In all skills and abilities there is timing. Timing and rhythm are also involved in the military arts, shooting bows and guns, and riding horses. “Timing is important in dancing and pipe or string music, for they are in rhythm only if timing is good. In The Book of Earth Musashi also places importance on timing, writing: This requires not only the knowledge of how to use each weapon, but the where and why. For example, when to use various types of weapon based on the terrain and available space. This strategy outlined in The Book of Earth is aimed at enabling his students to see the world clearly and make the best decision for the given situation.
When you attain the Way of Strategy there will not be one thing you cannot see.
From one thing, know ten thousand things. These things cannot be explained in detail. As if it were a straight road mapped out on the ground. “Know the smallest things and the biggest things, the shallowest things and the deepest things. The Book of Earth is Musashi’s introduction to the Way, and outlines the strategy he teaches his students. Split into 5 books, each book is dedicated to an element of battle and described as Earth, Water, Fire, Wind and the Book of The Void. While the work is adapted from other sources, Musashi added his own interpretations and unique insight to make The Book of Five Rings a personal and unique body of work. The book’s contents reflect the lessons Musashi taught his student in his own dojo. In a modern application this could be a business decision, a goal to run a marathon, and anything in between. In Musashi’s case, he was concerned with cutting down his opponent as quickly as possible while minimising risk to himself. The simplicity of Musashi’s approach is likely part of its success - casting aside frills and actions that have no practical purpose, focusing only on that which gets us from A to B most effectively.
Its profound philosophy on turning a pursuit into a way of life, and understanding that when we become competent in one discipline, the skill carries over into all others, has led people to apply the book’s teachings in all areas of life, from martial arts to business. Around the year 1645, martial artist and Japan’s most renown swordsman Miyamoto Musashi wrote The Book of Five Rings, a text on kenjutsu and martial arts.
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