Miyamoto Musashi
The Life and Legacy of Japan’s Most Legendary Samurai
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Narrated by:
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Jim Johnston
About this listen
“Study strategy over the years and achieve the spirit of the warrior. Today is victory over yourself of yesterday; tomorrow is your victory over lesser men.” (Miyamoto Musashi)
Samurai Sasaki Kojiro was growing increasingly impatient as he waited on the beach at Funa Island in Kokura. An undefeated master swordsman, he was tense, and his anger was getting the better of him. He was on the small island for a duel - a clash of steel between two swordsmen where a man’s life could end in seconds. The duel was the ultimate test of the swordsman, and Sasaki, one of the best in Japan, was known as “The Demon of the Western Provinces”. However, the Sasaki on the beach did not resemble the fierce warrior of his reputation as he paced back and forth, frustrated by the tardiness of his opponent: the enigmatic Miyamoto Musashi.
Sasaki knew nothing about Musashi except that the mysterious swordsman was undefeated, because aside from that, little was known about Musashi’s style or lineage. Although Musashi did have a reputation for keeping a rather unkempt appearance and an unpredictable personality, the mysterious swordsman also was the subject of conflicting stories about his courage and prowess.
Though he was understandably confident, Sasaki did not underestimate his opponent, who finally arrived to the island on a small boat. Sasaki noticed something shocking: Musashi did not bring a sword. Instead Musashi, who appeared as if he had just rolled out of bed, brought a wooden oar carved into a makeshift sword as his dueling weapon. Sasaki was furious, and though he was beyond insulted, he drew his sword and prepared to fight to the death. The duel between the two masters thus began with one of them having no sword at all.
Little may have been known about Musashi at the time, but centuries later, he is the most infamous and renowned warrior in Japanese history. As a veteran of the Battle of Sekigahara (1600), Naiwa (1615), and the Shimabara Rebellion in Hizen (1637-1638), Musashi was a seasoned battlefield soldier, who went undefeated in over 60 duels, and authored an essential book on strategy Go Rin No Sho (The Book of Five Rings). He invented a swordsmanship style called "Hi-no-shita Kaizan Shimmei Miyamoto Musashi Masana-ryu" - a two-sword style that some historians think Musashi may have come up with after being influenced by the two-handed drumming of Japanese drummers. His style has continued to be an influence on the practice of kendo into the modern era.
Adding to his legend was the fact that Musashi did not look like a typical samurai warrior. He was widely reported to have never bathed, never washed his hair, and did present himself like a man with a position in the ruling samurai class. This man, considered to be Japan’s finest swordsman, looked more like a wandering vagabond than an elegant, aristocratic warrior.
The typical samurai employed by daimyos were expected to be properly dressed and groomed, with clean clothes and neatly cut hair. Some samurai even applied rouge to their cheeks to appear healthy and ready to die for their lords. Musashi, on the other hand, seemed to have appeared out of thin air, claiming no famous teacher, school, or lineage. He also never entered long term service with a daimyo, married, or settled down (although he did serve a number of different prestigious clans). Instead, he wandered throughout the island of Japan as a free spirit, apparently valuing observation and intuition far above technique.
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Marathon
- The Battle That Changed Western Civilization
- By: Richard A. Billows
- Narrated by: Jeremy Gage
- Length: 8 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
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Published to coincide with Marathon's 2500th anniversary, a riveting history of the historic battle. The Battle of Marathon in 490 B.C. is not only understood as the most decisive event in the struggle between the Greeks and the Persians, but can also be seen as perhaps the most significant moment in our collective history. 10,000 Athenian citizens faced a Persian military force of more than 25,000.
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Effectively evokes the world of ancient greece
- By Aaron on 11-02-10
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The Essence of Budo
- A Practitioner's Guide to Understanding the Japanese Martial Ways
- By: Dave Lowry
- Narrated by: Brian Nishii
- Length: 6 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
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The study of budo, or the Japanese martial arts for self-cultivation, is a lifelong path toward perfection of character. Here, Dave Lowry, a sword master who has practiced and taught budo for over 40 years, addresses the myriad issues, vagaries, and inconsistencies that arise for students of karate-do, judo, kendo, kenjutsu, aikido, and iaido as their training develops.
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I've heard about dao of Japanese fighting arts
- By Dr. William Kennedy, psychologist and self-protection trainer on 04-17-21
By: Dave Lowry
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A Brief History of Japan
- Samurai, Shogun and Zen: The Extraordinary Story of the Land of the Rising Sun
- By: Jonathan Clements
- Narrated by: Julian Elfer
- Length: 8 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
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With intelligence and wit, author Jonathan Clements blends documentary and storytelling styles to connect the past, present, and future of Japan, and in broad yet detailed strokes reveals a country of paradoxes: a modern nation steeped in ancient traditions; a democracy with an emperor as head of state; a famously safe society built on 108 volcanoes resting on the world's most active earthquake zone; a fast-paced urban and technologically advanced country whose land consists predominantly of mountains and forests.
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A Brief Review of the Book
- By Than on 12-07-19
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War: How Conflict Shaped Us
- By: Margaret MacMillan
- Narrated by: Deepti Gupta
- Length: 10 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
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Margaret MacMillan looks at the ways in which war has influenced human society and how, in turn, changes in political organization, technology, or ideologies have affected how and why we fight. War: How Conflict Shaped Us explores such much-debated and controversial questions as: When did war first start? Does human nature doom us to fight one another? Why has war been described as the most organized of all human activities? Why are warriors almost always men? Is war ever within our control?
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Horrible choice of narrator derails this book
- By Steve Winnett on 02-25-21
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Genghis Khan
- A Captivating Guide to the Founder of the Mongol Empire and His Conquests Which Resulted in the Largest Contiguous Empire in History
- By: Captivating History
- Narrated by: Jason Zenobia
- Length: 3 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
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Around the year 1162, near the modern capital of Mongolia, a baby boy was born into a fractious and violent world. The birth of this child must have caused quite a stir among the members of the nomadic tribe that he had been born into. Word soon traveled that the son of Yesügei, the Borjigin tribal leader, had been born clutching a blood clot in his tiny hand.
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Loved this book.
- By Jeff Trevino on 04-21-20
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The Art of War
- By: Sun Tzu
- Narrated by: Aidan Gillen
- Length: 1 hr and 7 mins
- Unabridged
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The 13 chapters of The Art of War, each devoted to one aspect of warfare, were compiled by the high-ranking Chinese military general, strategist, and philosopher Sun-Tzu. In spite of its battlefield specificity, The Art of War has found new life in the modern age, with leaders in fields as wide and far-reaching as world politics, human psychology, and corporate strategy finding valuable insight in its timeworn words.
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The actual book The Art of War, not a commentary
- By Fred271 on 12-31-19
By: Sun Tzu
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Autumn Lightning
- The Education of an American Samurai
- By: Dave Lowry
- Narrated by: Brian Nishii
- Length: 6 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
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Dave Lowry juxtaposes his singular experience as an adept student of kenjutsu (the art of swordsmanship) under a Japanese teacher in St. Louis with a riveting account of the samurai tradition in Japan. Intertwining tales of the masters with reflections on his own apprenticeship in the samurai's arts, he reveals in their time-honored methods a way of life with profound relevance to modern times.
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GREAT
- By JK on 06-19-24
By: Dave Lowry
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A History of Warfare
- By: John Keegan
- Narrated by: Frederick Davidson
- Length: 19 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
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Starting with the premise that all civilizations owe their origins to warmaking, Keegan probes the meanings, motivations, and methods underlying war in different societies over the course of more than two thousand years. Following the progress of human aggression in its full historical sweep, from the strangely ritualistic combat of Stone Age peoples to the warfare of mass destruction in the present age, his illuminating and lively narrative gives us all the world's great warrior cultures.
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Not what I expected
- By Mark on 12-05-06
By: John Keegan
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Carnage and Culture
- Landmark Battles in the Rise to Western Power
- By: Victor Davis Hanson
- Narrated by: Bob Souer
- Length: 20 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
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Examining nine landmark battles from ancient to modern times - from Salamis, where outnumbered Greeks devastated the slave army of Xerxes, to Cortes' conquest of Mexico to the Tet offensive - Victor Davis Hanson explains why the armies of the West have been the most lethal and effective of any fighting forces in the world. Looking beyond popular explanations such as geography or superior technology, Hanson argues that it is in fact Western culture and values which have consistently produced superior arms and soldiers.
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Wow! This truly is a great book. A rarity!
- By GEJ on 11-12-19
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Thermopylae
- By: Paul Cartledge
- Narrated by: John Lee
- Length: 6 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
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In 480 B.C., a huge Persian army, led by the inimitable King Xerxes, entered the mountain pass of Thermopylae to march on Greece, intending to conquer the land with little difficulty. But the Greeks, led by King Leonidas and a small army of Spartans, took the battle to the Persians at Thermopylae and halted their advance: almost. It is one of history's most acclaimed battles, one of civilization's greatest last stands.
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Requires full attention
- By Euryleia on 01-18-08
By: Paul Cartledge