An ancient story tells of a Japanese Samurai swordsman passing on his scroll by having his two top students fight to the death for it. While today’s martial arts students get their completion certificates without having to fight to the death, one wonders about the significance of the rhu scroll.
The rhu scroll of martial arts once represented authority and continuation of the family. Today, copies of a rhu are still passed down, but you will never see them publicly displayed. They don’t reveal the secrets of the art of fighting for they are written in poetic and vague language, understanding of which is known only by the teacher and awarded student.
Today belt ranks and printed certificates replace the rhu scroll, but these scrolls still exist among the masters.
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