Musashi's Book of Five Rings. Stephen F. Kaufman

business strategy. There is a significant difference between not getting a deal signed and having your head cut off. Business is mental. War is mental and physical. The true warrior has no difficulty understanding this difference regardless of all the hype suggesting that “business is war.” It absolutely is not.

      This is a book for “martialists.” Not martial artists. The concept of “art” can lead to a misunderstanding of the warrior’s purpose and preclude a subjective relationship to form and function. For, paradoxically, the warrior is all passion although he shows none and “kills” without hesitation. The reality is one of neither subjectivity nor objectivity.

      Development of technique is essential to understanding of purpose. Once a specific technique has been understood, the warrior stops using it on a conscious level because in combat having a conscious identity imposes limitations. Knowing how to do something and actually doing it are not at all the same thing. Taking a life is not the same as taking money. This fundamental premise is the reason why samurai despised the merchant class even while understanding the need for the merchant mentality. Cold-blooded businessmen, however, do not understand the true Way of the warrior.

      The majority of translations of Musashi’s work available on the market are little more than intellectual exercises in translating Japanese to English. They do not adequately express the feeling required to study life and death confrontations and therefore fall short of the mark. The present work has been done with the purpose of clearing up the misconceptions of naive Westerners and Easterners as to the “real” purpose of the Five Rings. It explains in depth, with additional definition, the truths that must be comprehended before it is possible to come to terms with the teachings of Musashi. It is therefore to be studied as a “universal” explanation.

      With deep reverence and profound homage to the master, I take full responsibility for the interpretation of all concepts presented herein.

      Steve Kaufman, Hanshi, 10th Dan

      MUSASHI’S

      BOOK

       OF

       FIVE

       RINGS

      INTRODUCTION

      My name is Miyamoto Musashi. I have killed over sixty men in fights and duels. When I was sixty years of age I looked back upon my life and in a flash of wisdom, realized that all my victories were based on either great luck, an innate ability, or perhaps the fact that the methods of other schools were inadequate.

      When I came to terms with my own skills and abilities, the realities of what I had accomplished held me to a higher principle that left me no choice but to depart from the commerce of the world, seek isolation, and tear my soul apart so that I could examine what I already seemed to know instinctively. I practiced and meditated constantly until I came to understand the workings of the spirit.

      I am considered to be the greatest swordsman Japan has ever had. It was during my fights and duels that I developed my own style of two-sword fighting. Although I was committed to my sword, I was also dedicated to learning painting, sculpture, and poetry. I instinctively felt it necessary to understand the arts and be accomplished in them. But my prime focus was on swordsmanship. I was not a particularly religious person, although I know of Buddhism, Shintoism, and Confucianism and am aware of their tenets.

      What will be changed in my teachings with the passing of time cannot be known. There are, however, specific warrior attitudes that make good sense for the martialist. These warrior attitudes are succinct and definitive.

      It may seem that I am repeating the same thing over and over. While it is true that I am doing this, it is only to enforce my teachings upon you. By constant repetition you will soon come to understand my Way of strategy. I will not leave it to you to try to quickly grasp my ideas in passing.

      The Book of Five Rings is divided into five sections called Earth, Water, Fire, Wind and No-thing-ness. Earth lays the groundwork for the study of the whole book. Water explains attitudes of warriorness through an understanding of strategy. Fire teaches fighting with the principles of Earth and Water. The Book of the Wind describes the differences between my school’s style and the styles of other schools. The Book of No-thing-ness describes the “Way” of nature as the true mode of being.

      I have not followed the paths of other men. I have lived without the benefit of a teacher and by my own devices I became the master of myself, and thereby master of the sword and the brush, never differentiating between any of these “arts.”

      It should be understood that without the assistance of a teacher many roads become open to a practitioner, some on the correct path and some on the incorrect path. It is not for everyone to be without guidance—only a few, and they are exceptional, can make a journey to wisdom without a teacher. You must have extraordinary passion, patience, and self-discipline to make a journey alone. The goals must be understood, definitive, and no diversion can be acknowledged or permitted if you are to attain enlightenment within the sphere of a chosen art. This is a very difficult road to travel and not many are made for it. It is frustrating, confusing, very lonely, certainly frightening, and it will sometimes make you think you do not have much sanity left to deal with the everyday surroundings of your world. Also, there is no guarantee that you will attain perfection. It must all come from inside you without any preconceived notions on your part.

      And so we begin....

      No man is invincible, and therefore no man can fully understand that which would make him invincible. Even with complete and thorough study there is always the possibility of being defeated and although one may be expert in a particular form, mastery is something a man never stops seeking to attain. It is doubtful that anyone truly understands the “real” way of strategy, much less truly lives it. Yet military leaders must have some understanding of strategy and they must pass it on to their warriors, regardless of the limitations of their own understanding.

      There is no one way to salvation, whatever the manner in which a man may proceed. All forms and variations are governed by the eternal intelligence of the Universe that enables a man to approach perfection. It may be in the arts of music and painting or it may be in commerce, law, or medicine. It may be in the study of war or the study of peace. Each is as important as any other. Spiritual enlightenment through religious meditation such as Zen or in any other way is as viable and functional as any “Way.” Certainly in the “Way” of the sword or the fist. A person should study as they see fit.

      A warrior should have an understanding of the peaceful arts as well as the killing arts. This is a two-fold Way. If a man chooses a certain Way and seems to have no particular talent for this Way, he can still become a master if he so chooses. By keeping at a particular form of study a man can attain perfection either in this life or the next (if a next life is believed in). The warrior, however, understands that the end result of any study is a kind of death (sublime, not necessarily physical) before the attainment of perfection. Many different types of people have been known to die for either the right reasons or the wrong reasons. The only shame in dying incorrectly is to die a stupid and meaningless death. To die as a warrior means to have crossed swords and either won or lost without any consideration for winning or losing. There is just not enough time and generally there is not enough strength in the resolve of any man to do otherwise.

      In all accomplishments of war the warrior understands that the only real measure of his ability lies in being able to beat men in fights regardless of their nature. Failure in any other area is not to be construed as a true test of a warrior’s mettle. The true virtue of strategy is in allowing us to overcome all odds in daily life and in helping us attain the closest state we can to being one with the supreme power before going into battle. The development of warrior consciousness is an ongoing thing. Each new experience continually leads to new challenges.

      The “Way” cannot be learned through frivolous contests in which the outcome is for the name of a school or a large trophy. It can only be realized where physical death is a reality.