Five Rings

Strategy is the craft of a warrior – Miyamoto Musashi Written around 1645, Miyamoto Musashi’s Five Rings is a classic Japanese work on mastery in swordsmanship, leadership and conflict. Musashi was a swordsman, philosopher and strategist, and today his work remains of influence not only in the realm of martial arts but in the business world, too. Musashi’s no-nonsense approach to the martial arts and combat includes eliminating technical flourishes, understanding that technique should simply be understood as defeating your opponent, and appreciating that the same qualities apply in both small- scale and large-scale conflicts. Repeatedly, he stresses the importance of learning through practice, rather than merely reading about them. Produced using beautiful traditional Chinese bookbinding techniques, Five Rings is presented in an exquisite edition with a brand new modern translation.

Miyamoto Musashi, swordmaster of the early Edo period (1603–1868), dedicated his life to reach perfection throughout swordsmanship. He fought and won more than 60 life-or-death duels and ended his career invincible. He left for future generations not only his fighting style but also the most important Japanese treatise on strategy, The Book of the Five Rings. Maisy Hatchard is a Japanese-English translator who specialises in board and computer games. She also writes about indie Japanese board games on her site, Japanalogue.