Book of Five Rings

Contains Active Table of Contents (HTML) and include a bonus link to the free audio book. The Book of Five Rings e Go Rin no Sho)is a text onkenjutsuand themartial artsin general, written by the Japanese swordsmanMiyamoto Musashiaround 1645. There have been various translations made over the years, and it enjoys an audience considerably broader than only that of martial artists and people acrossEast Asia: for instance, some foreign business leaders find its discussion of conflict and taking the advantage to be relevant to their work in a business context. The modern-dayHyA hA Niten Ichi-ryA employs it as a manual of technique and philosophy.Musashi establishes a "e;no-nonsense"e; theme throughout the text. For instance, he repeatedly remarks that technical flourishes are excessive, and contrasts worrying about such things with the principle that all technique is simply a method of cutting down one's opponent. He also continually makes the point that the understandings expressed in the book are important for combat on any scale, whether a one-on-oneduelor a massivebattle. Descriptions of principles are often followed by admonitions to "e;investigate this thoroughly"e; through practice rather than trying to learn them by merely reading.Musashi describes and advocates a two-sword fencing style (nitA jutsu): that is, wielding bothkatanaandwakizashi, contrary to the more traditional method of wielding the katana two-handed. However, he only explicitly describes wielding two swords in a section on fighting against many adversaries. The stories of his many duels rarely refer to Musashi himself wielding two swords, although, since they are mostly oral traditions, their details may be inaccurate. Musashi states within the volume that one should train with a long sword in each hand, thereby training the body and improving one's ability to use two blades simultaneously(wikipedia)