My take on 'The book of five rings' by Miyamoto Musashi

Musashi is a famous Japanese swordsman and philosopher, deified through games, film adaptations, cultural explorations and even in sport. A common theme in representation is long black hair wielding two swords. I've been told 'the book of five rings' is similar to Sun Tzu's 'Art of War'. I appreciate such books as a martial arts enthusiast; its essences transcend way beyond combat but into the minute proceedings of daily life.

Musashi's motif and 'answer to all' is The Way. The Way is how one should live life, not for the moment but till death. Paradoxically, there is no one 'way', which reveals that Musashi's 'Way' is more a mindset rather than a list of things to do (although a quick glance may seem like it).

Interestingly, 'the way' of the sword can be applied to any craft. Immediately, one can appreciate that life is all interwoven, lessons from A can be applied to B. This can be achieved through an intrinsic desire to learn rather than to learn for the sake of it. Musashi writes that extrinsic motivations such as yearning for status and power is not 'the way'. A swordsman that shows off their technique is not true to 'the way'. You may argue that one can do whatever they want, but true mastery, the absolute depths of mastery in one's craft, requires a relentless diligence with no faltering. Goggins, hi. It depends on your goals. I find it interesting through my own self-reflections, that 'showing off' and 'being extrinsically motivated' and 'not being yourself' are all terms which we are all familiar with. But to what extent can we see this within ourselves. Ego may stand in the way and make us blind to how truly extrinsically motivated we are. Detachment and clear introspection is crucial.

Back on topic. "A warrior is to master the virtue of his weapon." We must master the core of our craft to the highest standard. It's difficult to ascertain what exactly is the core but I believe the search for what is NOT the core will eventually reveal more of what IS the core. As a karate practitioner, I once believed the core of karate is speed. I then believed it was mobility. I then believed and still believe it is timing and knowing yourself and the opponent. Musashi elaborates and shows how whatever your craft is: merchants, farmers, warriors, artisans... We all master/need to master our crafts to its core. To apply his words to say sales in the modern environment, what is the core of sales? Profit. Or you may say, the customer. Ethics. What about for the artist? The core for the artists I listen to (doesn't have to be music) is their purpose and drive for what they are representing. Maybe 'purpose' is the core for any craft? Musashi says a a strategist makes 'small things into big times'. Now without sounding crude, I believe I endeavour to do that. Seemingly simple things all have elaborate complexity, depending on whether you choose to view it. It's all up to individual choice, hey?

Like many experts of their craft, Musashi warns that a small divergence from 'the way' will end up being a huge divergence. My father stated that as a martial artist, one day off routine is a week's set back. Goggins also warns that one's birthday can also set one back if they celebrate it and cut themselves a lot of slack. Perhaps this is in the same theme. For absolute mastery, there must be no divergence (or at least a conscious one...) To understand oneself in this regard, Musashi asserts the importance of understanding rhythm. We all have a certain rhythm to how we do things. Understand this on an instinctive level, a feeling beyond thoughts. Perception is crucial. Stop trying to explain everything in detail, we need to feel more than we think. Vice versa. To truly understand something, you need to arrive to that conclusion yourself. A teacher may guide you and nudge you to the right direction, but that catharsis needs and will be ultimately made by you.

Musashi underlines lists of useful mental habits. He spoon feeds us through high modality, telling us we 'must' do this or that. We must not have 'likes and dislikes'. I understand this as a lot of motivational speakers today speak of doing things we DON'T want to do. The more we listen to our feelings, the more we will stay in our comfort zone. We must be challengers, we must do things we don't like. Musashi may mean here, that the more we do things we don't want to do, the realm of likes and dislikes blur, to the point where you can do either. Stoic!

He also outlines key words, such as timing. As a martial artist, I can really appreciate this. A failed micro-second of timing can lead to being very hurt. One can apply this to life. A simple analogy I can think of is the elevator. I can see that the elevator is on my floor as I walk to it. I'm aware that it's a busy time of day so I walk fast but calmly to it to hit the button. If it goes, it goes. If it doesn't, it doesn't. I must not put feelings and emotions into this situation. But I walk fast but calmly anyway, to try and achieve my goal. I can understand this by going to this same elevator, over and over again. This is called practice. Apply this into other aspects of life. Work or hobby. Practice, practice, practice. Delve into everything, keep pursuing it. Don't stop. Be mindful of pace. Don't label things as insignificant, they are all significant. That is the attitude one must have. Musashi denotes that a symptom of impatient learning is taking in information loosely. In this Information Age, it is very easy to find new information and think 'wow, this is good!' It's not humanly possible to internalise every bit of information. We cannot be a traveler in the dragon's den, trying to take every bit of gold and jewellery. Do not imitate information or regurgitate through memory. It is ultimately a waste of time. We must take information by information and digest it with time. When interpreting information, do not be loose with it. Understand it comprehensively. How do I know if I understood it? That is difficult to answer, but if you are asking that question, you most likely do not understand it.

Musashi writes how our spirituality must not be difficult to our 'normal'. We should not have two distinctive selves. Don't try to switch in and out of personas. Be the same you are to all, treat all fairly, including yourself. it is very difficult and exhausting to entertain different versions of yourself. Musashi speaks of spirits often in this book. I enjoyed his chiasmus, "When the body is relaxed, do not let your spirit slacken. When your spirit is calm, do not let the body relax." You should not be fully 'out of it'. I find this is relevant to day to day life: if we are so tired from our weekly routine by the weekend (for example) and we need to completely relax by the weekend, is it sustainable? Will you be the last one to laugh? A relentless storm is one that doesn't stop. Intensity is often mistaken to be short term.

"See distant things from close, and take a distanced view of close things." A quote I came across before, which was definitely an influential factor for me to read this book. This is self-explanatory.

"Today is victory over yourself of yesterday." Take life day by day, try to be better than who you were yesterday. Don't be in a hurry.

The following is appreciated from a martial arts perspective:

• Don't have 'play' in your hands. My hands must be strong and firm but the rest of my arm must be loose

• Don't jump with your footwork.

• Attack when an opponent is undecided. Attack fast to capitalise on this opportunity, with minimum movement.

• Make the opponent tense through a feint, then before they 'untense', attack: disruption of their rhythm and following through on it is one of the key karate strategies.

• In mutual 'all-ins' with even skill level, don't falter your spirit. You will drown in a flurry of attacks.

• If in a multiple person brawl, attack from the side. Don't run down the centre.

• Look at where people are awkward, this is where they aren't in familiar territory and will be most vulnerable, because ironically they are most tense and don't have their bearings.

• Think like the opponent, understand their psyche so you can anticipate what they will do. Do they like kicking with their left leg ultimately? What can I do when they do this? Drill this, over and over.

• A weak spirit can be contagious. Just like a yawn is contagious, don't be thrown off guard by what the other person is doing. Focus on yourself and what you need to do.

• Speed is not relevant ultimately. What is fast or slow is relative. Consistency is more important.

• When explaining something to someone, be simple. Then progressively apply depth if they are willing to learn. Ultimately, they must 'get it' themselves, what is concealed cannot be revealed easily.

The most abstract part of this book is 'The Void'. Musashi introduces this section by 'things exist, therefore some things don't exist.' I can appreciate this; we can't have everything in the world. Quick, hollow wins are not sustainable. The void is NOT a focus on what we don't have. Rather, I believe the void is a state. A clear state of mind wit no distraction but only absolute focus. Musashi's Way, is in this state, where what needs to be done and how it is done is so clear, it is like a void.

P.S. It's interesting that Musashi was a Ronin, an outlaw by the society of the time. Conformity to a large degree will thwart individualisation. It's all a fine balance and we must travel that road alone ultimately.