Musashi, Miyamoto (Miyamoto Musashi)

This is the Way for men who want to learn my strategy:
Do not think dishonestly.
The Way is in training.
Become aquainted with every art.
Know the Ways of all professions.
Distinguish between gain and loss in worldly matters.
Develop intuitive judgement and understanding for everything.
Perceive those things which cannot be seen.
Pay attention even to trifles.
Do nothing which is of no use.

-- Miyamoto Musashi

"To release four hands" is used when you and the enemy are contending with the same spirit, and the issue cannot be decided. Abandon this spirit and win through an alternative resource.
-- Miyamoto Musashi

"To renew" applies when we are fighting with the enemy, and an entangled spirit arises where there is no possible resolution. We must abandon our efforts, think of the situation in a fresh spirit then win in the new rhythm. To renew, when we are deadlocked with the enemy, means that without changing our circumstance we change our spirit and win through a different technique.
-- Miyamoto Musashi

All the five books are chiefly concerned with timing. You must train sufficiently to appreciate all this.
-- Miyamoto Musashi

Aspire to be like Mt. Fuji, with such a broad and solid foundation that the strongest earthquake cannot move you, and so tall that the greatest enterprises of common men seem insignificant from your lofty perspective. With your mind as high as Mt Fuji you can see all things clearly. And you can see all the forces that shape events; not just the things happening near to you.
-- Miyamoto Musashi

Be neither insufficiently spirited nor over spirited. An elevated spirit is weak and a low spirit is weak. Do not let the enemy see your spirit.
-- Miyamoto Musashi

Because you can win quickly by taking the lead, it is one of the most important things in strategy. There are several things involved in taking the lead. You must make the best of the situation, see through the enemy's spirit so that you grasp his strategy and defeat him. It is impossible to write about this in detail.
-- Miyamoto Musashi

Do not just read, memorise or imitate, but so that you realise the principle from within your own heart study hard to absorb these things into your body.
-- Miyamoto Musashi

Everything can collapse. Houses, bodies, and enemies collapse when their rhythm becomes deranged.

-- Miyamoto Musashi

Examine your environment.
-- Miyamoto Musashi

Fixed formation is bad. Study this well.
-- Miyamoto Musashi

Generally, I dislike fixedness in both long swords and hands. Fixedness means a dead hand. Pliability is a living hand. You must bear this in mind.
-- Miyamoto Musashi

hese things cannot be explained in detail. From one thing, know ten thousand things.
-- Miyamoto Musashi

If you do not look at things on a large scale it will be difficult for you to master strategy. If you learn and attain this strategy you will never lose even to twenty or thirty enemies. More than anything to start with you must set your heart on strategy and earnestly stick to the Way. You will come to be able to actually beat men in fights, and to be able to win with your eye. Also by training you will be able to freely control your own body, conquer men with your body, and with sufficient training you will be able to beat ten men with your spirit.
-- Miyamoto Musashi

If you learn "indoor" techniques, you will think narrowly and forget the true Way. Thus you will have difficulty in actual encounters.
-- Miyamoto Musashi

If you try to wield the long sword quickly you will mistake the Way. To wield the long sword well you must wield it calmly.
-- Miyamoto Musashi

In all forms of strategy, it is necessary to maintain the combat stance in everyday life and to make your everyday stance your combat stance. You must research this well.
-- Miyamoto Musashi

In large-scale strategy, it is beneficial to strike at the corners of the enemy's force, If the corners are overthrown, the spirit of the whole body will be overthrown.
-- Miyamoto Musashi

In large-scale strategy, when the enemy starts to collapse you must persue him without letting the chance go. If you fail to take advantage of your enemies' collapse, they may recover.
-- Miyamoto Musashi

In large-scale strategy, when there is a "four hands" spirit, do not give up - it is man's existence. Immediately throw away this spirit and win with a technique the enemy does not expect.
-- Miyamoto Musashi

In my doctrine, I dislike preconceived, narrow spirit. You must study this well.

-- Miyamoto Musashi

In single combat, we can confuse the enemy by attacking with varied techniques when the chance arises. Feint a thrust or cut, or make the enemy think you are going close to him, and when he is confused you can easily win. This is the essence of fighting, and you must research it deeply.
-- Miyamoto Musashi

In strategy it is important to see distant things as if they were close and to take a distanced view of close things. It is important in strategy to know the enemy's sword and not to be distracted by insignificant movements of his sword. You must study this. The gaze is the same for single combat and for large-scale combat.
-- Miyamoto Musashi

In strategy your spiritual bearing must not be any different from normal. Both in fighting and in everyday life you should be determined though calm. Meet the situation without tenseness yet not recklessly, your spirit settled yet unbiased. Even when your spirit is calm do not let your body relax, and when your body is relaxed do not let your spirit slacken.
-- Miyamoto Musashi

In this world it is said, "One inch gives the hand advantage", but these are the idle words of one who does not know strategy.
-- Miyamoto Musashi

It is difficult to know yourself if you do not know others. To all Ways there are side-tracks. If you study a Way daily, and your spirit diverges, you may think you are obeying a good way, but objectively it is not the true Way. If you are following the true Way and diverge a little, this will later become a large divergence. You must realise this.
-- Miyamoto Musashi

It is difficult to realise the true Way just through sword-fencing. Know the smallest things and the biggest things, the shallowest things and the deepest things.
-- Miyamoto Musashi

It is said the warrior's is the twofold Way of pen and sword, and he should have a taste for both Ways. Even if a man has no natural ability he can be a warrior by sticking assiduously to both divisions of the Way. Generally speaking, the Way of the warrior is resolute acceptance of death.
-- Miyamoto Musashi

Language does not extend to explaining the Way in detail, but it can be grasped intuitively. Study this book; read a word then ponder on it. If you interpret the meaning loosely you will mistake the Way.
-- Miyamoto Musashi

Many things are said to be passed on. Sleepiness can be passed on, and yawning can be passed on. Time can be passed on also.

-- Miyamoto Musashi

Once we have crushed the enemy in the depths, there is no need to remain spirited. But otherwise we must remain spirited. If the enemy remains spirited it is difficult to crush him.
-- Miyamoto Musashi

Penetrating the depths means penetrating with the long sword, penetrating with the body, and penetrating with the spirit. This cannot be understood in a generalisation.
-- Miyamoto Musashi

People in this world look at things mistakenly, and think that what they do not understand must be the void. This is not the true void. It is bewilderment.
-- Miyamoto Musashi

People in this world look at things mistakenly, and think that what they do not understand must be the void. This is not the true void. It is bewilderment...
-- Miyamoto Musashi

Perceive that which cannot be seen with the eye.
-- Miyamoto Musashi

Really skilful people never get out of time, and are always deliberate, and never appear busy. From this example, the principle can be seen.
-- Miyamoto Musashi

Speed is not part of the true Way of strategy. Speed implies that things seem fast or slow, according to whether or not they are in rhythm. Whatever the Way, the master of strategy does not appear fast.
-- Miyamoto Musashi

Step by step walk the thousand-mile road.
-- Miyamoto Musashi

Strategy is different from other things in that if you mistake the Way even a little you will become bewildered and fall into bad ways.
-- Miyamoto Musashi

Strategy is the craft of the warrior. Commanders must enact the craft, and troopers should know this Way. There is no warrior in the world today who really understands the Way of strategy.
-- Miyamoto Musashi

Study strategy over the years and achieve the spirit of the warrior. Today is victory over yourself of yesterday; tomorrow is your victory over lesser men.
-- Miyamoto Musashi

The "mountain-sea" spirit means that it is bad to repeat the same thing several times when fighting the enemy. There may be no help but to do something twice, but do not try it a third time. If you once make an attack and fail, there is little chance of success if you use the same approach again.
-- Miyamoto Musashi

The gaze should be large and broad. This is the twofold gaze "Perception and Sight". Perception is strong and sight weak.
-- Miyamoto Musashi

Many things can cause a loss of balance. One cause is danger, another is hardship, and another is surprise. You must research this.

-- Miyamoto Musashi

The spirit of my school is to win through the wisdom of strategy, paying no attention to trifles. Study this well.
-- Miyamoto Musashi

The three shouts are divided thus: before, during and after. Shout according to the situation. The voice is a thing of life. We shout against fires and so on, against the wind and the waves. The voice shows energy.
-- Miyamoto Musashi

The true Way of sword fencing is the craft of defeating the enemy in a fight, and nothing other than this.
-- Miyamoto Musashi

The Way of strategy is the Way of nature. When you appreciate the power of nature, knowing the rhythm of any situation, you will be able to hit the enemy naturally and strike naturally. All this is the Way of the Void. I intend to show how to follow the true Way according to nature in the book of the Void.
-- Miyamoto Musashi

The wisdom of strategy is different from other things. On the battlefield, even when you are hard-pressed, you should ceaselessly research the principles of strategy so that you can develop a steady spirit.
-- Miyamoto Musashi

There are various kinds of spirit involved in letting go the hilt.
-- Miyamoto Musashi

There are various Ways. There is the Way of salvation by the law of Buddha, the Way of Confucius governing the Way of learning, the Way of healing as a doctor, as a poet teaching the Way of Waka, tea, archery, and many arts and skills. Each man practices as he feels inclined.
-- Miyamoto Musashi

There is a time and a place for use of weapons.
-- Miyamoto Musashi

There is the spirit of winning without a sword. There is also the spirit of holding the long sword but not winning. The various methods cannot be expressed in writing.
-- Miyamoto Musashi

There is timing in everything. Timing in strategy cannot be mastered without a great deal of practice.
-- Miyamoto Musashi

There is timing in the whole life of the warrior, in his thriving and declining, in his harmony and discord. Similarly, there is timing in the Way of the merchant, in the rise and fall of capital. All things entail rising and falling timing. You must be able to discern this. In strategy there are various timing considerations. From the outset you must know the applicable timing and the inapplicable timing, and from among the large and small things and the fast and slow timings find the relevant timing, first seeing the distance timing and the background timing. This is the main thing in strategy. It is especially important to know the background timing, otherwise your strategy will become uncertain.

-- Miyamoto Musashi

To attain the Way of strategy as a warrior you must study fully other martial arts and not deviate even a little from the Way of the warrior. With your spirit settled, accumulate practice day by day, and hour by hour. Polish the twofold spirit heart and mind, and sharpen the twofold gaze perception and sight. When your spirit is not in the least clouded, when the clouds of bewilderment clear away, there is the true void.
-- Miyamoto Musashi

Waiting is bad.
-- Miyamoto Musashi

What is called the spirit of the void is where there is nothing. It is not included in man's knowledge. Of course the void is nothingness. By knowing things that exist, you can know that which does not exist. That is the void.
-- Miyamoto Musashi

What is meant by 'mingling' is the spirit of advancing and becoming engaged with the enemy, and not withdrawing even one step. You must understand this.
-- Miyamoto Musashi

When I reached thirty I looked back on my past. The previous victories were not due to my having mastered strategy. Perhaps it was natural ability, or the order of heaven, or that other schools' strategy was inferior. After that I studied morning and evening searching for the principle, and came to realise the Way of strategy when I was fifty. Since then I have lived without following any particular Way. Thus with the virtue of strategy I practise many arts and abilities — all things with no teacher.
-- Miyamoto Musashi

When we are fighting with the enemy, even when it can be seen that we can win on the surface with the benefit of the Way, if his spirit is not extinguished, he may be beaten superficially yet undefeated in spirit deep inside. With this principle of "penetrating the depths" we can destroy the enemy's spirit in its depths, demoralising him by quickly changing our spirit. This often occurs.
-- Miyamoto Musashi

Until you realise the true Way, whether in Buddhism or in common sense, you may think that things are correct and in order. However, if we look at things objectively, from the viewpoint of laws of the world, we see various doctrines departing from the true Way. Know well this spirit, and with forthrightness as the foundation and the true spirit as the Way. Enact strategy broadly, correctly and openly. Then you will come to think of things in a wide sense and, taking the void as the Way, you will see the Way as void. In the void is virtue, and no evil. Wisdom has existence, principle has existence, the Way has existence, spirit is nothingness.

-- Miyamoto Musashi

When your opponent is hurrying recklessly, you must act contrarily and keep calm. You must not be influenced by the opponent. Train diligently to attain this spirit.
-- Miyamoto Musashi

Whenever you cross swords with an enemy you must not think of cutting him either strongly or weakly; just think of cutting and killing him. Be intent solely on killing the enemy. Do not try to cut strongly and, of course, do not think of cutting weakly. You should only be concerned with killing the enemy.
-- Miyamoto Musashi

With water as the basis, the spirit becomes like water. Water adopts the shape of its receptacle, it is sometimes a trickle and sometimes a wild sea. ... If you master the principles of sword-fencing, when you freely beat one man, you beat any man in the world. The spirit of defeating a man is the same for ten million men. ... The principle of strategy is having one thing, to know ten thousand things.
-- Miyamoto Musashi

With your spirit open and unconstricted, look at things from a high point of view. You must cultivate your wisdom and spirit. Polish your wisdom: learn public justice, distinguish between good and evil, study the Ways of different arts one by one. When you cannot be deceived by men you will have realised the wisdom of strategy.
-- Miyamoto Musashi

Without the correct principle the fight cannot be won.
-- Miyamoto Musashi

You win in battles with the timing in the Void born of the timing of cunning by knowing the enemies' timing, and this using a timing which the enemy does not expect.
-- Miyamoto Musashi

When you have mastered the Way of strategy you can suddenly make your body like a rock, and ten thousand things cannot touch you. This is the body of a rock.

-- Miyamoto Musashi