Samurai Mind: Lessons from Japan's Master Warriors (Classic texts on cultivating mental discipline and achieving victory) Hardcover – September 13, 2016

Very enjoyable book with valuable insight into the importance of the thought and spiritual side of being a Samurai Warrior

Christopher Hellman has brought together 5 diverse texts by 4 writers on Japanese swordsmanship that are relatively unknown outside of Japan and in doing so has made available a store of knowledge of great value to anyone interested in martial arts in general as well as Japanese swordsmanship in particular. The first two essays ("The Mysterious Skills of the Old Cat" and "Sword Theory") are short and to the point and, frankly, after reading just those I felt I had got my money's worth. The first is a witty animal fable about a legendary mouser who can perform feats of rat catching beyond bigger and more athletic cats and expounds the elusive but fundamental phenomenon of "no mind" in martial arts, a theme that runs throughout the different writings in the book. The second essay is a down-to-earth but passionate declaration of the importance of ruthlessness and fearlessness in combat. Though vastly different in tone, together they underline the value of spirit over technique. The following two, "A Treatise on the Sword" and "Joseishi's Discussions on the Sword", are more discursive in style with frequent learned allusions to Chinese culture that can be a bit exasperating for a modern audience (though Hellman includes helpful notes on the same page), so it is easy to feel that you can't identify a main argument. However, what emerges is an interesting collage of details connecting swordsmanship to the role of the samurai that re-emphasise the primacy of attitude and heart in one's approach. The final essay, "Ignorance in Swordsmanship", is written as a dialogue, witnessed by the author, between his teacher and a distinguished visitor. I found it much easier to follow than the two preceding essays with an interesting emphasis on a moral dimension to the life of a master swordsman. What connects all the essays is the cultivation of the right spirit for a swordsman, something of fundamental importance for a martial artist of any level. A very readable introduction provides some interesting background information to the role of the samurai and the writing of the texts, as well as brief biographical sketches of the writers themselves. As a student of sword, myself, I found much in this book that was interesting and inspiring.

Stories of Samurai and what it takes to serve the lord and be successful in battle.