They say that you should not learn from your mentors, but instead from those who taugh your mentors. An article from NY Times reinforced this by examining the libraries of various successful CEOs, and their libraries were not filled with books that were business bestsellers, but instead from the arts and literature that are considered to be scholarly and classics. [ The full NY Times article is not available for free, but you can get the gist from the displayed abstract. ]

In the business world, The Art of War by Sun Tzu is considered to be the classic book on strategy. To give a shout out to a visitor to this site, Stephen from HD BizBlog has an interesting series comparing The Art of War with the Getting Things Done productivity system.

There is another East Asian book on strategy that is consider to be a classic. The Book of Five Rings by Miyamoto Musashi is personally my favorite book on strategy. Musashi is considered to be the best samurai of all time and is an iconic historical figure that instills Japan with a national sense of pride. Musashi used the two-sword fighting technique called niten ichiryu to be undefeated in over 60 duels. He documented his philosophy on strategy in The Book of Five Rings, and although it is 400 years old, it is still widely read today.

The Book of Five Rings

I got introduced to this book several years ago by my friend Keo. He was an excellent martial artist and I told him I was interested in getting into martial arts as well. He recommended three books: Zen in the Martial Arts (by Joe Hyams), Art of War, and The Book of Five Rings. All three are great books, but The Book of Five Rings spoke to me the most.

The five rings are the five different volumes: Earth, Water, Fire, Wind, and Void. The Five Rings was Musashi’s teachings for his samurai students, but it was not just a book on how to use swords. The book also covered strategy, philosophy and spirituality. All of that are important in a profession where it is literally kill or be killed. “Generally speaking, the Way of the warrior is resolute acceptance of death.” That’s pretty direct and blunt! The mind, body, and spirit all have to be grounded on solid foundation, and the Five Rings was his guidebook.

“From one thing, know ten thousand things. When you attain the Way of strategy there will not be one thing you cannot see.” I love this quote. Take the experiences you have, summarize them into one principle, then any new situation you face is simply an extension of that one principle. I am one of those analysis-paralysis type people, and this quote helped me to quickly get to the heart of any new situation I faced without me getting lost in the details. It’s also a justification for reading this samurai book - although it’s chock full of advice on sword techniques, if one reads more closely these techniques are applicable to many facets of life.

“Allow your wisdom to develop by constantly striving to perfect yourself in your own art and by understanding the arts of others. When you understand yourself and you understand the enemy you cannot be defeated.” I’m a big fan of using what works from different styles. To extend this quote for personal development, my enemies are my bad character traits that I must overcome to be a better person.

“In all forms of strategy, it is necessary to maintain the combat stance in everyday life and to make your everyday stance your combat stance.” I had the most difficulty with this one. Being in a combat stance all the time is just not sustainable. Then the second part of this quote sunk in - change my combat state to be more like my relaxed state, and at the same time change my relaxed state to anticipate combat so that both my combat state and relaxed state are the same. My ability to think on my feet has improved significantly.

“A thousand-mile journey is traveled one step at a time.” This is the ultimate quote for any self-help system.

Five Rings harps a lot on training hard and understanding the knowledge completely. The last book, the Book of Void, is like an epilogue emphasizing this point - when you understand something completely, it is beyond the point of understanding. It is Zen, action without thought. I think this is the reason why I’m a big fan of Stephen Covey’s 7 Habits. To me, habit is zen, and zen is habit.

Further Readings

Another well-known strategy book similar to The Book of Five Rings and The Art of War is called On War by von Clausewitz. Although a source of much controversy, Machiavelli’s The Prince should also be mentioned.

Another martial arts-related books I recommend in addition to Keo’s recommendations is The Spirit of Aikido by Kisshomaru Ueshiba.