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Setting down his thoughts on swordplay, on winning, and on spirituality, legendary swordsman Miyamoto Musashi intended this modest work as a guide for his immediate disciples and future generations of samurai. He had little idea he was penning a masterpiece that would be eagerly devoured by people in all walks of life centuries after his death.Along with The Art of War by Sun Tzu, The Book of Five Rings has long been regarded as an invaluable treatise on the strategy of winning. Musashi's timeless advice on defeating an adversary, throwing an opponent off-guard, creating confusion, and other techniques for overpowering an assailant was addressed to the readers of earlier times on the battlefield and now serves the modern reader in the battle of life. In this new rendering by the translator of Hagakure and The Unfettered Mind, William Scott Wilson adheres rigorously to the seventeenth-century Japanese text and clarifies points of ambiguity in earlier translations. In addition, he offers an extensive introduction and a translation of Musashi's rarely published The Way of Walking Alone.… (more)
Media reviews
Njegov naučno agresivan, u potpunosti nemilosrdan pristup vojnoj nauci, iako nije bio široko zastupljen među japanskim majstorima borilačkih veština, predstavlja jednu visoko koncentrovanu karakterizaciju određenog tipa ratnika samuraja. Iako se u vezi njegovih dramatičnih podviga razvio čitav korpus legendi, malo se toga pouzdano zna o životu Mijamota Musašija. Ono što je on izneo o sebi u svojoj „Knjizi pet prstenova“ je primarni izvor istorijskih činjenica. Prvi put je u borbi ubio čoveka sa trinaest godina, a poslednji put sa dvadeset i devet godina. U jednom trenutku svog života on je navodno prestao da koristi pravi mač, ali je nastavio da zadaje smrtonosne udarce protivnicima sve do kraja karijere mačevaoca. Poslednje tri decenije života Musaši je proveo usavršavajući i podučavajući svoju ratničku nauku. Priča se da se nikada nije češljao, da se nikada nije kupao, da se nije ženio, da nije stvorio dom i da nije podizao decu. Iako je poznavao društvene veštine svog vremena i uistinu ih je preporučivao svakome, Mijamoto Musaši je u suštini išao asketskim putem ratnika do kraja svog života.
Ovo izdanje sadrži u sebi još jednu proslavljenu knjigu, Knjigu porodičnih predanja o umeću ratovanja, Jagju Munenorija, čuvenog samuraja koji se u poznim godinama posvetio zen budizmu. Otuda ova knjiga predstavlja spoj zena i borilačkih veština.
Njegov naučno agresivan, u potpunosti nemilosrdan pristup vojnoj nauci, iako nije bio široko zastupljen među japanskim majstorima borilačkih veština, predstavlja jednu visoko koncentrovanu karakterizaciju određenog tipa ratnika samuraja. Iako se u vezi njegovih dramatičnih podviga razvio čitav korpus legendi, malo se toga pouzdano zna o životu Mijamota Musašija. Ono što je on izneo o sebi u svojoj „Knjizi pet prstenova“ je primarni izvor istorijskih činjenica. Prvi put je u borbi ubio čoveka sa trinaest godina, a poslednji put sa dvadeset i devet godina. U jednom trenutku svog života on je navodno prestao da koristi pravi mač, ali je nastavio da zadaje smrtonosne udarce protivnicima sve do kraja karijere mačevaoca. Poslednje tri decenije života Musaši je proveo usavršavajući i podučavajući svoju ratničku nauku. Priča se da se nikada nije češljao, da se nikada nije kupao, da se nije ženio, da nije stvorio dom i da nije podizao decu. Iako je poznavao društvene veštine svog vremena i uistinu ih je preporučivao svakome, Mijamoto Musaši je u suštini išao asketskim putem ratnika do kraja svog života.
Ovo izdanje sadrži u sebi još jednu proslavljenu knjigu, Knjigu porodičnih predanja o umeću ratovanja, Jagju Munenorija, čuvenog samuraja koji se u poznim godinama posvetio zen budizmu. Otuda ova knjiga predstavlja spoj zena i borilačkih veština.
User reviews
Mushai writes, “… the warrior’s is the twofold Way of pen and sword, and he should have a taste for both”. In the Overlook Press edition, there are numerous illustrations of artworks in different mediums created by Musahi himself. Example is the best form of teaching and he clearly shows that there is no division between martial art forms and art forms for pleasure.
For the Way of the Warrior, every battle plan must be researched, your enemies’ weaknesses known, your plans constructed accordingly and executed flawlessly. Applying this to the way of the Artisan, something the Western mind sees diametrically opposed to warfare, Musahi’s dictum means the artist must fully understand the medium they are working in, fully understand the idea they are trying to represent and must flawlessly execute their work.
The book itself is written like a classical brush painting. Broad strokes suggest the theme and the more we look at the work, the more detail we see in the work. Musahi writes in broad terms, supplying enough detail for us to understand what he is suggesting, but he does not overwhelm us with detail. In many places, the student is admonished to research the subject of his discourses themselves.
It is this last aspect that makes this work so enduring and all encompassing. These principles may be applied to any situation, to any profession. It is not a book to be read once and put away. To appreciate “Book of Five Rings” to the fullest, read the book, practice the concepts in everyday life, then, read the book again. Each time you read the book you will find some new insight, just as each time you look at a well-done artwork, you notice new detail. Apply this new insight and read the book yet again.
Research this well and practice often.
Read the Master's words. You'll be a changed Thingmalibrarian. Highly recommended - its the Zen and Art of Library Maintenance and pretty much everything else.
I have to say that after the first reading, I did not believe him. It took me 2 week to plow through this thin book and mostly it left me confused. When I mentioned this to him, he suggested that I reread it about 10 more times, slowly and I will start to ‘get’ it. I thought he was nuts, to that point I had never read a book more than twice and that was a work of fiction that I reread because I didn’t have a book that I hadn’t read and I needed something to do... I also thought that perhaps the fact that he had blown his own weight in dope might have had something to do with his ‘deeper’ understanding. I reality, he simply thought about it more (although being high probably gives you more time to contemplate these things).
It took me a while to get around to attempting the text again. In fact, it took untilo after I was knighted and had squires of my own. These students wanted information that they could work on on their own time and books like this are always mentioned as important reads. I felt that I couldn’t ask them to read it without rereading it and maybe preparing myself for their questions. The second read was better, I didn’t have to stop to read the extensive footnotes, I had significantly more experience as a fighter and, probably most importantly, I was mentally a lot more mature.
Then I got an audio tape of it, that is the way to go. Driving in the truck and spinning an unabridged 90 minute tape on sword fighting philosophy will surely take your mind off the length of the drive. I have now read the complete text about 5 times and listened to the tape at least a dozen times. I think I get most of it now. The last chapter (The Book of the Void) is deep, deep Zen shit though.
OK, we are four paragraphs into the review and you are thinking, “all he has talked about was how hard it is to read...” OK, none of this was meant to discourage you, in fact, quite the opposite. But, I want to start off by making sure you understand what the book is not. This is not a how-to manual on swordfighting, it isn’t that explict. If you want something like that, get a Kendo manual with pictures. It is often billed as a must read strategy guide for businessmen, I am not sure that most of the managers that I have met will benefit from this text. Again, it isn’t a how-to guide, it is a philosphy treatise. It’s focus is swordfighting, but the concepts can certainly be applied to many other ways of life, including business. However, that is going to take a lot of reflection to internalize the philosophy presented here and apply it to something like business. You would be better off with The Prince, I would think.
OK, on to the book itself: This is a very thin book. The translator starts off with a 75 or so page section that includes a biography of Musashi, a political and cultural overview of feudal Japan before getting into the text proper. These parts are useful for getting the context of the work, but are not critical.
The book itself is divided into, you guessed it, five parts: Ground, Wind, Water, Fire and Void. Each address a different aspect of strategy. Musashi himself says in the work that this isn’t intended as a breezy read, “read a word and reflect upon it.” Of course, he is referring to the Japanese characters which can stand for several English words, but you get the point. Another point that he pounds home over and over again is, “you must practice constantly.”
It was intended for his students to learn the ways of the warrior from someone with the unusual perspective of old age and what each thing meant in a greater context. The thing to take away from this text, as an SCA fighter isn’t so much the sword moves he teach (many are at illegal targets), but the concepts of strategy: waiting for an opening, being in harmony, observe everything, etc. These are the things that are generally missing from more practical how-to guides, including those penned by SCA fighters.
The book is divided into five elemental parts: water, wind, fire, earth, and void. Most of these have paragraphs focused on a certain strategical concept that should be studied. Here is a typical example:
The Mountain-Sea Change
"The 'mountain-sea' spirit means that it is bad to repeat the same thing several times when fighting the enemy. There my be no help but to do something twice, but do not try it a third time. If you once make an attack and fail, there is little chance of success if you use the same approach again. If you attempt a technique which you have previously tried unsuccessfully and fail yet again, then you must change your attacking method. If the enemy thinks of the mountains, attack like the sea; and if he thinks of the sea, attack like the mountains. You must research this deeply."
Almost every technique has a clever metaphorical title such as "To Penetrate the Depths" or "Rat's Head, Ox's Neck". It reminds me of my gung-fu years down in Washington and all the names for the strikes and maneuvers we learned. Almost every paragraph ends in an admonishment like "You must study this well." or "You must learn this." This also reminds me of Sifu Lane or Sifu Fogg after every drill or technique plucked from a move set. I have a sneaking suspicion that the fundamentals of martial arts training has not changed much since 1645 when Musashi wrote this manual.
Anyway, a fun little book. I will keep an eye out for other translations. Many of the statements in this book hinge on the meaning of single words and Japanese is known for its use of quadruple entendre. Overall, this edition was a nice reintroduction to the classic.
2. The Book of Family Traditions on th eArt of War, by Yagyu Munenori
The form is letters to a promising young warrior - the writing is didactic and dogmatic assuming a high degree of you-know-what-I-mean knowledge on the part of the reader. As general pedagogy it would be more effective with diagrams to show explicitly what the vague statements mean. Just *what* is a "corner" of the body? Is the head? What about the genitalia?
Today, the philosophy of utilitarianism and "enlightened" self-interest are well known leading to a feeling that there is nothing new to modern readers about the principles presented.
I won a giveaway of the Victor Harris translation which had a mix of British and American English spellings.
This particular volume
I liked this book for learning about this particular form of swordsmanship, but I never took it to be a book about "Japanese success in business" as was advertised at the top of this mass market paperback. It was weird, though, reading a book about mastering the skill to kill another individual. I'm not unhappy that the time of samurai is gone.
Second reading: I moved this down to