On the heart of the hand (ta-na-gokoro)…

paragraph 2: Irimi:  “….thrust the heart of your hand upwards, at a slant, and to the right….”

When we discuss kamae we often don’t look at it on the level of small things, small teachings: but the kamae of the whole body can be reflected in the kamae of the hands.  And so this idea of the hollow of the hands – the heart of the hands [ta-na-gokoro]… as I was instructed, the hollow of the hand has a sense of drawing in the universe, a turning spiral that pulls everything into your own connected center. And the outer part of that spiral – the fingers – return to that shape, so while they’re extending outward, their arc is to draw back into that point in the center of  the palm.

And so just simply holding that sort of energy, one can take correctly: so when the wrist is going to be grabbed, or a jo, or spoon or  whatever else you might be taking,  you connect it to your center, and you lose the separation between yourself and the object.

So we say like in our sword school: “muto“:  there is no sword,  because you have totally joined with it… it is the perfect reflection of your being.

You can do this with any object or any process: you can cook this way, you can act this way… I was showing the actors studying kigaku-ho

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