For some time I have been thinking about the
relationship of Musashi’s book “The Book of Five Rings” interpreted for general
karate (Not style specific). So I used Bing to find a version at http://www.holybooks.com/wp-content/uploads/The-Book-of-Five-Rings-by-Musashi-Miyamoto.pdf
I know there are many other translations ( and I believe I still have some
somewhere ) but this is a good a starting place as anywhere. I have but added a
few thoughts at this time.
First a description of the book from Musashi.
The Book of Five Rings
Miyamoto, Musashi
Published: 1644
Chapter 1
THE GROUND BOOK
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.
Outline of the Five Books of
this Book of Strategy
The Way is shown as five books concerning different aspects. These
are Ground, Water, Fire, Wind
(tradition), and Void (the illusionary
nature of worldly things)
The body of
the Way of Strategy from the viewpoint of my Ichi school is explained in
the Ground book. It is difficult to realize the true Way just through sword-fencing. 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.
Second is the Water
book.
With
water as the basis,
the spirit becomes
like water. Water adopts the
shape of its
receptacle, it is sometimes a
trickle and sometimes a
wild sea.
Water has a clear blue color.
By the clarity,
things of Ichi school are shown in
this book. If you master the principles of sword-fencing, when you freely
beat one man, you beat any man in the world. The
spirit of defeating a man is the same for ten mil- lion men. The strategist makes
mall
things
into big things,
like building
a great Buddha from
a one foot model. I
cannot rite in detail
how
this is done.
The principle of
strategy is having one thing, to
know ten thou- sand things. Things f Ichi school are written in
this the Water book.
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
numbers of men to change position, so their
move- ments can be easily predicted. An
individual can easily change
his mind, so his movements are 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 part of normal life with your
spirit unchanging. Thus combat in battle is de- scribed in the Fire book.
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 are 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 are fol- lowing the true way and diverge a little,
this will later become
a large divergence. You ust realize
this.
Other
trategies
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.
Fifthly, the book of the Void. By void I mean
that
which
has no begin- ning and no end. Attaining this principle means not attaining the prin- ciple. The Way of strategy is the Way of nature. When you appreciate the
power
of nature, knowing 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.
The Name Ichi Ryu Ni To (One school - two swords)
Warriors, both
commanders and
troopers, carry
two
swords 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. It is the Way of the warrior.
"Nito Ichi Ryu" shows the advantages of using both
swords.
The spear and the
halberd are weapons which
are carried out of doors. Students
of the Ichi school Way of Strategy
should train
from
the
start with the
sword
and the
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.
If you hold
a sword with both hands, it is difficult
to wield it freely to left and right, so my method is to 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
un- even 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 Way, for if you carry
a bow or spear or other
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 Way to learn
this
is to train with two
long swords, one in each hand. It will seem difficult at first, but everything is difficult at first. Bows 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 Way and wield
the sword well.
As I 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 realize.
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.
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.
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.
“I am
reminded how karate kata, using Chinto as an example, involve using both hands
(and arms) at the same time. Some similarity to wielding two weapons at the
same time for sure.”
The Benefit
of the Two Characters Reading "Strategy"
Masters of the long sword are
called strategists. As
for the other military arts, those
who
master the bow are
called archers, those who master the spear
are called spearmen, those who
master the
gun
are
called marksmen, those who master the halberd are called halberdiers. But
we do not call masters of
the Way of the long sword "longswordsmen", 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 beat ten, so a hun- dred men can beat a thousand, and
a thousand can beat ten thousand. In my strategy, one
man is the same as ten thousand, so
this strategy is the complete warrior's craft.
The Way of the warrior does not include other
Ways,
such
as Con- fucianism, Buddhism, certain traditions, artistic accomplishments and
dancing. But even though these
are not part
of the Way, if you know the Way broadly you
will see it in everything. Men
must polish their partic- ular Way.
The Benefit
of Weapons in Strategy
There is a time and place
for use of weapons.
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.
The halberd is
inferior to the
spear
on the battlefield. With the spear you can take
the initiative; the halberd is
defensive. In the hands of
one of two men of equal
ability,
the spear gives a little extra strength. Spear and halberd both have
their
uses,
but
neither is very beneficial in con- fined spaces.
They cannot be used
for taking a prisoner. They are essen- tially weapons for the field.
Anyway, if you learn "indoor" techniques, you
will
think
narrowly and
forget
the
true
Way.
Thus
you
will
have
difficulty
in
actual encounters.
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 tra- ditional schools of archery. There is little use nowadays for this kind of skill.
From inside
fortifications, the gun has
no equal among weapons. It
is the supreme weapon on the field before
the ranks clash, but once swords are crossed the
gun becomes useless.
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.
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.
You should not
have
a
favorite 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 dis- likes. These are things you
must learn
thoroughly.
Timing in Strategy
There is timing in
everything. Timing in strategy cannot
be mastered
without a great deal of practice.
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. There is also timing in
the Void.
There is timing in the whole
life of the warrior, in
his thriving and de- clining, 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 vari- ous
timing considerations. From the outset you
must
know
the
applic- able 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 tim-
ing, otherwise your strategy will become
uncertain.
You win battles
with
the timing in
the Void born of the timing of
cun- ning by knowing the enemies' timing, and thus using
a timing which the enemy does
not expect.
“ Timing in our karate is also a key principle. More to consider these
words.”
If you practice day and
night
in the above Ichi
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 (Wind), and Void. This is the way for men who want to
learn my strategy:
1. Do not think dishonestly.
2. The Way is in training.
3. Become acquainted with every art.
4. Know the Ways of all professions.
5. Distinguish between gain and loss in worldly matters.
6. Develop intuitive judgment and
understanding for everything.
7. Perceive those things which
cannot be seen.
8. Pay attention even to trifles.
9. Do nothing which
is
of no use.
It is important to start by setting these
broad principles in your heart, and train
in
the Way of Strategy. If you do not look at 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 beat ten men with your spirit.
When you
have
reached
this point,
will it
not mean
that
you
are invincible?
Moreover, in large scale
strategy the superior man will manage many
subordinates dexterously, bear himself correctly, govern the country and foster the people, thus preserving the ruler's discipline. If there is a Way involving the spirit of not being defeated, to help oneself
and gain
honor, it is the Way of strategy.
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