The Complete Musashi: The Book of Five Rings and Other Works: The Definitive Translations of the Complete Writings of Miyamoto Musashi - Japan's Greatest Samurai
Alex Bennett's groundbreaking new translation of The Book of Five Rings reveals the true meaning of this text for the first time. Like Sun Tzu's The Art of War, Musashi's book offers unique insights, not just for warriors, but for anyone wanting to apply the Zen Buddhist principle of awareness to achieve success in their endeavors. This book sheds new light on Japanese history and on the philosophical meaning of Bushido—the ancient "code of the Japanese warrior."
Unlike other translations that are based on incomplete and inaccurate versions of Musashi's work, Bennett's is the first to be based on a careful reconstruction of the long-lost original manuscript. Capturing the subtle nuances of the original Japanese classic, the result is a far more accurate and meaningful English version of The Book of Five Rings text.
Richly annotated and with an extensive introduction to Musashi's life, this version includes a collection of his other writings—translated into English for the first time. A respected scholar, as well as a skilled martial artist, Bennett's understanding of Musashi's life and work is unparalleled.
This book will be widely read by students of Japanese culture, history. military strategy, and martial arts. It sets a new standard against which all other translations will be measured.
Reviews (122)
Disappointed
I purchased Bennett's translation a few days ago and was quite enjoying it...until last night. You see, it was last night that I asked my Japanese girlfriend - an intellectual powerhouse, a hardcore Musashi fan, and perfectly fluent in both Japanese and English - to pull out her copy of the original text of "The Book of Five Rings". And it was last night that we began comparing Bennett's translation - phrase by phrase, sentence by sentence - to that original text. You can guess where this is going. Long story short is that an hour of close comparison left my girlfriend unimpressed and even a bit upset. Her main objections? The first was that Bennett had, at almost every opportunity, radically fancied up Musashi's prose, using oddly complex wording and phrasing to express what Musashi had written in stark, simple, direct language. This was something of an unforgivable sin for two reasons. The first was that the gratuitous "fancification" clouded over some of Musashi's most important concepts. It amounted to needless literary *noise* slathered over a text which is all *signal*. As a result, an English speaker wouldn't even catch some of the important points expressed in the original: they're buried under unnecessary, often awkwardly constructed, verbiage. The second reason was that one of the most important themes of "The Book of Five Rings" is *total simplicity*. Musashi's prose style itself exemplifies this worldview, and helps convey it. In other words, Musashi's spartan prose style is, itself, *part* of the message. But an English speaker would never get a sense of that from this translation. We also discovered some inexplicable additions to, and omissions from, the text. These were fairly minor, but I still found that irritating. We decided to examine other translations. I ended up reading aloud samples from six or seven other translations as my girlfriend read along in the original. In her judgment, the David K. Groff and William Scott Wilson translations overall did a better job of conveying the message, spirit, and tone/style of the original than Bennett's. (And of these two, all things considered, I have to declare Groff's the winner). David K. Groff's is here: https://www.amazon.com/dp/0785834001/ref=rdr_ext_tmb); William Scott Wilson's is here: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1590309847/ref=rdr_ext_tmb); If anyone is interested, when I get a chance I'll go over some of the passages again with my girlfriend and post some specific examples to support what I reported above about Bennett's translation. I hope this review helped someone. Good luck!
Best book of five rings Translation from a swordsman.
Anyone seriously studying Japanese Swordsmanship should purchase THIS version of Go-Rin-No-Sho. Bennett sensei immediately dispels many of the myths of Miyamoto Musashi propagated through Pop-culture, and the Yoshikawa Eiji novel. This is a fact based historical account of his life and teachings as a martial artist and is the best translation of "The Book of Five Rings," it clearly explains in full historical context, every obscure reference and history behind the book. Furthermore this is the most accurate translation I have read to date, even going so far to explain the different readings of each word, and what Musashi was implying with each statement. Furthermore, this book not only included Go-Rin-No-Sho, but also Musashi's other lesser known works. Heiodokyo, Heiho Kakitsuke, Heiho Sanjugo-Kajo, Goho no Tachi no Michi, Dokkodo, Kokura-hibun. Bennett sensei himself is a master swordsman who not only is a 7dan in kendo, but also the international Naginata-do representative, and co-founder of Kendo-World. Furthermore he holds 2 PHD's and teaches the History of Budo at Kansai University. His credentials in the Japanese swordsmanship community are amazing. This unique perspective clarifies many of the esoteric aspects that most other translations of these works are missing.
Best translation by far.
As a kendo practitioner I've score translations of the go Rin no sho for clues that can improve my own concept of swordsmanship. Alex Bennett's new translation is the best by far. This is the case for several reasons: * It is the first translation based on a reconstruction of the original text (the original was destroyed and all we have are copies with their attendant scribal errors) * It is the first translation undertaken by someone not only fluent in Japanese but in swordsmanship. As such it captures elements that are hard to understand in other translations by people deficient in one of these areas * The translations are clear and approachable * The book contains several previously untranslated works by Musashi from earlier in his life allowing the reader to see how Musashi's own ideas on swordsmanship and combat strategy evolved throughout his life.
Off the charts !
By far the best book on the subject of Musashi's five rings and his other texts. Reading it, I felt like a kid in a candy-store and had that feeling that I didn't want the book to end. It is incredibly well researched material, and very well written, and it really stands out as the only option among the many that are out there. Unfortunately the cover looks too much like it's a manga-book, when this book actually deserves something far classier, as I expect it will be overlooked on bookshelves and in advertisement by some potential buyers. But that is the only criticism I can offer on it. Buy it, you won't be disappointed !
Much more generalizable to other crafts and sports than you think
This book is much more profound than you think. Musashi mainly talks about swordsmanship, but everything there is highly generalizable to other craftsmanships and sports. For more info about the book, read a more thorough review on this post: http://fanaro.com.br/musashi-craftsmanship-critical-moment/ The translation and editing is great, from a very experienced translator and Kendo practitioner.
A very detailed account taken from the best authenticated sources.
The book arrived promptly and in excellent condition. I found the account of Musashi's life fascinating. It provided details that I hadn't encountered in other accounts that I've read.
If you practise Japanese sword budo; it's a must have.
This is a great translation of the Book of Five Rings. I love the introduction and found it very fascinating. The translation was easy to read and had an air about it that felt more precise to Japanese sword budo than any other translation I have and have read. I highly recommend it over the well known other translations.
Best translation to date
Thorough translation that manages to maintain a literary flow and is of interest to both the serious martial arts student as well as the general public.
Excellent for both martial and life-mastery applications.
I am a 40+ year martial arts practitioner, with master instructor rank, as well as a 20+ year management consultant and a Zen priest. The Book of Five Rings is well known, so I needn't praise Musashi (any more than has already been done), but the translation is excellent, with useful endnotes, and the volume also contains additional texts by Musashi that are only recently available in English. A must for serious practitioners of martial arts or of life-mastery practices.
Probably one of the best versions of Miyamoto Mushashi's various writings to date!
An excellent version of Miyamoto Mushashi's writings, artfully resurrected by cross checking several sources. The text in includes the Five Rings and several other works by the renowned Japanese swordsman. His philosophies are equally applicable to today in facing a world of great uncertainty and abrasion.
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