The Book of Five Rings (Miyamoto Musashi)

Product detailed description

Open this book after training, when the body is tired and the head is finally quiet. Miyamoto Musashi wrote it after a life spent almost entirely on the road, in duels and in six wars, and every line is meant to be tested in practice rather than admired.

Musashi was born in 1584 in the village of Miyamoto, Mimasaka province, and fought his first duel at thirteen. He survived the battle of Sekigahara in 1600, settled his famous feud with the Yoshioka school of Kyoto and only stopped travelling at fifty, once he had found what he was looking for. The text he left behind is a short treatise on the way of the sword: strategy, timing and the mindset of a fighter.

That is why the book has two very different audiences. Kendo teachers treat it as a core text on swordsmanship. Japanese managers treat it as a handbook of business strategy. Fighters, coaches and anyone who competes will find both readings useful.

Key benefits

• Written by a practitioner – Musashi won many duels before he put anything on paper.
• Strategy, not history – short, direct passages meant to be applied, not just read.
• Two ways to read it – as a martial arts classic or as a guide to strategy at work.
• New edition – a new Czech edition of a text first written in the 17th century.

Specifications

Who it is for

Martial artists who want to understand the roots of their discipline, coaches looking for a language to talk about timing and composure, and readers who use the text as a strategy manual in business. The book is written in Czech.