How to be a Modern Samurai: 10 Steps To Finding Your Power & Achieving Success

by Antony Cummins

Take inspiration from old Japan and discover how the samurai practices for self-discipline, focus, leadership, and mind control can help you find success in your daily life.

For centuries, the Japanese samurai were the unquestioned leaders of their society, maintaining their position through their iron will, Zen-like emotional control, and clan-building social skills. Today, in a modern world that so often privileges instant gratification and self-indulgence, few commit to the Way of the Samurai, yet this challenging path of self-discipline, self-control, and dedication will bring great rewards to those who follow it.
 
In this ultimate guide to making use of the authentic samurai practices and techniques in today’s world, learn how to control your mind and emotions, stay on the path until you have achieved mastery of your chosen art, build a network of loyal followers, defend your home from physical and psychic attack, use samurai spirituality and even magic—and much more.

Genres: Self Help, Nonfiction, Personal Development, Martial Arts

232 pages, Paperback

Published August 11, 2020

Reviews

[Kammy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you to the publisher for an advance copy of this book via netgalley!

this book has a lot of great every day hints at mastering your environment. From gossiping to the art of war! It also has some parts that are a bit far fetched for
Every day readers. However, the author is very aware of this and touches upon this point at various points of his book. The author is also honest with the readers that the samurai way might not be for everyone and that it is something that everyone has to decide for themselves after reading this book. His honesty is
Refreshing. I look forward to
Reading some of the other books the author has written on the subject matter.

[Rai Keyri · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's difficult to perfect this. You must have big monetary resources, achieved enlightened Buddhahood, have strict discipline and have high level skill of a samurai and ninja to have all that are written in this book made. There are some things I don't know about the samurai that are in this book. Just like my review in Shoninki or in the True Path of the Ninja, I stand with my belief as a Christian that Ninja magic is evil and the works of the devil. Same as those here in my country who are witchdoctors and have amulets that practice oracion prayers, divination and superstitious magic.

[Fedjablpula · Rating 2 out of 5]

10 koraka puta samuraja su:
1.uskladite svoju pozornost(ne gubiti vrijeme na gluposti) Kannin znači ustrajati i držati se svojih ciljeva.
2.Težiti savršenom miru-miran um
3. meditacija
4.opustiti se u jednom dijelu dana-nadopuniti chi-životnu energiju
5.biti spreman na sve-ušteđevina,nepredviđene okolnosti
6.otkrijte prijelomnu točku svoje odlučnosti i kad vidite gdje se možda možete pokolebati na to se spremajte da istrajete.
7.isplanirajte rutu za bjeg
8. ne pratite prolaznu modu
9.budite svjesni da će drušveno okruženje mjenjati vaš um
10.shvatite istinsku čast
11.ustanite rano i planirajte unaprijed
12.Posvetite vrijeme svojim ciljevima

Ikebana je cvjetni aranžman ili živi cvijet plus duhovni dio puta prema spoznaji. Savršeni cvijet...

3 pristupa društvu:
pobuna protiv sustava-kriminal
prolagođavanje sustavu
igranje protiv sustava-drugi rade za vas, a vi lučite benefite(korporacije)

[Imran Ahmed · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's difficult to determine how accurate Cummins book is with regard to historical Samurai teachings. To be sure, a quick online search on the author throws up mixed results. He's controversial.

Nonetheless, the book is a simple, easy to comprehend 'how to' on improving oneself. There are many common sense suggestions along with some recommendations which are not for everyone, e.g. build a Shinto shrine cabinet into your home.

If the book is read with the right spirit - the Samurai spirit dare I say - it will help any reader. Approach the work with an open mind and you shall surely benefit!

[Rex Reads 📚📖⚔️ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quick 4 star read

This was a very quick read with many different sides of becoming a modern samurai. The journey you into a samurai’s life and how you can conceptually make yourself into one mind, body, spirit and inner self peace. The author shows you how to be self aware as well world aware that we now live in. This was a very nice and peaceful read wish I could have been in a zen garden.

This book also, has many details on how to differentiate between meditation styles and the arts that were studied during the samurai period. A fun read with many different ways to became a better version of yourself on a different level.

[Zee Monodee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really appreciated this look into the world of the samurai, their philosophy, and especially their past and history, which isn't very widespread outside of Hollywood and TV, and these get it 'not right' most of the time.
Found the philosophy to offer good directions to follow in life, especially regarding self-discipline, how to garner respect, how to rise above yourself. It seems sometimes like common sense, but it's amazing how common sense is, well, not common in the world. The philosophy and the directions follow a lot of the same lines as other enlightenment philosophies.
The only reason I'm not giving this a 5 is because it does encourage violence and some not very compassionate practices. Which I understand would make sense for the warrior of times past, but we're not in times past, and unless one is a ruthless CEO or one of those people who axes jobs for a living, this kind of ruthlessness just seems out of place today and not very conducive to building good karma and choosing the path of resilience and non-violence

[Christian G.T. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really great book! I read it more to learn about the samurai than to become one myself but after reading this book I felt excited to try out and learn more about the Samurai.

I didn't know that Samurai were from the noble class, while ninjas were considered lower class.

Samurais, and Ninjas both dealt with a form of magic, which could be roughly translated as older religious practices.

Lots of cool like fun facts and interesting stories from the history of the Samurai.

[Fredrik Sudmann · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book has a lot of good content, but I am having some problems with understanding why it was written. It lists and describes lots of samurai traditions, and tries in some way to make these relevant in modern life, but only succeeds partially.

[Ietrio · Rating 1 out of 5]

Samurai means an aristocratic thug that has a right to kill anyone below his class and who kept Japan into the middle ages. Or the comic book character Cummins knows.

[Gerald · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good book

Awesome accounting of the Samurai. This book has afforded me the opportunity to see into the Samurai world more clearly.

[David Herrmann · Rating 4 out of 5]

tldr; Ze začátku jsem si myslel, že to bude taková ta trendová kniha. Při bližším zkoumání jsem moc rád, že jsem ji dočetl až do konce! Rozhodně obsadí čestné místo v knihovně.

Až po nějaké chvíli jsem se oprostil od samurajské tématiky, zvyků a mysticismu a začal nad myšlenkami přemýšlet v širším kontextu.

Kniha je samozřejmě zasazena do kontextu samurajů, velmi stručné válečné historie Japonska a filozofie východu. Nicméně mnoho myšlenek a přístupů lze přebrat do každodenního života. Stejně jako u všech myšlenek, které dokáží "měnit život" je potřeba zdravý odstup. S každým rezonuje něco jiného.

Velmi mě zaujala první polovina knihy s takovými "základy". Kapitoly o ninžích, oltářích, čajových obřadech a rituálech jsem spíše tak ze zajímavosti prolétl, protože k této praxi tolik netíhnu - a to je samozřejmě v pořádku.

Moc zajímavé je to pak na konci knihy "10.Krok - Absolvujte duchovní cestu", sám bych to spíše pojal jako "urovnejte si své duchovní nastavení". Ačkoli i tato kapitola je posazena do kontextu samurajů, obsahuje mnoho pohledů a směrů k zamyšlení. Kombinace Konfucianismu, Taoismu a Buddhismu je mi velmi sympatická. Šintoismus by se u Západního světa dal nahradit křesťanskými směry, a nebo jakýmkoli směrem, který je člověku nejbližší.

"Samurajský mysticismus" beru s rezervou, jako Zápaďan k tomu nemám takový vztah, protože prostě naše kultura je jiná, ale bylo zajímavé si přečíst i o jiných způsobech. Snad jen kvůli tomuto dávám knize 4/5.

[Adam · Rating 5 out of 5]

HOW TO BE A MODERN SAMURAI:
Japanese Samurai were the leaders of their society with zen-like emotional control and iron will. This book dives into the techniques used by famous Japanese Warriors, teaching how to control your mind and emotion, the use of hard work and dedication to perfect your craft. This book is packed with activities and tips to help you become unstoppable in pursuit of your goals.

[Matthew Okuhara · Rating 4 out of 5]

Yes, you can be a modern samurai. But you can’t be part of Japanese feudal society. Towards the end of the feudal era way of the samurai was more about cultural and societal responsibility… abilities and lessons in life that are long since forgotten.

[Yener · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good book if you can unsee the "ninja magic recipes" section. It has good advice on networking, architecture, meditation and so on.

[Brian · Rating 2 out of 5]

Some overarching lessons to be taken away from the book but I felt like most of it was step by step process on being actual samurai rather than incorporating it into actual modern life.

[Alex · Rating 4 out of 5]

Surprisingly decent book with interesting historic references.

[Daniel · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not what I expected… can’t barley even finish it…. This book is telling you how to have a tea party and decorate your house like a samurais house.:. Pretty ridiculous

[Jonathon Jones · Rating 1 out of 5]

The weeb handbook

[David Preston · Rating 1 out of 5]

Totally underwhelming

[Roland Aoki · Rating 4 out of 5]

I would give a 4.5 if I could. Gave me so much that I didn't know about my own heritage. Was enlightened about the path of purity and the path of destruction. Great read!

[Rachel Dows · Rating 4 out of 5]

An extremely fun, quirky little read. As the author suggests, I will likely reread this one with a notebook in hand to decide which aspects I want to take into my daily life.

[J.J. · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a five for me except for the editing (paperback version). There's one or two flip-flopped words or misspellings every few pages. Otherwise, it's an accessible, complete and clear reference on the Way of the Samurai. Keep an eye on Cummins, as he appears to be building a great body of work for us English speakers on Eastern martial texts and philosophies that we've been slogging through arcane and opaque translations of for far too long.

[GONZA · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this book, it was well and easily written and gave clear instructions and list of things to do and ways to act that were - mostly - absolutely not difficult to do and/or improve. A Zen way to achieve your goals in life.

Mi é piaciuto questo manuale, ben scritto e senza inutili complicazioni, che elenca una serie di cose da fare ed istruzioni per metterle in atto che, per la maggior parte delle volte, non sono impossibili né utra-difficili.
Una via Zen per raggiungere i propri obiettivi.

THANKS NETGALLEY FOR THE PREVIEW!

[Index · Rating 2 out of 5]

Spíš soupis všeho co historicky samurajové dělali než nějaké užitečné rady. Především mi chybělo zdůvodnění proč některé kroky dělat a jak je dělat. Rady typu “udělejte vše správně” mi nepřijdou užitečné.

[Julius Visa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Od části kdy začal autor fanaticky psát o japonském zahradkářství mě to přestalo bavit.