Lone Samurai: The Life of Miyamoto Musashi
Search in google:
Among other Japanese classics, Wilson has translated The Book of Five Rings, and here offers a biography of its author Musashi (1584-1645). He was a renowned swordsman most of his life, and only wrote his famous book in his last years. No index is provided. Annotation ©2004 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR Publishers Weekly Musashi is primarily known in the West as the author of The Book of Five Rings, a guide to swordsmanship strategies that became a essential business-strategy manual in the 1980s. Wilson, having translated Musashi's book into English, turns for the first time to biography, with as complete a life of the man behind the sword as possible, given his legendary stature and peripatetic, largely undocumented story. Musashi lived in the 17th century and had his first match at 13 with a shugyosha (an older, professional swordsman); only Musashi walked away alive. For three decades, he wandered feudal Japan, moving from patron to patron, taking on opponents in formal and informal matches, teaching others his art and sometimes taking part in clan and regional rivalries. He eventually settled in southern Japan, where his martial art skills led organically to visual art: simple-looking, highly disciplined ink-and-brush painting and calligraphy. Toward the end of his life, Musashi synthesized everything he'd learned into the literary work he is now best known for. Wilson integrates a considerable amount of Japanese history and culture into a short, dense book with lots of specialized information. Although Musashi doesn't become fully dimensional-and given the scarcity of primary source material, he probably can't-Wilson provides an extensive appendix of other materials that have depicted the legendary swordsman over the centuries. (Oct.) Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.
Preface7Maps10Prologue17Chapter 1The Way of the Sword: Banshu to Ganryu Island23First Strike23Origins26Finding His Strength30Kyoto and Matches with the Masters35Sharpening His Tools43Demon of the Western Provinces51Chapter 2The Way of the Sword and the Way of the Brush: Osaka Castle to Kokura63The Fire of Battle63Arts of Peace, Arts of War67The Kyoto Renaissance75Family Name81A Real Live Human Being85On to Kokura90Kumoi94Shimabara96Chapter 3The Way of the Brush: Kumamoto99Connections99The Way of the Warrior100A Place in the Seating Order104Last Bouts107The Thirty-five Articles108An End and a Beginning111The Brush and the Mind112Painting with the Mind of the Sword114The Paintings116Calligraphy136Fudo Myo-o140Chapter 4The Way of Life and Death: Reigan Cave147Old Age147The Five-storied Pagoda153The Concept of the Five Rings in Esoteric Buddhism158Basic Principles161The Way of the Martial Arts Is to WinDisciplineReal KnowledgeEveryday MindFluidityPsychologyFinal Days175Musashi's Character182Afterword186Appendix 1Life After Death195Appendix 2Influences on and Parallels to The Book of Five Rings219Appendix 3A Musashi Filmography237Notes245Glossary269TermsHistorical FiguresClansEvents Fighting StylesWritingsOthersBibliography284
