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**CKDIWEQ** · 10-16-2005, 07:00 AM

Instead I much prefer the collection of writings from Takuan Soho "A Fettered Mind", which I feel deals much better with the mental side of conflict.

That would be The Unfettered Mind (as in "unchained" or "free"), which is William Scott Wilson's translation of Fudôchi Shinmyô Roku and some other essays/letters by Takuan. Other translations can be found in Hiroaki Sato's The Sword & the Mind and in the chapter on "Zen and Swordsmanship" in D.T. Suzuki's Zen and Japanese Culture, which is an interesting essay in itself.

Anyway, i agree with you. Musashi's book (and also Sun Tzu's Art of War) is often touted as a general guide to strategy for anyone from martial artists to business people, but the text doesn't really support this. As Hyaku said, most of the Five Rings is a manual of Musahi's school of swordsmanship, and while many tips can be gleaned from it, i think it's a good idea to first read it for what it is, rather than treat it as an oracle.

Musashi's views on mind and mindset are basically summed up at the end of the book in "The Scroll of Emptiness," whereas Takuan cuts to the quick and his insights seem to me much more directly applicable to kendo.

10-16-2005, 07:00 AM	#1
CKDIWEQ Join Date Oct 2005 Posts 428 Senior Member	Instead I much prefer the collection of writings from Takuan Soho "A Fettered Mind", which I feel deals much better with the mental side of conflict. That would be The Unfettered Mind (as in "unchained" or "free"), which is William Scott Wilson's translation of Fudôchi Shinmyô Roku and some other essays/letters by Takuan. Other translations can be found in Hiroaki Sato's The Sword & the Mind and in the chapter on "Zen and Swordsmanship" in D.T. Suzuki's Zen and Japanese Culture, which is an interesting essay in itself. Anyway, i agree with you. Musashi's book (and also Sun Tzu's Art of War) is often touted as a general guide to strategy for anyone from martial artists to business people, but the text doesn't really support this. As Hyaku said, most of the Five Rings is a manual of Musahi's school of swordsmanship, and while many tips can be gleaned from it, i think it's a good idea to first read it for what it is, rather than treat it as an oracle. Musashi's views on mind and mindset are basically summed up at the end of the book in "The Scroll of Emptiness," whereas Takuan cuts to the quick and his insights seem to me much more directly applicable to kendo.
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