Go Rin no Sho - The Book of Five Rings

The Go Rin no Sho is widely accepted to be the best treatise on swordmanship ever written. While many martial artists have read it, to practitioners of Hyoho Niten Ichi-ryu the study of the Go Rin no Sho is a highly important part of the school. A thorough knowledge of the Buddhist scripts is necessary to understand the texts of Musashi sensei.

The Go Rin no Sho is broken down into five sections, named after the five elements/rings (Go Rin) of Earth, Water, Fire, Wind & Void. Each chapter concentrates on a different aspect of the strategy of swordsmanship:

• Earth - The strategy of martial arts
• Water - The 'Two Heavens as One School' - Musashi's own school of swordsmanship
• Fire - The strategy of battle
• Wind - The study of other schools of swordsmanship
• Void - The understanding of the Way

In addition to the Go Rin no Sho, Musashi also left a number of other writings as part of his teachings:

• Hyodokyo ( The Mirror of the Way of Strategy)
• Hyoho Sanjugo Kajo (Thirty-five Instructions on Strategy)
• Hyoho Shijuni Kajo (Forty-two Instructions on Strategy)
• Dokkodo (The Way to be Followed Alone)

For some reason, the Book of Five Rings has been adopted by businessmen both in Japan and the West in recent years as a guide to financial prosperity although it is not meant as anything of the sort.