Fire
Book - In this the Fire Book of the NiTo
Ichi school of strategy I describe fighting as fire.
In the first place, people think narrowly about the benefit of strategy. By
using only their fingertips, they only know the benefit of three of the five
inches of the wrist. They let a contest be decided, as with the folding fan,
merely be the span of their forearms. They specialize in the small matter of
dexterity, learning such trifles as hand and leg movements with the bamboo
practice sword.
In my strategy, the training for killing enemies is by way of many contests,
fighting for survival, discovering the meaning of life and death, learning the
Way of the sword, judging the strength of attacks and understanding the Way of
the "edge and ridge" of the sword.
You cannot profit from small techniques particularly when full armor is worn. My
Way of strategy is the sure method to win when fighting for your life one man
against five or ten. There is nothing wrong with the principle "one man can beat
ten, so a thousand men can beat ten thousand". You must research this. Of course
you cannot assemble a thousand or ten thousand men for everyday training. But
you can become a master of strategy by training alone with a sword, so that you
can understand the enemy's strategies, his strength and resources, and come to
appreciate how to apply strategy to beat ten thousand enemies.
Any man who wants to master the essence of my strategy must research diligently,
training morning and evening. Thus can he polish his skill, become free from
self, and realise extraordinary ability. He will come to possess miraculous
power.
This is the practical result of strategy.
Read
the full Fire Book by Miyamoto Musashi Here
