There is something strangely compelling about reading ancient texts. Miyamoto Musashi, a famous Ronin and sword-philosopher, wrote The Book of Five Rings in the 17th century, and here are we still trying to inculcate his Ways four centuries down the line.
For clarity, Ronins were Samurais whom their masters had disavowed. With no money avenues available, many Ronins resorted to becoming hired assassins or bandits to earn their keep.
Musashi, however, was cut from a different cloth. Instead of becoming a bandit, he became a wanderer who made honing the craft of swordsmanship his sole purpose in life. When he was done fighting duels, he chose to share his sword-fighting techniques with the world. As a step in this direction, he set up his own school called Niten Ichi-Ryu.
Musashi not only trained students, but he also wrote down the details of his strategy in detail. Legend has it that before his death, he passed on his writings to one of his staunch disciples Terao Maganojo and it was Maganojo who circulated Musashi’s The Book of Five Rings.
Last year, I wrote an article on Musashi’s 21 life principles – based on his short work Dokkodo. This heightened my excitement to read The Book of Five Rings. I thought this book would also have Musashi’s life philosophies in addition to his lessons on swordsmanship. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case.
I will discuss in detail why Miyamoto Musashi’s book didn’t quite live up to my expectations. But before that, let me give you an overview of the content. The book comprises 75 pages and five chapters or books. The narrative flows like a breeze and you can finish the book in under 3-4 hours.
The Five Rings in the book refer to five elements – Earth, Water, Fire, Wind, and Void (ether). Musashi equates each element to a specific sword-fighting technique.
1. The Ground Book
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