The Book of Five Rings
by Miyamoto Musashi, translated by Thomas Cleary
The undefeated samurai's treatise on strategy, written in 1645 in five scrolls: earth, water, fire, wind and void. It is about swordsmanship and about everything: timing, rhythm, practicing one thing until it is everything, and not becoming attached to a single weapon or method. Short and strange, read by martial artists and executives.
Read it if…
you want a stark, practical philosophy of mastery from someone who tested his against death.
Skip it if…
you want warmth; Musashi is austere and literal.
Three things you will actually use
- Practice is everything; know the Way broadly, master it in one thing.
- Do nothing that is of no use.
- Perceive what cannot be seen with the eye.
Do this first
Choose one skill and practice it daily with the seriousness of someone whose life depends on it.
Our verdict
Austere and compelling.
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