Note: In this two-part series, I discuss the five books from The Book Of Five Rings. The first part discussed the first two books, and this second part will discuss the next three.
Miyamoto Musashi was a 16th Century Japanese
swordsman, strategist, artist, and author of The Book Of Five Rings. The manuscript is divided into five
books that describe his principles for success in combat: Ground, Water, Fire,
Wind, and Void. In the previous blog, I
discussed my thoughts and how the principles in the books Ground and Water
apply to today’s martial artists. In
this blog, I will discuss my thoughts and how the principles in the books Fire,
Wind, and Void apply to today’s martial artists.
The Fire Book
In The Fire Book, Miyamoto describes the twenty-nine
principles and strategies when in a fight.
While I will not touch on all of them in this blog, some keys takeaways
for me are attack with intent to end the fight quickly and not let the attacker
regain or recover “so he cannot rise again to attack” and “not to let him
recover his position even a little”, (i.e., do not stop until you feel safe
mindset). Remain calm, change speeds, change techniques, and crush the
attacker. Miyamoto writes, "The primary thing when you take a sword in
your hands is your intention to cut the enemy, whatever the means."
The Wind Book
In The Wind Book,
Miyamoto describes other schools and their preferences for training and not relying
only on certain weapons or being stuck to move only in certain ways. In fighting, one must be ready for anything
and not be stuck or rely heavily on just one way or one technique. You must be able to adjust based on the
moment and stay in control and own the fight.
We have talked in
class and discussed in other blogs (e.g., Mar
2022 Is Body Memory Limiting You?, Mar
2023 Getting Out of Our Comfort Zone, and Oct
2023 Value of Training with Variety of Partners) not to be stuck in
patterns, practice a variety of ways and with different partners so you are
able to adjust and be effective regardless of the assailant or situation.
The Void Book
The Void Book is very short compared to the other
books. I believe Miyomoto is stressing
the need to open to various perspectives, continue to learn and focus on your
training, and listen to and trust your intuition. Miyomoto writes, “When your spirit is not in
the least clouded, when the clouds of bewilderment clear away, there is the
true void”.
Regards,
Kelly
“There is nothing outside of yourself that can ever enable
you to get better, stronger, richer, quicker, or smarter. Everything is within ~
Miyamoto Musashi (1584-1645), legendary Japanese samurai and author of The Book
of Five Rings
