“Book of Five Rings” by Miyamoto Musashi’s (1584 – Samurai Teaching of War and Life)

Here is the Full Audobook of the Book of Miyamoto Musashi’s Book of Five Rings, also known as the Go Rin No Sho.

The Book of Five Rings (五輪書; Go Rin no Sho) is a samurai text on Kenjutsu / Iaijutsu / Koryu Martial Arts (budo / bujutsu). The Book of Five Rings was written by the Japanese swordsman Miyamoto Musashi around 1645. There have been various translations made over the years, and it enjoys an audience considerably broader than only that of martial artists. Many foreign business leaders find its discussion of conflict and taking the advantage to be relevant to their work in a business context.

The Go Rin No Sho, are actually the teachings which Musashi preached to his students in his own dōjō. Though ideas are taken from other sources, the text is predominantly seminal.
The five “books” refer to the idea that there are different elements of battle, just as there are different physical elements in life, as described by Buddhism, Shinto, and other Eastern religions. The five books below are Musashi’s descriptions of the exact methods or techniques which are described by such elements.

Chi-no-Maki (Scroll of Earth)
Sui-no-Maki (Scroll of Water)
Ka-no-Maki (Scroll of Fire)
Fu-no-Maki (Scroll of Wind)
Ku-no-Maki (Scroll of Void)

Miyamoto Musashi (宮本 武蔵, c. 1584 – June 13, 1645), also known as Shinmen Takezō, Miyamoto Bennosuke or, by his Buddhist name, Niten Dōraku,[1] was a Japanese swordsman, philosopher, writer and samurai / rōnin. Musashi, as he was often simply known, became renowned through stories of his excellent and unique double-bladed swordsmanship and undefeated record in his 61 duels (next is 33 by Itō Ittōsai). He was the founder of the Niten-Ichi-Ryū-School or Nito-Ichi-ryū style of swordsmanship and in his final years authored The Book of Five Rings (五輪の書 Go Rin No Sho), and Dokkōdō (The Path of Aloneness). Both documents were given to Terao Magonojō, the most important of Musashi’s students, seven days before Musashi’s death. The Book of Five Rings deals primarily with the character of his Niten-Ichi-Ryū-School in a concrete sense e.g. his own practical martial art and its generic significance; The Path of Aloneness on the other hand, deals with the ideas that lie behind it, as well as his life’s philosophy in a few short aphoristic sentences