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A Book of Five Rings
Go Rin No Sho, by Miyamoto Musashi.
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Introduction
I have been many years training in the Way of strategy, called Ni Ten Ichi Ryu,
and now I think I will explain it in writing for the first time. It is now
during the first ten days of the tenth month in the twentieth year of Kanei
(1645). I have climbed mountain Iwato of Higo in Kyushu to pay homage to heaven,
pray to Kwannon, [God(dess) of mercy in Buddhism. - Slaegr] and kneel before
Buddha. I am a warrior of Harima province, Shinmen Musashi No Kami Fujiwara No
Genshin, age sixty years.
From youth my heart has been inclined toward the Way of strategy. My first duel
was when I was thirteen, I struck down a strategist of the Shinto school, one
Arima Kihei. When I was sixteen I struck down an able strategist Tadashima
Akiyama. When I was twenty-one I went up to the capital and met all manner of
strategists, never once failing to win in many contests.
After that I went from province to province duelling with strategist of various
schools, and not once failed to win even though I had as many as sixty
encounters. This was between the ages of thirteen and twenty-eight or twenty-
nine.
When I reached thirty I looked back on my past. The previous victories were not
due to my having mastered strategy. Perhaps it was natural ability, or the order
of heaven, or that other schools' strategy was inferior. After that I studied
morning and evening searching for the principle, and came to realise the Way of
strategy when I was fifty.
Since then I have lived without following any particular Way. Thus with the
virtue of strategy I practise many arts and abilities - all things with no
teacher. To write this book I did not use the law of Buddha or the teachings of
Confucius, neither old war chronicles nor books on martial tactics. I take up my
brush to explain the true spirit of this Ichi school as it is mirrored in the
Way of heaven and Kwannon. The time is the night of the tenth day of the tenth
month, at the hour of the tiger (3-5 a.m.) -----
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The Earth Book
Stategy is the craft of the warrior. Commanders must enact the craft. and
troopers should know this. There is no warrior in the world today who really
understands the Way of strategy.
There are various Ways. There is the Way of salvation by the law of Buddha, the
Way of Confusius governing the Way of learning, the Way of healling as a doctor,
as a poet teaching the Way of Waka, tea, archery, and many arts and skills. Each
man practices as he feels inclined.
It is said the warrior's is the twofold Way of the pen and sword, and he should
have a taste for both Ways. Even if a man has no natural ability he can be a
warrior by sticking assiduously to both divisions of the Way. Generally
speaking, the Way of the warrior is resolute acceptance of death. Although not
only warriors but priests, women, peasants and lowlier folk have been known to
die readily in the cause of duty of out of shame, this is a different thing. The
warrior is different in that studying the Way of strategy is based on overcoming
men. By victory gained in crossing swords with individuals, or enjoining battle
with large numbers, we can attain power and fame for ourselves or our lord. This
is the virtue of stategy.
The Way of Strategy
In China and Japan practitioners of the Way have been known as "masters of
strategy". Warriors must learn this Way.
Recently there have been people getting on in the world as strategists, but they
are usually just sword-fencers. The attendants of the Kashima Kantori shrines of
the province Hitachi received instruction from the gods, and made schools based
on this teaching, travelling from country to coundtry instructing men. This is
the recent meaning of strategy.
In olden times strategy was listed among the Ten Abilities and Seven Arts as a
beneficial practice. It was certainly an art but as a beneficial practice it was
not limited to sword-fencing. The true value of sword-fencing cannot be seen
within the confines of sword-fencing technique.
If we look at the world we see arts for sale. Men use equipment to sell their
own selves. As if with the nut and the flower, the nut has become less than the
flower. In this kind of Way of strategy, both those teaching and those learning
the way are concerned with colouring and showing off their technique, trying to
hasten the bloom of the flower. They speak of "This Dojo" and "That Dojo". They
are looking for profit. Someone once said, "Immature strategy is the cause of
grief". That was a true saying.
There are four Ways in which men pass through life: as gentlemen, farmers,
artisans and merchants.
The Way of the farmer. Using agricultural instruments, he sees srpings through
autumns with an eye on the changes of season.
Second is the Way of the merchant. The wine maker obtains his ingredients and
puts them to use to make his living. The Way of the merchant is always to live
by taking profit. This is the Way of the merchant.
Thirdly the gentleman warrior, carrying the weaponry of his Way. The Way of the
warrior is to master the virtue of his weapons. If a gentleman dislikes strategy
he will not appreciate the benefit of weaponry, so must he not have a little
taste for this?
Fourthly the Way of the artisan. The Way of the carpenter is to become
proficient is the use of his tools, first to lay his plans with a true measure
and then to perform his work according to plan. Thus he passes through life.
These are the four Ways of the gentleman, the farmer, the artisan and the
merchant.
Comparing the Way of the carpenter to strategy
The comparison with carpentry is through the connection with houses. Houses of
the nobility, houses of the warriors, the Four houses, ruin of houses, thriving
of houses, the style of the house, the tradition of the house, and the name of
the house. The carpenter uses a master plan of the building, and the Way of
strategy is similar in that there is a plan of campaign. If you want to learn
the craft of war, ponder over this book. The teacher is a needle, the disciple
is as thread. You must practice constantly.
Like the foreman carpenter, the commander must know natural rules, and the rules
of the country, and the rules of houses. This is the Way of the foreman.
The foreman carpenter must know the architectural theory of towers and temples,
and the plans of palaces, and must employ men to raise up houses. The Way of the
foreman carpenter is the same as the Way of the commander of a warrior house.
In the construction of houses, choice of woods is made. Straight un-knotted
timber of good appearance is used for the revealed pillars, straight timber with
small defects is used for the inner pillars. Timber of the finest appearance,
even if a little weak, is used for the thresholds, lintels, doors, and sliding
doors, and so on. Good strong timber, though it be gnarled and knotted, can
always be used discreetly in construction. Timber which is weak or knotted
throughout should be used as scaffolding, and later as firewood.
The foreman carpenter allots his men work according to their ability. Floor
layers, makers of sliding doors, thresholds and lintels, ceilings and so on.
Those of poor ability lay the floor joists, and those of lesser ability carve
wedges and do such miscellaneous work. If the foreman knows and deploys his men
well the finished work will be good.
The foreman should take into account the abilities and limitations of his men,
circulating among them and asking nothing unreasonable. He should know their
morale and spirit, and encourage them when necessary. This is the same as the
principle of stategy.
The Way of Strategy
Like a trooper, the carpenter sharpens his own tools. He carries his equipment
in his tool box, and works under the direction of his foreman. He makes columns
and girders with an axe, shapes floorboards and shelves with a plane, cuts fine
openwork and carvings accurately, giving as excellent a finish as his skill will
allow. This is the craft of the carpenters. When the carpenter becomes skilled
and understands measures he can become a foreman.
The carpenter's attainment is, having tools which will cut well, to make small
shrines, writing shelves, tables, paper lanterns, chopping boards and pot-lids.
These are the specialities of the carpenter. Things are similar for the trooper.
You ought to think deeply about this.
The attainment of the carpenter is that his work is not warped, that the joints
are not misaligned, and that the work is truly planed so that is meets well and
is not merely finished in sections. This is essential.
If you want to learn this Way, deeply consider the things written in this book
one at a time. You must do sufficient research.
Outline of the Five Books of this Book of Strategy
The Way is shown as five books concerning different aspects. These are Ground,
Water, Fire, Wind (tradition), and Void.
The body of the Way of strategy from the viewpoint of my Ichi school is
explained in the Ground Book. It is difficult tor realise the true Way just
through sword-fencing. Know the smallest things and the biggest things, the
shallowest things and the deepest things. As if it were a straight road mapped
out on the ground, the first book is called the Ground Book.
Second is the Water book. With water as the basis, the spirit becomes like
water. Water adopts the shape of its receptacle, it is sometimes a trickle and
sometimes a wild sea. Water has a clear blue colour. By the clarity, things of
Ichi school are shown in this book.
If you master the principles of sword-fencing, when you freely beat one man, you
beat any man in the world. The spirit of defeating a man is the same for ten
million men. The strategist makes small things into big things, like building a
great Buddha from a one foot model. I cannot write in detail how this is done.
The principle of strategy is having one thing, to know ten thousand things.
Things of Ichi school are written in this the Water book.
Third is the Fire book. This book is about fighting. The spirit of fire is
fierce, whether the fire be small or big; and so it is with battles. The Way of
battles is the same for man to man fights and for ten thousand a side battles.
You must appreciate that spirit can become big or small. What is big is easy to
perceive: what is small is difficult to perceive. In short, it is difficult for
large numbers of men to change position, so their movements can easily be
predicted. An individual can easily change his mind, so his movements are
difficult to predict. You must appreciate this. The essence of this book is that
you must train day and night in order to make quick decisions. In strategy it is
necessary to treat training as a part of normal life with your spirit
unchanging. Thus combat in battle is described in the Fire book.
Fourthly the Wind book. This book is not concerned with my Ichi school but with
other schools of strategy. By Wind I mean old traditions, present-day
traditions, and family traditions of strategy. Thus I clearly explain the
strategies of the world. This is tradition. It is difficult to know yourself if
you do not know others. To all Ways there are side-tracks. If you study a Way
daily, and your spirit diverges, you may think you are obeying a good Way but
objectively is is not the true Way. If you are following the true Way and
diverge a little, this will later become a large divergence. You must realise
this. Other strategies have come to be thought of as mere sword-fencing, and it
is not unreasonable that this should be so. The benefit of my strategy, although
it includes sword-fencing, lies in a separate principle. I have explained what
is commonly meant by strategy in other schools in the Tradition (Wind) book.
Fifthly, the book of the Void. By Void I mean that which has no beginning and no
end. Attaining this principle means not attaining the principle. The Way of
stategy is the Way of nature. When you appreciate the power of nature, knowing
the rhythm of any situation, you will be able to hit the enemy naturally and
strike naturally. All this is the Way of the Void. I intend to show how to
follow the true Way according to nature in the book of the Void.
The Name Ichi Ryu Ni To (One school-two swords)
Warriors, both commanders and troopers, carry two swords at their belt. In olden
times these were called the long sword and the sword; nowadays there are known
as the sword and the companion sword. Let it suffice to say that in our land,
whatever the reason, a warrior carries two swords at his belt. It is the Way of
the warrior.
"Nito Ichi Ryu" shows the advantage of using both swords.
The spear and the halberd are weapons which are carried out of doors.
Students fo the Ichi school Way of strategy should train from the start with the
sword and long sword in either hand. This is a truth: when you sacrifice your
life, you must make fullest use of your weaponry. It is false not to do so, and
to die with a weapon yet undrawn.
If you hold a sword with both hands, it is difficult to wield it freely to left
and right, so my method is to carry the sword in one hand. This does not apply
to large weapons such as the spear or halberd, but swords and companion swords
can be carried in one hand. It is encumbering to hold a sword in both hands when
you are on horseback, when running on uneven roads, on swampy ground, muddy rice
fields, stony ground, or in a crowd of people. To hold the long sword in both
hands is not the true Way, for if you carry a bow or a spear or other arms in
your left hand you have only one hand free for the long sword. However, when it
is difficult to cut an enemy down with one hand, you must use both hands. It is
not difficult to wield a sword in one hand; the Way to learn this is to train
with two long swords, one in each hand. It will seem difficult at first, but
everything is difficult at first. Bows are difficult to draw, halberds are
difficult to wield; as you become accustomed to the bow so your pull will become
stronger. When you become used to wielding the long sword, you will gain the
power of the Way and wield the sword well.
As I will explain in the second book, the Water Book, there is no fast way of
wielding the long sword. The long sword should be wielded broadly, and the
companion sword closely. This is the first thing to realise.
According to this Ichi school, you can win with a long weapon, and yet you can
also win with a short weapon. In short, the Way of the Ichi school is the spirit
of winning, whatever the weapon and whatever its size.
It is better to use two swords rather than on when you are fighting a crowd, and
especially if you want to take a prisoner.
These things cannont be explained in detail. From one thing, know ten thousand
things. When you attain the Way of strategy there will not be one thing you
cannot see. You must study hard.

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