473 - Rings, Spheres And The Path to Individual Self Reliance
Notes from Miyamoto Musashi's Go Rin No Sho / Part two
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Part one for paid supporters here:
On the translation of “spheres” rather than the traditional “rings”
Thomas Clearly states:
“More properly titled in English The Book of Five Spheres, Miyamoto Musashi’s work is devoted to the art of war as a purely pragmatic enterprise. Musashi decries empty showmanship and commercialization in martial arts, focusing attention on the psychology and physics of lethal assault and decisive victory as the essence of warfare. His scientifically aggressive, thoroughly ruthless approach to military science, while not universal among Japanese martialists, represents a highly concentrated characterization of one particular type of samurai warrior.”
This is a clue that the deeper meaning of the work is that of principles rather than techniques and the work should be in my opinion, treated as such.
A ring may be 2-dimensional and can be simply drawn on paper, this is the basic, prosaic presentation.
A sphere hints at a 3-dimensional approach that doesn’t just focus on the obvious but allows creative application in whatever way the reader can experiment with and apply.
It’s interesting to see a thinker such as Musashi, Japan’s “sword saint” warn of “empty showmanship and commercialization in martial arts” as a problem in the 1600’s, some things it seems may never change.
I discovered this book many years ago when my father bought it for me after a visit to a second-hand shop and thought it might be of interest.
What on the initial viewing to a young “martial artist” starting out, was a vague text on ritualised ancient swordsmanship was soon realised as being the voice of experience from, as Cleary calls him, a very pragmatic thinker well versed in the realities of fighting from the age of thirteen when he first killed swordsman Arima Kihei by striking him between the eyes with a wooden staff and then beating him to death on the ground, a far cry from the manga-esque fantasy images that fill martial arts films.
This was allegedly over a challenge fight that Musashi had accepted from the traveling sword student and bully and then refused to apologise and withdraw from. “Arima was said to have been arrogant, overly eager to battle, and not a terribly talented swordsman.” Martial arts ego meets real violent intent.
I would encourage the reader to consider carefully the use of the words “art” and artist” when describing themselves or their studies - I do not identify with these words at all - and perhaps one might replace them with “Craft” and even “craftsman” as that was nearer I believe to what Musashi himself was trying to empart in the Earth book section of the Go Rin no Sho .
A subtle word shift but a new and more effective course away from the pitfalls of ego and dogma.
There is only the principle and its efficacy in aiding you to prevail, all else is irrelevant.
No guru to copy and bow to, no system to please and adhere to, and no brand, uniform or bullshit “tribe” to satisfy a need to belong.
None of them will be there when the “One In One moment” arrives, just your reliance and belief in yourself and the solutions unique to your situation.
"The Way of Walking Alone"
Just as we enter this world from the void alone and ultimately, return the same way. In our brief stay here, we may also be fighting alone when crisis strikes with perhaps overwhelming odds against us, and we should always accept, remember, and plan accordingly in harmony with this simple fact.
A seventeenth-century member of the warrior class was uncommon in advocating for students to emulate the qualities of the craftsman and also the farmer and the merchant, I would imagine, traditionally unthinkable to other men of his social rank at that time and place.
A utilitarian and alive method of understanding and visualising fighting in some ways mirroring what he writes as the “Life-giving sword”, the counterpart to the “Killing sword”.
“Cheat first, cheat last, cheat in the middle”(End notes: 1) and prevail!
Uncluttered with the fatal martial arts notions of fair play and associated conduct, this is a text centred only on prevailing in combat and its ideas can be applied to all aspects of human aggression whether physical or not.
This utilitarian manner is a great insight into the real core of what violence is - a tool or currency - at the centre of human history and nature itself and that will be the main psychological barrier that the fighting hobbyist will encounter.
Open to everyone to study… but not for everyone to fully pursue.