Miyamoto Musashi was born in either the Harima Province of Japan or the village of Miyamoto in Mimasaka in 1584. Little is known about the life of Musashi, but what has been pieced together from a small number of reliable sources has highlighted his inability to lose a fight. Musashi is remembered as an undefeated samurai and won his first fight against the swordsman Arima Kihei at 13 years old. From then until the day he died, he was victorious in every battle he fought in, and it was close to the end of his life that Musashi wrote down his Way of the martial arts, and it was in 1645, at the age of 62, that the great swordsman passed away. Huh? Am I learning the way of the blade, wanting to defeat my foes from first principles and needing someone from many hundreds of years ago to tell me to EXPLORE THE PRACTICE DEEPLY? Yes? Practice it a LOT?

The Book of Wind chapter is something of a pun, since the Japanese character for "wind" and can also mean "style" (e.g., of martial arts). It discusses what Musashi considers to be the failings of various contemporary schools of sword fighting. The Book of Water chapter describes Musashi's style, Ni-ten ichi-ryu, or "Two Heavens, One Style". It describes some basic technique and fundamental principles.It is said the warrior's is the twofold Way of the pen and sword, and he should have a taste for both Ways. Look at things from a high point of view. The commander must know natural rules, and the rules of the country, and the rules of houses. He should take into account the abilities and limitations of his men, circulating among them and asking nothing unreasonable. He should know their morale and spirit, and encourage them when necessary. You must cultivate your wisdom and spirit. Polish your wisdom: learn public justice, distinguish between good and evil, study the Ways of different arts one by one, so that you can understand the enemy's stratagems, his strength and resources, and come to appreciate how to apply strategy to beat ten thousand enemies. When you cannot be deceived by men you will have realized the wisdom of strategy. It is difficult to know yourself if you do not know others.

Musashi describes and advocates a two-sword fencing style ( nitōjutsu): that is, wielding both katana and wakizashi, contrary to the more traditional method of wielding the katana two-handed. However, he only explicitly describes wielding two swords in a section on fighting against many adversaries. The stories of his many duels rarely refer to Musashi himself wielding two swords, although, since they are mostly oral traditions, their details may be inaccurate. Musashi states within the volume that one should train with a long sword in each hand, thereby training the body and improving one's ability to use two blades simultaneously. The spiritual bearing in strategy, which Musashi writes about concerns your temperament and spirituality whilst in the midst of, or in formulation of a battle. Being a Buddhist, most of what is written in the section concerning spirituality refers to principles of calmness, tranquility and spiritual balance: I can't believe I never read this before now, but damn, HAVING read it now, I also appreciate it more. This section does not cite any sources. Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. ( April 2021) ( Learn how and when to remove this template message)The third chapter is The Fire Chapter, which focusses on the matter of battle because, like fire, battles can be small or large. Musashi takes into consideration the best placement of light, using your surroundings to your advantage, and strategies in using your mind during battle. The Wind Chapter comes next, which is not about Musashi’s Way, but the issues of various other styles and martial arts, and what makes his Way superior. The final chapter is the Emptiness Chapter, which is the shortest section, which Musashi has written "so that you might naturally enter the Way of Truth" (15). He uses phrases like "you must understand this" and "you must practice diligently" and explains only general, but unquestionable and fundamental, concepts of the Way of the Warrior. On September 11, 2015, AEG and Fantasy Flight Games jointly announced that the setting had been sold to FFG. A new version of the card game (incompatible with the CCG) was released as a Living Card Game at Gen Con 2017. [21] Story Team [ edit ]