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.
The Book of Five Rings
Miyamoto, Musashi
Chapter 3
THE FIRE BOOK
In this the Fire Book of the Ni To Ichi school of strategy I describe fight- ing as fire.
In the first place, people think narrowly about the benefit of strategy. By using only
their fingertips, they only know the
benefit of three
of the five inches
of the wrist. They
let a contest be decided, as with the folding fan, merely by the span of their
forearms. They
specialise in the small
matter of dexterity, learning
such trifles as hand and leg
movements with the bamboo practice
sword.
In my strategy, the training for killing enemies is by way of many
con- tests, fighting for survival, discovering the meaning of life and
death, learning the Way of the sword, judging
the strength of attacks and un- derstanding the Way of the "edge and ridge" of the sword.
You cannot profit from small techniques particularly when full armour is worn. My Way of Strategy
is the sure method to
win when fighting for your life one man against five or ten. There
is nothing wrong with
the principle "one man can beat
ten,
so a thousand men
can beat ten thou-
sand". You must
research this.
Of course you cannot assemble a thou- sand
or ten thousand men
for everyday training.
But you can become a
master of strategy by training alone with a sword, so that you can under- stand the enemy's strategy,
his strength and
resources, and
come
to ap- preciate how to apply strategy to
beat ten thousand enemies.
Any man
who
wants to
master the
essence
of my strategy must re- search diligently, training
morning and evening. Thus
can he polish
his skill, become free from
self,
and
realize
extraordinary ability.
He
will come
to possess miraculous power.
This is the practical result of strategy.
Depending on the Place
Examine
your
environment.
Stand in the sun; that is, take up an attitude with
the sun behind you. If the situation does not allow this, you must try to keep the sun on your right side.
In buildings, you must stand
with the
entrance behind you or to your right. Make sure that your rear
is unobstructed, and that there
is free space
on your left,
your right side
being occupied with your side at- titude. At night, if the enemy can be seen, keep the
fire behind you and the entrance to
your right, and otherwise take up your attitude as above. You must look
down
on the enemy, and take
up your attitude on slightly
higher places. For example, the Kamiza in a house is thought of as a high place.
When the
fight
comes,
always endeavour to chase the enemy around
to your left side. Chase him towards awkward
places, and try to keep him with his
back to awkward places. When the enemy gets
into an in- convenient position, do not let him look around, but conscientiously chase him around and pin him down. In houses, chase the enemy
into the thresholds, lintels,
doors,
verandas, pillars,
and
so on, again
not let- ting him see his situation.
Always chase the enemy into
bad footholds, obstacles at the side, and so on, using
the
virtues of the place to establish predominant positions from which to fight. You must
research and train diligently in
this.
The Three
Methods to Forestall the Enemy
The first is to forestall
him by attacking. This is called
Ken No Sen (to set him up).
Another method is to forestall him as he attacks. This is called
Tai No
Sen (to wait for the initiative).
The other method is
when
you and the
enemy attack together. This is called Tai Tai No Sen (to accompany him and forestall
him).
There are no methods of taking the lead other than these three. Be- cause you can win quickly by taking the lead, it is one of the
most
im- portant things in strategy. There are several things
involved in taking the lead.
You must make the best of the
situation, see through the enemy's spirit so that
you
grasp his
strategy and
defeat
him.
It is impossible to
write about this
in detail.
The
First - Ken No Sen
When you decide
to attack, keep
calm and dash in quickly, forestalling the enemy. Or you can
advance seemingly strongly but with a reserved
spirit, forestalling him with the reserve.
Alternatively, advance with as strong a
spirit as possible, and
when you reach the enemy move with your feet
a little quicker
than
normal, unsettling him and overwhelming him sharply.
Or, with your spirit calm, attack with a feeling
of constantly crushing the enemy, from first
to last. The spirit
is to win
in the depths of the en- emy. These are all Ken No Sen.
The Second
- Tai No Sen
When the enemy attacks, remain undisturbed but feign weakness. As
the enemy reaches
you, suddenly move away indicating that
you intend to jump aside, then dash
in attacking strongly
as soon as you see the en- emy relax.
This is one way.
Or, as the enemy attacks, attack still more strongly, taking advantage of the resulting disorder in his timing to win.
This is the Tai No Sen principle.
The Third - Tai Tai No Sen
When the enemy makes a quick
attack,
you
must
attack
strongly and
calmly, aim for his weak point as he draws near, and strongly defeat
him.
Or, if the enemy attacks calmly, you must observe his movements and, with your body
rather floating, join in with his movements as
he draws near. Move quickly and
cut him strongly.
This is Tai Tai No Sen.
These things cannot be clearly explained in
words. You must research what is written here. In these three ways of forestalling, you
must
judge the
situation. This does not mean that you always attack first; but if the enemy attacks first you can lead him around. In
strategy, you have ef- fectively
won when you forestall the enemy,
so you must
train
well to at- tain
this.
To Hold Down a Pillow
"To
Hold Down
a Pillow" means not allowing the enemy's head to rise. In contests of
strategy it is bad to be led about by the enemy. You
must always be able to lead the
enemy about. Obviously the enemy will
also be thinking of
doing this,
but he cannot forestall you if you do not allow him to come out. In strategy, you must stop the
enemy as he attempts to cut; you must push down his thrust, and throw off his hold when he tries to grapple. This is the meaning of "to
hold down a
pillow". When you have grasped this principle, whatever
the enemy tries to bring
about in the fight you will see in advance and suppress it. The spirit is too
check
his attack at the syllable
"at… ",
when
he jumps check his jump
at the syllable "ju…
", and check his cut at "cu…
".
The important thing in strategy is to suppress the
enemy's useful
ac- tions but allow his
useless actions. However, doing this alone is defens- ive. First, you must act
according to the Way,
suppressing the
enemy's techniques, foiling his plans
and
thence
command him
directly. When
you can do this you will be a master of strategy. You must train well
and research "holding down a pillow".
Crossing at a Ford
"Crossing at a ford" means, for
example, crossing the sea at a strait, or crossing
over
a hundred miles of broad sea at a crossing
place.
I believe this
"crossing
at a ford"
occurs
often
in man's lifetime. It means setting sail even though your friends stay in harbour, knowing the route, know-
ing the soundness of
your ship and the favour of the day.
When
all the conditions are
meet,
and
there
is perhaps a
favourable wind, or a tail- wind, then set sail. If the wind
changes within a
few miles of your des- tination, you must row
across the remaining distance
without sail.
If you attain this spirit,
it applies to everyday life. You must always think of crossing at a ford.
In strategy also it is important to "cross at a ford". Discern the
enemy's capability and, knowing your
own
strong points, "cross the ford" at the advantageous place, as a good captain crosses a sea route. If you succeed in crossing at the best place, you may take your ease.
To cross at a ford means to attack the enemy's weak point, and
to put yourself in an ad- vantageous position. This is how to win large-scale strategy.
The spirit of crossing at a ford is necessary in both large- and small-scale strategy.
You must research this well.
To Know the Times
"To know the
times" means to know the
enemy's disposition in battle.
Is it flourishing or
waning? By observing the
spirit
of the enemy's men and getting the best position, you
can work out the
enemy's disposition and move your men accordingly. You
can win through this
principle of
strategy, fighting from a position of advantage.
When in a duel,
you
must
forestall
the
enemy
and
attack
when you
have first
recognised his school of strategy, perceived his quality and his strong and weak points. Attack in an unsuspecting manner,
knowing his metre and
modulation and the appropriate timing.
Knowing the
times
means, if your ability is high,
seeing
right
into things. If you are thoroughly conversant with strategy, you will recog- nise the enemy's intentions and thus have
many
opportunities to win. You must sufficiently study
this.
To Tread
Down the Sword
"To tread down the
sword" is a principle often used in strategy. First, in large scale
strategy, when the enemy
first discharges bows and guns and then attacks it is difficult for us to attack
if we are busy loading
powder into our guns or notching our arrows. The spirit
is
to
attack quickly while the enemy is still shooting with bows or guns. The
spirit is to win by "treading down" as we receive the enemy's attack.
In single combat, we cannot get a decisive victory by cutting, with a "tee-dum tee-dum" feeling, in the wake of the
enemy's attacking long sword. We must defeat him at the start of his attack,
in the spirit
of tread- ing him down with the feet, so that he cannot
rise again to the attack.
"Treading" does not
simply
mean
treading with
the
feet. Tread with the
body,
tread
with
the
spirit,
and,
of course, tread and cut with the long sword. You must achieve the spirit of not allowing
the enemy to at- tack a second time.
This is the spirit of forestalling in every sense. Once at the enemy, you should not aspire just
to strike him,
but
to cling after the
attack. You must
study this deeply.
To Know "Collapse"
Everything can
collapse.
Houses, bodies,
and
enemies collapse
when their
rhythm becomes deranged.
In large-scale strategy,
when the enemy
starts
to
collapse,
you
must pursue him without letting the chance go.
If you fail to take advantage of
your enemies' collapse, they may recover.
In single combat, the enemy
sometimes loses
timing and
collapses. If
you let this opportunity pass, he may recover
and
not
be so negligent thereafter. Fix your eye on the
enemy's collapse,
and
chase
him,
attack- ing
so that you do not let him recover. You must do this. The chasing at-
tack is with a strong spirit.
You must utterly cut the enemy down so that he does not recover his position. You must understand how to utterly cut
down
the enemy.
To Become the Enemy
"To become the enemy" means to think yourself in
the enemy's posi- tion. In the world people tend
to think of a robber trapped in
a house as
a fortified enemy.
However, if we think of "becoming the
enemy",
we feel that
the
whole
world is against us and that there
is no escape. He who is shut
inside
is a pheasant. He who enters to arrest is a hawk. You must
appreciate this.
In large-scale strategy, people
are always under the
impression that
the enemy is strong, and
so tend to become cautious. But if you
have good soldiers, and if you understand the principles of strategy, and if you know how to beat the enemy,
there
is nothing to worry about.
In single
combat also
you must put yourself in the enemy's position. If you think,
"Here
is a a master of
the Way, who knows the
principles of strategy", then you will surely lose.
You must consider this deeply.
To Release Four Hands
"To release four
hands" is used when you and the enemy
are contend-
ing with the same spirit, and the issue cannot be decided. Abandon
this spirit and
win through an alternative resource.
In large-scale strategy, when there is a "four hands" spirit, do not give up - it is man's
existence.
Immediately throw
away this spirit and win with a technique the enemy does
not expect.
In single
combat
also,
when we
think
we
have
fallen
into
the
"four hands" situation, we must defeat
the enemy by changing our
mind and applying a suitable technique
according to his condition. You must be able to judge this.
To Move the Shade
"To
move the shade" is used
when you cannot see
the enemy's spirit.
In large-scale strategy, when you cannot
see the enemy's position, in- dicate that you are about to attack
strongly, to discover his resources. It is easy then
to
defeat
him
with
a
different method once you see his resources.
In single combat, if the enemy takes up a rear
or side attitude of
the long sword so that you cannot see his intention, make a feint attack, and the enemy
will show his
long sword, thinking
he sees your spirit. Bene- fiting from what you are
shown, you can
win with certainty. If
you are negligent you will miss the timing. Research
this well.
To Hold Down a Shadow
"Holding down a shadow" is
use when you can see the enemy's attack-
ing spirit.
In large-scale strategy, when the enemy
embarks on an attack,
if you make
a show of strongly suppressing his technique, he will change his mind. Then, altering your spirit, defeat
him
by forestalling him with a Void spirit.
Or, in single
combat,
hold
down the
enemy's strong intention with a suitable timing, and defeat him by forestalling him with this
timing. You must study this well.
To Pass On
Many things are said to be passed on. Sleepiness can be passed on, and yawning can be passed on. Time can be passed on also.
In large-scale strategy, when the enemy
is agitated and shows an in- clination to
rush,
do
not
mind in
the
least.
Make
a show of complete calmness, and the enemy will
be taken by this and
will become relaxed.
When you see
that this spirit has been
passed on, you can
bring about
the enemy's defeat by attacking strongly
with a Void spirit.
In single combat, you can
win
by relaxing your body and
spirit
and then, catching on
to the moment the enemy relaxes,
attack
strongly and
quickly, forestalling him. What is know as "getting
someone drunk" is similar to this. You can also infect the enemy
with
a bored, careless, or weak spirit. You must study this well.
To Cause Loss of Balance
Many things
can cause a loss of balance.
One cause is danger, another
is hardship, and another is surprise. You must research this.
In large-scale strategy
it is important to
cause loss
of balance. Attack without warning where the enemy is not expecting it, and while his spir- it is undecided follow up your advantage and,
having the
lead,
defeat him.
Or, in single
combat,
start
by making a
show of being
slow, then sud- denly
attack
strongly. Without allowing
him space for breath to recover
form the fluctuation of
spirit, you must grasp the opportunity to win. Get the feel of this.
To Frighten
Fright often occurs, caused by
the unexpected.
In large-scale strategy you can frighten the
enemy
not
just
by
what you present to their eyes, but by
shouting, making a small force seem large,
or
by
threatening them
from
the
flank
without
warning. These
things
all frighten. You can win
by
making best
use
of
the
enemy's frightened rhythm.
In single combat, also, you must use
the
advantage of taking the en- emy unawares by frightening him with your body, long
sword, or voice, to defeat him.
You should research this well.
To Soak In
When you have come
to grips and are striving together
with the en- emy, and you realize
that you cannot
advance, you "soak in" and become one
with the
enemy. You
can win by applying a suitable technique while you are mutually entangled.
In battles involving large numbers as
well as in fights with small
num- bers, you can often win decisively with the advantage of knowing how to "soak" into the enemy,
whereas, were
you
to draw apart,
you would
lose the chance to win. Research
this well.
To Injure
the Corners
It is difficult
to move strong things by pushing directly, so you should
"injure the corners".
In large-scale strategy, it is beneficial to strike
at
the
corners
of the enemy's force. If the corners are
overthrown, the spirit of the whole
body will
be overthrown. To defeat the
enemy you must follow up the attack when the corners have
fallen.
In single combat, it is easy to win once the enemy collapses. This hap- pens when you
injure the "corners"
of his body,
and
thus
weaken him. It is important to
know how
to do this, so you must
research deeply.
To Throw into Confusion
This means making the enemy lose
resolve.
In large-scale strategy
we can use our
troops to confuse the
enemy on the
field.
Observing the
enemy's spirit,
we can make
him
think,
"Here? There? Like that? Like this? Slow? Fast?". Victory is certain
when the en- emy is caught up in a rhythm which confuses his spirit.
In single combat, we can confuse the enemy by attacking with
varied techniques when the chance arises. Feint a thrust or cut, or make the
en- emy think ou are going to close with him, and when he
is confused you can easily win. This
is the essence of fighting, and
you
must
research it
deeply.
The Three
Shouts
The three shouts are divided thus: before, during and
after.
Shout
ac- cording to the situation. The
voice
is a thing
of life. We shout against fires and so on, against the wind and
the waves. The voice shows
energy.
In large-scale strategy,
at the start of battle
we shout as
loudly as pos- sible.
During the fight, the voice is low-pitched, shouting
out as we
at- tack.
After the contest, we shout in the wake
of our victory.
These are the three shouts.
In single
combat, we make
as if to cut and
shout "Ei!" at the same time to disturb the enemy, then in the wake of our shout we cut with the long sword. We shout after we have cut down the enemy - this is to announce
victory. This
is called "sen
go no koe" (before and after voice).
We do not shout simultaneously with flourishing the
long sword. We
shout
during the fight to get into rhythm. Research
this deeply.
To Mingle
In battles,
when the
armies
are
in
confrontation, attack
the
enemy's strong points and,
when you
see that they are beaten
back, quickly sep- arate
and
attack
yet another strong
point on the
periphery of his force. The
spirit of this is like a winding mountain path.
This is an important fighting
method for one man
against many.
Strike down the enemies in
one quarter, or drive them back,
then grasp the tim- ing and attack further strong points to right and left,
as if on a winding
mountain path, weighing up
the
enemies' disposition. When you know the enemies' level attack strongly with no trace of retreating spirit.
What is meant by
"mingling" is
the spirit of advancing and becoming engaged with the enemy, and not withdrawing even one step. You must understand this.
To Crush
This means to
crush the enemy
regarding him as being weak.
In large-scale strategy, when we see that
the enemy has
few men, or if he has many
men but his spirit is weak
and
disordered, we knock the hat over
his eyes, crushing him
utterly. If we crush
lightly,
he may recover.
You must learn the spirit
of crushing as
if with a hand-grip.
In single
combat, if the enemy is less skilful than ourself, if his rhythm is
disorganised, or if he has fallen into evasive
or retreating
attitudes, we must crush
him straightaway, with no concern
for his presence and without allowing him space for breath. It
is essential to crush him all at once. The primary thing is not to let him recover his position even a little. You
must research this deeply.
The Mountain-Sea Change
The "mountain-sea" spirit means that it is bad to repeat the same thing
several times when fighting
the enemy. There
may
be no help
but
to do something twice,
but
do not try
it a third time. If you
once make an at- tack and fail, there is little
chance
of success if you
use
the
same
ap- proach again.
If you attempt a technique which you have
previously tried unsuccessfully and fail yet again, then you must
change
your
at- tacking method.
If the enemy thinks of the mountains, attack like the sea;
and
if he thinks of the sea, attack
like the mountains. You must research this deeply.
To Penetrate the Depths
When we are fighting with
the enemy, even when it
can be seen that we can win on the surface with the benefit
of the Way, if his spirit is not extinguished, he may be beaten superficially yet undefeated in spirit deep inside. With
this
principle of "penetrating the depths" we
can des- troy the enemy's spirit
in its depths, demoralising him by quickly chan-
ging our spirit. This
often occurs.
Penetrating the depths means penetrating with the long sword, penet-
rating with the
body, and penetrating with the spirit. This
cannot be un- derstood in
a generalisation.
Once we have
crushed the enemy in the depths, there is no need to re- main
spirited. But otherwise we
must remain spirited. If the enemy
re- mains spirited it
is difficult to crush him. You
must train in penetrating the depths for large-scale strategy and also single combat.
To Renew
"To renew" applies when we are fighting with
the enemy, and an en- tangled spirit arises where there is no possible resolution. We
must aban-
don our efforts, think of the situation in a fresh spirit then
win in the new rhythm. To renew, when we are deadlocked with
the enemy, means that without changing our circumstance
we change
our
spirit
and
win through a different technique.
It is necessary to consider how "to renew" also applies in large-scale
strategy. Research this
diligently.
Rat's Head, Ox's Neck
"Rat's head and ox's
neck" means that,
when we are fighting with
the enemy and both he and
we have become occupied with small
points in
an entangled spirit, we must always think of the Way of Strategy
as be- ing both a rat's head
and
an ox's neck. Whenever we have become preoc- cupied with small detail, we must
suddenly change
into a large spirit, in- terchanging large with small.
This is one of the essences of strategy. It
is necessary that the warrior
think in this spirit in everyday life. You must
not depart from this spirit in large-scale strategy nor in single combat.
The Commander Knows the Troops
"The commander knows the
troops"
applies everywhere in fights in my Way of strategy. Using the wisdom of strategy, think of the enemy as your own troops. When you think in this way you
can move him at will and be able to chase him around. You become the
general and the
enemy becomes your troops. You must master
this.
To Let Go the Hilt
There are various kinds
of spirit involved in
letting go the hilt. There is the spirit of winning without a
sword. There is also the spirit
of holding
the long sword but not winning. The
various methods cannot be ex- pressed in writing. You must train well.
The Body of
a Rock
When you have
mastered the Way of Strategy
you can suddenly make
your body like
a rock, and ten
thousand things cannot touch you. This is the body
of a rock.
You will not be moved. Oral tradition.
What is recorded above is what
has been constantly on my mind about
Ichi school sword fencing, written down as it came to me. This is the first time I have
written about
my technique, and the order of things
is a bit confused. It is difficult
to express it clearly.
This
book
is a spiritual guide for the man who wishes
to
learn
the
Way.
My heart has
been inclined to the Way of Strategy
from my youth on-
wards. I have devoted myself
to training my
hand,
tempering my body, and
attaining the many spiritual attitudes
of sword fencing.
If we watch men
of other schools
discussing theory, and concentrating on techniques
with the hands, even though they seem
skilful
to watch, they have not the slightest true spirit.
Of course, men
who study in this way think they
are training the body and
spirit,
but it is an obstacle
to the true
Way, and its bad
influence re-
mains for ever. Thus the
true Way
of Strategy is becoming decadent
and dying out.
The true Way
of sword fencing is the craft of defeating the enemy in a fight, and nothing other than this.
If you attain and adhere to the wis- dom of my strategy, you need never doubt that you will win.
There is a lot to consider here, strategy can be chosen or discarded as you wish, but by not looking you have less options to consider.
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