The Book of Five Rings: The Classic Text of Samurai Sword Strategy

by Miyamoto Musashi

Overview

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. This gift-book edition also features original art by Musashi himself as well as new calligraphy by Japanese artist Shiro Tsujimura.


About the Author

Miyamoto Musashi (1584-1645) was a renowned swordsman and painter. A masterless samurai, he developed the two-sword style of fighting and emerged victorious in more than 60 sword fights in his travels throughout Japan. The author of The Book of Five Rings, he is also the subject of the novel Musashi by Eiji Yoshikawa.

William Scott Wilson, the translator, was born in 1944 in Nashville, Tennessee, and grew up in Florida. He received B.A. degrees from Dartmouth College and the Monterey Institute of Foreign Studies, and an M.A. in Japanese literary studies from the University of Washington. His long-selling translations of Hagakure, The Unfettered Mind, The Roots of Wisdom:
Saikontan, and Taiko have become standards. Hagakure was featured prominently in the film Ghost Dog.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9782378984144
Publisher:	Publisher s24148
Publication date:	02/03/2018
Sold by:	StreetLib SRL
Format:	eBook
File size:	136 KB

About the Author

Miyamoto Musashi (1584-1643) was a samurai master and a leading exponent of Kendo, the oldest of Japans martial arts. In a career that lasted nearly half a century he was never defeated in combat. Musashi perfected a two-handed sword technique that is still taught today, and he was also a talented artist. He completed The Book of Five Rings, his classic text on samurai sword strategy, days before his death.
 
About the Translator:
Ashikaga Yoshiharu teaches English at Tokyo University. A descendant of a samurai, he has translated many classic Japanese texts into English and has edited the books Zen Wisdom and Zen Teachings (both Astrolog).

Table of Contents

Foreword by William Scott Wilson
Introduction by William Scott Wilson
The Way of Walking Alone
The Book of Five Rings
The Earth Chapter
The Water Chapter
The Fire Chapter
The Wind Chapter
The Emptiness Chapter
Notes
Bibliography
Crest Motifs

Editorial Reviews

On Wall Street, when Musashi talks, people listen.

Time

Written by legendary Japanese swordsman Musashi, this 17th-century exposition of sword-fighting strategy and Zen philosophy has been embraced by many contemporary readers, especially business school students, as a manual on how to succeed in life. There are many English translations, but every one, including this one, suffers from inadequate cultural, literary, and philosophical commentary. Musashi's work should be studied, not simply read, and Cleary's translation lacks commentary; it also makes the prose seems flat and the philosophy simplistic. Yet what makes this new translation worthwhile is the second text, buried deep in the back like an appendix: Yagyu Munenori's The Book of Family Traditions on the Art of War . This text, also an exposition on sword fighting and Zen philosophy, is difficult to find in an English translation, and its availability is welcome. Recommended for academic libraries generally.-- Glenn Masuchika, Chaminade Univ. Lib., Honolulu

Library Journal

Here are two Japanese martial arts classics from the seventeenth century, of more than ordinary interest because of their distinguished translation and because of their identification with Zen. Musashi says things like "It is crucial to think of everything as an opportunity to kill," and there's no question his primer on training the would-be warrior's mind and body is, in that respect, as effective as ever. What might interest readers not inclined to bloodlust is Musashi's pared-down philosophy, as exemplified in his nine rules for learning any art. These include "Think of what is right and true," "Understand the harm and benefit in everything," "Become aware of what is not obvious," and the delightful "Do not do anything useless." Following Musashi's last meditation, "The Scroll of Emptiness" (about how, when one masters an art, one separates from it into a state of perfect, contented clarity), is Yagyu's short essay on the art of war. Yagyu, apparently quite a bloody warrior in his youth, in late life worked hard to link martial arts concepts to Zen, and his short essay has a distilled, aphoristic quality. Both writers are marvels of clarity and, oddly, peacefulness.

John Mort