Martial arts and three classes of books
A Top 10 look at martial arts books of philosophy
Like philosophy? And martial arts? Then carry on warrior-priest, because this is for you.
My teacher would constantly implore his students to keep notes, and to fill up notebooks with their lessons, observations and stories. He had very little interest in their recording of class notes about learning a particular technique. Rather, he wanted them to record their experiences and successes in their everyday life applications of what they were learning on the mat.
How were the principles working for you in your normal goings about, he’d ask? In your relationships, your school or your work?
Once or twice, over the years, I brought in my personal notes. It was a large collection of three- ring binders, some of them pretty thick. The majority of my notes were handwritten, and then inserted in sheet protectors. I had hoped by displaying my notes, it might somehow inspire my classmates. I still have them.
Why I started writing
I started blogging, in 2005, for largely the same reason. I was looking to put a value on my teacher’s work, as well as share, however modestly, the resulting outcomes in my own life experiences.
My sensei is a superb musician, composer and arranger. He is also a noted teacher. Many of his students have asked him to write a book. Over the years, his answer has always been the same: “You’re my books.”
He’s also often said, “You’re the ones who are supposed to write the books.”
Martial arts produces three types of books
When we look at books that typically emerge from the martial arts, one type dominates: books about techniques. They are full of pictures and illustrations depicting how to counter, throw or pin the attacker.
A second class of books include histories and anthologies, generally focused on the development of various arts or weapons. We’ll also find detailed lineages depicting the emergence of various schools, branches and sects.
The rarest class of books discuss principles, philosophy and strategy. These are topics that are relevant to either warfare or to daily life, because whether in war or life we are having to face things within ourselves. Sometimes books in this third classification are written in the guise of fables, heroic adventures or poignant morality tales.
Quoted below is a meditation on death, the first words of the first chapter from The Code of the Samurai.
One who is supposed to be a warrior considers it his foremost concern to keep death in mind at all times, every day and every night, from the morning of New Year’s Day through the night of New Year’s Eve.
As long as you keep death in mind at all times, you will also fulfill the ways of loyalty and familial duty. You will also avoid myriad evils and calamities, you will be physically sound and healthy, and you will live a long life. What is more, your character will improve and your virtue will grow. — The Code of the Samurai
All of the books listed in this essay are in my personal library, and are recommended.
Top 10 list of martial arts philosophy
The Art of War, Sun Tzu
The Book of Five Rings, Miyamoto Musashi
Ki in Daily Life, Koichi Tohei
Mind Over Muscle, Jigoro Kano
Striking Thoughts, Bruce Lee
The Code of the Samurai, trans. Thomas Cleary
The Art of Peace, Morihei Ueshiba
Secret Tactics, Kazumi Tabata
Hagakure: The Book of the Samurai, Yamamoto Tsunetomo
The Demon’s Sermon on the Martial Arts, Issai Chozansh
The Demon said to the swordsman, “Fundamentally, man’s mind is not without good. It is simply that from the moment he has life, he is always being brought up with perversity. Thus, having no idea that he has gotten used to being soaked in it, he harms his self-nature and falls into evil. Human desire is the root of this perversity.” — The Demon’s Sermon on the Martial Arts
BONUS — The Unfettered Mind, Takuan Soho. From the imprint…
This classic samurai-era text fused Japanese swordsmanship with Zen and influenced the direction that the art has taken ever since. Written by the seventeenth-century Zen master Takuan Soho (1573–1645), The Unfettered Mind is a book of advice on swordsmanship and the cultivation of right mind and intention. It was written as a guide for the samurai Yagyu Munenori, who was a great swordsman and rival to the legendary Miyamoto Musashi.
Takuan was a giant in the history of Zen; he was also a gardener, calligrapher, poet, author, adviser to samurai and shoguns, and a pivotal figure in Zen painting. He was known for his brilliance and acerbic wit. In these succinct and pointed essays, Takuan is concerned primarily with understanding and refining the mind — both generally and when faced with conflict. The Unfettered Mind was a major influence on the classic manifestos on swordsmanship that came after it, including Miyamoto Musashi’s Book of Five Rings and Yagyu Munenori’s Life-Giving Sword.
BONUS — The Life-Giving Sword, Yagyu Muneori. From the imprint…
The legendary seventeenth-century swordsman Yagyu Munenori was the sword instructor and military and political adviser to two shoguns — and a great rival to Miyamoto Musashi. Despite his martial ability and his political power, Munenori’s life was spent immersed in Zen teachings. These teachings formed the framework for his deeply spiritual approach to sword fighting. Munenori saw in the practice of the sword a way to transform the student into a total human being. The Life-Giving Sword is Munenori’s manifesto on his approach. His central themes are the “life-giving sword” — the idea of controlling one’s opponent by spiritual readiness to fight rather than by actual fighting — and “No Sword,” which is the idea that the mind must be free of everything, even the sword itself, in order to get to the place of complete mastery. Munenori’s ideas are applicable not only to martial arts but to business and human relations as well.