修行会

29「取りまきし槍の林に入るときはこだては槍の穂先とぞ知れ。」- 植芝盛平

Original Waka

取りまきし
槍の林に
入るときは
こだては槍の
穂先とぞ知れ

植芝盛平 (Ueshiba, 1977)

Translation

“Surrounded by spears, into that forest of spears, as you shoot/enter—on the subject of small shields: spear points—know this.” – Morihei Ueshiba

Waka Translation

Surrounded by spears,
into that dense spear-forest;
as you shoot—enter—

concerning small shields: spears’
blade-terminus—know this.

Morihei Ueshiba

歴史的仮名遣い（語構成を明示）¹

取巻きし（とりまきし）

槍の林に（やりのはやしに）

入る時は（いるときは）

木楯は槍の（こだてはやりの）

穂先とぞ知れ（ほさきとぞしれ）

植芝盛平

Bungo Romanization

torimakishi
yari no hayashi ni
iru toki wa
kodate wa yari no
hosaki to zo shire

Ueshiba Morihei

Notes

¹ 表記「木楯／小楯」は語義に即した漢字化（原詩はかな書き）。助詞「は」「ぞ」の旧仮名遣いは現代も同綴り。

Translation, Notes, Commentary, and Research by Latex G. N. R. Space-Coyote

Ueshiba, M. (2025). 植芝盛平道歌–029: Spearhead shields (L. G. N. R. Space-Coyote, Trans.; OpenAI ChatGPT-5 Pro, Ed.). Shugyokai.org. (Original work published 1977) https://shugyokai.org/utll

取りまきし（とりまきし; torimakishi）— attributive past marks an already‑encircling threat (“those that surround”). Classical auxiliary 「き」 in 連体形「し」 is a hallmark of bungo narration/emphasis. 

槍の林 （やりのはやし; yari no hayashi）— forest of spears; premodern Japan battlefield formations had units of spearmen creating “forests”of blade tips (Sengoku-period warfare); a stock martial image for dense ranks of spear points (sojutsu battle lines).

入る（いる; iru）— entering; kakekotoba on 入る like 射る（弓矢・射撃の「いる」）, which is shoot as in archery / shooting, allowing for a dual meaning of “the moment charging in / the moment of shooting in” (see below).

入るときは / 入る時は（いるときは; iru toki wa）— entering into the danger, not away from it: a tactical cue about maai (engagement interval) and decisive entry; “when entering”; は/ぱ is the topic particle (read pa in OJ); when applying kakekotoba, this is read 射るきは, which “when shooting”.

こだて / 木楯 / 小楯（こだて; kodate）— small hand‑shield / buckler, makeshift shield (e.g., standing tree) (classical term and Kojiki reading ヲダテ); lexically a small or makeshift shield; by metaphor, the protection one uses on entry. Here, Ueshiba overturns expectation by declaring that the spear‑points themselves become your “shield” — i.e., press into the points so you are too close for others to strike freely; the immediate tips you’ve controlled “shield” you from the rest.

槍 （やり; yari）— yari; spear, lance, javelin, jeering (archaic).

穂先（ほさき; hosaki）— spear‑tips”; in the metaphor they become one’s shield once you have entered past the dangerous range.

とぞ知れ[ぞ]（とぞしれ [ ぞ]; to zo shire[zo]）— waka‑style emphatic admonition (“know this!”), with 「ぞ」 as 係助詞 strengthening the assertion; such quotative‑ emphatic endings are classical and frequent in court poetry and later didactic verse.

Past attributive 「…し」. The poem’s 取りまきし uses the classical past auxiliary 「き」 in 連体形 し — where Modern Japanese would prefer 「取り巻いた」. This is canonical bungo morphology.

Classical reading of 入る as いる. The verb 「入る」 can be read いる in classical diction here (as opposed to modern はいる), consistent with bungo paradigms.

 Kakari‑musubi flavor with 「ぞ」. The emphatic particle ぞ is a classical 係助詞. In waka/didactic styles, formulas like 「…とぞ知れ／思ふ」 are standard; the closing imperative heightens admonitory tone.

Lexeme choice: こだて（木楯／小楯） is an older/rare noun meaning a small or makeshift shield — a historically grounded term rather than a modern borrowing.

Orthography: Rendering as 「取巻きし…木楯（小楯）…穂先とぞ知れ」 aligns with classical orthographic conventions; particles 「は」「ぞ」 keep historical spellings, a residue of 歴史的仮名遣 that coexists with modern reading.

Waka metrics: The poem scans 5‑7‑5‑7‑7, the standard tanka schema. Treating lines 1–3 as kami‑no‑ku and 4–5 as shimo‑no‑ku matches canonical structure described in introductions to traditional Japanese poetry.

Variant within Ueshiba’s corpus: A companion dōka (no. 202) recasts the “little shield” as one’s own heart — the same syntax and cadence, confirming Ueshiba’s intentional bungo/waka frame for these teachings.

Martial anthropology / tactics: Japanese sojutsu lineages (e.g., Hōzōin‑ryū) emphasize control of the tip and entering to break a spear wall; once you are inside the proper maai, the closest spearheads you’ve engaged paradoxically “protect” you from others. This image underwrites Ueshiba’s metaphor that “the spear‑points themselves are the shield.”

Religious studies (Ōmoto‑kyō, kotodama): Ueshiba frames budō as a soteriological practice; his dōka are didactic waka infused with kotodama concepts and Shintō‑derived spirituality via Ōmoto‑kyō. Reading the verse as a moral injunction (“…とぞ知れ”) fits this tradition of spiritualized martial admonitions.

Textual transmission: Editors later compiled/regularized O‑Sensei’s poems as dōka; awareness of this process helps us read them as waka‑like doctrinal utterances, not battlefield notes — yet the metaphors draw on classical warfare imagery familiar from Japanese military history.

Yoin. The imperative form “知れ” (know!) cuts abruptly, yet the paradoxical resonance of “shield = enemy’s spearhead” lingers for the reader. This aftertaste (lingering emotion, resonance) embodies a key tenet of Japanese aesthetics that values lingering impressions (cf. Parkes, 2005).

Note: see Yagū Munenori or Miyamoto Musashi’s works.