“A warrior is fierce because his training is fierce.”
[quote]OARSMAN wrote:
Miyamoto Musashi was the illest warrior mofo of all time.
[/quote]
holy crap, i am sure Musashi him self is rolling in his grave from that.
[quote]vermilion wrote:
swivel wrote:
what the frick’s it to you anyway spanky ?
Since you’re a Miyamoto buff, what it is to me is the last paragraph before the epilogue of the wind volume. Look it up and we can discuss it. It’s what T-Nation is all about, really.[/quote]
there you go again tryin to define what things are and should mean to people you don’t even know. speak for yourself. read for yourself . think for yourself. define T-Nation for yourself not for me. i’m not a miyamoto buff.
i never even heard of fricken miyamoto or if i did i never took notice. but now i’m going to check it out which makes this thread valuable to me. it’s called sharing and exchanging ideas and if we’re all wicked beginners according to you , so frickn what ? ya know i’m not an expert in samurai philosophy like you are, but i’ll tell ya one thing from what i’ve read none of those guys would try to crush the enthusiasm of a beginner who wanted to learn and appreciate their work the way you have.
i got news for ya it ain’t exactly a natural fitting a guy who grew up on the sox, guinness, and portuguese sausage into the philosophies of feudal japan and if you were johnny master like you say you’d be showing us the way and puttin’ up a positive contribution instead of tearin’ it all down. so f you and your invitation.
[quote]willfull wrote:
OARSMAN wrote:
Miyamoto Musashi was the illest warrior mofo of all time.
holy crap, i am sure Musashi him self is rolling in his grave from that.[/quote]
Why because his work has transcended his nationality, his country and his language and immortalized him as one of the, if not best swordsman to ever live.
I tell ya I’d be rolling over in my grave as well.
Og.
Miyamoto Musashi is probably the best swordsman ever lived but it seems most of you forget that he was a great artist aswell.
What about his woodcarvings, caligraphy and paintings???
[quote]vermilion wrote:
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Kazuo Koike wrote the first Lone Wolf and Cub stories in 1970, a decade before the film Shogun Assassin was released. The comics inspired the film and television series.
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Yojimbo is essentially a feudal Japanese adaptation of Dashiell Hammett’s novel Red Harvest, a noir detective story, and wasn’t in any way related to Miyamoto Musashi.
Seeing people describing Miyamoto as the “illest warrior mofo” looks about the same to me as some noob coming into T-Nation and bragging about the sets of 50 barbell curls he’s doing in the squat rack would look to everyone else here. Please, guys - don’t do your curls in the squat rack. [/quote]
Condescending aren’t we?
God. What a wanker.
Anyway, please tell me how Musashi was not possibly the most bad-ass swordsman of all time, and how that moniker does not fit him to a T. His use of psychological tactics to unnerve his opponents was what made him so “ill” and such a “mofo”.
You’d come off a lot better if you just corrected us without so much attitude.
We post to learn. Not to be spoken down to, “Professor”…
love,
max
I don’t think it would matter if I had wrapped my first post with a bow and given it to everyone on their birthday - if you essentially tell people “you’re doing it wrong”, some of them will take it personally anyway. If I was out to insult anyone here, I can only say it would have been more direct. As it is, I do get frustrated by this sort of thing, so I’m sorry if anyone felt belittled by my post. I didn’t say I was a zen master who is immune to screwing up myself 
That said, my eyerolling about the Miyamoto comments come because what he did with a sword were the least important accomplishments in his life. Getting excited about the 60 duels he allegedly never lost is getting excited about the myth rather than the what the man can still teach us today. Did you know that Miyamoto actually gave up dueling at the age of 29? For the last half of his life, he decided there wasn’t any point in pursuing it, because he was interested in enlightenment and not in cutting people down.
He also went on to become a noted writer, a renowned painter and attempted to find ways to put his thoughts towards government and generalship (an opportunity he was largely denied, in part because he asked for too much money, which is hilarious considering what he could have done for his employers). My point is that once he set his swords down, he continued to master new arts. Not just dabble in them, but to honestly ‘get’ them the way he did swordsmanship. His Way was not simply one of the sword - it looks like that only on the surface. His was a Way of life; a way to rule himself, to rule others, and conquer any obstacle in his path.
There are a few of us today who still practice with a katana, but we know it’s an anachronism - a hobby long out of date, developing physical skills without much real world value. But Miyamoto’s philosophy is useful to everyone, from the weekend kendoka who ‘plays’ with Japanese swords, to the sportsman, to the businessman, to the painter… and to the bodybuilder. Discussing that, trying to understand his philosophy and learn to see how it can be applied to our lives, in our time… that’s where we find Miyamoto’s real greatness.
In the end, most people I know who express interest in his work have no real desire to do that. They just want to know a handful of phrases from various Asian martial philosophies. It’s Jules and his Ezekiel quote from Pulp Fiction; many don’t think about the words, they just think it’s some cool shit they can repeat. I’m not saying all of you reading it are like that, but many of the people I have encountered are. Jules began to look for enlightment because someone missed him with six rounds from a revolver - I hope some of you will get interested in that without being shot at 
[quote]vermilion wrote:
I don’t think it would matter if I had wrapped my first post with a bow and given it to everyone on their birthday - if you essentially tell people “you’re doing it wrong”, some of them will take it personally anyway. If I was out to insult anyone here, I can only say it would have been more direct. As it is, I do get frustrated by this sort of thing, so I’m sorry if anyone felt belittled by my post. I didn’t say I was a zen master who is immune to screwing up myself
That said, my eyerolling about the Miyamoto comments come because what he did with a sword were the least important accomplishments in his life. Getting excited about the 60 duels he allegedly never lost is getting excited about the myth rather than the what the man can still teach us today. Did you know that Miyamoto actually gave up dueling at the age of 29? For the last half of his life, he decided there wasn’t any point in pursuing it, because he was interested in enlightenment and not in cutting people down.
He also went on to become a noted writer, a renowned painter and attempted to find ways to put his thoughts towards government and generalship (an opportunity he was largely denied, in part because he asked for too much money, which is hilarious considering what he could have done for his employers). My point is that once he set his swords down, he continued to master new arts. Not just dabble in them, but to honestly ‘get’ them the way he did swordsmanship. His Way was not simply one of the sword - it looks like that only on the surface. His was a Way of life; a way to rule himself, to rule others, and conquer any obstacle in his path.
There are a few of us today who still practice with a katana, but we know it’s an anachronism - a hobby long out of date, developing physical skills without much real world value. But Miyamoto’s philosophy is useful to everyone, from the weekend kendoka who ‘plays’ with Japanese swords, to the sportsman, to the businessman, to the painter… and to the bodybuilder. Discussing that, trying to understand his philosophy and learn to see how it can be applied to our lives, in our time… that’s where we find Miyamoto’s real greatness.
In the end, most people I know who express interest in his work have no real desire to do that. They just want to know a handful of phrases from various Asian martial philosophies. It’s Jules and his Ezekiel quote from Pulp Fiction; many don’t think about the words, they just think it’s some cool shit they can repeat. I’m not saying all of you reading it are like that, but many of the people I have encountered are. Jules began to look for enlightment because someone missed him with six rounds from a revolver - I hope some of you will get interested in that without being shot at :)[/quote]
bro that was a nice post. and you’ve conveyed some of the themes from miyamoto’s “wind” which i did check out even though i said “f you” to you. and sorry i went off the handle on that but i felt the need to be protective for the budding enthusiam on this subject.
the jules example was a good one cause when you’re a beginner in anything you’re just imitatin’ it, you memorize, rote learning whatever. once you’ve mastered the imitation so it’s internalized to the point that you do it without thinking…you might get the opportunity to conceptualize it and find meaning. but until something happens in the form of real world interaction(six bullets missin’ ya) you’ll always be a novice. those bullets gave jules the opportunity to step up and turn his memorised phrase into some real understanding. wisdom. and he changed, and prolly extended, his life because of it. now on the other hand vincent had the exact same opportunity as jules but he missed the window cause he had nothing to apply to the situation. and he ended up, literally and figuratively, dyin’ with his pants down.
so what i’m sayin is i think raw enthusiam even without understanding, should be fed and not tread on at all. it’s too young and won’t get the correction. like if earlier on vincent called jules out and said "you don’t even know what that shit means jules you frickn poser " and jules stopped using it. then jules is prolly dead at the coffee shop or in prison instead of spreadin’ the opportunty for enlightenment on to pumpkin and honey bunny.
what do ya think ?
peace.
[quote]vermilion wrote:
I don’t think it would matter if I had wrapped my first post with a bow and given it to everyone on their birthday - if you essentially tell people “you’re doing it wrong”, some of them will take it personally anyway. If I was out to insult anyone here, I can only say it would have been more direct. As it is, I do get frustrated by this sort of thing, so I’m sorry if anyone felt belittled by my post. I didn’t say I was a zen master who is immune to screwing up myself
That said, my eyerolling about the Miyamoto comments come because what he did with a sword were the least important accomplishments in his life. Getting excited about the 60 duels he allegedly never lost is getting excited about the myth rather than the what the man can still teach us today. Did you know that Miyamoto actually gave up dueling at the age of 29? For the last half of his life, he decided there wasn’t any point in pursuing it, because he was interested in enlightenment and not in cutting people down.
He also went on to become a noted writer, a renowned painter and attempted to find ways to put his thoughts towards government and generalship (an opportunity he was largely denied, in part because he asked for too much money, which is hilarious considering what he could have done for his employers). My point is that once he set his swords down, he continued to master new arts. Not just dabble in them, but to honestly ‘get’ them the way he did swordsmanship. His Way was not simply one of the sword - it looks like that only on the surface. His was a Way of life; a way to rule himself, to rule others, and conquer any obstacle in his path.
There are a few of us today who still practice with a katana, but we know it’s an anachronism - a hobby long out of date, developing physical skills without much real world value. But Miyamoto’s philosophy is useful to everyone, from the weekend kendoka who ‘plays’ with Japanese swords, to the sportsman, to the businessman, to the painter… and to the bodybuilder. Discussing that, trying to understand his philosophy and learn to see how it can be applied to our lives, in our time… that’s where we find Miyamoto’s real greatness.
In the end, most people I know who express interest in his work have no real desire to do that. They just want to know a handful of phrases from various Asian martial philosophies. It’s Jules and his Ezekiel quote from Pulp Fiction; many don’t think about the words, they just think it’s some cool shit they can repeat. I’m not saying all of you reading it are like that, but many of the people I have encountered are. Jules began to look for enlightment because someone missed him with six rounds from a revolver - I hope some of you will get interested in that without being shot at :)[/quote]
very nicely written.
Now, isn’t that better than shitting on those of us who don’t know as much about the man or his philosophy as you do?
max
This thread Rocks!
I love the intilectual kumite going on here, and I have a HUGE booklist to order. There goes any free time I might have had in the next year.
BTW, has anyone here read “The 20 Guiding Principles of Karate” by Gichin Funakoshi?
Although I wouldn’t call it inspirational or life-altering, Eji Yoshikawa’s “Musashi” is a narrative of his life and is a good read for those who are interested in the events of Musashi’s life. It is not philosophical like the other pieces mentioned, and I’m sure it is somewhat fictionalized, but it is entertaining nonetheless.