The Book of Five Rings: Miyamoto Musashi Review

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The Book of Five Rings: Miyamoto Musashi ReviewI am a long time student of the Musashi text and I simply had to reply to the Nguyen review. I am Japanese. I live in Kansai area in Japan and have been a student and teacher of the sword and English most of my life. I travel to America often and have many American friends. I am always curious of how Americans view Japanese culture and often read American translations of Japanese works. I am 38 years old and a life long martial artist.
First of all, the text on the front of the book is exactly as it should be. I don't understand why someone who obviously has no understanding of Kanji, Katakana, and Hiragana and how they enter work would start off his highly critical review with something that shows everyone that he doesn't know anything about the written language.
Secondly, the idea that because someone is a "blackbelt" martial arts instructor "reveals" an avaricious interest in sales speaks more of the person who would infer such things than to every black belt martial arts instructor in the world. I am a black belt martial arts instructor, as many thousands of you are, and I have no intrinsic interest in sales what so ever.
In reading the book I never once got the feeling that Tarver was trying to compare himself to Musashi. In fact he says in the opening that even after a life time of study he is still "amazed at the astounding insight and pure genius of Musashi." I personally am amazed at how someone like Nguyen can make such fantastic leaps in logic and even infer personality traits like vanity when the author clearly said that he was a dedicated student of Musashi.
Anyone who tries to study a famous person like Musashi will find tons of information from scholarly sources that contain a fair amount of speculation. Try it yourself, you will see. Anyone who says that they know exactly how Musashi's early life played out and how it influenced his life long study of the sword is lying or foolish. As far as Confucian, Zen Buddhism, and "other Asian philosophical influences" Musashi's book was for his "blackbelt martial arts" students, not for religious instruction. If one wants to learn about religion there are a lot of other books available. Musashi himself said that he did not use religious ideas in writing his book. As a student and teacher of sword I want a translation that deals with sword in hand not religious ideas. Zen is addressed very thoroughly in the text because Zen is necessary for understanding the sword. As a Buddhist, I am very satisfied with the way Tarver addresses this subject. Any true martial arts student, of any length of time, knows that martial arts do develop "a state of mind that will create a successful warrior capable of victory in any conflict". To argue that there is some magic way that Musashi was trying to do this is foolish. Musashi said, in every translation I have ever read, that enlightenment comes from daily practice of MARTIAL ARTS. Once enlightenment comes, said Musashi, it influences every aspect of the mind and brings about the very frame of mind that can make a student capable of victory in any conflict. Musashi used the example of a mountain and how you are at the foot of the mountain on either side- I find it hard to believe that Nguyen even read this book and can still make such obviously misleading statements. Nguyen's only claim to any expertise is that he is Asian. I am Japanese and I am very proud to be Asian, but I am not a racist. I believe that anyone who studies Musashi with an open mind can understand it. Nguyen seems to think that most Western readers will not be able to. Every thing that is needed to understand the teaching of Musashi is here and available to anyone who have the capacity to absorb it. Maybe this person's complaints come from his own inability to grasp the real teachings of Musashi, the "blackbelt martial arts teacher."
In the book of emptiness Tarver does and excellent job of explaining a very deep concept. Again Nguyen seems to infer that because he is Vietnamese he has some intrinsic understanding of mushin - the philosophy of the empty mind. Stillness is NOT the proper term, empty is. Only a person who has experienced this can understand it and Nugyen obviously has not. He says that he prefers a translation that comes from a purely academic point of view because he only has an academic understanding himself. Those of you who have reached enlightenment in this area will understand and identify with everything Tarver explains here. Those of you who are not will have a more difficult time with it, but if you follow the path you will come to understanding. Don't sell yourself short by settling for a purely academic translation. The experience and lifetime of study Tarver engaged in to understand these principles are clearly evident to others who understand them. I think anyone who would want to "Illustrate" Musashi is clearly dealing with material that is over his head and wants it explained in pictures. I am sure that there were quite a few "perplexed expressions" on the face of such a reader.
I can honestly tell you that Tarver provides the most through, deep, and clearly experienced translations of Musashi's classic work that I have ever read. I do encourage you to read as many different translations as you can, but in the end I am sure you will find this one the best, if not now then after you are capable of understanding it. I did read Wilson's version and it was very good also, but I found it somewhat shallow.The Book of Five Rings: Miyamoto Musashi Overview

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Musashi's Book of Five Rings: The Definitive Interpretation of Miyamoto Musashi's Classic Book of Strategy Review

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Musashi's Book of Five Rings: The Definitive Interpretation of Miyamoto Musashi's Classic Book of Strategy ReviewI have no doubt about the author's sincerity in offering this personal interpretation of Musashi's original work, "Book of 5 Spheres" (or "The Book of 5 Rings"). The problem I have with what Stephen F. Kaufman has done to Musashi's book deals more with his implied suggestion that this edition is the result of an actual ~translation~ which he was responsible for (see pages xi-xii, "Translator's Note"). In fact, when asked Mr. Kaufman has admitted that this volume (and some others he has written) are not translations at all, but rather his own personal interpretations of English translations done by other authors--something he DOESN'T bother to communicate to his readers. The title of this volume, at odds with the "translator's note" on pgs xi -xii, is actually "...The Definitive _Interpretation_ of Miyamoto Musashi's Classic Book of Strategy". I fail to understand why Kaufman confuses his readers by mixing and matching interpretation with translation. It should be noted that Mr Kaufman himself does NOT speak or read Japanese, and in fact innocently named his own martial arts school "Dojo no Hebi" ("Place of Practice's Snake"), when he was trying for "Dojo of the Snake" (which in Japanese would have been "Hebi no Dojo", meaning "The Snake's Place of Practice"). Innocent mistakes yes, but one would expect a Black belt of the 10th Dan (degree grade) and a proclaimed "Hanshi" (master practitioner) to at least check his spelling with someone who _could_ speak the language he was borrowing.
Kaufman doesn't bother to provide a bibliography of which English translations he used, nor does he include notes explaining _how_ he drew his conclusions from the texts he studied. I am bothered by the fact that many of Musashi's original words have been heavily edited, re-arranged, or deleted altogether by this author until they have been removed entirely from their original context. In doing this, Mr. Kaufman has actually ALTERED the _meaning_ of Musashi's work! What remains appears to be little more than a new age self-help guide for modern martial artists which has retained a smidgeon of flavor from Musashi's original work.
A brief example illustrating Kaufman's tendancy to put his own words in Musashi's mouth is in the fourth paragraph on page 6 of Kaufman's book. Kaufman reworks Musashi's words regarding Merchants as a class to read, "Merchants are a ridiculed class because they produce nothing except profit from the work of others." Two other men who have actually translated Musashi's work from the original Japanese suggest nothing sinister in Musashi's original work concerning the merchant class.
Victor Harris in his translation of "A Book of Five Rings" offers: "The way of the merchant is always to live by taking profit" (page 41, 1974). Translator Thomas Cleary offers the same sentence as: "Whatever the business, merchants make a living from the profits they earn acording to their particular status" (page 7, 1993).
This is a minor demonstration of the differences between Kaufman's work and those offered by actual QUALIFIED translators--the translators make an effort to convey to the reader the actual meaning of Musashi's words in English, while Kaufman crafts a new meaning which never existed in Musashi's original work. Suffice to say, Kaufman's interpretation seems heavily influenced by his modern view of martial arts and his concept of what he feels samurai may have been like four centuries ago. It bears little resemblance to competent translations of Musashi's writings. Or perhaps it is Kaufman's guilt over his own attempt to exploit the expertise and writings of a respected master.
I recommend two excellent translations of Musashi's work which stay true to the original Japanese. The first is "A Book of Five Rings" translated by Victor Harris, a mechanical engineer and technical interpreter of Japanese language who not only practiced kendo (Japanese fencing), but studied this art in Japan for 3 years under Ito Kyoitsu at the Seijudo Dojo. A second recommendation is "The Book of Five Rings" by Thomas Cleary, another professional translator. Unlike Kaufman, I did not find translations by these men to be "intellectual exercises in translating Japanese to English" (pg xi). I found legitimate translations by competent translators who were clear and direct...I suspect most scholarly people, whether students of martial arts or not, will draw a similar conclusions upon comparing Kaufman's book to any actual translation.Musashi's Book of Five Rings: The Definitive Interpretation of Miyamoto Musashi's Classic Book of Strategy Overview

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