What do you think that means? You need to look at his father, the possible connection with Tori-ryu etc I don't teach, my teachers don't teach for a living and basically nor does everyone else I know personally in the MA world. You will get the same response from us all. There's no vested interest in that regard, I'd say the only interest is that of seeing something transmitted properly and in a safe manner. We all learn a lot on our own, that's part of the process, but the point is it is done under guidance with someone to point out faults etc You need to find better teachers, simple as that.
Yes well that and everything else that followed. I think that's unfair. He was someone living in a certain time and culture and even beyond his fights you need to look at him towards the latter part of his "career" and his writings, art etc.
he was definitely dirty. he refused to bathe remember! learning anything without a teacher is possible but it requires a insane amount of time, pressure testing and dedication. and in MA it tends to lead to LOTS of injuries.
I disagree. That would suggest a constant disregard for the rights of others amongst other things. As I said if you look at the time and where he lived applying certain modern standards would not be appropriate. Not only that looking at his writings, which are not restricted to the Gorin no Sho, and his attitude in latter life and I think you will see why I disagree. No problem.
You need to find better teachers, simple as that.[/QUOTE] Well you know, I don't agree with that. If you look at martial arts for what they were intended for i.e killing people I think that there are very few people who can teach me anything ( not that I've killed anybody ). One of the things that I find a lot, are teachers who have never actually had a fight teaching people how to fight, isn't that absurd? I'll tell you also, I know martial artists who are well known in martial arts circles who are highly thought of, yet have been taught very badly and are teaching crap. in the same art I have found people who know, people who think they know, and people who could fight them who don't know the more people get embroiled in tactics and stratagies , the more they stray from simple basic techniques, the worse they get
Plenty of ill-informed opinion about Musashi on here. Not bad for a bunch of people who read a few western bios and know all the facts.
i just started reading a Gorin no Sho today that a friend brought back for me from japan but i think its foreward about the time period and about musashi were written by a western writer. Dean makes a good point on the hygiene aspect.
Dean is the only one talking sense on here. Poor hygiene? Psycho? Self-taught? Jesus, do people still believe this nonsense...?
the misinformation about musashi is pretty rampant. i literally just read about the poor hygiene bit today.
will post the book when i get home. also take note that they were selling this book in japan in an english bookstore. on the plus side. it said musashi was considered a great artisan of his time so i cant imagine he was that unrefined.
No need, I already know where it came from - a fictional book by Eiji Yoshikawa. Swordsman, artist, writer, town planner, sculptor, engineer - amongst other things.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Musashi_(novel) "It is a fictionalized account of the life of Miyamoto Musashi, author of The Book of Five Rings and arguably the most renowned Japanese swordsman who ever lived." Sadly, the movies and the NHK TV series are taken from this too. Much of Musashi's 'life' is now nonsense - just myth and fantasy.
dean - the detail is insane on that bird from the foreword of the book i have. scott. yeah the foreword seems to be based off that but the rest is the gorin no sho in english. guess thats what you get when western writers romanticise over the ancient east