Rating: 
Summary: Not influential in his own time, but who cares?!
Review:
Musashi's now-famous 'Book of Five Rings' is simply not the most influential sword-fighting book written in Feudal Japan. The most important book on Japanese swordsmanship, and the text of the Shogunate's own selected shool of swordsmanship is 'The Sword and the Mind': available as a translation by Hiroaki Sato. Musashi had a very personal and unique style of fighting involving the long and short swords used together. Quite possibly his style developed through the influence of his father, who was an expert in the jitte: a parrying weapon held in the left hand. Even if wielding the long sword by itself, he recommends holding it only in one hand, and developing the strength to do so: he mentions how often you will have to grab enemy spears or other objects with your left hand while fighting, and how holding a sword in two hands limits your sword's movement. Musashi was fully devoted to swordsmanship, and it seems as if he spent all day every day of his life swinging his swords about: no wonder no one could match him! Musashi's main principles are: 1) Train as much as possible 2) Always be on the attack, and turn every defence into an attack 3) Do unexpected strange things to confuse the opponent 4) Attack while the opponent is in the middle of doing something else such as taking a step or breathing etc 5) keep yourself relaxed while fighting 6) Train to achieve complete control of movement. There are lots of little useful anecdotes he tells us about, such as how to keep the sun at your back and thus in the opponent's face. He also gives us a window into 17th Century battles concerning the benefits and detriments of the various weapons and so on. What clearly rings through the entire book is that this is the work of someone who is intimate to an incredible degree with the movements of the sword and the body. A great deal of his strategy involves timing and rhythms: catching the opponent at just the right moment. There is no doubt that these principles are of the utmost importance in winning any kind of sport; however, they are very simple principles and really depend on the swordsman having an incredible amount of skill and training which gives him enough freedom of movement and acute sense of timing to carry them out. One can sense the love Musashi has of fighting and the thrill he gets at his feeling of superiority at winning. However, Japan was not as impressed with his style as he was. It was the two-handed style outlined in 'The Sword and the Mind' that became the standard for samurai. I am not a duellist who's life is on the line, so I am not in a position to muse about why the preference remained for a two-handed grip, but certainly having more control of the blade, more speed, and a longer sword must have been factors. So, even though Musashi was undefeatable, he became so using apparently inferior weapons. While this is all the more impressive, it also means that his style is defective in its most basic element: its weapons! I should probably add here that Musashi clearly was acquainted with literature, and the fact that he was trying to immortalize himself through his book is obvious on every page. He was a great artist too, and his paintings and sculptures have been prized ever since he created them. He wanted to remain the best swordsman after his death, and this book was conceived as his means to that end. There is a great deal to be sure to be learned from this work - it is quite possibly the best book ever written on hand to hand combat, and it is very well organized. I should add too that where Musashi speaks of large-scale military manoeuvers he is speaking from experience, since he fought in and commanded in several battles. We however must remember that in his own time and later his style of two swords hardly had any students - and there are no fencers from his Nito school that ever became famous. While his very seemingly-practical 'hands-on' approach to swordsmanship appeals to us impatient moderns, the deeply introspective, psychological mind-games of Munenori's "The Sword and the Mind" appealed to the samurai of the Edo period. However, the samurai of that period took on the role of civil servants and their role as warriors became less and less important, so practical advice on winning battles such as Musashi gives seemed less relevant to them than spiritual cultivation. It is really a miracle that Japan's greatest samurai actually wrote a book telling us how to become as great a fighter as himself! This book is a guide to success in martial arts, and it will give your martial arts knowledge a touch of 'class', since this book is a true classic of the best kind: if you can quote Musashi in your teaching, it can only look good for you! I ought to note that Thomas Cleary's edition of the "Book of Five Rings" also contains the entire "Sword and the Mind" of Munenori, so Cleary's book would be ideal to buy!
Rating: 
Summary: Disappointing for what it is. (the format, NOT the text)
Review: 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.
Rating: 
Summary: The Ring of Rings
Review: I found this book difficult to digest because, unlike Art of War, it doesn't contain clear 'do's and don'ts'. Instead it talks of doing things with certain 'feelings' with the ultimate goal of becoming formless. There are multiple levels of meaning such that on first reading there seems little sense. After contemplating a passage you develop a minor understanding. After expert application, another understanding, and so on. A Westerner can better understand this book after reading The Chrysanthemum and the Sword. Even so, it has taken me almost two years of martial arts training to begin to understand the concepts in this book. Yes, the concepts are applicable to modern life. But are they effective? Maybe.
Rating: 
Summary: Lacking Commentary
Review: Many of these books are difficult to understand because they are meant to be used as study and reference guides along with a teacher. The Book of Five Rings (of which I've read 3 of the 5, and am just a few pages away from finishing) is a treatise describing Musashi Miyamoto's personal school of fighting - the school of two skies. He eschews other schools as too this or too that. They concentrate, he says, on technique rather than what swordfighting is all about - killing your opponent. The text is dry, and the sections are short. They are intended (a) for swordfighters, and (b) to be meditated on. The principals in this book would take a swordfighter years to master. In fact, at one point he says one should study for about 3 years (he gives a specific number of weeks) and then practice for 30 or so more years. How does this translate into my life? I'm not sure. I don't have enough of a background in swordfighting, the culture, etc. to know how these concepts apply to my life. If perhaps I had a guide, in the form of commentary, I could more easily integrate these concepts into my life. As is, however, this book isn't of much use to me, except as reference for the day when I do have commentary. I reccomend, instead, Cleary's Classics of Strategy and Counsel. This trilogy of books includes the Art of War, Mastering the Art of War, The Lost Art of War, The Silver Sparrow Art of War, Thunder in the Sky, The Japanese Art of War, The Book of Five Rings, Ways of Warriors, Codes of Kings (which includes several works), The Art of Wealth, Living a Good Life, The Human Element, and Back to Beginnings. In addition to the text, there is often commentary, and supplementary material that can put the text in context and aid the student on his or her journey. Amazon lists several of these as the same book...
Rating:
Summary: The Ring of Rings
Review: 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.
Rating:
Summary: Like poetry it suggests more than it says
Review: Okay, so I really have no clue as to what compelled me to buy this book. I hate to admit it but it looked "pretty" and it looked "historical," so I got it. I also love the Japanese film classics starring Toshirô Mifune as the ultimate samurai warrior. Many of them illustrate a combination of charm, sophistication, humor, even comedy, with violence, ruthlessness, and arrogance. The comparative lack of graphic bloodiness tends to focus the viewer on the human dynamics and art of the situation, and while some of these classics have been translated by the Hollywood film industry for Western tastes, what transpires still has a "foreign" feel. One sees the action and senses that something going on here is different, uncomfortable. Upon reading a few paragraphs of the Book of Five Rings : The Classic Guide to Strategy, I understood why. 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.
Rating:
Summary: Like poetry it suggests more than it says
Review: Okay, so I really have no clue as to what compelled me to buy this book. I hate to admit it but it looked "pretty" and it looked "historical," so I got it. I also love the Japanese film classics starring Toshirô Mifune as the ultimate samurai warrior. Many of them illustrate a combination of charm, sophistication, humor, even comedy, with violence, ruthlessness, and arrogance. The comparative lack of graphic bloodiness tends to focus the viewer on the human dynamics and art of the situation, and while some of these classics have been translated by the Hollywood film industry for Western tastes, what transpires still has a "foreign" feel. One sees the action and senses that something going on here is different, uncomfortable. Upon reading a few paragraphs of the Book of Five Rings : The Classic Guide to Strategy, I understood why. 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.
Rating:
Summary: Multi-layered
Review: 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.
Rating:
Summary: An oriental classic that is hard to put into practical use
Review: The Book of Five Rings is a major classic and though it ought to be read by anyone interested in martial arts, Japan, warfare or oriental philosophy, it is NOT an easy book for learning strategy. Mushashi Miyamoto, the sword-saint of Japan, was so advanced in his development as a warrior-philosopher that he had stopped fighting with anything but wooden swords and finally retreated to a mountain cave to record his deepest thoughts about life. (He also ceased the habit of bathing as he'd once been attacked while lounging in one of those Japanese hot tubs, so perhaps a solitary life in a hermit retreat was just as well.) Unless you yourself have followed a life devoted to the principles of Bushido and its discipline, Musashi's writing is interesting but probably too difficult to apply to daily life. The chapter entitled "The Void" is probably the most abstruse. A good companion book is Sun Tzu's Art of War, which is pragmatic and as current as today's newspaper. Or read Von Clauswitz and Machiavelli.
Rating:
Summary: A Profound Work of Philosophy
Review: The Book of Five Rings is an amazing insight into the mind of one of the greatest warriors in human history. Miyamoto, or "sword saint" as the Japanese call him, was both a powerful warrior and a deep thinking philosopher. He produced numerous works of art, including self-portraits, paintings of buddhas, and sword tsubas. The depth of his thought can be seen clearly in this philosophical treatise, a must read for anyone who is serious about combat and the philosophy behind combat. However, the reader be warned that this is not a martial arts "how to book." Miyamoto fails to divulge any specific sword techniques, only describing strikes, stances, and sword positioning at a most basic level. Having said this, the work is centered around the philosophy behind combat and killing. The most powerful weapon is the human mind which Miyamoto attempts to begin training with this fantastic work. It is a book that can and should be read again and again by both beginners and experts: it never fails to yield some bit of philosophy that helps strengthen the mind. While what Miyamoto says on numerous occasions is mind bending, such as his section on fighting and defeating fifty to sixty men, and difficult to fully grasp this is a work that I think everyone should read sometime in their life and should be required reading in every dojo.
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