An Analysis of The Book of Five Rings by Miyamoto Musashi Essay

Book ReportFive RingsForm the very beginning Miyamoto understood the chaos of war and the purpose of having inward peace in this chaos. Much of this inward peace came from the mastery of the scrolls. The first of these scrolls was the earth scroll. It taught us how to first see the rhythm of things. The rhythms of martial arts were to be gained through practice. By knowing the rhythms of your opponents you can then use those rhythms to form your attack. The water scroll was a way to free your mind from the subjective biases we use. For example the observing eye is stronger than the perceiving eye. By slowing down and seeing things for what they are you can out due your opponent. When picking up the sword the thought should always be to use it to kill. But not doing so you leave yourself open for weakness. The water scroll also taught us how to use footwork and the five kinds of guards. The guards where once again another way to kill.The fire scroll was the part right before you attack. By becoming the opponent you can see their next move and prevent them from doing a certain move. For example you should not let the opponent raise his head. You can also do much with a shout, large army shouts should done at the start of an attack to let the enemy know of their pending doom. The best way to win is to fully knock there heart out. Even if they are hurt or look beat they could still be a threat. Its important to make sure by any means to take away their ambition that they could win. The wind scroll was more interested in how the sword was used. The size or the sword had different ways of using it. Then came the strokes of the sword and the position of the sword all of this was...

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