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The Book of Five Rings (Bushido--The Way of the Warrior) |  | Author: Miyamoto Musashi
Creator: William Scott Wilson
Publisher: Kodansha International
List Price: $19.00
Buy New: $11.07
as of 3/18/2010 10:22 CDT details
You Save: $7.93 (42%)
New (23) Used (10) from $11.07
Seller: HollyLooyaBooks
Rating:  140 reviews
Sales Rank: 94
Media: Hardcover
Pages: 160
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.6
Dimensions (in): 8 x 5.5 x 0.7
ISBN: 4770028016
Dewey Decimal Number: 181
EAN: 9784770028013
ASIN: 4770028016
Publication Date: March 1, 2002
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Features:
| • | ISBN13: 9784770028013 | | • | Condition: NEW | | • | Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark. |
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| Editorial Reviews:
Amazon.com Review
To learn a Japanese martial art is to learn Zen, and although you can't do so simply by reading a book, it sure does help--especially if that book is The Book of Five Rings. One of Japan's great samurai sword masters penned in decisive, unfaltering terms this certain path to victory, and like Sun Tzu's The Art of War it is applicable not only on the battlefield but also in all forms of competition. Always observant, creating confusion, striking at vulnerabilities--these are some of the basic principles. Going deeper, we find suki, the interval of vulnerability, of indecisiveness, of rest, the briefest but most vital moment to strike. In succinct detail, Miyamoto records ideal postures, blows, and psychological tactics to put the enemy off guard and open the way for attack. Most important of all is Miyamoto's concept of rhythm, how all things are in harmony, and that by working with the rhythm of a situation we can turn it to our advantage with little effort. But like Zen, this requires one task above all else, putting the book down and going out to practice. --Brian Bruya
Product Description
Setting down his thoughts on swordplay, on winning, and on spirituality, legendary swordsman Miyamoto Musashi intended this modest work as a guide for his immediate disciples and future generations of samurai. He had little idea he was penning a masterpiece that would be eagerly devoured by people in all walks of life centuries after his death. Along with The Art of War by Sun Tzu, The Book of Five Rings has long been regarded as an invaluable treatise on the strategy of winning. Musashi's timeless advice on defeating an adversary, throwing an opponent off-guard, creating confusion, and other techniques for overpowering an assailant was addressed to the readers of earlier times on the battlefield, and now serves the modern reader in the battle of life. In this new rendering by the translator of Hagakure and The Unfettered Mind, William Scott Wilson adheres rigorously to the seventeenth-century Japanese text and clarifies points of ambiguity in earlier translations. In addition, he offers an extensive introduction and a translation of Musashi's rarely published The Way of Walking Alone. This gift-book edition also features original art by Musashi himself as well as new calligraphy by Japanese artist Shiro Tsujimura.
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| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 140
 Distracting Images February 9, 2010
xnewyorkhardcorex
I've read three translations of this book thus far. One was terrible, one was excellent and this one is a good translation and a very good quality production.
Unfortunately nearly every page is littered with pictures of flowers and sickles (and what appear at times to be snowflakes) behind the print. For me these images are very distracting.
I give it four stars despite the images.
 a little underwhelmed, but still respectful December 7, 2009
J. O. Williams (Tampa, FL United States)
0 out of 3 found this review helpful
I am a student of Zen for over 10 years now, recently getting interested and involved with Kendo. So, this was one of the first books I thought about reading that might combine the two interests. This is a very famous book from a very famous warrior/zen student/artist/eccentric. It is definitely worth a read, but I must say that it was short on both swordsmanship and Zen. It was too broad to be taken as a helpful guide for Kendo, although I'm sure it would be a great manual to supplement a student training with Miyamoto Musashi or one of his disciples. His thoughts on Zen are a little interesting and he seemed to have obviously been steeped in Zen and its teachings, but there are much better books on Buddhist/Zen thought. I am very interested in the seeming conflict in the Buddhist ideal of not killing and yet the practice of Zen was so attractive to many Samurai/warriors. In my humble opinion, The Life-Giving Sword: The Secret Teachings From the House of the Shogun by Yagyu Munenori, goes into that subject a little deeper and does make sense. I found the "Life-Giving Sword" much more interesting in terms of both swordsmanship guide and Zen thought and the combination of the two, although still not much help as a guide to Kendo without an instructor to help actually teach and guide a student through the material. I'm sure Miyamoto Musashi was an amazing person and would have been an impressive person to meet in real life, if we had time machines. ;) Still respectful of the man and his ideas, but too bad his book he left behind was more bones than flesh.
Way of the Samurai December 3, 2009
Cwn_Annwn (Copenhagen, Denmark)
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
Written in the 1600s by one of the great Samurais in history Musashi puts forth his ideas on sword fighting combat and life. I found this interesting. While the ideas are obviously geared toward sword fighting some with a slight alteration could apply to other martial arts/fighting sports. I'll leave the all the overly contemplative philosophical musings on this book to all the Zen Buddhists out there. There was also some good biographical stuff and artwork by him in this too.
 the book of five rings June 26, 2009
Bobbie L. Strickland (jesup, ga)
I bought it for my boyfriend as a birthday gift. I ended up reading it too because he talk so great about it. I thought it was a great book and very well written. i enjoyed it very much and my boyfriend was very happy with it we plan on buying more books like this one.
Great book on Zen, sword fighting, and defeating you enemies. May 13, 2009
A. LAZIN
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Miyamoto Musashi is a famous Japanese Samurai who was in at least 60 duels often to the death across Japan fighting various warriors from many styles of fighting. Musashi supposedly never lost a duel which is not entirely true as at least on one occasion he fled a battle when the odds were against him. Musashi lived until the ripe old age of 60 which was old back in the time of the samurai. He did not write this book until he was in his fifties after countless battles, contemplation, and practice in becoming a true martial artist. Mushashi's belief system in the five rings or elements that must be mastered to defeat your enemy is the same belief system that the Ninja in ancient Japan had. The Ninja originally adopted these ideas from an ancient Chinese scroll on warfare. The five elements or "rings" as Musashi calls them are Earth, Wind, Fire, Water, and Void. It is interesting to note that Musashi also believes like many people do that the greatest enemy is in fact oneself. This is a very good book from the philosophical standpoint of following Zen and overcoming obstacles and opponents. However, in later chapters Musashi goes into great detail on sword fighting techniques which are not very useful as there is no visual aide to assume the forms he describes. If you want to learn sword fighting techniques I suggest "Shinobi Gatana" (GHOST BLADE) by Steven Hayes - one of the only Americans ever trained by the last Grand Master of Ninjitsu (unfortunately it is hard to come by and only available on VHS). Musashi's book is a journey into the mind of a true martial artist, his ideals and techniques were just as relevant in his time as our own.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 140
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