The Warrior Who Learns to 'Be like Smoke'

The Pen and Sword Journal - Vol 102

“Fluidity is the mother of survival. Become like smoke, and your enemy will grasp nothing.”
- Araki Muninsai (16th century, founder of Araki-ryū)

Rigidity tends to break under pressure. Who does rigidity look like? It is:

- The manager insists on sticking to the original plan during a team crisis, refusing input. The team fractures, morale drops.

- Someone is scheduled to speak in public. They memorize every word of their talk. When the mic cuts out, they freeze.

- Someone clings to their opinion in a heated debate, unwilling to listen. The conversation collapses.

- A vendor brings only one product to a busy market. When demand shifts, they’re stuck.

- A fighter locks into a single stance or fighter style. Their opponent reads it, counters, and dominates.

On the other hand, what stays active, moves, adapts, and repositions — endures.

By reflecting deeply and applying martial principles across all aspects of life, we begin to perceive the path in everything - just as Musashi taught.

When we think of strength, we often imagine hardness, resistance, immovability. Yet what survives isn’t always what resists most. Rather, it’s what adjusts best. A rigid tree snaps in the storm; a reed bends and rises again. The same principle applies to the mind, to spirit, to combat, and to life.

To “become like smoke” is to become unbound, free from predictable shapes. When you move like smoke, you’re untouchable not because you hide, but because you no longer cling to a single way of operating. You shift between what is needed and what works. You no longer fear change; you use it.

The great masters understood this not just as a metaphor, but as survival itself.

“Don’t let the enemies see your spirit,” they said.

Meaning: In a competitive context, combat or elsewhere in life — which are at times unavoidable — don’t let your inner state be readable. Don’t become transparent through your insecurities, your ego, your desperation to control. The moment your opponent senses what you feel compelled do, they already have a powerful advantage against you.

The Trap of Clinging

We make our spirit visible when our mind clings, when we tighten around an idea, a plan, or an identity, a self-concept. You can see it in a fighter who keeps throwing the same combination, the same tactics, hoping it will finally land. In a person who keeps repeating the same argument, unable to see that truth isn’t found in the ego battles, but in using the brain to process and prepare arguments.

When you cling too tightly to one form, one plan, or one self-image, you become easy to trap.

That rigidity usually comes from insecurity, from an inner tremor disguised as certainty. It’s the ego’s attempt to feel safe by controlling every outcome. But…

control born from fear is not mastery; it’s panic disguised as order.

The paradox is that true control arises from releasing the illusion of control. From trusting awareness more than “the rigid script”.

Awareness Over Compulsive Control

When you move with awareness instead of the urge to control, your movements (physical, emotional, strategic) gain life. You sense instead of predict. You respond instead of react. Why because your mind is not busy controlling. For instance, a chess player who tries to control every move based on prediction may miss subtle cues. But one who stays aware of the board’s evolving dynamics can sense opportunities and threats as they emerge, thus responding with intuition and timing rather than rigid calculation. This same principle manifests in countless forms in other areas of life.

Insecurity tries to build walls; awareness builds rhythm.

When you let your intuitive side breathe, you can’t be held easily. Because intuition doesn’t move from conscious memory, it moves from presence. It sees what’s here, not what the mental scenarios expect.

There are times we must leverage the mental scenarios our minds constantly comes up with to “survive”, and times to bypass it and give ourselves intuitively. Those who don’t become prisoners of a rigid mindset, understand and implement precisely this. ☯️

In combat, this is flow: the ability to stay calm enough to see openings where others see obstacles. The counter is not always pre-decided — it emerges from clarity. The mind that’s too busy thinking about what to do next misses what’s already available.

In life, this is flexibility: bending without losing your core. Adjusting plans, accepting losses, starting again, without collapsing into self-pity. The flexible spirit doesn’t mean a weak one. It means a spirit that knows its essence so well that it no longer fears transformation. Transformation is part of life anyway…

The Nature of Smoke

Smoke doesn’t fight the air around it. It moves through it— unseen, yet present.
Soft, yet impossible to hold.

The secret lies in its nature: it doesn’t cling to shape, yet it doesn’t disappear into nothingness. It drifts, expands, reshapes, but remains itself.

That’s the art of living fluidly. Not to become formless in the sense of losing direction, but to stay formless enough to meet life as it is.

The warrior who can shift form without losing essence walks through chaos like smoke through air— untouched, yet fully there.

Rooted in Spirit, Fluid in Form

Many mistake fluidity for weakness or lack of conviction. But fluidity is only chaotic when it has no root, or ‘no backbone’ as they say. The deeper your root (the clearer your spirit, intent, purpose) the freer you can move.

To stay rooted in spirit but fluid in form means knowing what matters at your core, and being willing to release everything else.

It’s the fighter who keeps his calm while styles around him change.
It’s the artist who evolves without betraying their voice.
It’s the person who can lose status, wealth, or routine, yet not lose themselves.

Fluidity does not mean drifting aimlessly; it means carrying your center everywhere you go.

Smoke in the Modern World

Today, rigidity is at times disguised as stability. We build schedules, brands, and routines and call it “discipline.” But discipline without adaptability becomes a cage.

We see it in the professional who cannot adjust when life changes. In the relationship that collapses because one partner can’t let go of how things “used to be.” In the fighter who loses not because he lacked strength, but because he lacked inner freedom. Freedom from fixations on how they should perform and how they should win.

The modern battle isn’t always physical; it’s often informational, emotional, and social. The ability to remain fluid (to adjust, rethink, and re-center) is the new art of endurance.

Being like smoke in this context means not letting the outer turbulence dictate your inner rhythm. It means being present enough to adapt without losing integrity. For example, you worked on a project by holding on to some values, timeless ones. Unfortunately, something happens that takes you 2-3 steps back, perhaps. Or a year back. Full of disappointment, anger and fear, you feel tempted to return to the outer results you had by throwing those values away…

-Fall to this temptation, and you ‘adapt,’ but lose your integrity.

-Stay strong, process your emotions, take your time, and overcome your limits by creating and manifesting without stepping upon those values, and you adapt without losing your integrity.

See the difference? The first option is often the easier one, because it makes the emotional pain go away quickly. But at what cost?

The Quiet Power of Adaptation

Adaptation isn’t passive, it’s strategic as much as it’s the consequence of virtues. It’s not submission to circumstance; it’s alignment with it.

Think of water: it yields, but it shapes mountains over time.
Smoke is even subtle, as it rises, fills, and evades capture.

The goal isn’t to dominate every moment. It’s to dance with it. To move where resistance is low, to pause when it’s wise, to advance when the air clears.

In martial terms, this means knowing when to absorb, when to redirect, when to vanish.
In personal terms, it means knowing when to speak, when to listen, when to walk away.

The rigid mind mistakes flexibility for surrender. The fluid mind sees it as mastery.

The warriors who integrate this lesson in their daily lives —on the mat, in conversation, in decision—don’t just survive. They outlast.

They conserve energy while others waste it. They stay open when others close. They learn through motion instead of repetition.

Their movements in combat and in life have the same quality: calm adaptability. They don’t rush to prove, they adjust to improve.

They don’t panic when plans fail, because their center doesn’t depend on plans. That’s why they endure.

To be like smoke is to live unbound.
To let go of the need to be right, to appear strong, to control every wave.
To move through the world with quiet awareness and deep trust in your ability to meet whatever arises.

Soft, yet ungraspable.
Gentle, yet unconquerable.

That’s not just a philosophy of combat; it’s a philosophy of living.

And those who embody it may not always be the loudest, the flashiest, or the most celebrated.
But when tough times come (and they almost always come)
they are the ones still standing,
calm in the center,
moving like smoke through air.

Where is your center?

➡️ As always, if this resonated with you, a simple ❤️ helps others discover it.

Grateful to have you here! 🙏

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🔻📕Additional Resources:

If you’ve found my article helpful and inspiring and want to delve deeper into the subjects of psychology, philosophy, the warrior ethos and zen, I recommend checking out my books:

📕➡️100 thoughts for the Inner Warrior

Whether you’re seeking personal growth, to fortify your inner strength and mental resilience, or simply a deeper understanding of the warrior ethos, “100 Thoughts for the Inner Warrior” is a valuable resource that can guide you on your journey.

📙➡️The Secrets of Willpower

This book it’s packed with proven psychological techniques to help you access your mind’s hidden reserves and build the willpower, tenacity and discipline needed to face any challenge. From strategies to quiet the inner voice of self-doubt to exercises that master the art of delayed gratification, each chapter guides you on a path toward mental, physical and emotional mastery.

📘➡️Flow - The Science and Spirit of Striking

For those of you serious about striking martial arts and want to take their skills to the next level, this book is for you. It’s not just useful, it’s transformative. Inside, you’ll find training that taps into the Flow of Body, Mind, and Spirit. Mastering all three is the key to unlocking true Flow State in combat

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