Jirinden 40 If you create an opening in the right, the enemy will be free to move.
「Tome-kata uki ni narite uchikata no hataraki ni jiyū ni naru」(Heishū Jirinden, Vol. II, Deai-gashira)
・If the one receiving the attack has an opening on the right (uki), the attacker will move freely.
It is said that if the one receiving the attack becomes uki (右虚, that is having an opening on the right side of the body) the attacker can move freely because one does not advance to pursue the attacker at all. Even if the enemy is attacking your right hand, you will be unable to stop their attack if there is an opening on your right,. Things that float do nothing but rise upwards and in order to sink it is necessary to change one’s attitude. It’s vital to understand that one will lose by not be able to respond to the enemy’s changes quickly.
Nevertheless, if one pushes the tip of the sword forward while having an opening to the right, even though the right hand cannot be struck, one can be defeated if the enemy changes their movement and abandons their sword, slipping their body past and closes in. One will receive the enemy’s momentum and can easily be thrown down by them. This is the mistake of having your eyes fixated solely on the enemy’s sword.
(Presented by Yuji Wada, Costantino Brandozzi, Rennis Buchner, and Constantin von Richter)
