Zyaga Writing about whatever the hell I want, cuz it's the Interwebz!

Rules for Learning the Art

Those who are local(live near me) close friends with me, know just how obsessed I am with Miyamoto Musashi, also known as Shinmen Takezo. If you don’t already know who he is, please take a bit of time out of your day and find out a bit about him here. There is a book known as The Book of Five Rings, that is by him which is just incredibly insightful. Every so often, I go back and re-read it all over again from the beginning. Every time I do, I always learn something new. At this moment in time, the biggest thing that caught my eye is the rules he gave for learning his art. From the Earth Scroll(by Miyamoto):

For people who want to learn my military science, there are rules for learning the art:

1. Think of what is right and true.
2. Practice and cultivate the science.
3. Become acquainted with the arts.
4. Know the principles of the crafts.
5. Understand the harm and benefit in everything.
6. Learn to see everything accurately.
7. Become aware of what is not obvious.
8. Be careful even in small matters.
9. Do not do anything useless.

In today’s world, I hardly see rules laid out as such. Of course there are rules when you join a local dojo but they are generally just implied rules that everyone does anyway. For example, showing respect by bowing, etc. However, it’s rare to find a set of rules with the mind set of “you must follow these rules to learn my art“. He didn’t say those we’re his rules for his dojo, he said it’s the rules you must follow to learn his art.

Just going over the list, almost each item in the list could be a topic that could be covered in lengthy detail, yet the overall message can be conveyed in one short sentence or phrase with simplicity. The last rule is one that hits home hard, “Do not do anything useless.” When we stop and really begin to contemplate that sentence, with knowledge of his past history and life, most people can find areas in their life that they spend simply doing useless things. I’m not saying everything we do that is simply just for fun is useless, and neither is he, considering he use to enjoy carving Buddha’s in his past time. I tend to believe the useful of fun is relaxation so it becomes very important. But when I think of all the moments of me being bored(especially in school ) that I wasted doing semi-entertaining things, when I could have been making more of my time, my stomach churns over and I realize I’ve got a long way to go in the department of dedication. Often, we do things “on the side”, which is very much okay. Distractions exist and always will, so we will always be getting strayed off course every once and a while but hopefully we can manage to stumble back onto the path we should be on.

Miyamoto’s words are just something to ponder over. There is one perspective I always try to keep in mind when reading over his works. It’s something he wrote in the Water Scroll:

The science of martial arts is not just a matter of reading these writings. Taking what is written here personally, do not think you are reading or learning, and do not make up an imitation; taking the principles as if they were discovered from your own mind, identify with them constantly and work on them carefully.

Now go and reflect . . .