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Warrior quotes on strategy, resilience, and vision from one of the greatest samurai warriors in history who wrote The Book of Five Rings.  The Book of Five Rings is a text on kenjutsu and the martial arts in general, written by the Japanese swordsman Miyamoto Musashi around 1645.  Many translations have been made, and it enjoys an audience considerably broader than other martial artists and people across East  Asia.  

Who was Miyamoto Musashi?   

Miyamoto Musashi, original name Miyamoto Masana, artistic name Niten,  (born 1584, Mimasaka or Harima, Japan—died June 13, 1645, Higo), was a famous  Japanese soldier-artist of the early Edo (Tokugawa) period (1603–1867).   Musashi began his career as a fighter early in life when, at age 13, he killed a man in single combat. In 1600 he was on the losing side of the  Battle of Sekigahara (which paved the way for establishing the Tokugawa shogunate), becoming one of the rōnin (masterless samurai). In time he  set out on a personal quest to develop perfect sword technique. He invented the nitō ichi-ryū, the style of fencing with two swords, and is  often referred to today as kensai (‘‘sword saint’’). Musashi claimed to have fought in more than 60 individual sword fights, many of which were  to the death and all of which he won.   Musashi’s most famous encounter took place in 1612, against his arch-rival Sasaki Kojirō, a swordsman whose skill was reported to be equal to his own. The contest took place on a small island off the coast of Japan. While being rowed out to the dueling site, Musashi fashioned a  wooden sword out of an oar. When the two enemies finally met on the beach, Musashi quickly dispatched Kojirō with a well-placed blow to the head using his wooden sword. After that, feeling that he had reached his peak as a swordsman, Musashi retired from the dueling life, though he trained some students and helped to suppress the Shimabara Rebellion in  1637. (brittanica)   

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