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Miyamoto Musashi: His Life and Writings

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This is the most exhaustive and detailed study I've seen on Musashi yet. At 488 pages, with almost 150 pages of appendices, notes, a glossary, and an extensive bibliography, there is a wealth of material here on the legendary swordsman.

Although a translation from the Japanese and intended to be a thorough, well-researched, scholarly work on Musashi, I thought it was pretty readable, well-written, interesting, and not nearly as dry and forbidding as it could have been for an academic study. If you have some previous knowledge of Japanese history or martial arts you shouldn't have any trouble with it. But be forewarned that it does require a little more patience than the more popular accounts of his life and times.

There are chapters on Musashi's childhood and training, his duels and battles, his mature years, three chapters on his writings, and seven chapters covering Musashi's martial arts concepts and style of swordfighting, which includes chapters on training, budo, Musashi's school of swordsmanship today, and finally two chapters entitled "The Relationship Between Adversaries," and "One Life, One Art."

There are many aspects of Musashi's life and ideas that get discussed in the book, but I thought I'd write a bit about what I learned about his personal philosophy. Many of you are probably knowledgeable about the specifics of his fencing concepts from having read his Book of Five Rings, so I thought I'd mention something about that instead, since it was something I didn't know as much about myself until I read this book, being more familiar with his ideas about the True Way of the Sword from having read his The Book of Five Rings previously.

Musashi was in many ways a complex, contradictory, and perplexing personality, but we get important glimpses and insights into his character through the author's descriptions of his battlefield experiences, duels, and other exploits, and also in the discussion of his personal philosophy. For example, in the "Dokkodo," or Musashi's 21 Precepts About Life, which he wrote only a week before his death, he offered the distilled essence of his experience and thought.

For example, his 5th precept is, "Think lightly of yourself and deeply of the world," which seems at odds with reports about Musashi's pride and ego, at least during his younger years. According to Nakanishi Seito, Musashi's pride kept him from working in the service of a lord with less than 500,000 koku (a "koku" being a bushel of rice owed to a lord from his subjects and vassals, and a standard way of determining wealth back in those times). And the first precept, "Don't go against the way of the world that is perpetuated from generation to generation," seems to contradict the 15th precept, "Do not act following customary beliefs."

It's easier to understand some of the other precepts, such as #5, "Be detached from desire your whole life long; #10, "Do not let yourself be guided by the feelings of love," #13; "Do not pursue the taste of good food;" and #18, "Do not seek to possess either goods or fiefs for your old age." These certainly seem to reflect the more Zen-like and ascetic cast to Musashi's philosophy which he developed as a result of study and reflection and spiritual disciplines in his more mature years.

Some of them are interesting for what they have to say on other subjects, such as #19, "Respect Buddha and the gods without expecting their help," and also #16, "Do not seek especially either to collect or to practice arms beyond what is useful,"--an interesting sentiment coming from the most respected and dedicated swordsmen of his age.

But as I said, this just goes to show that Musashi was a complex individual whose ideas about the sword and personal philosophy aren't necessarily easy to grasp without more than a passing familiarity with their author.

While we're on the subject of Musashi, I thought I'd include a few comments here more specifically to do with Musashi's famous Book of Five Rings, which Tokitsu also discusses in detail in this book, since it contains, as I said, three full chapters devoted to the analysis and consideration of Musashi's writings. These comments reflect more my own interpretatation of Musashi's ideas, but I offer them for what they're worth in case you find them useful, as I approach the subject from the standpoint of both eastern and western ideas, philosophy, and science. Also they focus specifically on how to understand Musashi's seemingly paradoxical ideas about sword technique, so perhaps they'll be of interest to some of you for that reason.

The Book of Five Rings sets out Musashi's philosophy and correct Way of the Sword. But the principles Musashi espouses are bound to sound perplexing to many people. Musashi says that the best stance is no stance, that too much strength is bad (your sword may shatter when clashing swords), and that even too much speed is bad (it may upset your balance), and that none of these are the true Way of the Sword. The best technique is, in fact, no technique.

This sort of philosophy is bound to be more than a little confusing, so I'll see if I can clarify it a little. I'm not sure I understand Musashi either, although I've studied martial arts for many years and have read my share of both western and eastern philosophy, but I'll give you my ideas on how I relate to them just in case you find them useful.

Basically what Musashi is saying is that once you've learned a technique and committed it to memory and especially "muscle memory," it becomes fixed and is no longer adaptive. Your body becomes channelized into this form or technique, which then becomes limiting, preventing you from achieving true mastery, which is the ability to adapt and flow with any of the infinite number of situations you may encounter. Fixity is therefore dysfunctional and is not the true Way of the Sword. This might be what Musashi means when he speaks of the Way of Emptiness being his way and the true Way of the Sword. In other words, his technique is no technique because it is empty of all fixed, unchangeable, and unadaptive aspects.

There is an analogous principle in Zen. In Zen, the highest level of technique is called "the technique that can't be seen." This doesn't mean that the technique is so fast it's invisible. It's that the technique is so advanced and subtle that its principles aren't obvious and easily seen. Musashi's ideas seem to reflect this Zen Buddhist principle also.

Interestingly enough, this idea has some support from western research into learning and the brain. In learning theory, there is the idea of "stereotyping," (which has nothing to do with social or racial stereotypes), where motor movements that have been learned become fixed into a certain sequence or pattern, but which is not necessarily the most efficient or effective. My learning theory instructor used the example of shaving strokes. He realized after some years that he always did his shaving strokes in the same way, after having learned how to do them, but that they weren't necessarily the best way to shave, anymore. Now that he'd been shaving for years, he "re-engineered" his shaving strokes so that they were more efficient.

This may apply to the martial arts too. After we've learned a certain movement and achieved a certain level of skill with it, we may become complacent and never go back and question the movement again, all because we believe we've achieved a level of "skill." I notice Paul Vunak, an important martial artist in Bruce Lee's Jeet Kune Do and the Filipino martial arts, also emphasizes the learning of principles rather than "technique," and specifically mentions this in his seminars. The idea is that once one has learned the principle behind the technique, one can do an infinite number of those techniques, depending on the situation.

Another interesting physiological principle that is almost as paradoxical as Musashi's ideas has been found by western science. There is a phenomenon in neuromuscular physiology known as reciprocal inhibition of flexor-extensor pairs. This means that during muscle activity the opposing muscle tension is inhibited to reduce effort on the flexing muscle. So if you're trying to do a straight punch, the tricep tenses and the bicep relaxes, thus reducing resistance. The paradoxical aspect arises from the fact that by performing a small jerk backwards in the opposite direction to the punch the outward extensor motion can be speeded up. In kinesiology they refer to this as a "pliometric jerk," and is how basketball players jump higher. But it also has equal application to the martial arts, and I've had good results using this to get more speed and snap in my own techniques and for my students.

Anyway, I just thought I'd offer a few suggestions from my own experience on Musashi's book, although I can't say I fully understand it either. But I hope you find them helpful in some small way in your own understanding and training.

Overall, this is a well-written, detailed, and exhaustive book on the life and times and philosophy of the famous samurai and swordsman.

"Miyamoto Musashi: His Life and Writings" is an extensive book, to put it mildly. Written by Kenji Tokitsu, a noted martial artist, it takes a view of Musashi as only a martial artist can. In this sense, it adds something more that books by historians and scholars can sometimes miss.

The book itself covers various aspects of Musashi, including a section on his life, a translation of "Gorin No Sho", Musashi's major written work, and other writings that have come down to us from Musashi's pen.

This might sound strange, but reading Eiji Yoshikawa's novel Musashi: An Epic Novel of the Samurai Era would be a good starting point before hitting this book. The novel is really an image of Musashi in popular imagination in Japan, and Tokitsu makes some reference to it in the biographical section. In other aspects of Musashi, Tokitsu takes a very balanced view of the sources, (many of which conflict in major ways), and comes away with a very real Musashi with faults and issues. This stands in contrast to the almost frothing praise that other books have heaped on Musashi. Tokitsu quotes at length from a variety of primary sources, and also presents differing opinions to his own.

The translations of Musashi's writings are well executed, and easily read. There are some terms that are quite difficult to get the correct meaning in English, and Tokitsu has included very large appendices on that and other issues that come up. These appendices go a long way to clearing up some of the issues that the book raises.

Probably another strange suggestion, but you might want to read this book with two bookmarks: one for the book and one for the endnotes. I would not suggest it if the endnotes were just references and the like, but some are almost mini-essays in their own right, and add a huge amount of depth to the book. On the down side, there is a lot of flipping back and forth if one wants to read the notes, but the finger-walking is well worth the effort. The notes cover everything from discussions on particular words, or adding more historical information to elaborate on a point in the text itself.

For a book on one of the prime figures of the early Edo Period, Tokitsu's book is a major and essential contribution to the study Miyamoto Musashi and the availability of that scholarship in English. It shows Musashi in all of his complexity, without mindlessly presenting him as a pure hero. Unreservedly recommended, this a is fantastic book. I can only hope more are published about Musashi of this calibre.

This book is a scholarly and somewhat dry read with many footnotes and alternatives explored. Persevere with it because this is a fascinating unravelling of facts and myths about Miyamoto Musashi's remarkable life and inspirational writings.

Note this book includes a translation of the book of five rings that reads very well indeed, a remarkable feat considering the nature of the Japanese original.

This book opens with one of the best biographies I have read in a while. Since it concerns a historical figure about whom much is unknown, the author presents multiple viewpoints and conjectures prevalent in the current historical scholarship of Japan. Some readers have noted this and consider it annoying double-talk, but I found it useful to know the multiple opinions of the scholars. It lets me know Tokitsu is not simply saying "this is my opinion, and mine is the correct one."

The fact that Musashi's writings are all translated in the second part of the book is very nice. The selections are very readable in English, but don't lose their enigmatic and ambiguous nature. Of course, the major composition is the Gorin (no) Sho, or Book of Five Rings, while the other writings are mostly earlier sketches which reveal the evolution of Musashi's ideas up into the writing of the book. Also included is the list of life principles he wrote shortly before death, Dokkodo.

The third part of the book is a big section about principals of the martial arts and opinions of practitioners on Musashi's ideas. This section will not appeal to non-martial artists or non-enthusiasts. The ideas are mostly deeply rooted in Zen, or describe technicalities the non-enthusiast will find generally uninteresting. It has been said that this book is a very dry read, but I disagree. The life narrative of Musashi was quite entertaining, and his writings are as most writings of that type go, but it was this last section, focused on the practice of budo, that probably lead to that opinion of dryness. I found it interesting myself, being a practitioner of the arts. Don't take this description the wrong way, this section does not ruin the book by any means. It is worth reading for the first two parts no matter what. I'm simply saying that the third section only really appeals to practitioners and enthusiasts like myself.

This book is a must read for anyone who practices or simply likes martial arts. It is even good if you are simply a fan of biographies. The book is also very well bound, and will be quite durable.

This is easily one of the best english studies of Musashi. Together with William Scott Wilson's "The Lone Samurai: The Life of Miyamoto Musashi", anyone could conduct a detailed study into the fascinating life, art, fighting method, and unique philosophy of this eccentric genius and in the process, walk away with a decent quality understanding of the history making events that occurred around the battle of Sekigahara and the siege of Osaka castle.

When I followed Musashi's travels in Japan, these were the two books I used to map my journey, and the understanding I was able to develop proved priceless as I traveled the old paths and visited villages, temples, castles, mansions, battlefields, and other locations largely forgotten. This book includes a very useful chronology at the beginning.

One thing I like about this book in particular is the inclusion of color plates of his art and calligraphy, of which he was a master of both. His art is accomplished using an economy of strokes to achieve an effect. He is also known to have held his brush like a sword rather than grasping it in the traditional style. Next to one of Musashi's Daruma works, the author states:

"We can follow every movement of Musashi's hand as he brought the gray line from center left up to the right, turned the brush swiftly at the shoulder and then pulled the line rapidly downward."

This is a very satisfying book that should please any Musashi fan, or that is certain to make a fan out of anyone who is unfamiliar with this incredible man. I can't recommend it enough.

Once I started reading 'Miyamoto Musashi: His Life and Writings' I could not put it down and found myself reading until the next morning... This is a well written informative and detailed account of Miyamoto Musashi's life, his training, his teaching, his paintings and his writings. Various sources are cited and comparative analysis is rendered. We are given more than a glimpse into Musashi the warrior, the father, the artist and the man. I place this book on the top of the list of books regarding Miyamoto Musashi and his writing on Strategy as presented in Go Rin no Sho. It is a must for every military professional and devoted martial artists.

In my own search for knowledge in the martial arts, I first encountered Miyamoto Musashi's writings some years ago in a book entitled "The Martial Artist's Book of Five Rings: The Definitive Interpretation of Miyamoto Musashi's Classic Book of Strategy", by Steve Kaufman. My immediate impression was that, in Musashi, I had at last found a true teacher of the Way of strategy. After some time paging through Kaufman's definitive translation, however, I soon began to notice some small inconsistencies which at first, I attributed to my lack of knowledge of the subject matter, but then later, as I continued paging through the book again and again, I recognized that consulting another translation might be of some help in easing my mind on certain matters. At any rate, I picked up another translation by Victor Harris, and was surprised to see that in fact, much of the previous translation was based upon Kaufman's own interpretation and application within martial arts, which incidently, tended to fall away from the original concepts which Musashi sought to convey. Mr. Harris's translation on the other hand, is beautifully contrived. It is a veritable work of art in its own right, and although the general essence of Musashi's thought passes through the translation, there were still certain matters of translation within my mind which still required clarification. Hence, I moved on, subsequently coming upon the translations of William Scott Wilson and Thomas Cleary. The latter's translation certainly hits the mark on a number of technical matters (for martial artists) which the previous translations miss, and although Cleary's style tends to be dry and at times a bit overwrought, as a whole he offers a solid translation of the material. However, as anyone will recognize in reading Musashi, particularly martial artists who are interested in understanding his work from a technical perspective, the material was still quite obscure.
At this point, I had all but settled upon the books I had found, and contemplating the possibility that in order to understand Musashi first hand I might actually have to learn Japanese, I fortunately came upon Kenji Tokitsu's book, "Miyamoto Musashi: His Life and Writings", wherein most of the work had already been accomplished for me. Thrilled at finding this book, together with the fact that Mr. Tokitsu is himself a martial arts practitioner, I can say in all honesty that this is the definitive translation, and there is no better. Mr. Tokitsu approaches Musashi's work as a scholar. He offers a veritable Japanese lexicon of the more technical aspects of Musashi's lexicology, looks to contemporary Japanese Master's who fall within the lineage of Musashi's school in order to assess the range and likeness of their techniques, and attempts, as best as possible, to offer a literal and exacting translation of the work. For martial artists interested in understanding Musashi, this is as close as one can approach to the actual Japanese text itself. Indeed, one actually acquires a certain vocabulary simply through noting the many comparisons which Tokitsu offers to the actual Japanese itself.

As a final side note, for readers not interested in this technical aspect, you should be happy to know that it is all contained in the Appendix and notes. The book itself, the story and history of Musashi, his writings and the writings of his students, are all well ordered and as readable as any novel.

Well, I read one book on the subject and thought that I knew everything about the man... I was wrong.
I especially like this book because the author tries his best to show the different points of view and include sometimes contradicting documents. Also he included much needed (for me at least) background data that helped to better understand the realities of that time.
It definitely cured me from my "I know everything" attitude.

One of the best if not the best Musashi books I have ever read. I highly recommend. Great background, in-depth translation. a must read

This is the most exhaustive and detailed study I've seen on Musashi yet. At 488 pages, with almost 150 pages of appendices, notes, a glossary, and an extensive bibliography, there is a wealth of material here on the legendary swordsman.

A great book.