Karate Fists & Samurai Swords. The Samurai swords and fists of karate are not the same. One is metal, one is bone. There is a massive difference here but sometimes strategically, there isn’t a difference.  So, what we’re going to do is we’re going to dive into Musashi.

Lawrence Kane and I have been working on a new book. It’s called, The Musashi Field Manual:  The Sword Saint’s Secret for Winning the Tests of Life.

I want to share a section with you. In doing the research on this it changed the way that I have always seen a classic moment in Musahsi’s life and when we get into the moment know it is not a mutually exclusive type of thing. It’s not a zero-sum version of the events. This is an opportunity to delve into another layer of the moment not necessarily an alternative viewpoint. It is about the similarity between Karate Fists and Samurai Swords.

All of these viewpoints as I’m going to present them can all exist the same time in the same place. I’d like to read to you from this section of the Musashi Field Manual is based on his final work, The Dokkodo, 21 precepts to Musashi wrote down to guide his students to give them some direction as he was taking leave of this life.

Musashi started writing it 2 years before he died it’s not long it’s only 21 precepts but it’s part of his legacy. Although we are talking about karate fist and Samurai swords, there is a connection buried within Precept 19.

Respect Buddha and The Gods Without Counting on Their Help

This is a powerful, yet unsurprising statement coming from a strong, self-made personality like Musashi. In feudal Japan the polytheistic Shinto religion was predominate. Shinto, which translates as, “the way of kami” (generally sacred spirits or divine powers), came into use in order to distinguish indigenous Japanese beliefs from imported Buddhism. While Buddhism is about enlightenment, Shintoism is more about balancing a person’s relationship with the spirit world.

The kami were thought to be mercurial in demeanor, acting out if displeased and potentially even when appeased, which lead to various shrines, ceremonies, and rituals designed to help humans get along better with the spirits. Musashi simplified his relationship with the divine, maintaining a respectful reverence yet not counting on otherworldly help. He certainly did not dispute the existence of a god or gods, yet did not expect anything from him/them either.

Franklin or Seneca?

This perspective is pretty much in line with western views of theology as well. For example, the phrase “God helps those who help themselves” is one of the most quoted “biblical” phrases not actually found in the bible.

Attributed to Benjamin Franklin (1705 – 1790), it likely originated in ancient Greece. Whatever its origin, this phrase mirrors Musashi’s thoughts. Roman Stoic philosopher Lucius Annaeus Seneca the Younger (4 BC – 65) expressed the same attitude when he wrote, “Luck is when preparation meets opportunity.” This, clearly, is what Musashi was getting at.

He was always training, always learning, ever prepared to use his unconventional strategy to prevail. A good example of this took place in the year 1612 when he fought a duel against Sasaki Kojirō (1583 – 1612), the preeminent sword master of the time. Musashi showed up three hours late carrying a wooden bokken that he had carved out of an oar rather than a steel katana.

The Long Sword of Kojirō