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3.61 AVERAGE
3.61 AVERAGE
informative
medium-paced
The book of five rings is a ~400 years old book about sword fighting by one of the most legendary sword fighters that ever lived, Myamoto Musashi. Sounds pretty epic but why the fuck would I read that. I've never held a real sword and I'll (probably) never be in a sword fight. What can I get from this?
I'm still not quite sure. I've been interested in learning a bit more about feudal Japan lately and I thought what better way to get into the mindset of a samurai then to read one of the most famous books written by one of the most famous samurai.
Well... Musashi isn't the most typical sword fighter in feudal Japan. In fact, the whole book not only documents his unique two handed sword fight technique but heavily critizices other famous japanese sword fighting schools. Musashi seemed to be fed up with the narrow focus on single techniques and styles and tried to offer a non-bullshit way of fighting. Defeating your enemy is the only thing that matters. Everything else isn't important.
And maybe that's one of the parts I can extract as a life lesson. Do shit with a focus. It doesn't matter how you reach your goal as long as you work on it hard and focused.
Aside from that the book did give me some nice insights in samurai fighting techniques, the way of bushido life, Zen philosophy, japanese history and language, arts and culture.
It's a short but good read if you're interested in samurai or sword fighting. Just know that you won't find much of the stereotypical stuff here.
As a sidenote: I thought it was pretty hilarious when a friend of mine who did Kendo told me his Dojo listed this as mandatory reading material, considering how much Musashi obviously despised Dojos and stereotypical Kendo. I wonder what Musashi would think of that.
I'm still not quite sure. I've been interested in learning a bit more about feudal Japan lately and I thought what better way to get into the mindset of a samurai then to read one of the most famous books written by one of the most famous samurai.
Well... Musashi isn't the most typical sword fighter in feudal Japan. In fact, the whole book not only documents his unique two handed sword fight technique but heavily critizices other famous japanese sword fighting schools. Musashi seemed to be fed up with the narrow focus on single techniques and styles and tried to offer a non-bullshit way of fighting. Defeating your enemy is the only thing that matters. Everything else isn't important.
And maybe that's one of the parts I can extract as a life lesson. Do shit with a focus. It doesn't matter how you reach your goal as long as you work on it hard and focused.
Aside from that the book did give me some nice insights in samurai fighting techniques, the way of bushido life, Zen philosophy, japanese history and language, arts and culture.
It's a short but good read if you're interested in samurai or sword fighting. Just know that you won't find much of the stereotypical stuff here.
As a sidenote: I thought it was pretty hilarious when a friend of mine who did Kendo told me his Dojo listed this as mandatory reading material, considering how much Musashi obviously despised Dojos and stereotypical Kendo. I wonder what Musashi would think of that.
Better suited for quick-reference scrolls and similar media. Could be rewritten to fit better in the medium of modern English literature, as is evident from the lack of prose. At least the authors have sufficient expertise so that we don't need to doubt their knowledge of what they're saying.
challenging
mysterious
reflective
challenging
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
tense
fast-paced
Though short, there was a lot of wisdom in this book. But it was frustrating that a lot of the concepts just stopped at a vague ideal and then said - learn this. I need more depth than that to understand a concept.
Still, a good primer.
Still, a good primer.
challenging
informative
reflective
slow-paced
I kind of rushed this book definitely will be given a reread
challenging
informative
medium-paced
challenging
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
relaxing
fast-paced