for recommending this kind of

practice. If you have never actually executed a full power stroke, into and through an object,

then you do not know how to use a sword and your practice is more like dancing than actual

sword training. When you hit various objects and depending upon their mass and water

content you will experience and feel different reactions from the sword including rebound.

Rebound is when the sword might hit a solid object and bounce back at you.

Many martial artists study complete sword forms or kata and these forms and kata contain

many complicated and even acrobatic movements. Such movements are rarely effective in

using a weapon like or similar to a sword. What is effective is to keep your techniques as few

and as simple as possible.

I keep my sword practice techniques limited to a single powerful cut aimed at the skull, the

clavicles, the acromion processes on the top of the shoulders, the upper and lower arm bones,

and the wrist and the hands. I reserve sword thrusts to the eyes and throat.

I have known many martial artist who have trained with the sword for health and the swords

esthetic beauty and I applaud this. My path, perhaps because of my earliest training with the

sword and because I approach the martial arts as combat, has been different.

When I hold a sword I hear my teaching telling me, “Never face an opponent unless you are

willing to kill or to die. But do neither.” For me the intent is simple, make the cut.

There is one thing that up until this point I have neglected to mention, the sword is just a tool,

you are the weapon.

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Test yourself by the two edged sword of

heaven and earth for you are the physical

manifestation of the divine.

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The Fundaments and Basics – Lesson Five

The Wooden Sword

When I go out to find my training sword in the woods I am limited to the location in which I am

searching and the kinds of trees that grow there. On one trip to Maui my search led me to a

beautiful stand of bamboo trees and although less than ideal for full power sword strokes I had

an amazing time training with a bamboo sword and using it to strike against other bamboo

trees standing in this bamboo forest. Each kind of wood and sword brings its own lessons.

Most hardwoods are good sword woods. Avoid softer woods like conifers, poplars and willows,

unless you have no other choice. Maple, oak, beech, hickory, sycamore, cherry, and my favorite

when I can find it ironwood, are good choices. Each of these types of woods have strengths and

weaknesses. For example, maple is prone to cracking and chipping.

Once you have cut your wooden stave you need to sit quietly and to begin to release the sword

within it. This is where I wax a bit mystical because I thank the tree and the earth for its gift

and I begin to talk to the sword to coax it from its wooden cocoon. Once released from its

cocoon and fully awakened to its potential it becomes the butterfly that finds its flight in your

hands.

Once I have my “butterfly” sword my training begins again but like every butterfly this swords

life is limited and will end. When your butterfly sword becomes tattered and worn it is time to

set it free again. In the case of the bamboo sword that I used in Maui I burned it on the beach

to release its spirit to the sky. If fire is not an option I suggest giving your old sword a good

burial. Remember, your sword has been a conduit and a receptacle for your spirit and it

deserves to be treated with respect.

The Stance

When I start training a beginning student in the martial arts a common starting point is simply

how to assume a defensive/offensive stance. These stances have different names in the

various martial arts but in kenpo/kempo the basic stance is called the fighting horse or the

horse stance. I teach a modified version of this traditional stance that is not as wide. Wide or

deep stances often require a weight shift prior to the martial artist being able to move in any

direction. The best stance is a stance that provides both stability, speed of movement, and

agility.

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Beginners often find basic martial art stances and movements awkward but an effective stance

and correct movement should be natural. If a student assumes a basic martial arts stance, such

as the fighting horse stance, and is asked to move from point A to point B their movements are

often slow, stiff and unbalanced. I teach a more natural method of movement that is more like

a boxing stance and that allows easy movement in any direction. Avoid the traditional deep

and wide stances. They were designed for use on wet or uneven terrain and are normally not

needed on concrete or asphalt.

Relaxation is more important than speed and strength is not power. Power is an energy that is

more than the sum of its parts.

The Hold

Your grip on the handle or hilt of the sword should be firm but relaxed. Don’t squeeze the

handle to death but also don’t hold the handle so softly that the sword can be easily knocked

from your hands. I hold a sword using a double handed grip, I use fighting sticks for stick

fighting styles such as kai, arnis, and escrima with a single handed grip. I use short bladed

weapons such as a machete with a single handed grip. I use a machete to practice cutting

through wood limbs that are 2 or 3 inches in thickness with a single cut. If you practice full

power cuts on solid objects you will learn how to hold the sword firmly and securely.

Breathing

Your breathing should be slow and relaxed. Breathe in when you are moving the sword toward

your body or away from your opponent and breathe outward when you are striking or you are

moving the sword away from your body. Do not exaggerate your breathing but breathe in a

natural manner. To do not make loud breath sounds when you are striking as the rhythm of

these sounds can give away your timing and intent to strike. Use the abdominal breath

technique for normal movement but when you are striking with great force you may wish to

employ the reverse breath and to direct your explosive energy (fa jing) through the sword.

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Your Continued Training

This training manual has presented the first few lessons in the way of the Sword. As I indicated

in the forward my writing and teaching style is based upon action, and fewness of words. If you

sincerely read, study, and meditate upon the essential elements of the sword that I have

provided to you in this book you will discover that you have in your hands a significant amount

of information that cuts to the heart of the way of the sword.

This is a practical training manual and as a compliment to this book I suggest that you read my

book entitled, Scent of a Forgotten Flower. I wish you the very best in your continued study of

the sword.

My residential students will have access to my direct teaching and training and they will receive

additional written lessons that complements the content in this training manual.

I have been teaching martial arts at the Blue Heron Academy to sincere students for 35 years,

although I began teaching the martial arts a decade before that. I continue to teach a small and

select group of students on a weekly basis.

Along the path to knowledge may you never confront a lumberjack who knows how to use a

sword!

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About the author –

Dr. Gregory T. Lawton is an author of many books, most of them in

the area of health science, but also in the genre of Asian martial arts,

philosophy, spirituality, poetry, and prose. Dr. Lawton is a passionate

award winning artist and photographer who finds his artistic and

creative inspiration in nature, and who frequently attributes the

source of his images and writing to the 19th century Persian Prophet,

Bahá’u’lláh, the founder of the Baha’i Faith, and the 13th century

Persian poet and Sufi Mystic Jalāl ad-Dīn Muḥammad Rūmī. Dr.

Lawton has been a member of the Baha’i Faith since 1970 and

embraces the Faith’s principles related to the promotion of world unity

and peace.

Dr. Gregory T. Lawton has studied and trained in Asian religion,

philosophy and martial arts such as Aikido, Jujitsu, Kenpo, and Tai

Chi Chuan. He is a 9th degree black belt in Kosho Ryu Kenpo Jujitsu,

a 10th degree black belt in Mizu Odori Ryu Taijutsu, and was

awarded the title of Yudansha Taigu.

Dr. Lawton’s main and most noted Asian martial art instructor was

Professor Huo Chi-Kwang. Professor Huo was a renowned Chinese

scholar, artist, and calligrapher who served as Taiwan's ambassador

to France and he was a personal friend of Pablo Picasso.

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Other books and materials by this author –

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The Way of the Sword Dr. Gregory T. Lawton

The Way of the Sword, Copyright 2015

Dr. Gregory T. Lawton

All rights reserved. No part of this book shall be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or

transmitted by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise,

without written permission from Gregory T. Lawton.

Muyblue Productions 2040 Raybrook SE, Suite 104 Grand Rapids, Michigan 49546 616-464-0892

Writing, Photography and Design – Dr. Gregory T. Lawton