Miyamoto Musashi was a mess.
If you picture a polished, pristine samurai in silk robes, you’ve got the wrong guy. History tells us he barely bathed, wore tattered clothes, and didn't care much for traditional grooming. He was a ronin, a wandering duelist who claimed to have fought over sixty battles without a single loss. By the time he retreated to a cave in Reigandō to write the Book of the Five Rings, he wasn't just talking about how to swing a sword. He was dying. He knew his time was up, and he wanted to dump everything he knew about reality onto a set of scrolls.
Most people today treat this book like a corporate strategy guide. You’ll see it in airport bookstores next to "The Art of War" and "How to Win Friends and Influence People." But Musashi wasn't a CEO. He was a killer who became a philosopher. When you read the Book of the Five Rings, you aren't just reading about "synergy" or "market disruption." You're reading the frantic, late-life realizations of a man who figured out that the way you do one thing is the way you do everything.
The Earth Scroll: Foundations or Just Common Sense?
Musashi starts with Earth. It sounds grounded. It is.
He uses the metaphor of a carpenter. Think about that for a second. A samurai, a member of the highest social class in feudal Japan, comparing his "Way" to a guy building a house. It was radical. He argues that a master carpenter has to know his tools, manage his men, and understand the wood. If the wood is weak, you don't use it for a main beam.
Grounding yourself isn't about some mystical energy. It’s about not being delusional. Musashi hated the "flowery" sword schools of his time. He thought they were all show and no substance. He’d probably hate modern "hustle culture" for the same reason—too much talking, not enough wood-cutting.
In the Book of the Five Rings, he says you have to "know the smallest things and the biggest things." You can't be a specialist who ignores the rest of the world. If you only know how to code, but you don't know how the hardware works or how the user feels, you’re a bad carpenter. Musashi didn't believe in "niche" expertise at the expense of total awareness.
Honestly, his advice is kinda harsh. He tells you that if you don't practice every single day, you're just wasting your time. There’s no "quick hack" in the Earth scroll. It’s just work.
The Water Scroll: Fluidity is Not Just a Buzzword
The Water scroll is where things get trippy, but in a very practical way.
Water changes shape. It fits into a vase. It crashes against a rock. It stays level even when the ground is slanted. Musashi wanted your mind to be like that. He talked about "the gaze." Most people focus too hard on the tip of the enemy’s sword. They get "tunnel vision." Musashi says you should look at the enemy as if they are far away, and look at far-off things as if they are close.
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It’s about peripheral vision—both literally and metaphorically.
If you’re in a negotiation and you only focus on the price, you’re going to lose. You have to see the person’s body language, the ticking clock in the corner, and the way they glanced at their phone. That’s the "Water" mindset. You don't freeze up. You don't get "stuck" on one idea.
Why His Physical Stance Actually Matters
Musashi describes the "attitude" of the body in the Book of the Five Rings with surprising detail. He says:
- Keep the bridge of your nose straight.
- Don't let your eyes wander.
- Keep your shoulders down.
- Keep your back straight, but don't be stiff.
He’s describing a state of relaxed readiness. If you're tense, you’re slow. If you’re too relaxed, you’re sloppy. It’s that middle ground—the "vortex" of the water—where the power actually lives. He’s telling you to stop overthinking and just be in the right position to react.
Fire: The Chaos of the Fight
This is the section people usually get excited about because it’s about "timing."
Fire is unpredictable. It spreads. It consumes. In the Book of the Five Rings, the Fire scroll covers the actual heat of battle. Musashi talks about "treading down" the enemy. He doesn't mean literally stepping on them—well, maybe he does—but he mostly means stepping on their intent.
You have to sense when your opponent is about to move and crush that impulse before it even turns into an action. It’s like seeing a fire start and throwing a blanket on it before it hits the curtains.
He also talks about "becoming the enemy." This isn't some empathy exercise. It’s about putting yourself in their shoes so you can see how vulnerable they are. Most of us are so worried about our own weaknesses that we forget the other person is probably terrified too. Musashi’s strategy was to make them more terrified. He’d show up late to duels just to piss people off (like he famously did against Sasaki Kojirō at Ganryū Island). He’d use a wooden sword against a real one just to show he didn't care about their "rules."
He played mind games. He knew that a fight is won in the head before the swords ever touch.
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Wind: Stop Following the Crowd
The Wind scroll is actually a critique of other schools. Musashi was kind of a hater.
He looks at what everyone else is doing and explains why it’s wrong. He mocks schools that use extra-long swords, saying they rely on the weapon rather than their own skill. He mocks schools that use "secret techniques," calling them scams.
The lesson here is simple: don't get bogged down in tradition for the sake of tradition.
The Book of the Five Rings argues that if a technique doesn't help you win, it's garbage. He didn't care about looking pretty. He didn't care about the "proper" way to hold a fan. He cared about survival. In modern terms, this is the "anti-best-practices" chapter. Just because "everyone in the industry" does it one way doesn't mean it’s the right way for you.
The Void: The Part Nobody Gets
Then there’s the Void. The "Emptiness."
This is where Musashi gets spiritual, but he stays grounded. He isn't talking about "nothingness" in the sense of a vacuum. He’s talking about a state where you don't have to think anymore because you've practiced so much that your subconscious takes over.
Think about driving a car. When you first start, you're thinking about the blinker, the brake, the mirrors, the steering. That’s the opposite of the Void. But after ten years? You just drive. You arrive at your house and don't even remember the last five miles. Your mind was "empty" of conscious effort, yet you performed a complex task perfectly.
That’s the Void.
Musashi says "In the void is virtue, and no evil." He means that once you strip away the ego, the fear, and the over-analysis, you’re left with the pure truth of the moment. You see things for what they really are.
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Applying Musashi to the Real World (Without a Sword)
So, how do you actually use the Book of the Five Rings today? It’s not about buying a katana and moving to a cave. It’s about a specific kind of mental toughness.
1. The Strategy of "No Timing"
Musashi talks about three types of timing. The most interesting is the timing where you strike just as the enemy thinks they've found a rhythm. Basically, disrupt the flow. If you’re in a meeting and everyone is agreeing on a boring, safe path, that’s the moment to drop a radical truth. Use the "rhythm" of the room against it.
2. The Multi-Handed Approach
He was famous for the Niten Ichi-ryū style—using two swords at once. Back then, most samurai used two hands on one sword. Musashi thought that was a waste. "If you have two arms, use both."
In your life, this means cross-training. Don't just be a "marketing guy." Be a marketing guy who understands data science and psychology. Use everything you’ve got. Don't let one hand stay idle.
3. Polish Your Craft Until It Disappears
Musashi wrote that you should "do nothing which is of no use."
Take a look at your daily routine. How much of it is just "ceremony"? How much of it is just "flowery swordplay" that looks good but doesn't move the needle? Musashi would tell you to cut it. All of it.
Common Misconceptions About Musashi
A lot of people think Musashi was a Zen monk. He wasn't. He was influenced by Zen, sure, but he was much more of a pragmatist. He didn't sit in zazen to reach enlightenment; he did it to stay calm so he wouldn't get killed.
Another big one: people think the Book of the Five Rings is about being a "warrior" in the sense of being aggressive. It’s actually the opposite. It’s about being efficient. Musashi often avoided fights if he didn't think they were necessary or if the odds were stupid. He wasn't looking for glory; he was looking for mastery.
Actionable Steps for the Musashi Mindset
You don't need to read the whole book in one sitting. It's actually better if you don't. Musashi ends almost every paragraph with "You must research this deeply" or "You must train hard in this." He’s basically telling you to go away and try it out.
- Identify your "Tools": Like the carpenter in the Earth Scroll, list your primary tools. Are they sharp? Do you actually know how to use them, or are you just "getting by"?
- Practice "The Gaze": Next time you’re in a high-pressure situation, consciously try to expand your vision. Look at the whole room, not just the person talking. See the "Void" between the words.
- Audit Your "Use": For one week, ask yourself: "Is this of use?" for every task you do. If it's just ceremony, experiment with cutting it out.
- Cross-Train: Find one skill completely outside your comfort zone that complements your main career. Learn to use your "off-hand."
Musashi died shortly after finishing the scrolls. He didn't have a grand temple or a massive estate. He had a few disciples and his reputation. But the Book of the Five Rings survived because it isn't about the 1600s. It’s about the human brain. It’s about what happens when you stop pretending and start looking at the world with a cold, clear eye.
Stop looking for a "magic move." There isn't one. There’s just the wood, the tools, and the way you swing the hammer.
Next Steps for Deep Research:
To truly understand Musashi's context, read the Dokkōdō (The Way of Walking Alone), which he wrote a week before he died. It contains 21 precepts that serve as a brutal, honest summary of his life's philosophy. For a historical perspective, look into the records of the Hosokawa clan, who hosted him in his final years. These sources provide the "Earth" to the "Water" of his more philosophical writings.