The Book of Five Rings

Miyamoto Musashi

Jun 2010 · Tantor Media Inc · Narrated by Scott Brick

About this audiobook

Setting down his thoughts on swordplay, on winning, and on spirituality, legendary swordsman Miyamoto Musashi intended this modest work as a guide for his immediate disciples and future generations of samurai. He had little idea he was penning a masterpiece that would be eagerly devoured by people in all walks of life centuries after his death. Along with The Art of War by Sun Tzu, The Book of Five Rings has long been regarded as an invaluable treatise on the strategy of winning. Musashi's timeless advice on defeating an adversary, throwing an opponent off-guard, creating confusion, and other techniques for overpowering an assailant was addressed to the readers of earlier times on the battlefield and now serves the modern reader in the battle of life. In this new rendering by the translator of Hagakure and The Unfettered Mind, William Scott Wilson adheres rigorously to the seventeenth-century Japanese text and clarifies points of ambiguity in earlier translations. In addition, he offers an extensive introduction and a translation of Musashi's rarely published The Way of Walking Alone.

Ratings and reviews

A few interesting principles in here, but the whole book is so broad. It's filled with tautology, equivocation, and contradiction. Not so useful or applicable in other arts. Found it boring after the first chapter. Of course, I finished the book to write this review, and I can confirm that the rest of the book is also boring and repetitive.

If you're looking for a thrilling page-turner then this may not be the book for you. This book is more of an insight into spiritual growth than entertainment and may be enjoyed by martial artists as well as those curious about it's principles.

Curious book with some good rules on discipline but hasn't stood the test of time and the application of this book into your daily life is pretty limited.

About the author

The famed swordsman Miyamoto Musashi (1584-1645) engaged in sixty duels without suffering defeat once, and was noted in this regard for his skill at handling two swords at once. He is the author of The Book of Five Rings, which he finished the same year he died.

Scott Brick has recorded over five hundred audiobooks, won over forty AudioFile Earphones Awards, and twice received Audie Awards for his work. Scott was chosen as Publishers Weekly's 2007 Narrator of the Year, and he has been named a Golden Voice by AudioFile magazine.