When I reached thirty I looked back on my past. The previous victories were not due to my having mastered strategy. Perhaps it was natural ability, or the order of heaven, or that other schools' strategy was inferior. After that I studied morning and evening searching for the principle, and came to realise the Way of strategy when I was fifty. Since then I have lived without following any particular Way. Thus with the virtue of strategy I practise many arts and abilities - all things with no teacher. To write this book I did not use the law of Buddha or the teachings of Confucius, neither old war chronicles nor books on martial tactics. I take up my brush to explain the true spirit of this Ichi school as it is mirrored in the Way of heaven and Kwannon. The time is the night of the tenth day of the tenth month, at the hour of the tiger.
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- Early victories were often luck rather than mastery. True understanding came only after decades of study, allowing practice without needing a specific teacher.
- In plain terms
- Mastery took decades of study; now I rely on understanding rather than teachers.
- What can you take from it?
- True mastery comes from decades of self-directed study.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- How has your understanding of success changed over time?
- What do you value more now than in the past?
Another view
Decades of study is a large investment that not everyone can make.
More from Miyamoto Musashi
I have climbed mountain Iwato of Higo in Kyushu to pay homage to heaven, pray to Kwannon, and kneel before Buddha. I am a warrior of Harima province, Shinmen M…
Permalink to quote #7 Strategy is the craft of the warrior. Commanders must enact the craft, and troopers should know this Way. There is no warrior in the world today who really und…
Permalink to quote #9 I have been many years training in the Way of strategy, called Ni Ten Ichi Ryu, and now I think I will explain it in writing for the first time.
Permalink to quote #6
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