In martial arts situations involving large numbers, set your eyes on the abilities and conditions of your opponents’ men.
Of the two ways of observation and seeing, the eye of observation is the strongest. It is essential that you take the victory straightaway by seeing the mind of your opponent and the conditions of the place, by fixing your eyes broadly, and by seeing the condition of the battlefield and its different possible strengths and weaknesses.
In the martial arts of both large numbers and one-on-one, do not fix the eye with a narrow focus. As mentioned before, if you fix the eye with a detailed, narrow focus, you will miss the large picture, create for yourself a confused mind, and be stripped of a sure victory. You should investigate these principles thoroughly and put them into practice.
USE OF THE FEET IN OTHER STYLES
In the use of the feet, there are various quick ways of stepping, called things like Floating Feet, Leaping Feet, Springing Feet, Stamping Feet, or Crow’s Feet. From the viewpoint of my own martial art, I think them all to be insufficient.6
Floating Feet is undesirable because when engaged in a fight, your feet will very likely have a tendency to feel loose. Accordingly, my Way is to step with all the more stability. As for the undesirability of Leaping Feet, when you leap up using this step, your mind will become absorbed in the action of leaping. And, as there is no reason for you to leap up many times anyway, Leaping Feet is wrong. As for Springing Feet, again, if your mind is set on springing, it will go no farther than this. Stamping Feet, as a step of waiting, is particularly undesirable. Other than these, there are various other quick steps like the Crow’s Feet.
You may cross swords with an opponent in swamps, damp land, mountains, rivers, pebbled plains, or narrow roads; depending on the place, there may be no leaping or springing, and there will be places where you will not be able to take quick steps at all.
There is no change in your steps in my martial art. It is like your usual walking on a road. Following your opponent’s rhythm, you should grasp the conditions and abilities of his body, both when he is hurried and when he is at ease, and then move, neither insufficiently nor too much, without stepping over yourself.
Managing your steps is essential, as well, in martial arts situations involving large numbers. Here is the reason: when you attack quickly and indiscriminately, without knowing the mind of your opponent, you will confuse your own rhythm and make it difficult to gain the victory.
Moreover, if your steps are too slow, you will not detect the moment when your opponent may be flustered and fall apart; victory will escape you, and you will be unable to win quickly. It is essential to take the victory by seeing through to the place of your opponent’s confusion and collapse, and by not giving him a moment to collect himself. You should practice this thoroughly.
USING SPEED IN OTHER STYLES
Speed in the martial arts is not the True Way. Concerning speed, we say that something is fast or slow depending on whether it misses the rhythm of things.
If someone is skilled in this Way, he does not appear to be fast. For example, if someone is said to be fast on the road, he may cover a distance of forty or fifty ri, yet this is not a matter of running fast from morning till night. A man unskilled on the road may run all day long, but will not make much progress.
In the dance of Noh drama, if a skilled person is chanting and an unskilled person accompanies him, the latter will feel as though he is falling behind and will then become hurried. Also, in the play Oimatsu, the beat for both small and large drums is tranquil, but an unskilled player will feel behind or ahead of the beat in turn. In the play Takasago, the beat is quick, but it is wrong to go too fast. “Run fast and you’ll fall down” warns against missing the beat.
Of course, being slow is also wrong. Here, too, a skillful person may appear slow, but he is never off the beat. No matter what a well-trained person does, he never appears hurried.
With these examples, you should understand the principles of the Way.
In the Way of the Martial Arts, particularly, it is bad to go fast. The reason for this is that, according to the place—there may be swamps or damp areas—it may be difficult for either body or feet to go fast. It will be all the more impossible to cut someone down quickly with your sword. If you try to cut him down quickly, it will not be done as if using a fan or a short sword. Accordingly, if you make to cut quickly, you will not cut at all. You should understand this thoroughly.
In martial arts situations involving large numbers, it is wrong to have a mentality of “fast” or “slow.” With the mind of Pressing Down the Pillow, you will not go slowly at all. Again, if someone is indiscriminately fast, it is essential that you counter this, become tranquil yourself, and not be pulled into this speed by him. You should make efforts and practice the meaning of this.
INTERIOR AND EXTERIOR IN OTHER STYLES
In the martial arts, what is meant by “exterior” and what is meant by “interior”? According to the art or what you touch upon, these terms speak of esoteric meanings and secret traditions as well as entrances to the “interior.” But when it comes to the principles of crossing swords with your opponent, there is no such thing as fighting by means of the “exterior” and cutting someone down by means of the “interior.”
My way of teaching the martial arts is to take a man who is a beginner in the Way; have him learn according to those skills that he may develop well; teach him principles that he will quickly understand first; see through the places where his mind may be suitable for matters not easily understood; and gradually, gradually, teach him the deeper principles later.
Nevertheless, this is a matter of having him learn how to cross swords in battle, so there is no point called “the entrance to the interior.”
In this world, then, when searching for the interior or depths of a mountain, if you think of going even farther into the interior than you already are, you will go right out of the entrance again. In the Way of any subject at all, there are points fitting for the interior and good things regarding coming through the entrance. Here, concerning the principles of battle, what should be hidden? What exposed?
Accordingly, in teaching my Way, I dislike such things as written oaths or contracts with retribution.
Observing the strength of knowledge of the person studying this Way, I teach him what is correct, have him discard the failings of the various other styles of the martial arts, and direct him naturally into the True Way of the practices of a warrior with no doubts in his mind. This is my way of teaching the martial arts. You should practice this thoroughly.
In the above nine sections of “The Wind Chapter,” I have written an outline of the other styles of the martial arts. Although it is necessary to write down with certainty about the various styles from their entrances to their depths, I have purposely not recorded either the names of those styles or the names of their greatest concerns.
The reason for this is that the view of each style and the explanations of each Way go according to the mentalities of different people. Thus, there are some differences of opinion within the same style. Accordingly, for the sake of those in the future, I have not written about the course of each style.
Throughout the nine sections of general explanations about the other styles, when shown from the correct human reasoning, the various Ways in this world favor long swords or find benefit in short swords alone. But to be predisposed toward strength or weakness in rough terms or in detail are all partial ways. Accordingly, though I have not revealed the entrances and depths of other styles, all should understand this.
In my style, there is neither entrance nor depth to the sword, and there is no ultimate stance. There is only seeing through to its virtues with the mind. This is the essence of the martial arts.
Twelfth Day of the Fifth Month, Second Year of Shoho
Shinmen Musashi
It is in “The Emptiness Chapter” that I write down the Way of the Martial Arts of the Two-Sword Style.
When you are on the Way of the Martial Arts, you may perform this Way as a warrior, but if you are ignorant of the warrior’s practices, you will not abide in Emptiness. You will be confused and will not do the things that you should. Though you term this “Emptiness,” it will not be the true Emptiness.
A warrior learns the Way of the Martial Arts with certainty, makes strong efforts in other martial accomplishments, and is not the least bit in the dark about the Way of conducting himself as a warrior. He has no confusion in his mind and is never lazy at any moment of the day. He polishes the two hearts of his mind and will, and sharpens the two eyes of broad observation and focused vision. He is not the least bit clouded, but rather clears away the clouds of confusion. You should know that this is true Emptiness.
While you are yet ignorant of true Emptiness, you may think through your own certain Way, relying on neither Buddhism nor the laws of society, and think this is good. But when you see things from the straight Way of the mind, taking in the world at large, you will see that each person will have the preferences of his own heart, and each eye will have its own distortions. This is turning your back on the True Way.
Know the meaning of this, and make the straightforward your foundation. Make the heart of truth your Way, practice a broad spectrum of the martial arts, and understand the expansive correctly and clearly. Accordingly, you will make Emptiness the Way, and see the Way as Emptiness.
In Emptiness exists Good but no Evil.
Wisdom is Existence.
Principle is Existence.
The Way is Existence.
The Mind is Emptiness.
Twelfth Day of the Fifth Month, Second Year of Shoho
Shinmen Musashi
NOTES
INTRODUCTION
1. Harima is in present-day Hyogo Prefecture, Mimasaka in Okayama Prefecture.
2. Takuan Soho, The Unfettered Mind.
3. The Buddhist manifestation of compassion.
4. Or Buddhas. Often, there is no generic plural for Japanese nouns.
5. Another name for Kannon.
THE EARTH CHAPTER
1. This is literally “Two Heavens, One Current” , the last character being used for both “current” and “style.” It is also used to denote a “school” for the various arts in Japan.
2. Kannon, or Avalokitesvara, is the bodhisattva of mercy in Buddhism. Also called Kanzeon.
3. That is, (bunbu nidō), literally “culture (or literature) and the martial, two Ways.” This is the ancient Confucian ideal and was the Japanese ideal for the warrior since Heian times. A warrior was expected to have both literary and martial skills.
4. Much as we speak of the House of Windsor or the House of Tudor.
5. These are swords of two different lengths. In the first pair, the tachi is a long sword, and the katana is short. As times changed, the long sword became known as the katana, while the short sword was called a wakizashi . Musashi generally uses the term tachi for long sword, but for convenience I will call this simply “a sword.” A wakizashi will be called a short sword unless there is some special designation being given in the text itself.
6. The word here translated as “martial arts,” heiho , presents a problem. The first character, , can mean variously “soldier,” “warfare,” “arms,” or “strategy.” The original Chinese character seems to have indicated an ax in each hand, and thus “a man wielding weapons.” To define it here as “martial” is, then, quite appropriate. The second character, , is a little more complicated. It can mean variously “law,” “method,” “technique,” “art,” “model,” “system,” or “doctrine,” and originally seemed to have meant something that would dam up or regulate water. In Buddhism, with which Musashi was well versed, it could mean the Truth, phenomenon, or the very practice of Buddhism. Though there exists the word gei , used to categorize other arts, such as the Tea Ceremony, Noh recitation, or archery, Musashi pointedly uses it quite sparingly to describe his “Way.” Nevertheless, to use words such as “law,” “science,” or even “technique” seems to miss the point and to repudiate a practice of modern parlance. I will use the term “martial art,” but the reader should keep the other definitions in mind.
7. 1 ken = 6 feet.
8. The text actually says, “Their advantages will be many,” but most commentators think this is a misprint, as the context would indicate.
THE WATER CHAPTER
1. These two terms, observation and seeing , need some explanation. What I have defined as “observation” here can also include the meanings of “contemplation” or “looking through.” Zen Buddhists use the term kanshin to mean “meditating on the mind,” or “looking through to your true essence,” and the term kannen to mean “meditation” or “contemplation.” Thus it is to “see” broadly and with introspection. “Seeing” has a more physical sense to it, and the character originally depicted an eyeball with running legs to show, perhaps, the action of physical sight. Musashi uses these two to draw a distinction, and the reader should not depend on the surface meanings of the two English words.
2. That is, not to be distracted by it.
3. Here Musashi uses the word katana , but he is writing generally about the long sword, or tachi .
4. Literally, the Two-Waisted Rhythm. The waist is often found in idioms having to do with working, taking a stand, or performing some function.
5. Shuko, called either the Autumn Monkey or the Grieving Monkey , is employed by Musashi because of its reputed short arms.
6. The term here is “short long sword” .
7. That is, lower the tip of the sword.
8. Although these words literally mean “shout” and “cry,” respectively, they were imported from the Chinese and used individually as exclamations. Katsu, in particular, was used by Zen priests (with whom Musashi was familiar) to help break through their students’ mental barriers. Although there is much shouting in kendo and in Japanese martial arts in general, here the words seem to indicate a rhythm more than an actual exclamation.
9. 1 ri = 2.44 miles.
THE FIRE CHAPTER
1. The word kage can mean either “shadow” or “light.” Although in the titles of this and the preceding section, kage is written in the kana syllabary , which could denote either meaning, they are distinguished by Chinese characters in their first sentences: , or “shadow,” in the preceding section; , or “light,” in this section. Japanese commentators point out that the former kage cannot be seen, while the latter can.
2. See “The Emptiness Chapter.”
3. Head of a Rat, Neck of a Bull is a common military saying in Japan. It means that you must be both clever and have great courage. Lacking either one of the two may be disastrous.
THE WIND CHAPTER
1. That is, the beginning stances and the more sophisticated ones.
2. This is literally “a large long sword” , but for the sake of smoothness, it will be translated simply as “a long sword,” with “sword” being understood as a tachi, or “long sword.”
3. Possibly a misprint for “those who use short swords.”
4. Generally, the long sword is 3 feet or more; the sword is from 2 to 3 feet; and the short sword , about 1 foot 8 inches. Again, except for a very few places, Musashi uses the term tachi, or long sword, almost exclusively, and this has been translated as “sword.”
5. Kemari was a sort of ceremonial kickball played among the aristocracy.
6. Musashi uses an untranslatable pun here. “Insufficient” is written with the Chinese characters , or “not feet,” so that
he might be saying that all of these feet are really no feet at all.
THE EMPTINESS CHAPTER
1. Despite this first sentence, Musashi’s Emptiness would seem to be the Emptiness of Mahayana Buddhism. The core of the Heart Sutra, with which Musashi was undoubtedly acquainted, states that “Form is no other than Emptiness, Emptiness no other than Form; Form is exactly Emptiness, Emptiness exactly Form.”
BIBLIOGRAPHY
PRIMARY SOURCES
Miyamoto Musashi. Gorin no sho. Annotated by Nakamura Naokatsu. Tokyo: Kodansha, 1970.
______. Gorin no sho. Annotated by Watanabe Ichiro. Tokyo: Iwanami Shoten, 1985.
______. Gorin no sho. Translation into modern Japanese by Kamata Shigeo. Tokyo: Kodansha, 1986.
SECONDARY SOURCES
Awakawa Yasuichi. Zen Painting. Tokyo: Kodansha International, Ltd., 1970.
Fischer, Felice. The Arts of Hon’ami Koetsu, Japanese Renaissance Master. Philadelphia: Philadelphia Museum of Art, 2000.
Hakeda Yoshito. Kukai: Major Works. New York: Columbia University Press, 1972.
Leach, Bernard. Kenzan and His Tradition. New York: Transatlantic Arts, Inc.,1967.
Lubarsky, Jared. Noble Heritage: Five Centuries of Portraits from the Hosokawa Family. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution, 1992.
Takuan Soho. The Unfettered Mind. Translation by William Scott Wilson. Boston: Shambhala Publications, 2012.
ALSO AVAILABLE FROM SHAMBHALA PUBLICATIONS
Translations by William Scott Wilson
Hagakure: The Book of the Samurai, by Yamamoto Tsunetomo
Originally a secret text, Hagakure reveals the author’s view that bushido, the Way of the Samurai, is fundamentally the Way of death, a selfless approach to life that embraces death with courage and honor. Yet, the Way of death is also seen as a subtle concept resonant with the Zen idea of the death of the ego. William Scott Wilson’s all-new introduction gives the historical and philosophical background for the deeper, metaphorical reading of this samurai classic.
The Book of Five Rings Page 8