Miyamoto Musashi: His Life and Writings

by Kenji Tokitsu, Kenji Tokitsu

A comprehensive study of the life, philosophies, fighting strategies, and works of the legendary samurai warrior who wrote The Book of Five Rings
 
Miyamoto Musashi, who lived in Japan in the fifteenth century, was a renowned samurai warrior. He has become a martial arts icon, known not just as an undefeated dueler, but also as a master of battlefield strategy. Kenji Tokitsu turns a critical eye on Musashi's life and writings, separating fact from fiction, and giving a clear picture of the man behind the myth.

Musashi's best-known work, The Book of Five Rings , provides timeless insight into the nature of conflict. Tokitsu translates and provides extensive commentary on that popular work, as well as three other short texts on strategy that were written before it, and a longer, later work entitled "The Way to Be Followed Alone." Tokitsu is a thoughtful and informed guide, putting the historical and philosophical aspects of the text into context, and illuminating the etymological nuances of particular Japanese words and phrases. As a modern martial artist and a scholar, Tokitsu provides a view of Musashi's life and ideas that is accessible and relevant to today's readers and martial arts students.

Genres: History, Martial Arts, Biography, Philosophy, Japan, Nonfiction, Japanese Literature

528 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2004

About the author

Kenji Tokitsu (時津 賢児) is a Japanese author and practitioner of Japanese martial arts. Dr. Tokitsu has also written a scholarly work about the legendary swordsman Musashi Miyamoto. He holds doctorates in sociology and in Japanese language and civilization.

Kenji Tokitsu was born on 1 August 1947 in Yamaguchi, Japan. A practitioner of Shotokan karate since youth, in 1983 Tokitsu started his own school, the Shaolin-mon ("door to Shaolin", compare the Mumonkan) school in Paris, where he had taught Shotokan karate since 1973. The Shaolin-mon teachings were a hybrid of Tokitsu's dissatisfaction with Shotokan karate combined with what he learned of Chinese martial arts. Still later, he founded the Tokitsu-ryu Academy in 2001.

Reviews

[Anthony Alessi · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am not well read on Musashi's life but like the author, I am a practitioner of both Kendo and Iaido. The book has 2 aspects to it. first, it is an attempted reconstruction of Musashi's life from documentary evidence. second, it is a translation of the book of the 5 rings. Both are done from the point of view of a martial artist looking at and interpreting the work. The interpretations make sense, and the author takes pains to point out any place where he makes assumptions, what assumptions he is making and what the basis is for those assumptions. It is a well thought out, and well researched work.

[David Vaughan · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you study Asian history, this is a touchstone. By closely reading a good biography of Japan's most celebrated Samurai -- Miyamoto Musashi -- and by reading his own "Book of Five Rings," you will begin to glean some insight into the spirituality associated with Bushido, paradoxically by learning about the chaotic life of a rural runaway who sought conflict and killing, fought with psychological tricks and never lost a battle, even when facing dozens of foes at once. If you study Japan, study the Samurai. If you study the Samurai, study steelmaking and Musashi.

[Jim Bouchard · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bar none this is the best translation of Musashi and includes much more than Book of 5 Rings.

Tokitsu gives us the most comprehensive portrait of Musashi the man I've ever found- and that wasn't easy! He shares the legends, but really dives well below the surface to give us a look at the human being at the root of the legend.

Extensively researched, well written, yet I don't recommend this for the casual reader. If you're truly interested in Asian philosophy, warcraft and history this is a must read!

[E. Paul Zehr · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have read numerous English language translations of Musashi's "Go rin no sho". Tokitsu's is the best by far. I thoroughly enjoyed the annotated comments and historical explanations that he used. The explanatory essays at the end of the book were also of interest. The only disappointment was how the book finished by devolving into a bit of unnecessary metaphysical musings.

[H]

Best translation (with incredible annotations) of Musashi's Book of Five Rings I've ever read. Written by a kendo practitioner who understands the language, the history, and the state of mind of this practice. Disabuses myths and uncertainties about Musashi's historical life.

[Nick · Rating 5 out of 5]

By far, the best translation of this legendary work by Miyamoto Musashi. I had read the Book of Five Rings twice in the past, and have only come away with a very superficial understanding of it. Reading Kenji Tokitsu's translation, it is apparent that only a true "practitioner of Hyoho" can understand the Gorin no sho. The text is short, but the bounty of lessons scribbled down by the great warrior can make sense as one begins to realize that the route to perfection through the sword is an absolute activity. It is not simply a hobby or a task, the way of war is the way of life. To understand "Divine Technique" one must have a fanatical devotion to one's training and constant drive to singularity. Everything must be sublimated to this pursuit of perfection in form, spirit, body and mind.

There is bountiful wisdom in the book and the ability of Kenji to analyze the text and interpret it in a way that represents the spirit of Musashi is incredible. Musashi strikes at a form of human idealization and actualization that much of the West neglects, or pursues in superficial means.


Continue later. . . Happy New Years.

[Dorum · Rating 5 out of 5]

I gave this book five stars because it is probably the best work on Musashi in the English language. The part in which it shines is the treatment of Musashi's life and duels. This is very well done and very rigorous, drawing from a large variety of sources.

That being said, the writer is unfortunately not a practitioner of Musashi's school and as such his translation, while very good, might probably be improved upon. Not a lot of the deep insights are clear enough just by reading the text.

I guess we still have to wait until such a moment when a practitioner of Niten Ichi Ryu or any of the other schools appear, with a high enough command of the English language and a deep practice.

I am somewhat curious how the Complete Musashi book by Alexander Bennett compares with this translation.

[Johan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Het meest complete boek over het leven van Musashi dat ik heb gelezen. Het bevat een biografie van zijn leven, zijn waterverf schilderijen, De Gorin no sho (Het boek van de vijf ringen), zijn eerdere werk en de Dokkodo (met commentaar).

Daarnaast bevat het hoofdstuk over Musashi en martial arts een van de beste uiteenzettingen over budo; wat het beoefenen van budo betekend en waarom het een oefening is die nooit stopt. Een oefening die door de jaren heen verschuift van het trainen van technieken naar een verinnerlijking ervan. Daarmee is budo een weg die geen einde kent; uiteindelijk overstijgt het oefenen de vechtkunst. En daarmee wordt budo van toepassing op alles wat je in je leven onderneemt.

[Egidijus Lukšys · Rating 3 out of 5]

Miyamoto Musashi, probably the greatest swordman to have ever lived and taught, yet the book was not what I have expected. Too much information on swordsmanship and too little about his philosophy. I wanted to find Marcus Aurelius of Japan, instead I found a manual on how to stop your opponents by staring at them... well anyway, for fighters and Musashi fans I would still recommend it.

[Ommiolgi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pinnacle book on Musashi, thoughtfully written and very well researched. A long read with many footnotes but completely worth the effort

I would recommend to martial artists but Zen students as well.

[Mario Brooks · Rating 5 out of 5]

Japan's greatest samurai. Warrior, poet, artist, philosopher.. So much can be gleaned from his life and writings.

[Jeff · Rating 5 out of 5]

An outstanding profile of the great swordsman; Superb analysis of his writings; and Excellent explanation of Budo.

[Trudy Ferrer · Rating 5 out of 5]

where is the currently rereading option, Goodreads?

[Miroku Nemeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

An amazing work on many levels: Tokitsu is a true scholar and provides a comprehensive summary of the works of Musashi, his disciples, the lineages that sprang from him, and all of those who have told his story and tried to emulate his martial path over the last five hundred years; he provides new translations of Musashi's "Book of Five Rings" as well as less well known works; he provides images and commentary on some of the vibrant and amazing artwork of Musashi; he situates Musashi contextually within the vast rich history of the samurai and ties them to the transformations of the Tokugawa era, the Meiji Restoration, and the upheavals of the twentieth century. And most interestingly, Tokitsu writes as an established martial artist who has competed and exerted himself in training in Karate and Kendo, and looks at Musashi's writings from a practical standpoint--how would what Musashi wrote of five hundred years ago work in the real world? When Musashi was facing his opponents in his 60 death matches before he was 30? In comparison to contemporary martial arts training and competition?

I would advise any martial artist or anyone who loves Japanese history to read this work.

And do NOT skip the footnotes. There are many treasures there.

Here is section so powerful I had to write it down today:

Musashi uses the expression cho tan seki ren several times in his work, which literally means "morning" (cho), "to build" (tan), "evening" (seki), "to train" (ren). This expression is often translated "I trained morning and night," but I have translated it "I have continued to train and to seek from morning till evening."

At the end of the Scroll of Water, Musashi wrote: Sen nichi no keiko o tan to shi, man nichi no keiko o ren to su, which I have translated as "A thousand days of training to develop, ten thousand days of training to polish."

For those who are seriously devoted to the practice of budo, it is obvious that Musashi's training could last through an entire day, without the limits of morning and evening. We know of a number of warriors whose level of training went far beyond anything we can imagine. The moment one's attention is aroused, all of life has to do with training. These warriors even tried to fill moments of flagging attention, such as sleeping, dressing, washing, eating meals, and the like, with a redoubled awareness of the possibility of combat.

Various documents bear witness to the fact that such warriors tried to go to their very limits of physical exertion in order to make progress in their art, as the following example shows.

Hayashizaki temple is dedicated to the master of the same name, who lived in the sixteenth century and created the art of iai (the art of drawing the sword). During the Edo period, a great number of adepts spent time in this temple in order to fulfill a kind of vow: to go beyond the practice of iai in order to honor the gods and make progress by surpassing their own limits. Nakayama Hakudo, one of the greatest masters of iaia of the twentieth century, spent a day at this temple fulfilling such a vow. In a period of twenty-four hours, he succeeded in drawing his sword ten thousand times. To achieve this, he practiced constantly, without sleeping, only drinking rice congee from a bowl placed within reach of his hand. In the temple's registry, a considerable number of persons are listed who drew their swords between thirty and forty thousand times. The three adepts who went the furthest stayed for seven days and drew more than ninety thousand times, which is to say more than an average of thirteen thousand times a day. If we may go by the experience of Nakayama Hakudo, we can say that these adepts could pretty well not have slept in the course of seven days of continuous effort. Nakayama explains that when he trains in his dojo, he succeeds on the best days in drawing two thousand times, but then the next day he has to put in twice the effort to arrive at the same result. Are we capable of imagining what sort of effort it took for the person who kept up at least this sort of effort for seven days? These facts help us to gauge the gap that exists between our way of thinking and living and that of the warriors. All the traditional techniques that we have inherited in the budo tradition were created through this kind of exceptional exertion of energy, which adepts persevered in over several centuries. Following the tradition, they sought fusion of mind and body by going to the limits of physical effort, until they reached the point of having the feeling that it is through the mind that the body is able to continue with its movements.



Taken from "Miyamoto Musashi: His Life and Writings" by Kenji Tokitsu

Pages 289-291

[David · Rating 2 out of 5]

I am nearly done with this book, and really despite the author explicitly saying that they are trying to cut through the myth to the 'real' Musashi, I can't help but think he has failed. Either I simply know too little of 16th/17th Century Japan (which is true) to understand that he has drawn reasonable conclusions from the inflated and biased contemporary and near-contemporary accounts or there is simply not enough reliable information to actually say anything about the man in a reliable manner.

However, some things do seem more reasonable than others. At least to the do to me, who doesn't really have a bias for or against musashi since I had no knowledge of him or his place in japanese lore prior to this book. On the other hand, my knowledge of medieval and early rennaissance europe (and its associated myths) may have activated my skepticism filters. But I think that is a good way to view pop-history. Of course, the numerous footnotes detailing the caveats of his interpretation were helpful too. Though as another reviewer said - you need to read this book with 2 bookmarks: one for the page and one for the footnote.

That said, the last section - Tokitsu's translation of the Book of Five Elements (or Five Rings if you prefer) is an interesting read. Of particular interest is its common ground with some of the European Martial Arts traditions though equally interesting are some of the vast differences. So - I would feel fine saying to skip the biography and just read the stuff at the end dealing with the Book of Five Elements.

[Robert Paske · Rating 5 out of 5]

While I am no Musashi scholar/historian, I have read a few different books in relation to Miyamoto Musashi (Starting with a translation of Eiji Yoshikawa's). Of those I've read dealing with finding the historical Musashi, this was by far the best. Well written and researched, without delving too far into hero worship or following trains of speculation too far without some sort of evidence. This also contained the best translation of The Book of Five Rings that I've come across- I even re-read it side by side with William Scott Wilson's translation and found this one far better in terms of interpreting and making sense of the meaning of the text. Between the two, I found I preferred Wilson's translation for all of 2 or 3 paragraphs, the vast majority of Tokitsu's interpretation made far more sense when relating it to terms of my own martial arts training.

[Bryan Nann MBA · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is without a doubt, the most authoritative and researched work on Musashi to date. Kenji Tokitsu has done a superb job at shedding new perspective on one of the most enigmatic figures in Japanese history.

[E Taylor]

more research for first novel

[ThunderPhunk TheGreat · Rating 4 out of 5]

Miyamoto's life story should be a movie!...That's all I'm going to say...blessings

[Jake · Rating 5 out of 5]

The catch all for Musashi books. Best translation of Go Rin No Sho I've ever encountered.