Hagakure & go rin no sho

[Richiro]

I have almost finished both hagakure and go rin no sho and I have gained some interesting prespectives and knowledge from these books. I took down notes while reading these books. I was wondering who else read these books and what have you gained from them?

[[Kensei 剣の聖者]]

I read both, and i really admired the book of 5 Rings , it was filled with inresting strategies, and i specialy liked the book of Void, the whole concept of forgetting everything you have learned was intruiging.. im afraid to say i really dont like Hagakure, Yamamoto sounds narrow minded and foolish (in my opinion anyway) , saying crazy stuff like you have to spit and rub your spit behind your ear if your tired or something like that... and that you should never practice art or poetry or philosphy..there are many other good books to read also such as those by Yagyu, and Takuan Soho..

[mist]

I feel I have gotten more out of go rin no sho as well. My favorite is the
"The Unfettered Mind". I keep coming back to the writings.

[Charlie]

Do a search of these boards for Hagakure, there's been a lot of good discussion of it.

[Malekith]

Im also half way through Go Rin No Sho and it is an excellent book with great ideas which do make sense

[Nanbanjin]

I saw Ghost Dog on the weekend so I know the best bits from Hagakure.

[Charlie]

Then you're probably ready for "Enter the Wu-Tang: the 36 Chambers" and RZA's solo work. Go thou and study. :smoker:

[grasshopper_r2]

I read the book of five rings every year along with the unfettered mind and sun tzu, I find (for myself) that Thomas Cleary's translations are the best. They flow better. It never stops amazing me that I learn something new every time I read them. From My understanding Hagakure was never intended to be a book, it was just some random notes thrown together from a diary?? Any comments??

[Hisham]

Go rin no sho is a great book, and as somebody else suggested monk Takuan 's The unfettered mind is a must read if you're interested in the mind mechanics that is.
Hakagure is of historical relevance only IMHO.

[Hisham]

I run into this website while surfing the web, some interesting books are sold in it, here's the link : http://www.koryubooks.com/index.html

[Zaphiel]

I've got myself the hagakure, the book of the five rings, the bushido and the art of war and another one which is called Samurai spirit but i don't think it's really famouse cause it's nothing compared to the others..........and well, i've decided to read them again when I'm of age...cause in every single book there are some passages which are really hard to understand as there are no examples. and even with examples they would be hard to get.
but they are all raelly interesting(from what i did understand :wink: )

[Zaphiel]

sorry to bother again but i did forget something and couldn't edit my last post.

in the book of the five rings musashi sasy: (only by the meenig of what he said)grab your sword only with one hand...only if its a technically hard strike or a foe is hard to kill use both hands to do it.

Well i know that musashi invented the nito-itchryu but but thats hard to understand when you practice kendo isn't it?

[Hisham]

There are many universal and specific concepts in Musashi's book that range from basic ones to relatively complicated ones, you've got to read and reread that book so that you understand what works in kendo and what doesn't, of course it's with long term practice that his concepts can be grasped ,as he said himself.In other words his book should be a reference that you gotta back to along your Budo journey.:glasses:
Oh BTW his school's name is Hyoho Niten Ichi Ryu ,not nito.:)

[Zaphiel]

There are many universal and specific concepts in Musashi's book that range from basic ones to relatively complicated ones, you've got to read and reread that book so that you understand what works in kendo and what doesn't, of course it's with long term practice that his concepts can be grasped ,as he said himself.In other words his book should be a reference that you gotta back to along your Budo journey.:glasses:
Oh BTW his school's name is Hyoho Niten Ichi Ryu ,not nito.:)
well yes, he renamed it from 'two swords one school(way)' to 'two skys one school' so i did write the old name.... sorry !but you are right the real name is niten ichiryu ...and i did missspell it in my last post sorry again...the keyboards in france are slitly different....
Thanx>rei<

[Hisham]

well yes, he renamed it from 'two swords one school(way)' to 'two skys one school' so i did write the old name.... sorry !but you are right the real name is niten ichiryu ...and i did missspell it in my last post sorry again...the keyboards in france are slitly different....
Thanx>rei< It's cool man, you don't have to rei or anything, we're martial bros! i've seen too many HK movies so what! :D

[asian_knight]

I saw this book once at the bookstore, but I dont know what the title was. It was a compilation of fifferent strtegies, concepts,and philosophy from different books. I believe Go rin shoh, hagakure, yagyu and others was there. I havent read it yet. I saw that a couple months back, and I still havent had the time to back purchase it.

[musashi270]

I have found that The Sword and the Mind is a very good book dealing with the concepts of the philosophys of the samurai. It has a place right next to the Art of War, The Book of Five Rings, and Hagakure in my library.

[Hyaku]

I read the book of five rings every year along with the unfettered mind and sun tzu, I find (for myself) that Thomas Cleary's translations are the best. They flow better. It never stops amazing me that I learn something new every time I read them. From My understanding Hagakure was never intended to be a book, it was just some random notes thrown together from a diary?? Any comments??

I can see the castle where Yamamoto worked from my office window.
More details about his orations to a scribe are here.

http://www.hyoho.com/Hagakure1.html

[Ninjujinkaku]

I like hagakure, but some things in it seemed a little random, main thing from hagakure you get is that you should do stuff without fear of death. In fact you should want to put yourself in as many situations of possible death that you can.

[Hyaku]

I like hagakure, but some things in it seemed a little random, main thing from hagakure you get is that you should do stuff without fear of death. In fact you should want to put yourself in as many situations of possible death that you can.

I have Kendo teacher friend that did Hagakure as a dissertation. I think the main thing Yamamato states it that we should put death to one side each day. To come to terms with the fact that this might be our last day.

I do like Clearys translation and the fact that he adds the Yagyu work. Musashi himself seemed to made the transformation from settsunin (satsujin) to katsujin.

I am told I should read Gorin no Sho after every practice. It is something you learn from by reading again and again. To mew its a manual.

Some of the publishers plugs it gets are quite amusing, especially the one stating its a good aid to business. In theory w would all become millionares as Musashi hardly ever lost. Then again if you take into account Musashi's philosophy we would all have to give the money away become poor as he disliked wealth and worldly things.

Its not a plug but if anyone is interested this book is worth a place on the shelf.

My review is here: http://ejmas.com/tin/2004tin/tinart_watkin_2_1104.html

Tokitsu like Scott Wilson has read over around twenty four accounts to put together Musashi's history. He then adds Gorin no Sho. He also explains the transition of budo from warlike to peacefull times. I liked his comments about wearing traditional costume. He says its an illusion which creates an impression of living in the past. This certainly applies to Hakama. The book is in French and English.

[Hyaku]

I like hagakure, but some things in it seemed a little random, main thing from hagakure you get is that you should do stuff without fear of death. In fact you should want to put yourself in as many situations of possible death that you can.

I have Kendo teacher friend that did Hagakure as a dissertation. I think the main thing Yamamato states it that we should put death to one side each day. To come to terms with the fact that this might be our last day.

I do like Clearys translation and the fact that he adds the Yagyu work. Musashi himself seemed to made the transformation from settsunin (satsujin) to katsujin.

I am told I should read Gorin no Sho after every practice. It is something you learn from by reading again and again. To mew its a manual.

Some of the publishers plugs it gets are quite amusing, especially the one stating its a good aid to business. In theory we would all become millionares as Musashi hardly ever lost. Then again if you take into account Musashi's philosophy we would all have to give the money away become poor as he disliked wealth and worldly things.

Its not a plug but if anyone is interested this book is worth a place on the shelf.

My review is here: http://ejmas.com/tin/2004tin/tinart_watkin_2_1104.html

Tokitsu like Scott Wilson has read over around twenty four accounts to put together Musashi's history. Following this ishis translation of Gorin no Sho. He also explains the transition of budo from warlike to peaceful times. I liked his comments about wearing traditional costume. He says its an illusion which creates an impression of living in the past. This certainly applies to Hakama. The book is in French and English.

[Zaphiel]

@hisham*grin*

you're right if i had enough time i would be doing about 20 matiral arts...:rambo:

[Tomo]

[QUOTE=grasshopper_r2]I read the book of five rings every year... QUOTE]

I have the same routine. I as well learn something new with each read. The book is like a puzzle, the more knowledge you bring to it, the more knowledge it gives you. Certain ideas will be over your head until you are ready to understand them. At least that is how it is with me.
Cheers,
Tom

[Simon R]

I read Gorin no Sho, and have found myself frustrated at times by it because I am still very new and ignorant to its concepts. I have not been practicing kendo for very long, but I have been trying to apply some of what I've read to my attitude and perspective on kendo. From what I understand, there is much, much more to learn about the book than what one picks up the first few times reading it. I will continue to read it and try to glean more and more wisdom from it every time.