The word “Tenken” is an infrequently used term in the English vocabulary, to be sure, but it is a term that has meaning to a very specific crowd of people. The word, stolen from Japanese and spread through the anime-watching subculture in English-speaking countries, is layered and layered in its meaning. Some of them are seemingly contradictory in nature, so in order to understand the word, it is somewhat important to understand its history.
Let me start by going over a couple of popular definitions you’ll find around the web:
- “Heavenly Sword. Having great swordsmanship, to the point that the skill can only be a godsend.”
- “Move, think, or act with divine speed and precision.”
- “Pertaining to fencing: to act or move with divine speed.”
This all goes back to how the term Tenken was popularized in the US, through the Japanese anime series known as “Rurouni Kenshin”. Within this anime, the character Seta Soujiro, an 18-year-old swordsman, fights without emotion, passion, or anger. Due to this, he is almost completely unpredictable on the battlefield. His speed, accuracy, and skill are unmatched. In fact, Soujiro is never defeated in combat, not even by the series’ greatest heroes. He is called “the Tenken”.
This gives us some alternative definitions of what Tenken can mean. Can mean:
- Someone who is brutally effective.
- Someone who is insanely fast, insanely talented, or insanely smart.
- Someone who shows no emotions at all.
But in this absolutely fantastic anime series, the character of Seta Soujiro is not just an emotional master swordsman. As his story unfolds, we discover his tragic past and what he hides under his emotional mask.
Inside, it has appeared. Inside, she just wants to be allowed to be weak. We see this in his final battle with Kenshin (the protagonist of the series) when Soujiro begins to let his emotions out and has this internal dialogue:
If it’s right to save people who were weak, back then, why didn’t you protect me? Why didn’t anyone protect me?
Then he says, swords locked, “You didn’t protect me. If what you say is correct, why didn’t you protect me?” Seta begins to have a massive meltdown. He begins to flail, clutching his head as he staggers across the room, screaming. Due to this emotional breakdown, he loses the fight with Kenshin (but is not killed).
Basically, we find out that despite the fact that he seems like a completely ruthless killer, he is a sensitive and heartbroken person who has been repressing every little emotion he has. His constant smile is a mask against the rest of the world and against his own demons.
So we can add these definitions to our list:
- Someone who pretends not to experience emotions, but has a strong emotional side.
- Someone who puts on a tough exterior, or a fake exterior, to protect themselves from their own demons or the past.
In the aftermath of this battle, Tenken determines that he will start wandering to find out who he really is. He says:
“It’s a bit unfair… When you’re trying to fix a brick building that was built wrong the first time, you have to knock it all down before you can start; there’s no other way.” because the brick is too strong.
So we can also see Tenken as a term that means:
- Someone who seeks redemption or truth.
- Someone who is having to break their identity and reestablish it.
- Someone who seeks to be better at great cost.
All of these things are powerful and meaningful to me, which is why I’ve adopted the name “Tenken” as a nickname in my online interactions. Even my blog is named after Tenken, specifically, http://www.TenkenatHeart.com
And me. I’m Rob Tenken.