Hagakure: The Book of the Samurai / Free E-book

Discussion in 'General Martial Arts Discussion' started by DAMADAD, May 8, 2007.

  1. DAMADAD

    DAMADAD Valued Member

    I stumble across this while reading a wikipedia article on samurai, that I got to by way of a wiki article on laido that I got to by way of a wiki article on lightsaber combat techniques(Don't ask, I was bored at work!). My kids love Star Wars, it's an interesting read if you like Star Wars, and its remote connection to eastern philosophies.

    Edit: I just noticed for some reason there is not a chapter 5.

    http://split-kitty.com/misc/hagakure/
     
    Last edited: May 8, 2007
  2. sliver

    sliver Work In Progress

    Hakakure is worth reading, at least parts of it are (some are rather repetitive and most editions edit out large portions of the book). Just remember though that the author Yamamoto Tsunetomo was considered a right wing extremist even in his own day, so the moral picture that is created by the annecdotes relayed in the book don't entirely accurately depict the main stream of 17th century Japanese thought. More correctly they should be recognized as a certian undercurrent of the whole. Relevant, but not representitive.

    If you go ahead and read Hagakure I would suggest picking up some other more mainstream thinkers from the period to balance out the view of things. Good suggestions would be "The Life Giving Sword" by Yagyu Munenori, "The Unfettered Mind" by Takuan Soho, and "The Demon's Sermon On The Martial Arts" by Issai Chozanshi. Of course I would be remiss if I didn't also mention the most famous text from the period "The Book Of Five Rings" by Miyamoto Musashi. Sun Tsu's "Art Of War," though technicly from an earlier period and entirely different culture is worth reading with the others to give them a deeper context. All of the above mentioned books can be picked up now days at the local Barnes and Noble or Borders bookstores. I'm sure you could also order them online from Amazon.

    There's much to be gained by reading the above mentioned booklist and I'd love to discuss what you think about Hagakure once you're done with it. Most the texts I've named above are fairly dense and take time and reflection to read, so not many people bother with them.


    Cheers!

    -Sliver
     
    Last edited: May 9, 2007
  3. Venrix

    Venrix Oooo... Shiny....

  4. gwarfan1986

    gwarfan1986 New Member

    New PDF link?

    Hi, i am very interested in reading all of the aforementioned books, but first I would like to read Hagakure from front to back. The link for the full PDF file is no longer working, and so i was wondering if some of you tech savvy martial arts loving guys could help me find a new and working link. Thanks.
     
  5. ThaiNinja

    ThaiNinja Valued Member

    i just bought the book of 5 rings and Hagaukure a few weeks ago, book of 5 rings good so far. £12 for both on amazon
     
  6. Dean Winchester

    Dean Winchester Valued Member

    Which translation do you have??
     
  7. Chris Parker

    Chris Parker Valued Member

    Hagakure is an interesting tome in many ways. One way that it's interesting is that it wasn't "written" as a book, really, but dictated over the course of a number of years by Yamamoto Tsunetomo to a young aspiring warrior. Essentially it is a collection of stories and annecdotes designed to impart certain lessons from the elder to the younger samurai, and due to the amount of time taken as the younger collected them, there is a lot of repetitive narrative contained.

    This has meant that in almost all editions of the book, what you are getting is not the complete Hagakure itself, but an edited, and compiled version. Most have individual chapter headings along the lines of "From the 3rd Chapter", rather than "Chapter 3". I'm personally unaware of any "complete" translation into English so far.

    So you can read Hagakure from front to back, but which edition are you reading?
     

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