Book SummaryThe Book of Five Rings, by Miyamoto Musashi

1-Page Summary1-Page Book Summary of The Book of Five Rings

In The Book of Five Rings, one of Japan’s most famous Samurai warriors, Miyamoto Musashi (1584-1645), shares his principles for any aspiring warrior wishing to know the true Way of Japanese swordsmanship. Musashi claims that those who know the true Way are invincible in combat, arguing that it is strategy and discipline, not brute strength or innate ability, that make a successful warrior. Although a product of 17th-century Samurai culture, some of Musashi’s key principles can still be used by the modern reader in their personal and professional lives. In this guide, we will explore the key principles in each of the five “books,” or chapters, and examine their modern relevance.

Shortform Context: Samurai Culture and Values

The Samurai were an elite caste of warriors in Japan with a military tradition that endured for several centuries. The Samurai first came to prominence during the Kamakura Period (1185-1333) and lasted until their official dissolution in 1879, when Japan began to favor modernization in its military. Apart from combat duties, many Samurai also held important government positions. The values of the Samurai were largely influenced by different strains of Eastern philosophy, such as Buddhism and Confucianism, and were centered upon loyalty, bravery, and tranquility of body and mind.

Musashi is not the only Samurai to have left behind a written account of his strategies. Some other famous Samurai whose works have been translated into English include Taira Shigesuke, Yamamoto Kansuke, and Natori-Ryu.

While no longer an active force in the modern world, the Samurai remain historically and culturally important in the Japanese popular consciousness, and the traditional art of swordsmanship is still practiced today in some martial arts schools.

Musashi’s Organization and Approach

The Book of Five Rings is divided into five “books” or chapters, each named after a different natural element important in Buddhism: ground, water, fire, wind, and what Musashi calls “the Void.” The Ground Book lays out the fundamental principles of Musashi’s Way; the Water Book focuses upon cultivating the right physical and mental approach to combat; the Fire Book is about fighting, both in one-to-one combat and in battles between armies; the Wind Book contains Musashi’s criticisms of other martial arts schools; and the Book of the Void is a brief Zen-like meditation on how to achieve the right spiritual state for a successful warrior.

(Shortform note: Musashi can be obscure and disorganized in his structure. He emphasizes a student-centric approach to learning, which means that he doesn’t usually offer clear guidance on how to apply his teachings. He frequently leaves it up to the reader to interpret and apply the principles for themselves.)

The Ground Book: Musashi’s Fundamentals of the Way

The Ground Book introduces some of the most important aspects of Musashi’s Way. We can group these core fundamentals into three categories: Know your discipline, use your tools well, and be flexible, patient, and disciplined.

Fundamental #1: Know Your Discipline

Musashi believes that you must thoroughly learn about your discipline before you can put your knowledge into practice. Musashi also strongly believes that while the teacher can facilitate learning, it’s the student’s responsibility to put what he learns into practice. Musashi repeatedly warns that this is not a quick or easy process: He urges his reader to tirelessly study “day and night,” as Musashi himself claims to have done for decades.

Student-Centric Learning: Then and Now

While ideas around the importance of student-centric learning have gained increasing prominence in recent decades, versions of this approach have existed for many centuries. Socrates (470-399 BC) and his Socratic Method is perhaps the most famous example in the Western tradition. There are also current pedagogical methods aimed at creating student-centric learning even for very young children, such as the Montessori Method, which takes as one of its founding principles the idea that the child should follow their own interests and abilities, with the teacher offering individualized guidance and support instead of just a one-size-fits-all curriculum that all students must follow.

Fundamental #2: Use Your Tools Well

Musashi says that an essential part of strategy is knowing how to use tools and resources well. This component of strategy is twofold: You must begin by knowing the tools and weapons you have available and how best to apply them in any situation.

• Step #1: Know your tools. Assess what resources and skills you have (personal skills, environmental factors, material assets, and so on).
• Step #2: Know how best to apply your tools and resources. Analyze the situation and determine which of your tools and resources will serve you best under the circumstances—not every tool or resource will be equally valuable in every context.

(Shortform note: Musashi’s advice about knowing your resources and tools and making the best use of them requires being creative and flexible in discovering how best to use them to achieve your goals. Similarly, today some life coaches advocate creating a “life resource” list to help you figure out which resources you can use in whichever situation, personal or professional, you may find yourself in. A “life resource” list covers multiple areas, such as mindset, skills, support systems, and knowledge.)

Fundamental #3: Be Flexible, Patient, and Disciplined

Musashi teaches that a successful warrior is, above all else, flexible, patient, and disciplined. Developing these key qualities depends on the following factors:

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The Book of Five Rings Summary Shortform Introduction

In The Book of Five Rings, legendary Samurai Miyamoto Musashi (1584-1645) shares his principles for aspiring warriors wishing to learn the true Way for success in combat. For Musashi, the essence of the Way is strategy: how a warrior trains himself mentally and physically for mortal combat, his skill in wielding any kind of weapon, and his ability to adapt to any kind of circumstances in order to achieve his victory. Above all else, Musashi argues that success in combat is about discipline and strategy, not innate talent. Modern readers can apply Musashi’s principles to personal and professional contexts, allowing them to develop the habits and mindset necessary for achieving their goals.

About the Author

Miyamoto Musashi was born in the Harima Province of Japan in 1584, the son of a swordsman. Musashi fought and won his first duel at age 13. At age 16 he embarked on his personal musha shugyō, the traditional rite-of-passage for Samurai in which the aspiring warrior traveled throughout Japan, fighting duels and learning more about his craft. Afterward, Musashi took up residence at a Buddhist temple while continuing to hone his skills in swordsmanship. In...

The Book of Five Rings Summary Chapter 1: The Ground Book—Fundamental Principles of the Way

The Book of Five Rings presents legendary Samurai Miyamoto Musashi’s (1584-1645) strategies for following the true Way of ancient Japanese swordsmanship, so that anyone diligent and committed enough can become an undefeated champion. For a Samurai like Musashi, combat was frequently a kill-or-be-killed situation, somewhat similar in this respect to the gladiatorial combats of Ancient Rome. For an aspiring warrior at the time this was written, learning the true Way was not just a matter of personal achievement, but also a matter of personal survival.

The work is divided into five “books” or chapters, each named after a different natural element important in Buddhism: ground, water, fire, wind, and what Musashi calls “the Void.” The Ground Book lays out the fundamental principles of Musashi’s Way; the Water Book focuses upon cultivating the right physical and mental approach to combat; the Fire Book is about fighting, both in one-to-one combat and in battles between armies; the Wind Book contains Musashi’s criticisms of other martial arts schools; and the Book of the Void is a brief Zen-like meditation on how to achieve the right spiritual state for a successful warrior.

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Shortform Exercise: Achieve a Goal Using Musashi’s Way

Musashi advises developing the appropriate knowledge, using the right tools, and being flexible and committed. Let’s take a step-by-step approach to putting Musashi’s principles into practice.

Choose a goal you would like to achieve during the next three months, either personally or professionally. Write down what your goal is, and why you’d like to achieve it.

The Book of Five Rings Summary Chapter 2: The Water Book—Training Mentally and Physically for Combat

Having introduced the key elements of the Way in the Ground Book, Musashi next details his strategies for developing an optimal mental and physical state as a warrior. In the Water Book, he explains how the warrior can train himself both mentally and physically. Musashi names this book the “Water” book because he believes that the ideal warrior needs to be like water. Water can change its form (liquid, mist, ice), and can also adapt to any container it is poured into when it is a liquid. Like water, the ideal warrior must also be adaptable according to circumstances and flexible enough to apply different weapons or techniques.

(Shortform note: Like Musashi, Sun Tzu also compares the successful warrior to water in Book VI of the Art of War: The warrior is like water, Tzu writes, because he can always adapt his approach to the changing conditions of battle.)

Flexibility as a Law of Power

Musashi’s idea that the warrior gains huge advantages by being flexible still has resonance in the thinking of modern commentators. In The 48 Laws of Power, [Robert Greene sets out...

Shortform Exercise: “Absorb” and Apply Your Skills

Musashi emphasizes the importance of absorbing information and technical know-how so that it will become second nature. In this exercise, you’ll consider what knowledge or skills you’ve already absorbed, and how you could absorb a new skill.

Recall a motor or intellectual skill you have developed to a high degree. Write down the skill below.

The Book of Five Rings Summary Chapter 3: The Fire Book—Fighting Both Individuals and Armies

Having introduced the core mental and physical training necessary for success, Musashi now turns his attention in the Fire Book to applying this training when engaged in combat. When faced with a real-life challenge or enemy, the warrior must keep three key principles in mind:

1. Awareness and adaptability
2. The essentiality of always taking the initiative
3. Learning how to apply strategies on both large and small scales

Let’s take a look at how each of these principles works in practice.

(Shortform note: The Fire Book has many passages centered upon particular sword fighting moves and strategies for landing blows on your opponent’s body. We have chosen not to deal directly with such passages to keep the focus on more generally applicable principles. For readers interested in learning more about the technicalities of Musashi’s sword-wielding strategies, The Martial Artist’s Book of Five Rings by Steven F. Kaufman may be helpful.)

1. Maintain Awareness and Adaptability

Musashi warns that many people make the mistake of becoming set and narrow-minded in their ways. **When faced with...

Shortform Exercise: Overcome Challenges and Adapt

Throughout the Fire Book, Musashi focuses on how adaptability helps a warrior succeed in any form of combat. In this exercise, you will reflect on a challenge you overcame in the past and how to develop your own adaptability.

Think of a challenge you faced, either personally or professionally, within the last 12 months. Describe the challenge.

The Book of Five Rings Summary Chapter 4: The Wind Book—Learn From Competitors

Having shared his views on what the fundamental principles, mental and physical training elements, and battle strategies are for the Way of the successful warrior, Musashi now shifts his focus in the Wind Book toward the approaches of some of the other rival schools of his day. He critiques other sword-fighting methods and discusses technical details such as how to move your feet during combat, use speed, and use different sword-lengths.

While these discipline-specific critiques don’t hold much meaning for the more general modern reader, we’ve identified two enduring lessons that Musashi offers: Understand your competitor’s strategies, and use skill over strength to ensure your own success.

1. Understand Your Competitor’s Strategies

In describing and picking apart the strategies taught by rival martial arts schools, Musashi isn’t being petty. He explains the weaknesses he notes in their strategies to show how he avoids such weaknesses in his own approach to the true Way. The same strategy also applies to the warrior when in combat: To outwit your competitor and strengthen your own position, you must first thoroughly understand what their strategy is.

**Sun Tzu...

Shortform Exercise: Learn From Others

This exercise will help you think of ways you can learn from others, as Musashi learned from studying other Samurai schools.

Think of a situation from within the past year when you noticed something, good or bad, about someone else’s behavior. Describe what you noticed.

The Book of Five Rings Summary Chapter 5: The Book of the Void—Achieving Perfect Harmony

The final book, the Book of the Void, is the briefest and most abstract in The Book of Five Rings, and it is best treated as a sort of addendum to the first four books. Musashi suggests that the “Void” is a state of spiritual enlightenment, in which you find the virtue and wisdom that make up the true Way of the warrior. To discover the Void and access it at will during combat, you must do two things:

• Seek knowledge of all things. It is only through deep knowledge that you can learn to distinguish between being and nothingness, virtue and vice, and the true from the false. You must therefore be a perpetual student, always seeking to broaden and deepen your understanding on all matters.
• Train and put the principles into practice every day. As Musashi has repeatedly stressed...

Shortform Exercise: Develop Mental and Physical Harmony

In this exercise, you’ll explore ways for bringing more mental and physical harmony into your life.

Describe an aspect of your mental or physical health that you would like to improve within the next few months.

The Book of Five Rings Summary Shortform Suggested Reading

Other Samurai Manuals of Instruction

1. Code of the Samurai: A Modern Translation of the Bushido Shoshinshu of Taira Shigesuke. Translated by Thomas Cleary. Published by Tuttle Publishing, 2021.

2. Secrets of the Japanese Art of Warfare: An Annotated Translation of Yamamoto Kansuke’s Classic Treatise on Strategies and Tactics. Translated by Thomas Cleary. Published by Tuttle Publishing, 2012.

3. The Lost Samurai School: Secrets of Mubyoshi Ryu. Translated by Antony Cummins. Published by...