Miyamoto Musashi
Japan's Greatest
Swordsman
& The Book of Five Rings
By George W. Alexander,
Ph.D.
When you cannot be
deceived by men,
you have realized the
wisdom of strategy. Miyamoto Musashi
Much has been written
about Miyamoto Musashi (1584-1645) the quintessential warrior and great
icon of the martial arts. In any case, few people know that Musashi
wasn’t always the popular Japanese sword hero that he is today. In fact,
he was originally somewhat of a villain. It wasn’t until later that the
author Yoshikawa Eiji made him a hero by writing about him in a Japanese
newspaper column in the 1920s. Subsequently, these articles were turned
into a book simply called Musashi that became very popular.
In any case, Musashi's
life was grand and included all the colorful and romantic things
Japanese samurai are known for. Musashi was stoic, a master swordsman
who defeated all comers, he embraced the code of bushido and Zen
and he wrote one of the world’s classic texts on strategy – Go Rin No
Sho, the Book of Five Rings.
Musashi’s tale begins
with his early education as a samurai during the 16th century
in medieval Japan. His father gave him some limited instruction in
swordsmanship. However, most of his formal education with the sword he
garnered on his own. Known as Japan's greatest swordsman, he
fought 60 duels in his lifetime but was never defeated. Two years before
he died he retired to a cave in Kyushu and wrote his classic guide to
strategy, the Go Rin No Sho. It is a psychological guide to strategy
that has proven to be a source of enlightenment to the swordsman,
philosopher and the modern businessman.
Before we explore the Go
Rin No Sho I’d like to tell you about some of Musashi’s more exciting
exploits. As a young man he fought in the battle of Sekigahara in
October of 1,600. This was the deciding battle that established the rise
to power of Tokugawa Ieyasu and the Tokugawa Shogunate. Later, Musashi
went to Kyoto and it is there that his meteoric rise to fame begins.
Musashi is reputed to
have had his first duel and killed a samurai named Arima Kibei of the
Shinto Ryu School at age thirteen. Three years later he challenged
Tadashima Aikiyama of Tajima Province. He easily defeated this
overconfident samurai. These matches set the course of Musashi’s life
and established his destiny as a swordsman. Musashi’s skill with the
sword was so high that he fought many of his duels with a bokken or
wooden sword. When he was twenty-one Musashi headed for Kyoto and
continued to follow his destiny in the capital. This was in 1605.
Immediately upon his arrival he visited the Yoshioka family and
challenged Genzaemon, the family patriarch. Genzaemon accepted the
challenge even though Musashi was an unknown and the Yoshioka’s were
renowned swordsman. The match was set for five o’clock the next morning
at a field on the outskirts of Kyoto. Genzaemon brandished a wooden
sword. He was accompanied by several retainers and arrived at the
appointed spot at dawn but Musashi was nowhere to be found. Genzaemon
sent some of his disciples to investigate and see if Musashi was still
at his Inn. Indeed Musashi was there but he was asleep! This infuriated
Genzaemon to no end and he had to wait two more hours before Musashi
arrived. Musashi swaggered onto the field at high noon with a wooden
sword in his hand. His appearance was calm and collected. An enraged
Genzaemon made no attempt to conceal his anger. He immediately launched
his attack against Musashi. Musashi blocked the attacks parrying
the blows. Although both received blows to the head, Musashi landed a
crushing blow to Genzaemon’s head knocking him to the ground. Later, he
regained consciousness to discover his right arm was broken in many
places. Genzaemon was humiliated by the defeat. No sooner had the match
ended than Denshishiro, Genzaemon’s younger brother, challenged Musashi
in order to preserve the family honor. Although Genzaemon was the head
of the family, Denshichiro was considered to be a far better swordsman.
He arrived at the appointed place with a steel sword that was over five
feet in length with the intent of having Musashi’s blood on it.
Denshichiro was filled with confidence. He had seen Musashi’s
swordsmanship first hand when his brother was defeated and thought he
could beat him. Again, Musashi was late for the engagement but as soon
as he arrived he launched a furious attack against Denshichiro with his
bokken. Musashi quickly landed a crushing blow that killed Denshichiro
on the spot! He later killed Matashichiro, the son of Genzaemon, who was
only thirteen by slashing him across the forehead killing him instantly.
As a result of the defeat of three of the Yoshioka family, Musashi’s
fame grew instantly in Kyoto. He spent the next eight years wandering in
search of worthy opponents.
The last two years of
his life he spent in a cave writing his classic treatise on strategy
called Go Rin No Sho - A Book of Five Rings. It is known to be one of
the greatest books ever to be written on strategy. (Authors note: The
authors opinion is that the other two books are The Art of War by Sun
Tzu and Principe (The Prince) by Machievelli.) In the Go Rin No Sho,
Musashi’s equates the strategy of warring armies to that of individual
or single combat saying that it is one in the same thing. This was the
first time this theory was ever aspired to. In fact, critics of Musashi
say that his tactics in the case of the Yoshioka’s and others were
inexcusable no matter how good his swordsmanship. Since he and his
tactics did not follow the proper etiquette and rules of decorum of the
times. However, defenders of Musashi respond by saying that the
depth of his swordsmanship and philosophy reveal that his thinking was
the match began at the moment of the challenge. Much like warfare on the
field of battle, a surprise attack is an accepted and even heralded
tactic. (See Sun Tzu, The Art of War Yamazato Productions) This is
implicit in Musashi’s statement in the Go Rin No Sho, “There is no
warrior in the world today who really understands the way of strategy”.
In other words, no Marquis of Queensbury rules in battle, whether man to
man or army to army. No quarter shall be taken and none shall be given.
This is not unlike Machiavelli ‘The first thing to do is to ignore the
rules since your opponent will surely do the same.’
The Go Rin No Sho
Musashi’s success in
combat was due in part to his intense psychological nature and total
commitment to swordsmanship. In the Go Rin No Sho he explains this
thoroughly. Its philosophy has been influenced by and is an
interpretation of Zen, Confucianism and Shinto. In Buddhism the five
elements of ground, water, fire, wind and void make up the cosmos.
Therefore, Musashi used these as the titles of the chapters or books in
the Go Rin No Sho. Hence the book is divided into five chapters
including the Ground Book which deals with strategy, the Water Book that
deals with spirit and techniques, the Fire Book which is about fighting,
the Wind Book that discusses methods of other schools and the Book of
the Void, which is a philosophical guide to the way of strategy.
In the Ground book
Musashi states “Strategy is the craft of the warrior."
He further states "The
way of the warrior is the resolute acceptance of death!" This certainly
shows the intensity of Musashi's personality. He reiterates that in
battle and in life total commitment is required. If one hesitates he is
finished. He further extols his readers that in order to successfully
follow his way of strategy "you must earnestly stick to the way".
In the Water Book
Musashi says "As the spirit becomes like water and adapts to its
container so you must adapt to your opponent". He says, "don't be
tense". In other words, be flexible and be able to change readily and
adapt to your opponent. In this chapter he makes another statement that
is universally true in the martial arts and transcends time as well as
stylistic boundaries. He states "The approach to combat and every day
life should be the same". In other words, if you are living the life of
a warrior then mortal combat is an everyday fact of life. Therefore, you
will show no hesitation or trepidation when it comes time to face your
opponent.
Musashi developed the
two-sword style known as Niten Ryu using the katana (long sword) and the
companion or wakazashi (short sword). It is said that Musashi discovered
the two-sword style by accident while in a battle. In the fury of
combat, he pulled out his short sword or wakizashi and started
fighting with it in one hand while he held his long sword or katana
in the other. He says that his premise for this innovation was that
gripping one sword with both hands was too restrictive and that it
inhibited movement to the left and to the right. He further states that
the two-sword style is for use against many opponents. He discusses in
the Water Book how to wield the two swords most effectively.
Interestingly, he never used the two-sword style against any highly
skilled opponents! Musashi concludes this book with the words study
diligently and use this book as step by step guide in your training.
In the Fire Book,
fighting spirit is represented by fire. Musashi says Fighting Spirit is
fierce like fire. He also makes one of his more profound and original
statements in this book when he says, "The way of battle is the same man
to man or ten thousand each side." In other words, when it comes to
combat the strategies employed for individual combat are often the same
as they are for warring armies. He mentions that quick decisions are
necessary and that it is essential to be able to change strategies
quickly if necessary. Training must be part of your everyday life [the
way is in training]. Musashi gives us many methods of attack in this
chapter. He says in one instance "Start your attack by being slow then
suddenly attack strongly and surprise you opponent." This is the same
way broken rhythm is used in your sparring in the dojo. Musashi also
tells us in his own way that a warrior must be totally ruthless. He says
you must not hesitate but "Move in for the kill! Finish him off or he
may recover". Another piece of great martial arts advice Musashi gives
us in this book is called the Mountain & Sea Change. Basically, what
this means is never do the same thing more than twice. If you do you are
programming your opponent with your moves. That could no doubt spell
disaster if he can read your techniques. Another way this has been
stated is "When he is the mountain you are the sea and when he is the
sea you are the mountain, if that makes any sense. He concludes this
book with "The true way of swordsmanship is defeating the enemy in a
fight and nothing more!
In the Wind Book Musashi
talks about the traditional methods of other schools and basically says
they are not effective! He says "It is difficult to know yourself
without knowing the way of others." This book is more or less about the
don'ts of swordsmanship. Musashi is quite opinionated here and says the
other schools are not the true way! He says using special weapons is not
a good practice because a specialized weapon has limitations. He says
the use of extra long swords isn't good for close range and that the use
of short swords will prevent you from adapting to the situation. Musashi
says fixing the eyes on the opponent's sword will confuse you. "Gaze at
the man's heart [by looking at his eyes] and evaluate his spirit".
"Perception [intuition] and sight are the two ways of seeing!"
In Chapter Five, the
Book of the Void, Musashi discusses the esoteric and philosophical
ideals of swordsmanship with his way of strategy as the external frame
of reference. He mentions void or mu. In Buddhism mu
means nothingness or what we often refer to in the martial arts as the
Zen State of no mind. This refers to illusion or duality. Someone
once said "Zen is beyond words but it seems to take a lot of words to
explain it". The most concise way I have found of explaining what this
Buddhist concept of illusion or duality is about is for one to think of
duality as the vast wasteland that often exists between self-imagery and
reality. In other words, a gap often exists between how you see the
world and how the world sees you. The reconciliation of these two is
often called satori or enlightenment! The state of mind mu
cultivated in Zen is the same state of mind cultivated by the warrior.
It produces detachment for the warrior that means he has no fear of
death. This manifests itself by granting the warrior or swordsman
freedom from inhibitions or hesitation in combat! Thought and action are
one. Musashi continues in book five by saying, "The way of strategy is
the way of nature". He says that, "Strategy conforms to the natural
order of things." What he means by this is that there is a natural
rhythm to combat and a natural ebb and flow to the tide of battle.
Musashi was always
searching for the best way to perfect his sword skills and achieve
enlightenment, the Zen ideal. Musashi spent his life and
becoming the perfect warrior and perfecting his skill. His legacy is the
Go Rin No Sho and the esoteric philosophy it contains. It continues to
be a source of enlightenment for the modern martial artist and the
modern businessman. Based on his many duels, Musashi certainly proved
that 'strategy is truly the craft of the warrior'.
Dr. George W. Alexander, Hanshi 10th Dan has made available on videotape his
interpretation of the Book of Five Rings. He has taken Miyamoto
Musashi's classic text and interpreted it for everyday life in our
modern era. He gives practical examples of Musashi's philosophy as
applicable to the martial artist, philosopher and businessman. In this
video you will see Musashi's sword techniques in action and you will
learn why this classic text has stood the test of time and why this text
is considered one of the world's leading books on military strategy. He
has also produced a companion video for the modern martial artist
entitled Sun Tzu the Art of War available through Yamazato Videos. He
can be contacted at (423) 338-4972, email
alexyama@mindspring.com.