yari (槍) or naginata (長刀 or 薙刀), which stands for long, and the other a has sword, which stands for short, but the situation is as such that there is no more discussion, any discussion at this point would be superfluous. This metaphor tries to explain the meaning behind this kōan that in this season life and death are one. The themes of the four seasons refer to universal principles which also express themselves in other manifestations. Some of these are listed in the table below. Both uchidachi and shidachi take on a stance in spring and autumn which is called nio dachi. This refers to the pair of guardian deities of Buddhism called niō (仁王), which can be found as large statues at entrances of some of the ancient Japanese temples and shrines. The right statue is called Misshaku Kongō (密迹金剛) who has his mouth opened, this represents vocalization of "a." The left statue is called Naraen Kongō (那羅延金剛) who has his mouth closed, represents the vocalization of "um." It is said that these two characters together symbolize the birth and death of all things, like we are born with "a" and our mouth open (inhale) and we die with "um" and our mouth closed (exhale). This is similar to "Alpha and Omega" or "A to Z" signifying "beginning and end", "everything" or "all creation." The contraction of both is Aum (Devanagari ॐ), which is an important concept in Sanskrit. The stances and expressions of the statues, the sounds "a" and "um" and the symbolism behind this are very import in the Hōjō no kata. The 15th headmaster wrote this on the meaning of the Hōjō no kata: Fukuro Shinai no kata (Tō no kata) The Fukuro Shinai no kata (韜之形), or Tō no kata as it is also named, is the second kata of the Jikishinkage-ryū style. The kanji 韜 is rare and old and is able to read as "tō" but has the meaning of fukuro (袋). This kata is composed of fourteen stages, divided in six groups. Each stage has about four movements. This kata is characterized by very fast waza. Both the uchidachi and the shidachi use fukuro shinai (袋竹刀) which explains the origin on the name. Kodachi no kata The third kata in the ryū, the Kodachi no kata (小太刀之形) has six stages. Shidachi uses a large heavy wooden kodachi (like the name of