The Sword & the Mind: The Classic Japanese Treatise on Sword

ISBN: 0760765316

Author: Hiroaki Sato, Translated By

Condition: new

It is no accident that the age of the great Japanese swordsmen coincided with that countrys transition from a loose group of warrior states to a stable nation. As you will discover in The Sword & the Mind, this pivotal seventeenth-century how-to guide for the swordsman is also a penetrating philosophical and psychological treatise on strategy. Yagyu Munenoris step-by-step instructions for positioning, striking-with one and two swords-and defending oneself against an opponent can be applied with equal success to many types of conflict, from sword fight to political struggle to business competition.

The techniques and disciplines presented in this classic of tactical and strategic wisdom were developed and refined by three of Japans greatest swordsman: Kamiizumi Hidetsuna (1508-1577), who founded the Shinkage school of swordsmanship; his greatest student Yagyu Muneyoshi (1529-1606), who further perfected many of Hidetsunas techniques; and Muneyoshis son, Munenori (1571-1646), who set down this timeless masterpiece to be passed on from teacher to student.

In this exquisite translation, P.E.N. translation award winner Hiroaki Sato brings the legacy of these three superior swordsmen to the modern Western reader. With more than 25 black-and-white illustrations, glossary, chronology, bibliography, and comprehensive annotations The Sword & the Mind illuminates the lives and times of the three masters as well as the cultural and philosophical landscape in which they lived.