Musashi's Dokkodo (The Way of Walking Alone)

Teacher:
Obviously, as a weapon collector, I must disagree with this precept at
its base. Nevertheless I do understand the call for practicality, and in
that, can somewhat get with this idea.
Back in the mid to late 1990s, I started buying every weapon I could
get my hands on. I purchased an authentic chop-your-body-in-half
guan dao along with a whole lot of useless items too.
[34]
 Have you
ever seen those guitars that are kind of like double guitars? You
know those guitars that have two necks and a double set of strings?
Well, back in the 1990s, I bought a knife that was a double knife. It
had one handle, but two blades. I remember joking that it would be a
perfect murder weapon because if you were on the stand and the
prosecutor lost his cool and challenged you, “Did you or did you not
stab the victim, Joe Blow, twenty four times with a knife?” then you
would be able to respond honestly, “No I did not. I would never stab
anyone more than twelve times.”
Those readers who are interested in swords will no doubt have
heard the term “wall-hanger.” A wall-hanger is a non-functional but
good looking sword which is suitable for nothing more than hanging
on a wall. Well I have a number of wall-hanger swords. They are
practical in no way, shape, or form. Why? Because they are made of
inferior materials and would probably cause the death of the person
trying to use them as a sword.
They might look good on the wall, but what are swords actually
made for? Killing people, right? They are weapons. So, this precept
boils down to advising people to be practical. In that context this
precept makes a lot of sense. If one is a soldier whose job is to kill
the enemy, then yes, training with impractical weapons is worse than
a waste of time, it is a loss for the military.

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There is a lot of silliness that goes on in the weapons divisions of
modern martial arts tournaments. I cringe as I watch people compete
in staff and spear divisions especially. I am often reminded of the
scene from the movie Tombstone when Doc Holiday and Johnny
Ringo meet. There is a bit of discussion, at the end of which Johnny
pulls his gun and points it at Doc Holiday’s head. Holiday does not
even flinch, as one might imagine a person who has a death wish
would probably react. Then Johnny Ringo goes into this bit of tricking
where he twirls the gun around and around his finger—this way and
that way—trying to impress the crowd. At the end of this exhibition,
Doc Holiday begins his own tricking, only with a whiskey cup. In real
life the insult would be huge. It was a quick and simple point made
that guns were not made to be spun around one’s finger.
Guns are made to shoot. Spears are made to stab, and staffs are
made to pummel without mercy. Twirling weapons of any kind is
really pointless and shows nothing of real applicable skill. In that,
Musashi has it right. Any form of martial study needs to be practically
applicable or it is quite pointless.