[User]
Title: Never Outshine the Master
Description:

[Assistant] Always make those above you feel comfortably superior. In your desire to please or impress them, do not go too far in displaying your talents or you might accomplish the opposite a- inspire fear and insecurity. Make your masters appear more brilliant than they are and you will attain the heights of power.


[User]
Title: Never put too Much Trust in Friends, Learn how to use Enemies
Description:

[Assistant] Be wary of friends; they will betray you more quickly, for they are easily aroused to envy. They also become spoiled and tyrannical. But hire a former enemy and he will be more loyal than a friend, because he has more to prove. In fact, you have more to fear from friends than from enemies. If you have no enemies, find a way to make them.


[User]
Title: Conceal your Intentions
Description:

[Assistant] Keep people offbalance and in the dark by never revealing the purpose behind your actions. If they have no clue what you are up to, they cannot prepare a defense. Guide them far enough down the wrong path, envelope them in enough smoke, and by the time they realize your intentions, it will be too late.


[User]
Title: Always Say Less than Necessary
Description:

[Assistant] When you are trying to impress people with words, the more you say, the more common you appear, and the less in control. Even if you are saying something banal, it will seem original if you make it vague, openended, and sphinxlike. Powerful people impress and intimidate by saying less. The more you say, the more likely you are to say something foolish.


[User]
Title: So Much Depends on Reputation a- Guard it with your Life
Description:

[Assistant] Reputation is the cornerstone of power. Through reputation alone you can intimidate and win; once you slip, however, you are vulnerable, and will be attacked on all sides. Make your reputation unassailable. Always be alert to potential attacks and thwart them before they happen. Meanwhile, learn to destroy your enemies by opening holes in their own reputations. Then stand aside and let public opinion hang them.


[User]
Title: Court Attention at all Cost
Description:

[Assistant] Everything is judged by its appearance; what is unseen counts for nothing. Never let yourself get lost in the crowd, then, or buried in oblivion. Stand out. Be conspicuous, at all cost. Make yourself a magnet of attention by appearing larger, more colorful, more mysterious, than the bland and timid masses.


[User]
Title: Get others to do the Work for you, but Always Take the Credit
Description:

[Assistant] Use the wisdom, knowledge, and legwork of other people to further your own cause. Not only will such assistance save you valuable time and energy, it will give you a godlike aura of efficiency and speed. In the end your helpers will be forgotten and you will be remembered. Never do yourself what others can do for you.


[User]
Title: Make other People come to you a- use Bait if Necessary
Description:

[Assistant] When you force the other person to act, you are the one in control. It is always better to make your opponent come to you, abandoning his own plans in the process. Lure him with fabulous gains a- then attack. You hold the cards.


[User]
Title: Win through your Actions, Never through Argument
Description:

[Assistant] Any momentary triumph you think gained through argument is really a Pyrrhic victory: The resentment and ill will you stir up is stronger and lasts longer than any momentary change of opinion. It is much more powerful to get others to agree with you through your actions, without saying a word. Demonstrate, do not explicate.


[User]
Title: Infection: Avoid the Unhappy and Unlucky
Description:

[Assistant] You can die from someone else's misery a- emotional states are as infectious as disease. You may feel you are helping the drowning man but you are only precipitating your own disaster. The unfortunate sometimes draw misfortune on themselves; they will also draw it on you. Associate with the happy and fortunate instead.


[User]
Title: Learn to Keep People Dependent on You
Description:

[Assistant] To maintain your independence you must always be needed and wanted. The more you are relied on, the more freedom you have. Make people depend on you for their happiness and prosperity and you have nothing to fear. Never teach them enough so that they can do without you.


[User]
Title: Use Selective Honesty and Generosity to Disarm your Victim
Description:

[Assistant] One sincere and honest move will cover over dozens of dishonest ones. Openhearted gestures of honesty and generosity bring down the guard of even the most suspicious people. Once your selective honesty opens a hole in their armor, you can deceive and manipulate them at will. A timely gift a- a Trojan horse a- will serve the same purpose.


[User]
Title: When Asking for Help, Appeal to People's SelfInterest, Never to their Mercy or Gratitude
Description:

[Assistant] If you need to turn to an ally for help, do not bother to remind him of your past assistance and good deeds. He will find a way to ignore you. Instead, uncover something in your request, or in your alliance with him, that will benefit him, and emphasize it out of all proportion. He will respond enthusiastically when he sees something to be gained for himself.


[User]
Title: Pose as a Friend, Work as a Spy
Description:

[Assistant] Knowing about your rival is critical. Use spies to gather valuable information that will keep you a step ahead. Better still: Play the spy yourself. In polite social encounters, learn to probe. Ask indirect questions to get people to reveal their weaknesses and intentions. There is no occasion that is not an opportunity for artful spying.


[User]
Title: Crush your Enemy Totally
Description:

[Assistant] All great leaders since Moses have known that a feared enemy must be crushed completely. (Sometimes they have learned this the hard way.) If one ember is left alight, no matter how dimly it smolders, a fire will eventually break out. More is lost through stopping halfway than through total annihilation: The enemy will recover, and will seek revenge. Crush him, not only in body but in spirit.


[User]
Title: Use Absence to Increase Respect and Honor
Description:

[Assistant] Too much circulation makes the price go down: The more you are seen and heard from, the more common you appear. If you are already established in a group, temporary withdrawal from it will make you more talked about, even more admired. You must learn when to leave. Create value through scarcity.


[User]
Title: Keep Others in Suspended Terror: Cultivate an Air of Unpredictability
Description:

[Assistant] Humans are creatures of habit with an insatiable need to see familiarity in other people's actions. Your predictability gives them a sense of control. Turn the tables: Be deliberately unpredictable. Behavior that seems to have no consistency or purpose will keep them off balance, and they will wear themselves out trying to explain your moves. Taken to an extreme, this strategy can intimidate and terrorize.


[User]
Title: Do Not Build Fortresses to Protect Yourself a- Isolation is Dangerous
Description:

[Assistant] The world is dangerous and enemies are everywhere a- everyone has to protect themselves. A fortress seems the safest. But isolation exposes you to more dangers than it protects you from a- it cuts you off from valuable information, it makes you conspicuous and an easy target. Better to circulate among people find allies, mingle. You are shielded from your enemies by the crowd.


[User]
Title: Know Who You're Dealing with a- Do Not Offend the Wrong Person
Description:

[Assistant] There are many different kinds of people in the world, and you can never assume that everyone will react to your strategies in the same way. Deceive or outmaneuver some people and they will spend the rest of their lives seeking revenge. They are wolves in lambs' clothing. Choose your victims and opponents carefully, then a- never offend or deceive the wrong person.


[User]
Title: Do Not Commit to Anyone
Description:

[Assistant] It is the fool who always rushes to take sides. Do not commit to any side or cause but yourself. By maintaining your independence, you become the master of others a- playing people against one another, making them pursue you.


[User]
Title: Play a Sucker to Catch a Sucker a- Seem Dumber than your Mark
Description:

[Assistant] No one likes feeling stupider than the next person. The trick, is to make your victims feel smart a- and not just smart, but smarter than you are. Once convinced of this, they will never suspect that you may have ulterior motives.


[User]
Title: Use the Surrender Tactic: Transform Weakness into Power
Description:

[Assistant] When you are weaker, never fight for honor's sake; choose surrender instead. Surrender gives you time to recover, time to torment and irritate your conqueror, time to wait for his power to wane. Do not give him the satisfaction of fighting and defeating you a- surrender first. By turning the other check you infuriate and unsettle him. Make surrender a tool of power.


[User]
Title: Concentrate Your Forces
Description:

[Assistant] Conserve your forces and energies by keeping them concentrated at their strongest point. You gain more by finding a rich mine and mining it deeper, than by flitting from one shallow mine to another a- intensity defeats extensity every time. When looking for sources of power to elevate you, find the one key patron, the fat cow who will give you milk for a long time to come.


[User]
Title: Play the Perfect Courtier
Description:

[Assistant] The perfect courtier thrives in a world where everything revolves around power and political dexterity. He has mastered the art of indirection; he flatters, yields to superiors, and asserts power over others in the most oblique and graceful manner. Learn and apply the laws of courtiership and there will be no limit to how far you can rise in the court.


[User]
Title: ReCreate Yourself
Description:

[Assistant] Do not accept the roles that society foists on you. Recreate yourself by forging a new identity, one that commands attention and never bores the audience. Be the master of your own image rather than letting others define it for you. Incorporate dramatic devices into your public gestures and actions a- your power will be enhanced and your character will seem larger than life.


[User]
Title: Keep Your Hands Clean
Description:

[Assistant] You must seem a paragon of civility and efficiency: Your hands are never soiled by mistakes and nasty deeds. Maintain such a spotless appearance by using others as scapegoats and cat's paws to disguise your involvement.


[User]
Title: Play on People's Need to Believe to Create a Cultlike Following
Description:

[Assistant] People have an overwhelming desire to believe in something. Become the focal point of such desire by offering them a cause, a new faith to follow. Keep your words vague but full of promise; emphasize enthusiasm over rationality and clear thinking. Give your new disciples rituals to perform, ask them to make sacrifices on your behalf. In the absence of organized religion and grand causes, your new belief system will bring you untold power.


[User]
Title: Enter Action with Boldness
Description:

[Assistant] If you are unsure of a course of action, do not attempt it. Your doubts and hesitations will infect your execution. Timidity is dangerous: Better to enter with boldness. Any mistakes you commit through audacity are easily corrected with more audacity. Everyone admires the bold; no one honors the timid.


[User]
Title: Plan All the Way to the End
Description:

[Assistant] The ending is everything. Plan all the way to it, taking into account all the possible consequences, obstacles, and twists of fortune that might reverse your hard work and give the glory to others. By planning to the end you will not be overwhelmed by circumstances and you will know when to stop. Gently guide fortune and help determine the future by thinking far ahead.


[User]
Title: Make your Accomplishments Seem Effortless
Description:

[Assistant] Your actions must seem natural and executed with ease. All the toil and practice that go into them, and also all the clever tricks, must be concealed. When you act, act effortlessly, as if you could do much more. Avoid the temptation of revealing how hard you work a- it only raises questions. Teach no one your tricks or they will be used against you.


[User]
Title: Control the Options: Get Others to Play with the Cards you Deal
Description:

[Assistant] The best deceptions are the ones that seem to give the other person a choice: Your victims feel they are in control, but are actually your puppets. Give people options that come out in your favor whichever one they choose. Force them to make choices between the lesser of two evils, both of which serve your purpose. Put them on the horns of a dilemma: They are gored wherever they turn.


[User]
Title: Play to People's Fantasies
Description:

[Assistant] The truth is often avoided because it is ugly and unpleasant. Never appeal to truth and reality unless you are prepared for the anger that comes for disenchantment. Life is so harsh and distressing that people who can manufacture romance or conjure up fantasy are like oases in the desert: Everyone flocks to them. There is great power in tapping into the fantasies of the masses.


[User]
Title: Discover Each Man's Thumbscrew
Description:

[Assistant] Everyone has a weakness, a gap in the castle wall. That weakness is usually an insecurity, an uncontrollable emotion or need; it can also be a small secret pleasure. Either way, once found, it is a thumbscrew you can turn to your advantage.


[User]
Title: Be Royal in your Own Fashion: Act like a King to be treated like one
Description:

[Assistant] The way you carry yourself will often determine how you are treated; In the long run, appearing vulgar or common will make people disrespect you. For a king respects himself and inspires the same sentiment in others. By acting regally and confident of your powers, you make yourself seem destined to wear a crown.


[User]
Title: Master the Art of Timing
Description:

[Assistant] Never seem to be in a hurry a- hurrying betrays a lack of control over yourself, and over time. Always seem patient, as if you know that everything will come to you eventually. Become a detective of the right moment; sniff out the spirit of the times, the trends that will carry you to power. Learn to stand back when the time is not yet ripe, and to strike fiercely when it has reached fruition.


[User]
Title: Disdain Things you cannot have: Ignoring them is the best Revenge
Description:

[Assistant] By acknowledging a petty problem you give it existence and credibility. The more attention you pay an enemy, the stronger you make him; and a small mistake is often made worse and more visible when you try to fix it. It is sometimes best to leave things alone. If there is something you want but cannot have, show contempt for it. The less interest you reveal, the more superior you seem.


[User]
Title: Create Compelling Spectacles
Description:

[Assistant] Striking imagery and grand symbolic gestures create the aura of power a- everyone responds to them. Stage spectacles for those around you, then full of arresting visuals and radiant symbols that heighten your presence. Dazzled by appearances, no one will notice what you are really doing.


[User]
Title: Think as you like but Behave like others
Description:

[Assistant] If you make a show of going against the times, flaunting your unconventional ideas and unorthodox ways, people will think that you only want attention and that you look down upon them. They will find a way to punish you for making them feel inferior. It is far safer to blend in and nurture the common touch. Share your originality only with tolerant friends and those who are sure to appreciate your uniqueness.


[User]
Title: Stir up Waters to Catch Fish
Description:

[Assistant] Anger and emotion are strategically counterproductive. You must always stay calm and objective. But if you can make your enemies angry while staying calm yourself, you gain a decided advantage. Put your enemies offbalance: Find the chink in their vanity through which you can rattle them and you hold the strings.


[User]
Title: Despise the Free Lunch
Description:

[Assistant] What is offered for free is dangerous a- it usually involves either a trick or a hidden obligation. What has worth is worth paying for. By paying your own way you stay clear of gratitude, guilt, and deceit. It is also often wise to pay the full price a- there is no cutting corners with excellence. Be lavish with your money and keep it circulating, for generosity is a sign and a magnet for power.


[User]
Title: Avoid Stepping into a Great Man's Shoes
Description:

[Assistant] What happens first always appears better and more original than what comes after. If you succeed a great man or have a famous parent, you will have to accomplish double their achievements to outshine them. Do not get lost in their shadow, or stuck in a past not of your own making: Establish your own name and identity by changing course. Slay the overbearing father, disparage his legacy, and gain power by shining in your own way.


[User]
Title: Strike the Shepherd and the Sheep will Scatter
Description:

[Assistant] Trouble can often be traced to a single strong individual a- the stirrer, the arrogant underling, the poisoner of goodwill. If you allow such people room to operate, others will succumb to their influence. Do not wait for the troubles they cause to multiply, do not try to negotiate with them a- they are irredeemable. Neutralize their influence by isolating or banishing them. Strike at the source of the trouble and the sheep will scatter.


[User]
Title: Work on the Hearts and Minds of Others
Description:

[Assistant] Coercion creates a reaction that will eventually work against you. You must seduce others into wanting to move in your direction. A person you have seduced becomes your loyal pawn. And the way to seduce others is to operate on their individual psychologies and weaknesses. Soften up the resistant by working on their emotions, playing on what they hold dear and what they fear. Ignore the hearts and minds of others and they will grow to hate you.


[User]
Title: Disarm and Infuriate with the Mirror Effect
Description:

[Assistant] The mirror reflects reality, but it is also the perfect tool for deception: When you mirror your enemies, doing exactly as they do, they cannot figure out your strategy. The Mirror Effect mocks and humiliates them, making them overreact. By holding up a mirror to their psyches, you seduce them with the illusion that you share their values; by holding up a mirror to their actions, you teach them a lesson. Few can resist the power of Mirror Effect.


[User]
Title: Preach the Need for Change, but Never Reform too much at Once
Description:

[Assistant] Everyone understands the need for change in the abstract, but on the day to day level people are creatures of habit. Too much innovation is traumatic, and will lead to revolt. If you are new to a position of power, or an outsider trying to build a power base, make a show of respecting the old way of doing things. If change is necessary, make it feel like a gentle improvement on the past.


[User]
Title: Never appear too Perfect
Description:

[Assistant] Appearing better than others is always dangerous, but most dangerous of all is to appear to have no faults or weaknesses. Envy creates silent enemies. It is smart to occasionally display defects, and admit to harmless vices, in order to deflect envy and appear more human and approachable. Only gods and the dead can seem perfect with impunity.


[User]
Title: Do not go Past the Mark you Aimed for; In Victory, Learn when to Stop
Description:

[Assistant] The moment of victory is often the moment of greatest peril. In the heat of victory, arrogance and overconfidence can push you past the goal you had aimed for, and by going too far, you make more enemies than you defeat. Do not allow success to go to your head. There is no substitute for strategy and careful planning. Set a goal, and when you reach it, stop.


[User]
Title: Assume Formlessness
Description:

[Assistant] By taking a shape, by having a visible plan, you open yourself to attack. Instead of taking a form for your enemy to grasp, keep yourself adaptable and on the move. Accept the fact that nothing is certain and no law is fixed. The best way to protect yourself is to be as fluid and formless as water; never bet on stability or lasting order. Everything changes.


[User] A BOOK OF FIVE RINGS


[User] Translated from rhcJapancsc


[User] by VICTOR HARRIS


[User] A BOOK OF


[User] FIVE RINGS


[User] MIYAMOTO MUSASHI


[User] Translator's Introduction


[User] JAPAN DURING MUSASHl'S LIFETIME


[User] i'vtiyamoro Musashi was born in 1584, in a Japan struggling to recover from more than four centuries of internal strife. The traditional rule of the emperors had been overthrown in the twelfth century, and although each successive emperor remained the figurehead of Japan, his powers were very much reduced. Since that time, Japan had seen almost continuous civil war between the provincial lords, warrior monks and brigands, all fighting each other for land and power. In the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries the lords, called daimyo, built huge stone castles to protect themselves and their lands and castle towns outside the walls began to grow up. These wars naturally restricted the growth of trade and impoverished the whole country.


[User] In 1573, however, one man, Oda Nobunaga, came to the fore in Japan. He became the Shogun, or military dictator, and for nine years succeeded in gaining control of almost the whole of the country. When Nobunaga was assassinated in 1582, a commoner took over the government. Toyotomi Hideyoshi continued the work of unifying Japan which Nobunaga had begun, ruthlessly putting down any traces of insurrection. He revived the old gulf between the warriors of Japan-the samurai-and the commoners by intro ducing restrictions on the wearing of swords. "Hidcyoshi's sword-hunt", as it was known, meant that only samurai were allowed tu wear two swords; the short one which everyone could wear and the long one which distinguished the samurai from the rest of the population.


[User] Although Hideyoshi did much to settle Japan and increase trade with the outside world, by the time of his death in 1598 internal disturbances still had not been completely eliminated. The real isolation and unification of Japan began with the inauguration of the great Tokugawa rule. In 1603 Tokugawa Ieyasu, a former associate of both Hideyoshi and Nobunaga, formally became Shogun of Japan, :1fter defeating Hideyoshi's son Hideyori at the battle of Seki ga Hara.


[User] Ieyasu established his government at Edo, present-day Tokyo, where he had a huge castle. His was a stable, peaceful government beginning J period of Japanese history which was to last until the Imperial Restoration of 1868, for although Ieyasu himself died in 1616 members of his family succeeded each other and the title Shogun became virtually an hereditary one for the Tokugawas.


[User] Ieyasu was determined to ensure his and his family's dictatorship. To rhis


[User] end, he paid lip-service to the emperor in Kyoto, who remained the titular head of Japan, while curtailing his duties and involvement in the government. The real threat to Ieyasu's position could only come from the lords, and he effectively decreased their opportunities for revolt by devising schemes whereby all lords had to live in Edo for alternate years and by placing grear restrictions on travelling. He allotted land in exchange for oaths of allegiance, and gave the provincial castles around Edo to members of his own family. I le also employed a network of secret police and assassins.


[User] The Tokug-dwa period marks a great change in the social history of J apn. The bureaucracy of the Tokugawas was all-pervading. Nor only were education, law, government and class conrrollcd, but even the costume and behaviour of each class. The traditional class consciousness of Japan hardened imo a rigid class structure. There were basically fom classes of person: samurai, farmers, artisans and merchants. The samurai were the highest-in esteem if not in wealth-and included the lords, senior government officials, warriors, and minor officials and foot soldiers. Next in the hierarchy came the farmers, not because they were well thought of but because they p;ovided the essential rice crops. Their lot was a rather unhappy one, as they were forced to give most of their crops to the lords and were not allowt:d to leave their farms. Then came the ,trtisans and craftsmen, and last of all the merchants, who, though looked down upon, eventually rose to prominence because of the vast wealth they accumulated. Few people were outside this rigid hierarchy.


[User] Musashi belonged to the samurai cla». \Ve find the origins of the samurai class in the Kondei ("Stalwart Youth"} system established in 7921\D, whereby the Japanese army-which had until then consisted mainly of spear-wielding foot soldiers-was revived by stiffening the ranks with permanent training officers recruited from among the young sons of the high families. These officers were mounted, wore armour, and used the bow and sword. In 782 the


[User] emperor Kammu started building Kyoto, and in Kyoto lie built a training hall which exists tu this Jay calleJ the Butokuden, meaning "Hall of the virtues of war". Within a few years of this revival the fierce Ainu, the aboriginal inhabitants of Japan who had until then confounded the army's attempts to move them from their wild lodgings, were dri\-Cn far off to the northern island, Hokkaido.


[User] When the great provincial armies were gradually disbanded under Hideyoshi and Ieyasu, many out-of-work samurai roamed the countr\' redundant in an era of peace. ;\1usashi was one such samurai, a "ronin" or "w;ve man". There were still samurai retainers to the Tokugawas and provincial lords, but their numbers were few. The hordes of redundant samurai found themselves living in a society which was completely based on the old chivalry, but at the same time they were apart from a society in which there was no place for men at arms. They became an inverted class, keeping the old chivalry ali\·e by devotion to military arts with the fervour only the Japanese possess. This was the time of the flowering of Kendo.


[User] Kendo, the Way of the sword, had always been synonymous with nobility in Japan. Since the founding of the samurai class in the eighth century, the military arts had become the highest form of study, inspired b}' the teachings of Zen and the feeling of Shinto. Schools of Kcndo born in the early ,\\uromachi period-appruximatdy 1390 to 1600-were continued through the upheavals of the formation of the peaceful Tokugawa Shogunate, and survi\"e to this Jay. The education of the sons of the Tokugawa Shoguns was by means of schooling in the Chinese classics and fencing exercises. Where a Westerner might say "The pen is mightier than the sword", the Japanese would say "Bunbu ltchi", or "Pen and sword in accord". Today, prominent busines,mcn and political figures in Japan still practise the old traditions of Kendo schools, preserving the forms of several hundred years ago.


[User] To sum up, Musashi w:is a ronin at a time when the samurai were formally considered robe the elite, bur actually had no means of livelihood unless they owned lands and castles. Many ronin put up their swords and became artisans, but others, like Musashi, pursued the ideal of th<: warrior searching for enlightenment through the perilous paths of Kendo. Duels of revenge and tests of skill were commonplace, and fencing schools multiplied. Two schools especially, the lttu school and the Yagyu school, were sponsored by the


[User] Tokugawas. The Itta school provided an unbroken line of Kendo teachers, and the Yagyu school eventually became the secret police of the Tokugawa bureaucracy.


[User] KENDO


[User] Traditionally, the fencing halls of Japan, called Dojo, were associated with shrines and temples, but during Musashi's lifetime numerous schools sprang up in the new castle towns. Each daimyo or lord sponsored a Kendo school, where his retainers could be trained and his sons educated. The hope of every ronin was that he would defeat the students and master of a Dojo in combat, thus increasing his fame and bringing his name to the ears of one who might employ him.


[User] The samurai wore two swords thrust through the belt with the cutting edge uppermost. The longer sword was carried out of doors only, the shorter sword


[User] was worn at all times. For training, wooden swords and bamboo swords were often used. Duelling and other tests of arms were common, with both real and practice swords. These took place in fencing halls and before shrines, in the streets and within castle walls. Duels were fought to the death or until one of the contestants was disabled, but a few generations after Musashi's time the "shinai", a pliable bamboo sword, and later padded fencing armour, came to be widely used, so the chances of injury were greatly reduced. The samurai studied with all kinds of weapons: halberds, sticks, swords, chain and sickle, and others. Many schools using such weapons survive in traditional form in Japan today.


[User] To !rain in Kendo one must subjugate the self, bear the pain of gruelling practise, and cultivate a level mind in the face of peril. But the Way of the sword means not only fencing training but also living by the code of honour of the samurai elite. Warfare was the spirit of the samurai's everyday life, and he could face death as if it were a domestic routine. The meaning of life and death by the sword was mirrored in the everyday conduct of the feudal Japanese, and he who realised the resolute acceptance of death at any moment in his everyday life was a master of the sword. It is in order to attain such an understanding that later men have followed the ancient traditions of the sword-fencing styles, and even today give up their lives for Kendo practise.


[User] KENDO AND ZEN


[User] The Way of the sword is the moral teaching of the samurai, fostered by the Confucianist philosophy which shaped the Tokugawa system, together with the native Shinto religion of Japan. The warrior courts of Japan from the Kamakura period to the Muromachi period encouraged the austere Zen study among the samurai, and Zen went hand in hand with the arts of war. In Zen there are no elaborations, it aims directly at the true nature of things. There are no ceremonies, no teachings: the prize of Zen is essentially personal.


[User] Enlightenment in Zen does not mean a change in behaviour, but realisation of the nature of ordinary life. The end point is the beginning, and the great virtue is simplicity. The secret teaching of the Itta Ryu school of Kenda, Kiriotoshi, is the first technique of some hundred or so. The teaching is "Ai Uchi", meaning to cut the opponent just as he cuts you. This is the ultimate timing ... it is lack of anger. It means to treat your enemy as an honoured guest. It also means to abandon your life or throw away fear.


[User] The first technique is the last, the beginner and the master behave in the same way. Knowledge is a full circle. The first of Musashi's chapter headings is Ground, for the basis of Kenda and Zen, and the last book is Void, for that understanding which can only be expressed as nothingness. The teachings of Kenda are like rhe fierce verbal forays to which the Zen student is subjected. Assailed with doubts and misery, his mind and spirit in a whirl, the student is


[User] 6'Tadually guided ro realisation and understanding by his teacher. The Kenda student practises furiously, thousands of cuts morning and night, learning


[User] fierce techniques of horrible war, until eventually sword becomes "no sword", intention becomes "no intention", a spontaneous knowledge of every situation. The first elementary reaching becomes the highest knowledge, and the master still continues to practise this simple training, his everyday prayer.


[User] CONCERNING THE LIFE OF MIYAMOTO MUSASHI


[User] Shinmen Musashi No Kami Fujiwara No Genshin, or as he is commonly known Miyamoto Musashi, was born in rhe village called Miyamoto in the province Mimasaka in 1584. "Musashi" is the name of an area south-west of Tokyo, and rhc appellation "No Kami" means noble person of the area, while "Fujiwara" is the name of a noble family foremost in Japan over a thousand years ago.


[User] Musashi's ancestors were a branch of the powerful Harima clan in Kyushu, the southern island of Japan. Hirada Shokan, his grandfather, was a retainer of


[User] I


[User] Shinmen lga No Kami Sudeshige, the lord of Takeyama castle. Hirada Shokan was highly thought of by his lord and eventually married his lord's daughter.


[User] When Musashi was seven, his father, Munisai, either died or abandoned the child. As his mother had died, Ben No Suke, as Musashi was known during his childhood, was left in the care of an uncle on his mother's side, a priest. So we find Musashi an orphan during Hideyoshi's campaigns of unification, son of a samurai in a violent unhappy land. Ile was a boisterous youth, strong-willed and physically large for his age. Whether he was urged to pursue Kendo by his uncle, or whether his aggressive nature led him to it, we do not know, but it is recorded that he slew a man in single combat when he was just thirteen. The opponent was Arima Kihei, a samurai of the Shinto Ryu school of military arts, skilled with sword and spear. The boy threw the man to the ground, and beat him about the head with a stick when he tried to rise. Kihei died vomiting blood.


[User] Musashi's next contest was when he was sixteen, when he defeated Tadashima Akiyama. About this time, he left home to embark on the "Warrior Pilgimage" which saw him victor in scores of contests and which took him to war six times, until he finally settled down at the age of fifty, having reached the end of his search for reason. There must have heen many ronin travelling the country on similar expeditions, some alone like Musashi and some enjoying sponsorship, though not on the scale of the pilgrimage of the famous swordsman Tsukahara Bokuden who had travelled with a retinue of over one hundred men in the previous century.


[User] This part of Musashi's life was spent living apart from society while he devoted himself with a ferocious single-mindedness to the search for enlightenment by the Way of the sword. Concerned only with perfecting his skill, he lived as men need not live, wandering over Japan soaked by the cold winds of winter, not dressing his hair, nor taking a wife, nor following any profession save his study. It is said he never entered a bathtub lest he was caught unawares without a weapon, and that his appearance was uncouth and wretched.


[User] In the battle which resulted in Ieyasu succeeding Hideyoshi as Shogun of Japan, Seki ga I Iara, Musashi joined the ranks of the Ashikaga army to fight against Ieyasu. He survived the terrible three days during which seventy thousand people died, and also survived the hunting down and massacre of the


[User] \'anguished arm,·.


[User] lie \\'till upto Kyoto, the capital, when he \\'as twenty-one. This was the scene of hi, \'endctta against the Yoshioka family. The Yoshiokas had been fencing instructors to the Ashikaga house for generations. Later forbidden to teach Kendo by lord Tokugawa, the family became dyers, and arc dyers today. Munisai, /1\usashi's father, had been invited to Kyoto some years before by the Shogun Ashikaga Yoshiaka . .\lunisai was a competent swordsman, and an expert \\'ith the "jittc", a kind of iron truncheon with a tongue for catching S\\'Ord blades. The story has it that Munisai fought three of the Yoshiokas,


[User] \\'inning two of the duels, and perhaps this has some bearing on Musashi's bcha\'iour t(mards the family.


[User] Yoshioka Seijiro, the head of the family, was the first t0 fight 1\lusashi, on the moor outside the city, Seijiro was armed with a n:al sword, and Musashi with a \\'Ooden sword. /1\usashi laid Seijiro out with a fierce attack and bear him savagely as he lay on the ground. The retainers carried their lord home on a rain-shutter, where for shame he cm off his samurai topknot.


[User] ,\\usashi lingered on in the capital, and his continued presence further irked the Yoshioka . The second broth<'T, IJenshichiro, applied to Musashi for a duel. As a military ploy, Musashi arrived late on the appointed day, and seconds after the start of the fight he broke his opponent's skull with one blow of his wooden sword. Denshichiro \\'as dead. The house issued yet another challenge with IlanshiL'hiro, the young son of Seijiro, as champion. Hanshichiro was a mere boy, not yet in his teens. The contest was lO be held by a pine tree adjacent to ricefields. /1\usashi arrived at the meeting place well before the appointed rime and waited in hiding for his enemy to come. The child arrived dressed formally in war gear, with a party of well-armed retainers, determined to do away with


[User] ,\1usashi. Musashi waited concealed in the shadows, and just as they were thinking that he had thought better of it and had decided to leave Kyoto, he suddenly appeared in the midst of them, and cur the boy down. The, drawing both swords, he cur a path through them and made his escape.


[User] After that frightful episode Musashi wandered over Japan, becoming a legend in his own rime. \Ve find mention of his name and stories of his prowess in registers, diaries, on monuments, and in folk memory from Tokyo to Kyushu. He had m0re than sixty contests hefore he was twenty-nine. and won them all, The earliest account of his contests appears in Nacu Ki. or "Two


[User] Heavens Chronicle", a record compiled by his pupils a generation after his death.


[User] In the year of the Yoshioka affair, 1605, he visited the temple Hozoin in the


[User] south of the capital. Here he had a contest with Oku Hozoin, the Nichiren sect pupil of the Zen priest Hoin Inei. The priest was a spearman, but no match for Musashi who defeated him twice with his short wooden sword. Musashi stayed at the temple for some time studying fighting techniques and enjoying talks with the priests. There is still today a traditional spear fighting form practised by the monks of Hozoin. It is interesting that in ancient times the word "Osho", which now means priest, used to mean "spear teacher". Hoin Inei was pupil to Izumi Musashi no Kami, a master of Shinto Kendo. The priest used spears with cross-shaped blades kept outside the temple under the eaves and used in fire fighting.


[User] When Musashi was in lga province he met a skilled chain and sickle fighter named Shishido Baikin. As Shishido twirled his chain Musashi drew a dagger and pierced his breast, advancing to finish him off. The watching pupils attacked ,\1usashi but he frightened them away in four directions.


[User] ln Edo, a fighter named Muso Gonosuke visited Musashi requesting a duel. Musashi was cutting wood to make a bow, and granting Gonosuke's request stood up intending to use the slender wand he wa cutting as a sword. Gonosuke made a fierce attack, but Musashi stepped straight in and banged him on the head. Gonosuke went away.


[User] Passing through Izumo province, Musashi visited lord Matsudaira and asked permission to fight with his strongest Kendo expert. There were many good strategists in Izumo. Permission was granted against a man who used an eight foot long hexagonal wooden pole. The contest was held in the lord's library garden. Musashi used two wooden swords. He chased the samurai up the two wooden steps of the library veranda, thrust at his face on the second step, and hit him on both his arms as he flinched away. To the surprise of the assembled retainers, lord Matsudaira asked Musashi to fight him. Musashi drove the lord up the library steps as before, and when he tried to make a resolute fencing attitude Musashi hit his sword with the "Fire and Stones Cut", breaking it in two. The lord bowed in defeat, and Musashi stayed for some time as his teacher. Musashi's most well-known duel was in the seventeenth year of Keicho, 1612, when he was in Ogura in Bunzen province. His opponent was Sasaki


[User] Kojiro, a young man who had developed a strong fencing technique known as Tsubarne-gaeshi or "swallow counter", inspired by the motion of a swallow's tail in flight. Kojiro was retained by the lord of the province, llosokawa Tadaoki. Musashi applied to Tadaoki for pcrmi ssion to fight Kojiro through the offices of one of the Hosokawa retainers who had been a pupil of Musashi's father, one Nagaoka Sato Okinaga. Permission was granted for the contest to lie held at eight o'clock the next morning, and the place was to be an island some few miles from Ogura. That night Musashi left his lodging and moved to the house of Kobayashi Taro Zacmon. This inspired a rumour that awe of Kojiro's subtle technique had made J\tu;ashi run away afraid for his life. The next day at eight o'clock Musashi could not be woken until a prompter came from the officials assembled on the island. lie got up, drank the water they brought to him to wash with, and went straight down to the shore. /\s Sato rowed across ro the island Musashi fashioned a paper string to tic back the sleeves of his kimono, and cut a wooden sword from the spare oar. When he had done this he lay down to rest.


[User] The boat neared the place of combat and Kojiro and the waiting officials were astounded to sec the strange figure of Musashi, 1, th his unkempt hair tied up in a towel, leap from the boat brandishing the long wooden oar and rush through the waves up the beach towards his enemy. Kojiro drew his long sword, a fine lilade by Nagami tsu of Bizen, and threw away his scabbard. "You have no more need of that" said Musashi as he rushed forward with his sword held to one side. Kojiro was provoked into making the first cut and Musashi dashed upward at his lilade, bringing the oar down on Kojiro's head. As Kojiro fell, his sword, which had cur the towel from Musashi's head, cut across the hem of his divided skirt. Musashi noted Kojiro's condition and bowed to the astounded officials before running back to his boar. Some sources have it that after he killed Kojiro Musashi threw down the oar and, nimbly leaping back several paces, drew both his swords and flourished them with a shout at his fallen enemy.


[User] It was about this time that Musashi stopped ever using real swords in duels. lie was invincible, and from now one he devoted himself to the search for perfect understanding by way of Kendo.


[User] In I 614	and again in  1615 he took the opportunity of once more


[User] experiencing warfare and siege. Ieyasu laid siege to Osaka castle where the


[User] supporters of the Ashikaga family were gathered in insurrection. Musashi joined the Tokugawa forces in both winter and summer campaigns, now fighting against those he had fought for as a youth at Seki ga Hara.


[User] According to his own writing, he came to understand strategy when he was fifty or fifty-one in 1634. He and his adopted son Jori, the waif whom he had met in Dewa province on his travels, settled in Ogura in this year. Musashi was never again to leave Kyushu island. The Hosokawa house had been entrusted with the command of the hot seat of Higo province, Kumamoto castle, and the new lordofBunzen was an Ogasawara. lori found employment under Ogasawara Tadazane, and as a captain in Tadazane's army fought against the Christians in the Shimawara uprising of 1638, when Musashi was about fifty-five. The lords of the southern provinces had always been antagonistic to the Tokugawas and were the instigators of intrigue with foreign powers and the Japanese Christians. Musashi was a member of the field staff at Shimawara where the Christians were massacred. After this, Ieyasu closed the ports of Japan to foreign intercourse, and they remained closed for over two hundred years.


[User] After six years in Ogura, Musashi was invited to stay with Churi, the Hosokawa lord of Kumamoto castle, as a guest. He stayed a few years with lord Churi and spent his time teaching and painting. In 16-1-3, he retired to a life of seclusion in a cave called "Reigendo". Here he wrote Go Ri11 No Sbo, addressed to his pupil Teruo Nobuyuki, a few weeks before his death on the nineteenth of May, 16-1-5.


[User] Musashi is known to the Japanese as "Kensei", that is, "Sword Saint". Go Ri11 No Sbo heads ever)' Kcndo bibliography, being unique among books of martial art in that it deals with both the strategy of warfare and the methods of single combat in exactly the same way. The book is not a thesis on strategy, it is in Musashi 'swords "a guide for men who want to learn strategy" and, as a guide always leads, so the contents arc always beyond the student's understanding. The more one reads the book the more one finds in its pages. Ir is ,\\usashi's last will, the key to the path he trod. When, at twenty-eight or twenty-nine, he had become such a strong fighter, he did not settle down and build a school, replete with success, but became douhly engrossed with his study. In his last days even, he scorned the life of comfort with lord Hosokawa and lived two years alone in a mountain cave deep in contemplation. The behaviour of this cruel, headstrong man was evidently most humble and honest.


[User] Musashi wrote "When you have attained the Way of strategy there will be not one thing that you cannot understand" and "You will sec the Way in everything'.' He did, in fact, become a master of arts and crafts. He produced masterpieces of ink painting, probably more highly valued by the Japanese than the ink paintings of any other. His works include cormorants, herons, Hotei the Shinto God, dragons, birds with flowers, bird in a dead tree, Daruma (Bodhidharma), and others. He was a fine calligrapher, evidenced by his piece "Senki" (Warspirit). There is a small wood sculpture of the Buddhist deity Fudo Myoo in private hands. A sculpture of Kwan non was lost recently. He made works in metal, and founded the school of sword guard makers who signed "Niten", after him (see below). He is said to have written poems and songs, but none of these survive. It is said also that he was commissioned by the Shogun Iemitsu to paint the sunrise over Edo castle.


[User] His paintings are sometimes impressed with his seal, "Musashi", or his nom de plume "Niten". Niten means "Two Heavens", said by some to allude to his fighting attitude with a sword in each hand held above his head. In some places he established schools known as "Niten ryu ", and in other places called it "Enmci ryu" (clear circle).


[User] He wrote "Study the Ways of all professions". It is evident that he did just. that. He sought out not only great swordsmen but also priests, strategists, artists and craftsmen, eager to broaden his knowledge.


[User] Musashi writes about the various aspects of Kenda in such a way that it is possible for the beginner to study at beginner's level, and for Kenda masters to study the same words on a higher level. This applies not just to military strategy, but to any situation where plans and tactics are used. Japanese businessmen have used Go Rin No Sbo as a guide for business practice, making sales campaigns like military operations, using the same energetic methods. In the same way that Musashi seems to have been a horribly cruel man, yet was following logically an honest ideal, so successful busines, seems to most people to be without conscience.


[User] Musashi's life study is thus as relevant in the twentieth century as it was on the medieval battleground, and applies not just to the Japanese race but to all nations. I suppose you could sum up his inspiration as "humility and hard work".


[User] GO RIN  NO SHO by Miyamoto Musashi


[User] INTRODUCTION


[User] I have been many years training in the Way' of strategy, 2 called Ni Ten Ichi Ryu, and now I think I will explain it in writing for the first time. It is now during the first ten days of the tenth month in the twentieth year ofKanei ( 1645). I have climbed mountain lwato of Higo in Kyushu to pay homage to heavcn,3pray to Kwannon,4 and kneel before Buddha. I am a warrior of Harima province, Shinmen Musashi No Kami Fujiwara No Genshin, age sixty years.


[User] From youth my heart has been inclined toward the Way of strategy. My first duel was when I was thirteen, I struck down a strategist of the Shinto school, one Arima Kihei.5 When I was sixteen I struck down an able strategist, Tadashima Akiyama. When I was twenty-one I went up to the capital and met all manner of strategists, never once failing to win in many contests.


[User] Way: The character for Way is read "Michi0 in Japanese or "Do" in Chinese-based reading. It is equivalent tu the Chinese "Tao" anJ means the whole life of the warrior, his devotion to the sword, his place in the Confucius-coloured bureaucracy of the Tokugawa system. It is the road of the cosmos, not just a set of ethics for the artist or priest to live by, but the divine footprints of Cod pointing the Way.


[User] Str,1tegy.- "Heiho" is a word of Chinese derivation meaning military strategy. "Hei" means soldier and "Ho" means method or form.


[User] Jfumage to be,1vc11: "Ten" or heaven means the Shinto religion. Shinto-a word com pounding the two characters "Kami" (God) and ",\1ichi" (Way)-is the old religion of Japan. In Shinto there are many llolies, gods of steel and fermentation, place and inJustry1 and so on, and the first gods, ancestors to the Imperial line.


[User] + /{wmmon: God(Jess) of mercy in Buddhism.


[User] Arima Kibei: of the Shinto school. Sec note 15.


[User] After that I went from province to province duelling with strategists of various schools, and not once failed to win even though I had as many as sixty encounters. This was between the ages of thirteen and twenty-eight or twenty-nine.


[User] When I reached thirty I looked back on my past. The previous victories were not due to my having mastered strategy. Perhaps it was natural ability, or the order of heaven, or that other schools' strategy was inferior. After that I studied morning and evening searching for the principle, and came to realise the Way of strategy when I was fifty.


[User] Since then I have lived without following any particular Way. Thus with the virtue of strategy I practise many arts and abilitics all things with no teacher.6 To write this book I did not use the law of Buddha or the teachings of Confucius, neither old war chronicles nor books on martial tactics. I take up my brush to explain the true spirit7 of this Ichi school as it is mirrored in the Way of heaven and Kwannon. The time is the night of the tenth day of the tenth month, at the hour of the tiger8( 3-5 a.m.)


[User] All tbings witb uo teacher: There had been traditions instituted for the arts in the Muromachi period, system of grades and licences and seniority, and thesewrre perpetu ateu perhaps more rigidly under the Tokugawa bureaucracy. Musashi studied various arts in various schools, Uut when after his enlightenment he pursued his studies he had become separate from traditional guidance. He writes his final words in the book of the Void, "Then you will come to think of things in a wide sense, and taking the Void as the Way, you will see the Way as Void."


[User] Spirit: "Shin" or "Kokoro" has been translated "heart", "soul", or "spirit". It could be put as feeling, manner. It has alv..1ays been said ..The sword is the soul of the samurai."


[User] T/Je bour of tbe t?'ger: Years, months and hours were named after the ancient Chinese


[User] Zodiacal time system.


[User] THE GROUND BOOK


[User] Strategy is the craft of the warrior. Commanders must enact the craft, and troopers should know this Way. There is no warrior in the world today who really understands the Way of strategy.


[User] There are various Ways. There is the Way of salvation by the law of Buddha, the Way of Confucius governing the Way of learning, the Way of healing as a doctor, as a poet teaching the Way of Waka,9 tea,10 archery, 11 and many arts and skills. Each man practises as he feels inclined.


[User] It is said the warrior's is the twofold Way of pen and sword,12 and he should


[User] have a taste for both Ways. Even if a man has no natural ability he can be a


[User] \Vaka.- The thirty-one syllable poem. The word means "Song of Japan" or "Sung in Harmony".


[User] JU Tea.- Tea drinking is srndied in schools, JUSt like sword-fencing. It is basically a ritual,


[User] based un simple refined rules, between a few persons in a small room.


[User] 11 Arcbery: The bow \Vas rhe main weapon of the samurai of the Nara and lleian periods, and was later superseded by the sword. Archery is practised as a ritual like tea and sword. 1 lachiman, the God of War, is often depicted as an archer, and the bow is frequently illustrated as part of the paraphernalia uf the gods.


[User] l2Pen aud sword: "Bunbu Itchi" or "Pen and sword in accord" is often presented in brushed calligraphy. Young men during the Tokugawa period were educated solely in writing the Chinese classics and exercising in swordplay. Pen and sword, in fact, filled the life of the Japanese nobility.


[User] warrior by sticking assiduously to both divisions of the Way. Generally speaking, the Way of the warrior is resolute acceptance of death. 13 Although not only warriors but priests, women, peasants and lowlier folk have been known to die readily in the cause of duty or out of shame, this is a different thing. The warrior is different in that studying the Way of strategy is based on overcoming men. Ry victory gained in crossing swords with individuals, or enjoining battle with large numbers, we can attain power and fame for ourselves or our lord.14 This is the virtue of strategy.


[User] 13 Resolute acceptance uf deatb, This idea can be summed up as the philosophy expounded in Ila Gakure or .. Hidden I.eaves", a book written in the sc:vcntccnth century by Yamamoto Tsunenori and a few other samurai of the provinct:: Nabeshima Han, present day Saga. Under the Tokugawas, the enforced logic of the Confucius-influenced system ensured stability among the samurai, but it also meant the passing of certain aspects of Bushido. Discipline for both samurai and commoners became lax. Yamamoto Tsunenori had been counsellor to Mitsushige, lord of Nabeshima Han, for many years, and upon his lord's death he wanted to commit suicide with his family in the traditional manner. This kind of suicide was strictly prohibited by the new legislation, and, full of remorse, Yamamoto retired in sadness to the boundary of Nabeshima Han. Here he met others who had faced the same predicament, and together they wrote a lament of what they saw as the decadence of Bushido. Their criticism is a revealing comment on the changing face of Japan during M.usashi1s lifetime: "There is no way to describe what a warrior should do other than that he should adhere to the Way of the warrior (Bushido). I find that all men are negligent of this. There are few men who can quickly reply to the question "What is


[User] the Way of lhc \1/arrior?" This is because they do n01_know in their hearts. From this we can see they do nor follow the Way of the wJ.rrior. Hy the Way of the warrior is meant death. The Way of the warrior is death. This means choosing death whenever there is a choice between life and death. It means nothing more than this. It means co sec things through, being resolved. Sayings likt: "To die with your intention unrealised is to die uselessly", and so on, are from the weak Kyoto, Osaka Bushido. They are unresolved as to whether to keep to their original plan when faced with the choice of hfc and death. Every man wants to live. They theorise wirh staying alive kepr in mind. "The man who lives on when he has failed in his intention is a coward" is a heartless definirion. That ro die having failed is to die uselessly is a mad point of \'iew. This is not a shameful thing. It is the most important thing in the \Vay of the warrior. If you keep your spirit correct from morning to night, accustomed to the idea of death and resolved on death, and consider yourselfas a dead body, thus becoming one with the Way of the warrior, you can pass through life with no possibility of failure and perform your office properly.


[User] "The servant must think earnestly of the business of his employer. Such a fellow is a splendid rerainer. In this house there have been generations of splendid gem lemen and we are deeply impressed by their warm kindness ... all our ancestors. This was simply abandoning body and soul for the sake of their lord.


[User] ",\lorcovcr, our house excels in \\'isdom and technical skill. What a joyful thing if this


[User] can be used to advantage.


[User] "Even an unadaptable man who is completely useless is a most trusted retainer if he does nothing more than think earnestly of his lord's welfare. To think only of the practical benefit of wisdom and technology is vulgar.


[User] "Some men are prone to h3ving sudden inspirations. Some men do not 9.ulckly have


[User] good ideas but arrive at the answer by slow consideration. Well, if we investigate the heart of the matter, even though people's natural abilities differ, bearing in mind the Four Oaths. u·hen you1 thinking rises above concern for your own welfare, wisdom which is independent of thought appears. Whoever thinks deeply on things, even though he may carefully consider the future, will usually think around the basis of his own welfare. By the result of such evil thinking he will only perform evil aces. It is very difficult for most silly fellows to rise above thinking of their own \\.·elfare.


[User] "So when you embark upon something, before you start fix your intention on the


[User] Four Oaths and put selfishness behind you. Then you cannot fail.


[User] "The Four Oaths: Never be late with respect to the Way of the warrior. Re useful to the lord. Be respectful to your parents. Get beyond love and grief: exist for the good of nun."


[User] Our lord: This refers to the <laimyo, who retained numbers of samurai to fight for them (see previous note).


[User] The Way of Strategy


[User] In China and Japan practitioners of the Way have been known as "masters of strategy". Warriors must learn this Way.


[User] Recently there have been people getting on in the world as strategists, but they are usually just sword-fencers. The attendants of the Kashima Kantori15 shrines of the province Hitachi received instruction from the gods, and made schools based on this teaching, travelling from country to country instructing men. This is the recent meaning of strategy.


[User] In olden times strategy was listed among the Ten Abilities and Seven Arts as a beneficial practice. It was certainly an art but as a beneficial practice it was not limited to sword-fencing. The true value of sword-fencing cannot be seen within the confines of sword-fencing technique.


[User] If we look at the world we see arts for sale. Men use equipment to sell their own selves. As if with the nut and the flower, the nut has become less than the flower. In this kind of Way of ;trategy, both those teaching and those learning the way are concerned with colouring and showing off their technique, trying to hasten the bloom of the flower. They speak of "This Dojo" and "That Dojo".16 They are looking for profit. Someone once said "Immature strategy is the cause of grief". That was a true saying.


[User] There are four \Vays'7 in which men pass through life: as gentlemen, farmers, artisans and merchants.


[User] The Way of the farmer. Using agriculrural instruments, he sees springs through to autumns with an eye on the changes of season.


[User] Kasbima Kantori shrines: The original schools of Kenda can be found in the traditions preserved in Shinto shrines. Many of the school ancestors are entombed in the Kanta area. not far from Tokyo, where the Kashima and Kantori shrines still stand. Arima Kihei, the samurai whom i\tusashi killed at the age of thirteen, was a fencer of the Shinto school associated with the shrines. The Yagyu school was derived from Kashima style. Shinto was a religion of industry in everyday life, and the \Var Gods enshrined at Kashtma and Kamori are still invoked today as part of the everyday practice of the Shinto school.


[User] Dojo, "Dojo" means "Way place", the room where something is studied.


[User] l 7 Four Ways: See Translator's Introduction for an explanation of the four classes in


[User] Japanese society.


[User] Second is the Way of the merchant. The wine maker obtains his ingredients and purs rhcm to use to make his living. The Way of the merchant is alwa\'Sto live by taking profit. This is the Way of the merchant.	•


[User] Thirdly the gentleman warrior, carrying the weaponry of his Way. The Way of the warrior is to master rhc virtue of his weapons. If a gentleman dislikes strategy he will not appreciate the benefit of weaponry, so must he not have a little taste for this?


[User] Fourthly the Way of the artisan. The Way of the carpenter18 is to become proficient in the use of his tools, first to lay his plans with a true measure and then perform his work according to plan. Thus he passes through life. These are the four Ways of the gentleman, the farmer, the artisan and the merchant.


[User] Comparing the Way of the carpenter to strategy


[User] The comparison with carpentry is through the connection 11 th houses. Houses of the nobility, houses of warriors, the Four houses, 19 ruin of houses, thriving of houses, the style of the house, the tradition of the house, and the name of the house. The carpenter uses a master plan of the building, and the Way of strategy is similar in that there is a plan of campaign. If you want to learn the craft of war, ponder over this book. The teacher is as a needle, the disciple is as thread. You must practise constantly.


[User] Like the foreman carpenter, the commander must know natural rules, and the rules of the country, and the rules of houses. This is the Way of the foreman.


[User] The foreman carpenter must know the architectural theory of rowers and temples, and the plans of palaces, and must employ men to raise up houses. The Way of the foreman carpenter is the same as the Way of the commander of a warrior house.20


[User] Carpc11f(•r, All buildings in Japan, except for the walls of the great castles which appeared a few generations before Musashi's birth, were wooden. "Carpenter" me,1.ns archirect and builder.


[User] Four J/ousrs: There were four branches of the Fujiv,1ara family, who dominated Japan in


[User] the Heian period. There ar< also four different schools of tea.


[User] lVarn·o, bousr: The warrior families who had been in concrol of Japan for most of her history kept private armies, each with its own commander.


[User] In the construction of houses, choice of woods is made. Straight un-knotted timber of good appearance is used for the revealed pillars, straight timber with small defects is used for the inner pillars. Timber of the finest appearance, even if a little weak, is used for the thresholds, lintels, doors, and sliding doors,21 and so on. Good strong timber, though it be gnarled and knotted, can always be used discreetly in construction. Timber which is weak or knotted throughout should be used as scaffolding, and later for firewood.


[User] The foreman carpenter allots his men work according to their ability. Floor layers, makers of sliding doors, thresholds and lintels, ceilings and so on. Those of poor ability lay the floor joists, and those of lesser ability carve wedges and do such miscellaneous work. If the foreman knows and deploys his men well the finished work will be good.


[User] The foreman should take into account the abilities and limitations of his men, circulating among them and asking nothing unreasonable. He should know their morale and spirit, and encourage them when necessary. This is the same as the principle of strategy.


[User] Like a trooper, the carpenter sharpens his own tools.22 He carries his equipment in his tool box, and works under the direction of his foreman. He makes columns and girders with an axe, shapes floorboards and shelves with a plane, cuts fine openwork and carvings accurately, giving as excellent a finish as his skill will allow. This is the craft of the carpenters. When the carpenter becomes skilled and understands measures he can become a foreman.


[User] The carpenter's attainment is, having tools which will cut well, to make small


[User] Slidi11g dour.,·.-Japanese uuildings made liberal use of sliding Joors, detachable walls, and


[User] shutters made of wood which were put over door openings at night and in bad weather.


[User] Like a trooper, tbe carpeuter sharpens bis owu tools: Sharpening and polishing the Japanese sword is today a work undertaken only by a specialist, but perhaps the art was more widespread in the age of war. If a sword is imperfectly polished and the surface of the blade incorrectly shaped, even if it is a very sharp, fine weapon it will not cut at all well.


[User] shrines,'-' writing shelves, tables, paper lanterns, chopping boards and pot·lids. These are the specialities of the carpenter. Things are similar for the trooper. You ought to think deeply about this.


[User] The attainment of the carpenter is that his work is not warped, that the joints are not misaligned, and that the work is truly planed so that it meets well and is not merely finished in scctions. This is essential.


[User] If you want to learn this Wa}', deeply consider the things written in this book one at a time. You must do sufficient research.


[User] Outline of the Five Books of this Book of Strategy


[User] The Way is shown as five book-24 concerning different aspects. These arc· Ground, Water, Fire, Tradition (Wind),2' and Void.26


[User] The body of the Way of strategy from the viewpoint of my lchi school is explained in the Ground book. It i difficult to realise the true Way just through sword·fcncing. Know the smallest things and the biggest things, the shallowest things and the deepest things. As if it were a straight road mapped out on the ground, the first book is called the Ground book.


[User] Second is the Water book. With water as the basis, the spirit becomes like water. Water adopts the shape of irs receptacle, it is sometimes a trickle and sometimes a wild sea. Water has a clear blue colour. By the clarity, things of !chi school are shown in this book.


[User] If you master the principles of sword-fencing, when you freely beat one


[User] man, you beat any man in the world. The spirit of defeating a man is the same


[User] Sm.11/ sbrinrs: Small shrines to the Sh111to gods are found in every Jap:inese home.


[User] !4 l'ivc books: r.n Rin No Sbu means a book of five rin s. The "Go Dai'' (Five Grear;) of 13ud<lh, m an: the five element!, which make up the cosmos: ground, water, fire, wind, void. The "Go Rin" (Five Rings) of BudJhism arc the five parts of the human hoJy, head, left and right elbows, and left and right knees.


[User] 2S tViud: The Japant::sc character for "wind'' also means "srrlc".


[User] \Juul. The void, or Norhmgness, • a Buddhist term for the illusionary nature of wordly


[User] things.


[User] for ten million men. The strategist makes small things into big things, like building a great Buddha from a one foot model. I cannot write in detail how this is done. The principle of strategy is having one thing, to know ten thousand things. Things of Ichi school arc written in this the Water book.


[User] Third is the Fire book. This book is about fighting. The spirit of fire is fierce, whether the fire be small or big; and so it is with battles. The Way of battles is the same for man to man fights and for ten thousand a side battles. You must appreciate that spirit can become big or small. What is big is easy to perceive: what is small is difficult to perceive. In short, it is difficult for large numb<:rs of men to change position, so their movements can be easily predicted. An individual can easily change his mind, so his movements arc difficult to predict. You must appreciate this. The essence of this book is that you must train day and night in order to make quick decisions. In strategy it is necessary to treat training as a part of normal life with your spirit unchanging. Thus combat in battle is described in the Fire book.


[User] Fourthly the Wind book. This book is not concerned with my Ichi school but with other schools of strategy. By Wind I mean old traditions, present-day traditions, and family traditions of strategy. Thus I clearly explain the strategies of the world. This is tradition. It is difficult to know yourself if you do not know others. To all Ways there arc side-tracks. If you study a Way daily, and your spirit diverges, you may think you are obeying a good Way but objectively it is not the true Way. If you arc following the true Way and diverge a little, this will later hecome a large divergence. You must realise this. Other strategies have come to be thought of as mere sword-fencing, and it is not unreasonable that this should be so. The benefit of my strategy, although it includes sword-fencing, lies in a separate principle. I have explained what is commonly meant by strategy in other schools in the Tradition (Wind) book.


[User] Fifthly, the book of the Void. By Void I mean that which has no beginning


[User] and no end. Attaining this principle means not attaining the principle. The Way of strategy is the Way of nature. When you appreciate the power of nature, knowing the rhythm of any situation, you will be able to hit the enemy naturally and strike naturally. All this is the Way of the Void. I intend to show how to follow the true Way according to nature in the book of the Void.


[User] The Name lchi Ryu Ni To (0111' -rbool-two swords)


[User] Warriors, both commanders and troopers, carry two swords27 at their belt. In olden times these were called the long sword and the sword; nowadays they are known as the sword and the companion sword. Let it suffice to say that in our land, whatever the reason, a warrior carries two swords at his belt.·, tis the Way of the warrior.


[User] "Nita Ichi Ryu" shows the advantage ofusing both swords.


[User] The spear and the halberd28 are weapons which are carried out of doors.


[User] Students of the lchi school Way of strategy should train from the start with the sword and long sword in either hand. This is a truth: when you sacrifice your life, you must make fullest use of your weaponry. It is false not to do so, and to die with a weapon yet undrawn.


[User] If you hold a sword with both hands, it is difficult to wield it freely to left and right, so my method is lO carry the sword in one hand. This does not apply to large weapons such as the spear or halberd, but swords and companion swords can be carried in one hand. It is encumbering to hold a sword in both hands when you are on horseback, when running on uneven roads, on swampy ground, muddy rice fields, stony ground, or in a crowd of people. To hold the long sword in both hands is not the true \Vay, for if you carry a bow or spear or


[User] Two 5words: The samurai wore two swords thrust chrough the helt with the cutting edges upward on Lhe left side. The shorter, or companion, S\..,·ord was carried at all times, and the longer sword \vorn only out of doors. From time to time there \\'ere rules governing the style and length of S\'l.'Ords. Samurai carried two swords bur other classes were allowed only one sword for protection against brigands on the roads between towns (see Translator's Introduction}. The samurai kept their short swords at their bedsides, and there were racks for long swords inside the vestibule of every samurai home.


[User] Spear and balberd, The techniques for spear and halberd fighting are the same as those of sword fighting. Spears were first popular in the Muromachi period, primarily as arms for the vast armies of common infantry, and later became objects of decoration for the processions of the daimyo to and from the capital in the Tokugawa period. The spear is used to cut and thrust, and is not thrown.


[User] The halberd and similar weapons with long curved blades were especially effective


[User] against cavalry, and came to be used hy women who might have to defend their homes jn


[User] the absence of menfolk. The art is widely studied by women today.


[User] orhcr arms in your left hand you have only one hand free for the long sword. However, when it is difficult to cut an enemy down with one hand, you must use both hands. It is not difficult to wield a sword in one hand; the\Vay to learn this is to tr.1in with two long swords, one in each hand. In, ll seem difficult at first, but everything is difficult at first. Hows are difficult to draw, halberds are difficult to wield; as you become accustomed to the bow so your pull will become stronger. When you become used to wielding the long sword, you will gain the power of the \Vay and wield the sword well.


[User] i\s [ will explain in the second book. the Water Book, there is no fast way of wielding the long sword. The long sword should be wielded broadly, and the companion sword closely. This is the first thing to realise.


[User] According to this Ichi school, you can win with a long weapon, and yet you can also win with a short weapon. In short, the Way of the Ichi school is the spirit of winning, whatever the weapon and whatever its size.


[User] It is better to use two swords rather than one when you are fighting a crowd, and especially if you want to take a prisoner.


[User] These things cannot be explained in detail. From one thing, know ten thousand things. When you attain the Way of strategy there will not be one thing you cannot see. You must study hard.


[User] The lknefit of the Two Characters reading "Strategy"


[User] Masters of the long sword arc called strategists. As for the other military arts, those who master the bow arc called archers, those who master the spear are called spearmen, those who master the gun29 are called marksmen, those who master the halberd are called halberdiers. But we do not call masters of the Way of the long sword "longswordsmcn", nor do we speak of "companion swordsmen". Because bows, guns, spears and halberds are all warriors' equipment they are certainly part of strategy. To master the virtue of the long sword is to govern the world and oneself, thus the long sword is the basis of strategy. The principle is "strategy by means of the long sword". If he attains the virtue of the long sword, one man can beat ten men. Just as one man can


[User] The gun: The Japanese gun \v-,1s matchl<H.:k, the form in which it was first introduced into the country by missionaries. The matchlock remained until the nineteenth century.


[User] beat ten, so a hundred men can beat a thousand, and a thousand can beat ten thousand In my strategy. one mar} is the same as ten thousand, so this strategy is the complete warrior's craft.


[User] The Way of the warrior docs not include other Ways, such as Confucianism, Buddhism, certain traditions, artistic accomplishments and dancing. 30 But even though these are not part of the \Vay, if you know the Way broadly you will see it in everything. J\len must polish their particular Way.


[User] The Benefit of Weapons in Strategy


[User] There is a time and a place for use of weapons.


[User] The best use of the companion sword is in a confined space, or when you are engaged closely with an opponent. The long sword can be used effectively in all situations.


[User] The halberd is inferior to the spear on the battlefield. With the spear you can


[User] take the initiati,·e; the halberd is defensive. In the hands of one of two men of egual ability, the spear gives a little extra strength. Spear and halberd both have their uses, but neither is very beneficial in confined spaces. They cannot be used for taking a prisoner. They are essentially weapons for the field.


[User] Anyway, if you learn "induor"31 technigues, you will think narrowly and forget the true Way. Thus you will have difficulty in actual encounters.


[User] The bow is tactically strong at the commencement of battle, especially battles on a moor, as it is possible to shoot quickly from among the spearmen. However, it is unsatisfactory in sieges, or when the enemy is more than forty yards away. For this reason there are nowadays few traditional schools of archery. There is little use nowadays for this kind of skill.


[User] From inside fortifications, the gun has no equal among weapons. It is the


[User] f)ancing: There are various kinds of dancing. There are festival dances, such as the harvest dance, which incorporate local characteristics and are very colourful, sometimes involv ing many people. There is Noh theatre, which is i:.·nactcd by a few performers using stylited dance-like mo\'ements. There arc also dances of fan and dances of sword.


[User] Judoor tecbniques: Dojos were mostl}' indoors whL-rc a great deal of formality and ritual was obs.ervc<l. safe from the prying eyes of rival schools.


[User] supreme weapon on the field before the ranks clash, but once swords are crossed the gun becomes useless.


[User] One of the virtues of the bow is that you can see the arrows in flight and correct your aim accordingly, whereas gunshot cannot be seen. You must appreciate the importance of this.


[User] Just as a horse must have endurance and no defects, so it is with weapons. Horses should walk strongly, and swords and companion swords should cut strongly. Spears and halberds must stand up to heavy use: bows and guns must be sturdy. Weapons should be hardy rather than decorative.


[User] You should not have a favourite weapon. To become over-familiar with one weapon is as much a fault as not knowing it sufficiently well. You should not copy others, but use weapons which you can handle properly. It is bad for commanders and troopers to have likes and dislikes. These are things you must learn thoroughly.


[User] Timing in strategy


[User] Tht're is timing in everything. Timing in strategy cannot be mastered without a great deal of practice.


[User] Timing is important in dancing and pipe or string music, for they are in rhythm only if timing is good. Timing and rhythm are also involved in the military arts, shooting bows and guns, and riding horses. In all skills and abilities there is timing.


[User] There is also timing in the Void.


[User] There is timing in the whole life of the warrior, in his thriving and declining, in his harmony and discord. Similarly, there is timing in the Way of the merchant, in the rise and fall of capital. All things entail rising and falling timing. You must be able to discern this. In strategy there are various timing considerations. From the outset you must know the applicable timing and the inapplicable timing, and from among the large and small things and the fast and slow timings find the relevant timing, first seeing the distance timing and the background timing. This is the main thing in strategy. It is especially important to know the background timing, otherwise your strategy will become uncertain.


[User] You win in battles with the timing in the Void born of the timing of cunning by knowing the enemies' timing, and thus using a timing which the enemy do , not expect.


[User] All the five books are chielly concerned with timing. You must train sufficiently to appreciate all this.


[User] If you practise day and night in rhc above !chi school strategy, your spirit will naturally broaden. Thus is large scale strategy and the strategy of hand to hand combat propagated in the world. This is recorded for the first time in the five books of Ground, Water, Fire, Tradition (\Vind), and Void. This is the Way for men who want to learn my srratC'gy:


[User] Do north ink dishonestly.


[User] TheWayisintraining.


[User] Become aquainted with every art.


[User] Know the Ways of all professions.


[User] Distinguish between gain and loss in worldly matters.


[User] Develop intuitive judgement and understanding for everything.


[User] Perceive those things which cannot be seen.


[User] Pay attention even to trifles.


[User] Do nothing which is of no use.


[User] It is important to start by setting thc c broad principles in your reart, and train in the Way of strategy. If you do not look ar things on a large scale it will be difficult for you to master strategy. If you learn and attain this strategy you will never lose even to twenty or thirty enemies. More than anything to start with you must set your heart on strategy and earnestly stick to the Way. You will come to be able to actually beat men in fights, and to be able to win with your eye. Also by training you will be able to freely control your own body, conquer men with your body, and with sufficient training you will be able to bear ten men with your spirit. When you have reached this point, will ir not mean that you are invincible?


[User] Moreover, in large scale strategy the superior man will manage many subordinates dexrrously, bear himself correctly, govern the country and foster rhc people, thus preserving the ruler's discipline. If there is a Way involving the


[User] spirit of nor being defeated, to help oneself and gain honour, it is the Way of strategy.


[User] The second year of Shoho (1645), the fifth month, the rwelfth day.


[User] TeruoMagonojo32	SHINM EN MUSASHI


[User] TcTlw \lagonojo  The pupil, sometimes callc<l Teruo Nobu>•uk1, 10 whom Musa,;;hi


[User] addressed Go Rin VoSbo.


[User] THE WATER BOOK


[User] lhe spirit of the Ni Ten lchi school of strategy is based on water, and this Water Book explains methods of victory as the long-sword form of the lchi school. Language does not extend to explaining the \Vay in detail. but it can be grasped intuitively. Study this book; read a word then ponder on it. If you interpret the meaning loosely you will mistake the Way.


[User] The principles of strategy are written down here in terms of single combat, but you must think broadly so that you attain an understanding for ten thousand-a-side battles.


[User] Strategy is different from oth..:r things in that if you mistake the Way even a little you will become bewildered and fall into bad ways.


[User] If you merely read this book you will not reach the Way of strategy. Absorb the things written in this book. Oo not just read, memorise or imitate, but so that you realise the principle from within your own heart study hard to absorb these things into your body.


[User] Spiritual Bearing in Strategy


[User] In strategy your spiritual bearing must not be any different from normal. Both in fighting and in everyday life you should be determined though calm. Meet the situation without tenseness yet not recklessly, your spirit settled yet unbiased. Even when your spirit is calm do not let your body relax, and when your body is relaxed do not let your spirit slacken. Do not let your spirit be influenced by your body, or your body be influenced by your spirit. Be neither insufficiently spirited nor over spirited. An elevated spirit is \\eak and a low spirit is weak. Do not let the enemy see your spirit.


[User] Small people must be completely familiar with the spirit of large people, and large people must be familiar with rhc spirit of small people. Whatever your siz-:, do not be misled by the reactions of your own body. With your spirit open and unconsrricted, look ar things from a high point ofriew. You must cultivate your wisdom and spirit. Polish your wisdom: learn public justice, distinguish between good and evil, study the Ways of different arts one by one. When you cannot be deceived by men you will have realised the wisdom of strategy.


[User] The wisdom of strategy is different from other things. On rhe battlefield, even when you are hard-pressed, you should ceaselessly research the principles of strategy so that you can develop a steady spirit.


[User] Stance in Strategy


[User] Adopt a stance with the head erect, neither hanging down, nor looking up, nor twisted. Your forehead and the space uetween your eyes should not be wrinkled. Do not roll your eyes nor allow them to blink, bur slightly narrow them. With your features composed, keep the line of your nose straight with a feeling of slightly flaring your nostrils. I lold the line of the rear of the neck straight: instil vigour into your hairline, and in the same way from the shoulders down through your entire body. Lower both shoulders and, without the buttocks jutting out, put strength into your legs from the knees ro the rips of your toes. Brace your abdomen so that you do nor bend ar rhc hips. Wedge your companion sword in your belt against your abdomen, so that your belt is not slack-this is called "wedging in".


[User] In all forms of strategy, it is necessary to maintain the combat stance in everyday life and to make your everyday stance your combat stance. You must research this well.


[User] The Gaze in Strategy


[User] The gaze should be large and broad. This is the twofold gaze "Perception and Sight". Perception is strong and sight weak.


[User] In strategy it is important to see distant things as if they were close and to


[User] take a distanced view of close things. It is important in strategy to know the


[User] cncm\·'s sword and nor to be distracted by insignificant mo\'cments of his sword. You must stud}' this. The gaze is the same for single combat and for large-scale str,ttegy.


[User] 1t is necessary in strategy to be able to look to both sides without moving the eyeballs. You cannot master this ability quickly. Learn what is written here; use this gaze in e\'cryday life and do not vary it whatever happens.


[User] Holding the Long Sword


[User] Grip the long sword with a rather floating feeling in your thumb and forefinger, with the middle finger neither tight nor slack, and with the last two fingers tight. It is bad to have pla}' in your hands.


[User] When }'OU take up a sword, you must feel intent on cutting the enemy. J\s you cut an enemy you must not change }'OUr grip, and your hands must not "cower". When you dash the cnem}'°s sword aside, or ward it off, or force it down, you must slightly change the feeling in your thumb and forefinger. Above all, you must be intent on cutting the enemy in the way you grip the sword.


[User] The grip for combat and for sword-testing-'3 is the same. There is no such


[User] thing as a "man-cutting grip".


[User] Generally, I dislike fixedness in both long swords and hands. Fixedness means a dead hand. Pliabilit}' is a li\'ing hand. You must bear this in mind.


[User] Footwork.14


[User] With the tips of }'Our roes somewhat floating, tread firmly with your heels.


[User] Sword lt'\Jmg. S\\,-ords were tested by highly specialised professional testers. Theword woulJ be fitted into a spn:ial mounting and te-"'t cuts made on bodie!,, hundlcsofstraw, armour, _..,beets of metal, etc. Somt:t1mcs. appraisal marks of a sword test mg inscribed on the tangs of old blaJes arc found.


[User] 34- Fo!Jtwurk Different methods of moving are used in different schools. Yin·Yang-, or "In-Yo" in Japanese, is female-male, Jark-light, right-left. J\\usashi advocates this "level mind" kind of walking, ah hough he is emphatic about the significance of these para· meters-issues of right and left foot arise in the Wind book of Gu Rin \JoSho. Old JUJIC u schools advocate making the first attack with thl· left side forward.


[User] Whether you move fast or slow, with large or small steps, your feet must always move as in normal walking. I dislike the three walking methods known as "jumping-foot", "floating-foot" and "fixed-steps".


[User] So-called "Yin-Yang foot" is important in the Way. Yin-Yang foot means not moving only one foot. It means moving your feet left-right and right-left when cutting, withdrawing, or warding off a cut. You should not move one foot preferentially.


[User] The Five Attitudes


[User] The five attitudes are: Upper, Middle, Lower, Right Side, and Left Side. These arc the five. Although attitude has these five divisions, the one purpose of all of them is to cut the enemy. There are none but these five attitudes.


[User] Whatever attitude you arc in, do not be conscious of making the attitude; think only of cutting.


[User] Your attitude should be large or small according to the situation. Upper, Lower and Middle attitudes are decisive. Left Side and Right Side attitudes arc fluid. Left and Right attitudes should be used if there is an obstruction overhead or to one side. The decision to use Left or Right depends on the place. The essence of the Way is this. To understand attitude you must thoroughly understand the Middle attitude. The Middle attitude is the heart of attitudes. If we look at strategy on a broad scale, the Middle attitude is the seat of the commander, with the other four attitudes following the commander. You must


[User] appreciate this.


[User] The Way of the Long Sword


[User] Knowing the Way of the long sword35 means we can wield with two fingers the sword we usually carry. If we know the path of the sword well, we can wield it easily.


[User] 35 The \Vay uf tbe Long Sword, The Way as a way of life, and as the natural path of a sword blade. There is a natural movement of the sword associated with a natural behaviour according to Kenda ethics.


[User] If you try to wield the long sword quickly you will mistake the Way. To wield the long sword well you must wield it calmly. If you try to wield it quickly, like a folding fan 36 or a short sword, you will err by using "short sword chopping". You cannot cut a man with a longsword using this method.


[User] When you have cut downwards with the long sword, lift it straight upwards; when you cut sideways, return the sword along a sideways path. Return the sword in a reasonable way, always stretching the elbows broadly. Wield the sword strongly. This is the Way of the long sword.


[User] If you learn to use the five approaches of my strategy, you will be able to


[User] wield a sword well. You must train constantly.


[User] The Five Approaches37


[User] The first approach is the Middle attitude. Confront the enemy with the point of your sword against his face. When he attacks, dash his sword to the right and "ride" it. Or, when the enemy attacks, deflect the point of his sword by hitting downwards, keep your long sword where it is, and as the enemy renews the attack cut his arms from below. This is the first method.


[User] The five approaches are this kind of thing. You must train repeatedly using a long sword in order to learn them. When you master my Way of the long sword, you will be able to control any attack the enemy makes. I assure you, there are no attitudes other than the five attitudes of the long sword of NiTo.


[User] In the second approach with the long sword, from the Upper attitude cut the enemy just as he attacks. If the enemy evades the cut, keep your sword where it is and, scooping up from below, cut him as he renews the attack. It is possible to repeat the cut from here.


[User] 36 Folding fan.· An item carried by men and women in the hot summer months. Armoured


[User] officers sometimes carried an iron war fan.


[User] 37 Tbe Five Approaches. Who can understand Musashi's methods? It is necessary to study traditional schools and basic cutting practice. Bear in m.ind that fighting technique may start from a greater distance than it seems to at first g1ance. It is said that the man who has faced death at the point of a sword has an elevated understanding.


[User] In this method there are vanous changes in t1mmg and spmt. You will be able to understand this by training in the !chi school. You will always win with the five long sword methods. You must train repetitively.


[User] In the third approach, adopt the Lower attitude, anticipating scooping up. When the enemy attacks, hit his hands from below. As you do so, he may try to hit your sword down. If this is the case, cut his upper arms(s) horizontally with a feeling of "crossing". This means that from the Lower attitudes you hit the enemy at the instant that he attacks.


[User] You will encounter this method often, both as a beginner and in later strategy. You must train holding a long sword.


[User] In this fourth approach, adopt the Left Side attitude. As the enemy attacks,


[User] hit his hands from below. If as you hit his hands he attempts to dash down your sword, with the feeling of hitting his hands, parry the path of his long sword and cut across from above your shoulder.


[User] This is the Way of the long sword. Through this method you win by parrying the line of the enemy's attack. You must research this.


[User] In the fifth approach, the sword is in the Right Side attitude. In accordance with the enemy's attack, cross your long sword from below at the side to the Upper attitude. Then cut straight from above.


[User] This method is essential for knowing the Way of the long sword well. If you can use this method, you can freely wield a heavy long sword.


[User] I .cannot describe in detail how to use these five approaches. You must become well acquainted with my "in harmony with the long sword" Way, learn large-scale timing, understand the enemy's long sword, and become used to the five approaches from the outset. You will always win by using these five methods, with various timing considerations discerning the enemy's spirit. You must consider all this carefully.


[User] The"Attitude No-Attitude" Teaching


[User] "Attitude No-Attitude" means that there is no need for what are known as long sword attitudes.


[User] Even so, attitudes exist as the five ways of holding the long sword. However you hold the sword it must be in such a way that it is easy to cut the enemy


[User] well, in accordance with the situation, the place, and your relation to the enemy. From the Upper attitude as your spirit lessens you can adopt the Middle attitude, and from the Middle attitude you can raise the sword a little in your technique and adopt the Upper attitude. From the Lower attitude you can raise the sword a little and adopt the Middle attitudes as the occasion demands. According to the situation, if you turn your sword from either the Left Side or Right Side attitude towards the centre, the Middle or the Lower attitude results.


[User] The principle of this is called "Existing Attitude-Nonexisting Attitude".


[User] The primary thing when you take a sword in your hands is your intention to cut the enemy, whatever the means. Whenever you parry, hit, spring, strike or touch the enemy's cutting sword, you must cut the enemy in the same movement. It is essential to attain this. If you think only of hitting, springing, striking or touching the enemy, you will not be able actually to cut him. More than anything, you must be thinking of carrying your movement through to cutting him. You must thoroughly research this.


[User] Attitude in strategy on a larger scale is called "Battle Array". Such attitudes are all for winning battles. Fixed formation is bad. Study this well.


[User] To Hit the Enemy "In One Timing"


[User] "In One Timing" means, when you have closed with the enemy, to hit him as quickly and directly as possible, without moving your body or settling your spirit, while you see that he is still undecided. The timing of hitting before the enemy decides to withdraw, break or hit, is this "In One Timing".


[User] You must train to achieve this timing, to be able to hit in the timing of an instant.


[User] The "Abdomen Timing of Two"


[User] When you attack and the enemy quickly retreats, as you see him tense you must feint a cut. Then, as he relaxes, follow up and hit him. This is the "Abdomen Timing of Two".	.


[User] It is very difficult to attain this by merely reading this book, but you will


[User] soon understand with a little instruction.


[User] No Design, No Conception38


[User] In this method, when the enemy attacks and you also decide to attack, hit with your body, and hit with your spirit, and hit from the Void with your hands, accelerating strongly. This is the "No Design, No Conception" cut.


[User] This is the most important method of hitting. It is often used. You must train hard to understand it.


[User] The Flowing Water Cut


[User] The "Flowing Water Cut" is used when you arc struggling blade to blade with the enemy. When he breaks and quickly withdraws trying to spring with his long sword, expand your body and spirit and cut him as slowly as possible with your long sword, following your body like stagnant water. You can cut with certainty if you learn this. You must discern the enemy's grade.


[User] Continuous Cut


[User] When you attack and the enemy also attacks, and your swords spring together, in one action cut his head, hands and legs. When you cut several places with one sweep of the long sword, it is the "Continuous Cut". You must practise this cut; it is often used. With detailed practice you should be able to understand it.


[User] The Fire and Stones Cut


[User] The Fires and Stones Cut means that when the enemy's long sword and your long sword clash together you cut as strongly as possible without raising the sword even a little. This means cutting quickly with the hands, body and legs-all three cutting strongly. If you train well enough you will be able to strike strongly.


[User] 38No Design, No Co11ceptio11: "Munen Muso"-this means the ability to act calmly and naturally even in the face of danger. It is the highest accord with existence, when a man's word and his actions are spontaneously the same.


[User] The Red Leaves Cut


[User] The RedLeavesCut39 means knocking down the enemy's long sword. The spirit should be getting control of his sword. When the enemy is in a long sword attitude in front of you and intent on cutting, hitting and parrying, you strongly hit the enemy's Jong sword with the Fire and Stones Cut, perhaps in the spirit of the "No Design, No Conception" Cut. If you then beat down the point of his sword with a sticky feeling, he will necessarily drop the sword. If you practise this cut it becomes easy to make the enemy drop his sword. You must train repetitively.


[User] The Body in Place of the Long Sword


[User] Also "the long sword in place of the body". Usually we move the body and the sword at the same time to cut the enemy. However, according to the enemy's cutting method, you can dash against him with your body first, and afterwards cut with the sword. If his body is immoveable, you can cut first with the long sword, but generally you hit first with the body and then cut with the long sword. You must research this well and practise hitting.


[User] Cut and Slash