Читать книгу Musashi's Book of Five Rings. The Definitive Interpertation of Miyomoto Musashi's Classic Book of Strategy онлайн

5 страница из 26

Development of technique is essential to understanding of purpose. Once a specific technique has been understood, the warrior stops using it on a conscious level because in combat having a conscious identity imposes limitations. Knowing how to do something and actually doing it are not at all the same thing. Taking a life is not the same as taking money. This fundamental premise is the reason why samurai despised the merchant class even while understanding the need for the merchant mentality. Cold-blooded businessmen, however, do not understand the true Way of the warrior.

The majority of translations of Musashi’s work available on the market are little more than intellectual exercises in translating Japanese to English. They do not adequately express the feeling required to study life and death confrontations and therefore fall short of the mark. The present work has been done with the purpose of clearing up the misconceptions of naive Westerners and Easterners as to the “real” purpose of the Five Rings. It explains in depth, with additional definition, the truths that must be comprehended before it is possible to come to terms with the teachings of Musashi. It is therefore to be studied as a “universal” explanation.