Dallin Andengaard marked it as to-read Apr 19, Justin W Bilyeu marked it as to-read Aug 07, Art marked it as to-read Aug 30, Sorn Suporn marked it as to-read Nov 20, Czar Kittikanya marked it as to-read Feb 11, Dorum marked it as to-read Sep 24, Ellis Amdur added it Nov 24, Jesse Rupp marked it as to-read Nov 25, There are no discussion topics on this book yet. Videos About This Book. About William de Lange. William de lange was born in in Naarden, the Netherlands to Dutch and English parents.

In the late s, he aborted his English studies to embark on a journey that eventually led him to Japan, where he supported himself by making traditional Japanese scrolls and writing articles for the Japan Times Weekly. Following his graduation from Leiden University in , he lived in Japan for the remaining decade, studying the art of Japanese fencing under Akita Moriji sensei, eighth dan master of the Shinkage-ryu.

Since then he has written a large number of books on Japanese history and culture, including a highly acclaimed biography of Miyamoto Musashi. He is currently working on a history of the Yagyu clan. William de Lange lives and works in the Netherlands and loves to travel, enjoying good food and wine with the love of his life.

Books by William de Lange. Trivia About Miyamoto Musashi No trivia or quizzes yet. Just a moment while we sign you in to your Goodreads account.


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In , Munisai died, although Tokitsu believes that the person who died at this time was really Hirata Takehito. Musashi contracted eczema in his infancy, and this adversely affected his appearance. While the former claim may or may not have some basis in reality, the latter seems improbable. These and many other details are likely embellishments that were added to his legend, or misinterpretations of literature describing him. His father's fate is uncertain, but it is thought that he died at the hands of one of Musashi's later adversaries, who was punished or even killed for treating Musashi's father badly.

However, there are no exact details of Musashi's life, since Musashi's only writings are those related to strategy and technique. He did have formal training either by his father until he was seven years old or from his uncle beginning at the age of seven. I have trained in the way of strategy since my youth, and at the age of thirteen I fought a duel for the first time. At the age of sixteen I defeated a powerful adept by the name of Akiyama , who came from Tajima Province.

The main source of the duel is the Hyoho senshi denki "Anecdotes about the Deceased Master". Summarized, its account goes as follows:. In , Musashi was 13, and Arima Kihei, who was traveling to hone his art, posted a public challenge in Hirafuku-mura. Musashi wrote his name on the challenge. A messenger came to Dorin's temple, where Musashi was staying, to inform Musashi that his duel had been accepted by Kihei. Dorin, Musashi's uncle, was shocked by this, and tried to beg off the duel in Musashi's name, based on his nephew's age. Kihei was adamant that the only way his honor could be cleared was if Musashi apologized to him when the duel was scheduled.

So when the time set for the duel arrived, Dorin began apologizing for Musashi, who merely charged at Kihei with a six-foot quarterstaff , shouting a challenge to Kihei. Kihei attacked with a wakizashi , but Musashi threw Kihei on the floor, and while Kihei tried to get up, Musashi struck Arima between the eyes and then beat him to death. Arima was said to have been arrogant, overly eager to battle, and not a terribly talented swordsman. In , Musashi left his village, apparently at the age of 15 according to the Tosakushi , "The Registry of the Sakushu Region", although the Tanji Hokin Hikki says he was 16 years old in , which agrees time-wise with the age reported in Musashi's first duel.

He spent his time traveling and engaging in duels , such as with an adept called Akiyama from the Tajima Province. In , when a war began between the Toyotomi and Tokugawa clans, Musashi apparently fought on the side of the Toyotomi's "Army of the West", as the Shinmen clan to whom his family owed allegiance had allied with them. Specifically, he participated in the attempt to take Fushimi castle by assault in July , in the defense of the besieged Gifu Castle in August of the same year, and finally in the Battle of Sekigahara.

Some doubt has been cast on this final battle, as the Hyoho senshi denki has Musashi saying he is "no lord's vassal" and refusing to fight with his father in Lord Ukita's battalion in the battle. Omitting the Battle of Sekigahara from the list of Musashi's battles would seem to contradict The Book of Five Rings' s statement that Musashi fought in six battles, however.

Regardless, as the Toyotomi side lost, it has been suggested that Musashi fled as well and spent some time training on Mount Hiko. After the battle, Musashi disappears from the records for a while. The next mention of him has him arriving in Kyoto at the age of 20 or 21 , where he began a series of duels against the Yoshioka School. Legend has it that these eight schools were founded by eight monks taught by a legendary martial artist resident on the sacred Mount Kurama. At some point, the Yoshioka family also began to make a name for itself not merely in the art of the sword but also in the textile business and for a dye unique to them.

They gave up teaching swordsmanship in when they fought in the Army of the West against Tokugawa Ieyasu in the Battle of Osaka , which they lost. But in , when Musashi began duelling them, they were still preeminent. They faced off, and Musashi struck a single blow, per their agreement. This second victory outraged the Yoshioka family, whose head was now the year-old Yoshioka Matashichiro. Musashi broke his previous habit of arriving late, and came to the temple hours early. Hidden, Musashi assaulted the force, killing Matashichiro, and escaping while being attacked by dozens of his victim's supporters.

To escape and fight off his opponents he was forced to draw his second sword and defend himself with a sword in each hand. This was the beginning of his niten'ichi sword style. With the death of Matashichiro, this branch of the Yoshioka School was destroyed. He was said to have used bokken or bokuto in actual duels. Participants in most of the engagements from these times did not try to take the opponent's life unless both agreed, but in most duels, it is known that Musashi did not care which weapon his foe used—such was his mastery.

A document dated 5 September , purporting to be a transmission by Miyamoto Munisai of his teachings, suggests Munisai lived at least to this date. In this year, Musashi departed Nara for Edo , during which he fought and killed a kusarigama practitioner named Shishido Baiken. The Shinto Muso Ryu tradition states that, after being defeated by Musashi, Muso Gonnosuke spent time developing a stick-fighting technique to counter swords and beat Musashi in a rematch.

There are no current reliable sources outside the Shinto Muso Ryu tradition to confirm that this second duel took place. Musashi is said to have fought over 60 duels and was never defeated, although this is a conservative estimate, most likely not accounting for deaths by his hand in major battles. Tokitsu believes that the duel was politically motivated, a matter of consolidating Tadaoki's control over his fief. The duel was short.

Musashi killed his opponent with a bokken that legend says he had carved from an oar used on the boat that carried him to the island. Musashi's late arrival is controversial. Sasaki's outraged supporters thought it was dishonorable and disrespectful, while Musashi's supporters thought it was a fair way to unnerve his opponent. Another theory is that Musashi timed the hour of his arrival to match the turning of the tide.

The tide carried him to the island. After his victory, Musashi immediately jumped back in his boat and his flight from Sasaki's vengeful allies was helped by the turning of the tide. Another theory states he waited for the sun to get in the right position.


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After he dodged a blow, Sasaki was blinded by the sun. In —, Musashi participated in the war between the Toyotomi and the Tokugawa. The war had broken out because Tokugawa Ieyasu saw the Toyotomi family as a threat to his rule of Japan; most scholars believe that, as in the previous war, Musashi fought on the Toyotomi side. Osaka Castle was the central place of battle. The first battle the Winter Battle of Osaka; Musashi's fourth battle ended in a truce. Some reports go so far as to say that Musashi entered a duel with Ieyasu, but was recruited after Ieyasu sensed his defeat was at hand.

This may seem unlikely since Ieyasu was in his 70s and was in poor health already, but it remains unknown how Musashi came into Ieyasu's good graces. In his later years, Ogasawara and Hosokawa supported Musashi greatly—an atypical course of action for these Tokugawa loyalists, if Musashi had indeed fought on behalf of the Toyotomi. He helped construct Akashi Castle and in to lay out the organization of the town of Himeji. He also taught martial arts during his stay, specializing in instruction in the art of shuriken ninja-star -throwing.

During this period of service, he adopted a son. In , Musashi defeated Miyake Gunbei and three other adepts of the Togun-ryu in front of the lord of Himeji; it was after this victory that he helped plan Himeji. The school's central idea is given as training to use the twin swords of the samurai as effectively as a combination of sword and jutte.

Miyamoto Musashi

The two then traveled, eventually stopping in Osaka. In , Miyamoto Mikinosuke, following the custom of junshi , performed seppuku because of the death of his lord. In this year, Miyamoto Iori entered Lord Ogasawara's service. Musashi's attempt to become a vassal to the lord of Owari , like other such attempts, failed. In , Musashi began to travel again. Atau disebut juga 'Konsep Bergeming' terjemahan Gramedia dlm 'the Lone Samurai' yg mnrt gue agak kurang pas - bergerak tapi tidak bergerak, berpikir tapi tidak berpikir.

Singkatnya penafsiran pribadi gue mungkin dapat disebut sbg 'Just Do It', jangan kebanyakan pikir2 nanti gimana. Setahu gue, the Unfettered Mind blm diterjemahkan adakah rekan yg tahu barangkali ada penerbit yg merencanakan penerjemahan buku tsb? Sayangnya, buku tsb skrg sulit dicari; mungkin karena diedarkan oleh penerbit kecil dg modal kecil pula 3, exp only? Kelebihannya, buku tsb juga memuat buku "Sejarah Keluarga" karangan Yagyu Munenori. Selain berisikan metode pedang, kitab tsb juga berisikan berbagai hal lain yg tak kalah menariknya.

Lebih jauh, sbnrnya sih, Clearly juga merp seorang penerjemah karya2 Jepang dan Timur yg cukup terkenal. Tapi spt nya cara penulisan dan pemahaman Wilson jauh lbh menarik; just a though. Faktanya; Wilson merp penerjemah edisi bhs Inggris novel-nya Yoshikawa Eiji. Tetapi pilihan gue tentu tetap pada Wilson karena alasan2 di atas.

Dan walaupun gue udah punya edisi Clearly versi bahasa Indonesia yg ringkas itu, kmrn gue tetap beli edisi Wilson versi bhs Inggris. Mudah2an akan jauh lebih berguna Nov 15, Smiley rated it liked it. I'm not a samurai aficionado but I'm less than impressed by Musashi. Maybe I just don't get it.

It seemed like his teaching was really just "figure it out yourself. Being a samurai and fighting is all about survival. In my mind, that's just silly. I mean, you don't HAVE to duel anyone. If you're going to challenge someone to a duel, I feel you need rules.

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Otherwise, you basically just invited someone to their death and how is that better? I don't get it. Mar 15, Mike rated it liked it Shelves: This is an interesting topic, and a difficult book to write because of the paucity of hard information about the subject. The book is interesting and covers Musashi's life and the legend as well as can be expected. The problem for me is that it is written like a martial arts book, of which I have read many. As a biography it does not pull in the reader and make them part of the story.

It is clinical and very 3rd person.

The Lone Samurai: The Life of Miyamoto Musashi

There are way too many other people named rather than telling a story with a This is an interesting topic, and a difficult book to write because of the paucity of hard information about the subject. There are way too many other people named rather than telling a story with all the characters in it. The difficulty for non-Jananese speakers is that so many of the names cited in the telling sound very similar to western ears and are hard to keep track of.

Feb 12, John Majors rated it liked it. Musashi is one fascinating character. His life was completely dedicated to the art of the samurai, shunning anything that would compete or take him off course. So many life lessons to apply from his example - though certainly he was extreme in his commitment. This is worth reading, but read the novel called "Musashi" first. Jun 14, Dalton Rimbert rated it liked it. More of a background of feudal Japan vs. Overall a good read, tied in some of his writings from The Book of Five rings.

Would have preferred more in depth writings of his duels. Sep 14, Mahmoud Ishak rated it it was amazing. Soooo long but worth every word! A great journey and a fulfilling story and bright author!

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Aug 23, Adam Raleigh rated it it was amazing. Well written summery of the life of a master swords man. Miyamoto Musashi is probably known to many in Japan, but as well probably unknown to almost anybody in the West. His life story however is really worth knowing. An outstanding warrior that never lost any of about 60 individual battles by the age he was 30, he turned artist and philosopher later on in life. He was a remarkably keen observer of nature and of the nature of things, pioneering many concepts that are natural to us in modern times, but not so much in the 16th century Japan: The book is interesting and engaging, but maybe could be a little bit more compressed.

Some of my favourite quotes: It knows how to fear that which should be feared. Honest people value life passionately, they hang on to it like a precious jewel. And they pick the right time and place to surrender it to die with dignity. In the unblinking eye and hooked beak of the shrike, one can sense the almost nonexistent border between life and death—a reminder that its creator had experienced over sixty individual matches and six major battles. And yet, with a slight shift of the imagination, it is a perfect scene of nature: Wilson sets to answer the question "Who was Miyamoto Musashi", and delivers his view through Musashi's actions from contemporary sources , his writings The Book of Five Rings and his art.

Miyamoto Musashi - Wikipedia

He paints a believable picture of Musashi as a swordsman, artist, strategist and a life-long learner. Wilson's writing is overly scholarly at times, but generally I found it very readable, enjoyable and informative. And most importantly, I think he actually answers the question he set for himself. Sep 27, Bernie Gourley rated it really liked it Shelves: This is a concise biography of one of Japan's most famous swordsmen. However, Miyamoto Musashi wasn't just a swordsman, he was a writer, a painter, a sculptor, a Zen Buddhist, a poet, a philosopher, and a strategist.

In short, he was a renaissance man. While The Lone Samurai focuses heavily on Musashi's many duels as a traveling warrior, it also describes his artwork as it paints the portrait of a complex and beguiling character.

Musashi holds a curious allure among figures in Japanese history. The Japanese tend to be strictly bound by societal conventions, and being respectful and well-mannered is valued above all else. Musashi flouted convention whenever it served him. He used irreverence for strategic advantage. He was an astute reader of men. He often showed disrespect in order to get his opponent's goat. This is most famously exemplified in his Ganryu Island duel with Sasaki Kojiro. He adopted a life of musha shugyo , or warrior errantry, though he could have been much wealthier and more comfortable had he chosen to be.

He enjoyed simplicity, and only owned a few possessions. In his travels, he engaged in over 60 duels, and is usually accredited with being undefeated [Note: I've heard some dispute the outcome of his second duel with Muso Gonnosuke. Wilson calls it a draw, but I've heard it called Musashi's only defeat as well.

One fascinating, but controversial, claim is that Musashi had no teachers--not in swordsmanship, nor in any of the fine arts he practiced. Musashi said this himself, but some historians dispute it. If true, it's spectacular. It should be noted that Musashi was only 13 when he had his first duel. There is much about Musashi that is lost to the ages, but this book does a great job of pulling together what is known and weaving it into a portrait of the man. There is an extensive series of appendices providing background information, notes, a glossary, and even a collection of pop culture e.

It's well worth the read if you're interested in strategy, history, or the biographies of amazing people. Dec 17, B A rated it liked it Shelves: The first third of the book chronicles Musashi's fights, and it was awesome. He had many duels that are the stuff of legend, and it's hard to believe that those types of fights happen not just in fantasy books but in real life although many of the legends have probably been embellished. The second third of the book is about Musashi's later life and artwork. It turns out that he was an extremely talented artist, and it's likely that you've seen a couple of his works before.

The author throws in The first third of the book chronicles Musashi's fights, and it was awesome. The author throws in some sketchy analysis of a lot of the art, though, which I thought was kind of forced.

The last third of the book analyzes Musashi's famous Book of Five Rings. I hated this part of the book and I could barely finish it. The analysis is scholarly I guess, but it felt like reading a mediocre and really, really long college essay. Yes, the author is a very accomplished scholar of samurai life etc etc, but I think reading The Book of Five Rings itself will be far more educational than reading this analysis of it. There is a bonus fourth third of the book in the appendix, about Musashi's impact on Japanese culture and his conjectured interactions with other important men of the time.

It was kind of interesting. The part about the men he interacted with was weakened by the fact that a lot of it was conjecture and also by the fact that I lost track of most of the names. Overall, I would still read this book just to learn about Miyamoto Musashi since he was such a remarkable man. Maybe not a good role model, seeing as he killed dozens of people in duels, but still an inspirational figure. He was essentially an artist.

What I found especially interesting was how he was always a loner and an outsider he never served under a lord so he was never even technically a samurai I think? Feb 04, Kyle Wright rated it liked it. William Scott Wilson's biography, while high on accuracy, is light on content. This isn't necessarily Wilson's fault, as there is little remaining documentation of Miyamoto Mushashi's life. While I do appreciate Wilson's dedication to minimizing speculation he does William Scott Wilson's biography, while high on accuracy, is light on content. While I do appreciate Wilson's dedication to minimizing speculation he does specualte from time to time, but lets the reader know when doing so , it makes for a somewhat dry and not entirely engrossing story.

It's also pretty short, coming in at only pages, much of which is filled with side histories of the innumerable names of people who may or may not have had contact with Mushashi. The number of names, who they were related to, etc. Since, at pages, that doesn't make for a very comprehensive book, Wilson resorts to adding on an afterward recounting his trip s to Japan as well as a couple appendixes, one covering other books, theater and movies on Musashi and the other appendix listing possible literary influences on Musashi.

The former has Wilson summarizing large chunks of inaccurate literature and the other adding little insight into Musashi. In both cases, I found the sections mostly un-enlightening and almost entirely unnecessary. What we are left with is a moderately interesting look into one of Japan's most well known samurai.

Sadly, not a whole lot of verifiable stories remain so we are left with a biography that only offers a glimpse at the man behind the sword. Jun 18, Simon Blair rated it it was amazing. Miyamoto Musashi rose from relatively humble origins to become the most accomplished and fearless swordsman in Japanese history. Retiring to a cave in his final years, stricken with cancer, he wrote this treatise on strategy for his loyal students. As well as a deadly swordsmen, Musashi was an accomplished painter, poet and tea ceremony master who felt the cultivation of many talents was the true path to excellence.

This book is a gift to those who seek their truth in dangerous places. Apr 08, Yvensong rated it really liked it Shelves: I've been reading Vagabond , the manga version of Yoshikawa's historical fiction account of Miyamoto Musashi, and decided that I wanted to read a more 'scholarly' version of Mushashi's life. The library system had this book, and the ratings were high enough to make it attractive. The first part of the book bored me at times. I've studied some about the culture of that time period, yet I've been reading Vagabond , the manga version of Yoshikawa's historical fiction account of Miyamoto Musashi, and decided that I wanted to read a more 'scholarly' version of Mushashi's life.

I've studied some about the culture of that time period, yet it would have been nice to have these influences on Musashi included in this book, especially since it was obvious the author didn't find much personal information about Musashi from his earlier days.

The rest of the book drew me in, particularly his more reflective life he lead after he defeated Kojiro.