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(*)Translated by Willam Scott Wilson (★)´AM-0093´es mismo libro. (1.This is the long-awaited, authoritative, English-language version of the classictext on the art of the No-Sword by seventeenth-century swordsman Yagyu Munenori. Munenori´s remarkable career began when he was just thirteen years old and culminated in his serving as sword instructor and political and military advisor to two successive shoguns. [The position of instructor to the shogun was one that his fellow swordsman, Miyamoto Musashi, had coveted but was never able to obtain.] He also was appointed a feudal lord with a large domain by the shogun -the only swordsman in Japanese history ever to be granted this honor. Despite his swordfighting ability and his proximity to the seat of national power, Munenori´s life was spent immersed in the teachings of Zen Buddhism. These teachings formed the framework for his own deeply spiritual approach to swordfighting. His central theme is the concept of the´life-giving sword´ -the idea of controlling an opponent by spiritual readiness to fight, rather than by actual fighting. His ideas are readily applicable not only to the martial arts but to business and human relations. For Munenori, intense self-discipline and a deep understanding of the principles of Zen were the key to the study of any path in life, including that of the Way of the Sword. His concept of the No-Sword is crucial and refers to the idea that the mind must become completely free of everything- of any thought of winning, of even the sword itself. Skill comes almost as an afterthought, as a result of complete relinquishment [the No-Mind]. Some of the seeds of Munenori´s ideas may have been planted by his friend, mentor, and confidant, the well-known Zen priest Takuan Soho. Readers may well want to read the present volume together with Takuan´s philosophical textt,´The Unfettered Mind´. ´The Life-Giving Sword´will be of interest to practitioners of the martial arts, enthusiasts of Eastern philosophy, and anyone interested in discovering true inner peace. 2.William Scott Wilson was born in 1944 and grew up in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. As an undergraduate student at Dartmouth College in 1966, he was invited by a friend to join a three-month kayak trip up the coast of Japan from Shimonoseki to Tokyo. This eye-opening journey, beautifully documented in´National Geographic´, spurred Wilson´s fascination with the culture and history of Japan. After receiving a B.A. degree in political science from Dartmouth, Wilson earned a second B.A. in Japanese language and literature from the Monterey Institute of Foreign Studies in Monterey, California, then undertook extensive research on Edo-oeriod [1603-1868] philosophy at the Aichi Prefectural University, in Nagoya, Japan. Wilson completed his first translation,´Hagakure´, while living in an old farmhouse deep in the Japanese countryside.´Hagakure´saw publication in 1979, the same year Wilson completed an M.A. in Japanese language and literature at the University of Washington. Two decades after its initial publication, Hagakure was prominently featured in the Jim Jarmusch film´Ghost Dog´. Wilson´s other translations include´The Book of Five Rings´,´The Life-Giving Sword´,´The Unfettered Mind´, The Eiji Yoshikawa novel´Taiko´,´The Flowering Spirit : Classic Teachings in the Art of Noo´, and´Ideals of the Samurai´, whicha has been used as a college textbook on Japanese history and thought. Wilson is also the author of the´The Lone Samurai´, a best-selling study of the life of legendary swordsman Miyamoto Musashi. Traveling frequently to Japan for research and pleasure, Wilson currently lives in Miami, Florida.) |
BASE de DATOS, Biblioteca del Centro Cultural de la Embajada de Japon
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