Customer Reviews

The Sword and the Mind

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If you are interested in ancient samurai philosophy, you need to buy this book. I maintain a website on all things Japanese, and I received many inquiries about this book when it was out of print for so long. Now it has recently been re-released, I highly recommend you get a copy before it goes out of print again.

Yagyu Munenori was the "fencing" teacher to the Tokugawa shogunate in early 17th century Japan. Those "in the know" revere him as one of the wisest -- as well as most skilled -- swordsmen of his day. The Sword and the Mind could be considered a companion text to Takuan's The Unfettered Mind. It is dry in the way of Zen texts, so don't buy it looking for action. It is more the sort of text you meditate on -- figuratively or literally -- and hopefully come away with an expanded understanding of the samurai mentality of "a focused life, a willing death." If you're really into these sorts of things, you can even find ways to apply the philosophy to your own, modern life.

To be exact, this book is a translation of Yagyu Munenori's treatise on swordsmanship. It talks a lot about spiritual and mental aspects of swordsmanship, particularly from a Zen standpoint. But it must be remembered that this only one philosophy on swordsmanship. The book contains the complete text, plus translated excerpts from Takuan's (a Zen master) letter to Munenori about Zen and swordsmanship and Takuan's letter to Ono Tadaaki (another master swordsman). Serious students of Japanese swordsmanship will know about this book already but it is a good read for those interested in Zen and its incorporation in martial arts.

This is a very straight translation written by someone who does not know the subject well. His secondary sources, Imamura Yoshio and Watanabe Ichiro, were also known as academics who didn't concern themselves with how well their academic extrapolations matched up with the living tradition of their subject. In short, Mr. Sato has translated words here, but doesn't really know what the words mean.
Here is a concrete example of exactly why this is dangerous. Mr.Sato translates thus: "There may be a hundred combat postures, but there is only one purpose: to win. Ultimately, all this depends on 'shujishuriken'. You may teach or learn the use of the sword in a hundred ways, in a thousand ways, and you may be able to handle the whole array of combat postures and sword positions. But 'shujishuriken' is central"
He then passes on some archaic details (from academic sources) relating to "shujishuriken", even discussing - for Pete's sake - ninjas, but displays no understanding of the term himself.
Despite the fact that the text clearly states that the mastery of the myriad of forms is meaningless if you don't understand the essence of "shujishuriken", Mr.Sato doesn't seem to twig on idea that translating the words of a book without understanding "what it's really about" is an academic exercise of little importance.
Since clear explanations of much of the terminology ARE available, for instance in the book "Yagyu Shinkage Ryu Dogen" by the 21st headmaster of the school, Yagyu Nobuharu, I would not recommend Mr.Sato's work, as he seems comfortable with simply massaging the words.

Everyone oohs and ahs over Musashi's book these days. The funny thing is that in Musashi's own time, and later in the Edo period, the book that was considered to be the best was "The Sword and the Mind", not "The Book of Five Rings". In Fact, the fighting style of "The Sword and the Mind" became and remained the official style of the Shogunate! Why there is so little interest in this most important of Japanese combat books I cannot understand. In fact, this book even has woodcut pictures demonstrating the techniques! If you want proof as to the skill of the authors, let it be known that one of them had the habit of defeating swordsmen using only his bare hands! Another one of the authors fought seven men at once and beat them all; Musashi only fought individual one-on-one duels. The guys who wrote this book had a system which worked, and which they could teach to others. Victory is achieved through science. One especially nice thing about this book is that you can, based on the pictures, immediately practice the techniques, even if you will do so rather informally. Another great thing is that it is written in a very polished style typical of the ruling class, and it gives the reader a window into the lives and thoughts of upper-ranking samurai. The book was written over time by the three successive masters of the school. This book and no other is the definitive combat manual of the samurai: this is the one you have to read if you are interested in Japanese Martial Arts and the Samurai.

I have been practicing Yagyu Shinkage ryu in Japan for the last 5 years. In fact, I just finished a 3 day intensive practice in the village of Yagyu near Nara in Japan. We visited the graves of the Yagyu family and stayed in the dojo where they practiced and taught. My dojo is in direct lineage to the founders of this ryu. Finding old scrolls translated so well into English is extremely difficult. This book is absolutely incredible! I have searched years for this. (Translating it myself would have taken much longer!)

I would recommend this book to anyone with a good amount of experience in Japanese sword fighting techiques, but even so, without the verbal lessons that have been handed down to accompany the text, and without seeing it in action, you would find this book too difficult to understand.

Beginners would find the discriptions of the kata hard to follow, but would be able to get the essence of the spirit or the mindset of the practicioner. There is also the history of the ryu and it's lineage that is very informative.

Well written and translated by someone with an understanding of the subject, historically accurate, this book is tops!

Although as another reviewer notes there are some problems with this translation, Muenori's book is a superb work of strategy that belongs right next to Musashi Miyamoto's Go Rin No Sho (book of five spheres) and Yamamoto Kansuke's Heiho Okugisho. Where there were illustrations in the original Heiho Kadensho (Family transmission scroll), they are here reproduced for the reader's benefit.

The Sword and The Mind illuminates not only a philosophy for fighting and survival, but a way of being and considering life. Truely a work of Genius! This translation is generally straight forward and easy to understand, and includes a bibliography as well as a glossary of terms. Unfortunately, there are not a number of translations of this work to choose from and compare yet. A decent work worthy of consideration.

It's a set of brief 16-17th century works, transmitted within the family, from Kamiizumi Hidetsuna, to his son Yagyu Muneyoshi, and to his son Yagyu Munenori. This period led up to the start of the Tokugawa shogun era, a turning point in Japanese history. It is interesting to see how the authors turned with their times.

Volume one is very pragmatic. It lists sword-fighting postures and counters. I am no swordsman, but I have to distrust any fixed set of responses to inherently fluid situations. The main value in this section comes from the classical illustrations paired with the text. I enjoyed them immensely in themselves and in their support of the translation, despite the indifferent-or-worse quality of rendering.

Volume two, "The Death-Dealing Blade" starts a much more literate phase of the cycle. It opens with an allusion to Laozi, and the subtitle "Weapons are unfortunate instruments." Pacifist though I am, I acknowledge valid (and unfortunate) purpose for those instruments, and valid (though unfortunate) reason for people to become expert in their use. This is another tactical approach to swordsmanship, but a little less dedicated to rote learning than v.1. Instead, it starts by encouraging Zen, the Tao, and the Confucian classics. Then it goes back to the tactics of swordfighting. As always, the swordsman himself is first among his tools, and emphasis is on honing that tool.

Volume three, "The Life-Giving Sword," attempts to reconcile the violence of bushido with the quiet of zen. This is far more philosophical than the preceding volumes. It is also firmly grounded in the bloody pragmatics of its time: the sword cuts one person in order that others may live. It opposes moral relativism directly, in its appeal to some clear standard of need, but also demands fast and final judgement by the man on the spot. I can not put words to it, but I see a resolution of the personal and the universal there, in a way that I want to learn.

There's more here, too, in the translator's introduction and in other minor works in the collection. This won't be the centerpiece of any library, but it's worthwhile to any student of the bushido or of classical Japanese culture.

//wiredweird

This book is so good that I had my last copy stolen! For those of you who know what I am talking about when I describe the only proper mindset of a martial artist when confronted is to think only of one thing...to cut, then you will know that you need this book. This book is for martial artists only.This, and another book regarding Bushido, Hagakure, are an indespensible pair in a Martial Artist's study.