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What I Learned About Art from a Japanese Swordsman
Perfection is about precision, in art and in life.
Have you ever met someone who is good at everything? Perhaps, he has the “Midas” touch and whatever he handles turns to gold, in a sense.
The martial arts pioneer, Bruce Lee, won the Hong Kong 1958 Cha Cha championships before becoming renowned for his martial arts prowess.
A child prodigy on the piano, Eddie Van Halen took the guitar world by storm after realizing he could touch the strings on a guitar.
Of Saturday Night Live fame, comedian Steve Martin can play a mean banjo while the great late-night host, Johnny Carson, was quite competent on a set of drums.
Another such person was Miyamoto Musashi.
Shinmen Musashi, as he was also known, was an early 1600s-era Japanese swordsman. Many attest that he was and is the best to have ever lived. Rumor has it that he never lost a fight throughout some sixty confrontations.
The source of his fame was his legendary record and the book he authored, Go Rin No Sho, or, in English, The Book of Five Rings. This book, along with Sun Tzu’s Art of War, set a precedent for eastern military philosophy and outlined a few essential rules by which to live.
