Book of Five Rings: The Classic Guide to Strategy

For one thing, I had not understood that the character in the samurai collection that Mifune had been portraying had actually been an historic individual living in a unique period of Japanese history. Why I should have been surprised, I don't know, since the exploits of the likes of Pat Garret, Wyatt Earp, and Doc Holiday became the basis for a good deal of 19th and 20th Century pulp fiction, TV series, and movies in the United States. In fact, the period in Japanese history that the translator describes sounds not unlike the "Wild West." The sod busters and the ranchers have made their peace, leaving hundreds of gunmen unemployed. The lucky ones find work as lawmen while the unlucky wander the country looking to enhance their reputations by lethal confrontations to see who's "fastest on the draw." The winner may ultimately find a job as a peace keeper; the loser finds a spot on boot hill. In the case of the American western, the contestants use guns; in the case of the Japanese samurai, they use swords and other equipment. Still there seems something more to it. The something more, I think, is a philosophy, a school, an etiquette, even an art that leaves the Western mind a little uncomfortable.

With some of the techniques of sword work and battle strategy, I think that as Musashi himself informs the reader, it is very difficult to "write" how to do a mechanical task. One can only convey the "feeling" that performing such a task has for the expert writer on the subject. In modern times this facet of the learning process is overcome by photo illustrations, but even then only to a very limited extent. As the author points out, there is no substitute for experience with the process and practice, practice, practice. Even the very limited experience I acquired years ago when I took fencing lessons helped me picture more clearly some of the moves the author described.

Part of the difficulty in connecting with the author's experience as he performs the various actions of sword fighting may be that this book is a translation from the Japanese, was originally written in an older version of the language, and embodied an ancient version of the culture itself, one that is no longer available even to modern Japanese let alone a Western translator. A warrior of Musashi's time may well have connected far better with the similes he uses than a modern person. The unique benefit of this fact, however, is that a great deal can be read into the work. Part of this is the author's intention, but part of it is due to the very ambiguity of the work. Just as the author himself suggests, the reader who does not concentrate on the words but allows the mind to float over them makes all sorts of interesting discoveries. For instance a book on dealing with problem people suggested a technique much like Musashi's "To Know the Times," essentially to match the rhythm and intensity of the subject until one can gain control of that rhythm to de-escalate it. His "To Become the Enemy" immediately brought to my mind the individual characters of Civil War generals Robert E. Lee and his opponent George McClelland. As Musashi suggested, the enemy always feels he is outnumbered which means that a few may defeat many if they are trained in The Way. Or as Lee is reputed to have said before a battle, "The Army of the Potomac is a very good one, unfortunately General McClelland brought himself along." Lee understood The Way. He knew that McClelland's personality, or lack of The Way, produced vast armies of the enemy in his mind.

In all a very interesting and surprising book, one I expect to read again and again to mine for concepts. For a slender 95 pages, the author, like a good poet, has packed each word with a maximum of information because they encapsulate concepts and principles.


Multi-layered   May 15, 2004
Jack Purcell (Placitas, NM USA)
2 out of 2 found this review helpful

On the surface this book appears to be about the martial arts, warfare, swordplay. However, a careful reading with an open mind will surprise the reader not particularly focused on those aspects. Readers who've trained themselves to read complexity and symbolism as an overlay for everyday life experiences will find a strategy for the human life experience hidden here barely beneath the surface. It's only one strategy, and not necessarily the one you'll choose to lead your own life, but it's still worth studying and comprehending. In fact, readers completely unfamiliar with martial arts will find many 'lessons in life' worth digesting.

I believe it's worth the time and effort for study in the same sense as classic Chinese and European works of similar ilk.


Disappointing for what it is. (the format, NOT the text)   May 14, 2004
R. Sparks (Norman, Oklahoma United States)
4 out of 4 found this review helpful

For whatever reason, the publishers decided to leave out portions of the text, and add a massive amount (about 40% of the already shortened book) of Japanese history with photos.

The history is great. The photos are. . . Photos.

If you've any interest in this subject, find a copy of the Shambhala Dragon Edition by Thomas Cleary. It's much more complete, much more more readable, and was actually translated by Thomas Cleary(!), a world reknown scholar on the subject.

This poor representation of such a powerful, important book almost relagates it to the dingy shelf of the "coffee-table book.", and that's a real same.


Timeless   April 18, 2004
wiredweird (Earth, or somewhere nearby)
This book has a singleness of mind and directness that are hard to describe. It is about one thing only, and about forging oneself into the tool that can do that one thing.

The writing is earthy and practical. However blunt and direct it may seem, I get the impression that the translator softened its style. The second translation in this book, from about the same time, is more literary, more refined, and alludes to a much wider range of the educated person's reading. Next to Musashi, and embodying so much of what he disdained, it simply looks foppish.

I do technical work. Much of the process of design and debug has the feel of facing intelligent, determined opposition. For that reason, large parts of Musashi's advice seem true and fresh. He advises that a warrior to become master of all tools, not some just some favorite - today, he would call that the "golden hammer." In 'Letting Go Four Hands,' he advises a prompt change of attack when the first assault deadlocks. In 'Mountain and Sea Changing,' he advises against repeating an approach that has already failed against a given opponent. All those are things that work as well in the lab as on the battlefield.

The Five Rings should be in the library of any professional, artist, or technical worker. Cleary's translation is modern and readable. I would give it five stars, except that so many classics from China and Japan discuss not only tactics but strategy as well. It's not about any flaw in this book, but about the excellence of the other books that this one complements.


The Ring of Rings   November 12, 2003
Musashi manages to fit into about 100 pages the perspective of Oriental thinking. He works out a system which is a considerable oracale. All is one to him and this is, although sometimes hard to recognize, his vehicle of success. One with the eastern philosophy of natural order Musashi puts into a very small literature a heart of iron and a spirit of fire. Maybe he will be refined yet.