Here--at last!--is your only chance to fully master the lethal tactics and techniques of the mysterious Asian shadow cadre.Miyamoto Musashi (15941645)--the greatest swordsman Japan has ever seen and author of the masterpiece "Gorin No Sho (A Book of Five Rings)"--spent many arduous years as a wandering ronin, studying the murder, mayhem, and mind-control secrets of Asia's dark shadow cadre. Few today are able to grasp the penetrating wisdom of this revered innovator. Now Dr. Haha Lung at last brings his unique perspective to Musashi's hard-won knowledge in this powerful volume, where you'll learn the forbidden secrets of: Japan's Shinobi-NinjaThe (in)famous Hirracarrah spies of ancient IndiaChinese ninja such as the Lin-Kuei (Ghost Warriors) and the Moshuh Nanren espionage and assassination expertsVietnamese Black Crow mind-mastersTibetan sDop-sDop mind-warriorsSTREET AND BOARDROOM WARRIORS BE ADVISED: Mind-Sword is for academic study ONLY.Dr. Haha Lung is the author of more than a dozen books on martial arts, including "Mind Penetration, Mind Fist, The Nine Halls of Death, Assassin!, Mind Control: The Ancient Art of Psychological Warfare, " and "Mental Dominance."
The book can be put in category of Power by Robert Greene or The Prince by Niccolo Machiavelli . This is based on philosophy of a great Japanese Samurai 'Miyamoto Musashi' also known as 'Samurai Saint'. His philosophy is about how to defeat one's enemy and it can be extrapolated to corporate world's board room too.
I have avoided these "Dark Ninja Arts" books for years, partially out of a kind of loyalty to the Bujinkan lineage of Ninjutsu I once trained in, and partially because they looked kind of corny. However, browsing through the martial arts section at Barnes and Noble's one evening, I pulled this book off the shelf, read the back cover, and, instead of some hyperbolic blurb that seemed like it was shaped to appeal to the Spike TV (and lower) audience, the words "Miyamoto Musashi", jumped out at me. Musashi, who killed men in over 60 duels before he was the age of thirty (starting by beating a grown master swordsman to death when he was 13 with a bokken). I skimmed through the text, and was happy to find that it was largely structured around insights the author had gleaned from Musashi's life and philosophy, primarily from his "Book of Five Rings". I also was happy to find insights from Yagyu Munenori's "The Life-Giving Sword", and other classics of war and strategy, such as Sun Tzu's "The Art of War", and Macchiavelli's "The Prince." In general, it was fairly well-researched (and I have been reading texts on Musashi for years), but the author(s?) cultivate a voice that is dark but playful and humorous that makes the reading enjoyable. Full of very rich anecdotes and some real insights.
I originally bought this book because I always like to read and learn more about Miyamoto musashi. I believe if you get one good idea out of a book it is worthwhile. I had read some of the authors previous books so I tried this one. I gave this book a three star rating because i felt the information was superficial and I would recommend this book mostly to people who have read the authors previous works.