Miyamoto Misquoted

Miyamoto Musashi is one of the most renowned sword fighters in history, but even a master swordsman can't defend against the spread of misattributed motivational meme's...
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Rabbit Down the Whole is a series exploring the origins of widely shared Inspirational Quotes and other Online sundry.
Twitter: @study_of_swords
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Sources:
Bennett, Alexander. "The Complete Musashi: The Book of Five Rings and Other Works". Tuttle Publishing, Rutland, , 2018.
Cleary, Thomas. "The Book of Five Rings: A Classic Text on the Japanese Way of the Sword." Shambhala, Boston, 2005.
Harris, Victor. "Book of Five Rings", Archive.Org
archive.org/stream/MiyamotoMu...
www.deviantart.com/alex-faich... (accessed June 29, 2020)
Hataway, James Earl Jr., “Zen and the Samurai: Rethinking Ties Between Zen and the Warrior.” Master’s Thesis, University of Tennessee, 2006.
Hurst, Cameron. “Samurai on Wallstreet: Miyamoto Musashi and the Search for Success”. USFI Reports, #44, 1982.
ejmas.com/jalt/jaltart_Hurst_... (accessed June 29, 2020)
Kaufman, Stephen. "Musashi's Book of Five Rings: The Definitive Interpertation of Miyomoto Musashi's Classic Book of Strategy".Kindle Edition, 2012.
Tokitsu, Kenji. "Miyamoto Musashi: His Life and Writings". Shambhala, Boston & London, 2004.
Wilson, William S. "The Book of Five Rings." Shambhala, Boston & London, 2002.
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Music:
Today's Special: Jam Tomorrow by Doctor Turtle is licensed under a Attribution License.
Wherever I Lay My Hat, That's My Wife by Doctor Turtle is licensed under a Attribution License.
G of the Bang by Doctor Turtle is licensed under a Attribution License.

[@fluffy_tail4365]

Imagine how American you need to be to think that a Japanese samurai shared your hyper individualistic ideals

[@StudyofSwords]

It's really interesting, but the primary tension which sort of courses through bushi culture from the Heian into the Edo period relates to balancing individual agency ( central to the bushi's identity and self worth) against the wider societal requirements to obey one's lord. Kaufman, and others who come from his worldview, then remove this complex socio-cultural facet and insert their hyper-individualist to make their point.

[@ALPHARIUS8035]

Thank you for taking the time to make this video. Excellent and refreshing.

[@StudyofSwords]

Hey, thanks for showing an old video some love!

[@SoShiBias]

Pen is Mightier than the Sword, Gone Wrong.

[@above7793]

Really appreciate the effort into research so here is my comment for algorithm boosting

[@Dorian_sapiens]

Hooo boy, the meme version is nothing like those actual translations. Kaufman's interpretation starts off sounding like a famous passage from the Tao Te Ching ("Without going outside, you may know the whole world"), then takes a sudden, hard turn toward liberal individualist self-help. I do think there's a place for interpretations, alongside actual translations, of texts. Sometimes, as Kaufman writes, translations really do read like mere rote intellectual exercises. In those cases, someone with firsthand experience of the subject but not of the text's original language can work an existing translation into something more authentic. But that's clearly not what happened here.

[@StudyofSwords]

Certainly. I think Kaufman fails in his proclaimed role as an interpreter because he doesn't differentiate between his text and Musashi's. As I said in the video, Alexander Bennett does a much better job.

[@StudyofSwords]

Sorry, accidently deleted your comment. Mirai Ha ;_; hahaha, it indeed sounds suspicious when someone puts modern self-help quotes into a mouth of the Bushido icon

[@Miraihi]

Np :3

[@dksu]

Absolutely demolished this con artist. You love to see it. They tried to do to Musashi what they did to Machiavelli :( (also... how the fuck is something neither subjective nor objective???)

[@Mr.Taqifgamerandvloger]

Are you saying Machiavelli is good??