The Complete Book of Five Rings

TheCompleteBookofFiveRingsisanauthoritativeversionofMusashi’sclassicTheBookofFiveRings,translatedandannotatedbyamodernmartialartsmaster,KenjiTokitsu.Tokitsuhasspentmostofhisliferesearchingthelegendarysamuraiswordsmanandhisworks,andinthisbookheilluminatesthisseminaltext,alongwithseveralotherworksbyMusashi.Theseinclude“TheMirroroftheWayofStrategy,”whichMusashiwrotewhenhewasinhistwenties;“Thirty-fiveInstructionsonStrategy,”and“Forty-twoInstructionsonStrategy,”whichwereprecursorstoTheBookofFiveRings;and“TheWaytoBeFollowedAlone,”whichMusashiwrotejustdaysbeforehisdeath.Readtogether,thesefivetextsgivereadersanunusuallydetailed,nuancedviewofMusashi’sideasonswordsmanship,strategy,andself-cultivation.Tokitsuputsallthesewritingsintohistoricalandphilosophicalcontextandmakesthemaccessibleandrelevanttotoday’sreadersandmartialartsstudents.TokitsuunderstandsMusashi’swritings—andMusashiasamartialartist—unusuallywellandisabletoprovidearareinsightintothemanandhishistoricalcontribution.