The hard truth about achieving mastery
While people desperately want to be told there is an easy path to mastery, the harsh truth of the matter is that there are no shortcuts up the mountain to mastery. The only way out is through. While good strategy, guidance, and optimization may shorten the learning curve, it still requires continuous effort to master. Musashi knew this well, as he advised that you practice endlessly and that you practice with intent. It is insufficient to put in the hours going through the motions; you may acquire some skill in the beginning, but you will quickly plateau. Your skills will never become ‘real world’ ready if you practice half heartedly. Musashi discusses training with the same mentality as an actual duel; each cut should have the intent to end the fight, and you should train to have quickness rather than speed and power rather than strength. Not forceful or disrupting your rhythm, fighting with a natural intensity and decisiveness. This lesson can be applied to any skill, add realistic pressure, practice with intensity but without forcefulness, maintain a focused, resolute mind while practicing, and you will achieve levels of mastery most can only dream of.
Expand your Horizons
The book of five rings opens with a comparison to other arts and paths, while intensity of practice is critical to skill development, you must avoid becoming myopic. Musashi knew this well when he advised learning as much as you can about other arts and learning to apply lessons from those arts to your main craft. Develop a disciplined training routine, but always broaden your horizons and learn to make novel connections between other disciplines and fields. In this way, you continue to innovate where others stagnate. Always take what you can from other disciplines and make it your own.
Don’t rely on masters
Musashi is not against learning from masters; in his early career, he did learn a lot from masters in his craft. That being said, all learning is essentially self-taught. No master can put in the countless hours of practice for you, nor can they learn the material for you. You must do that yourself. While a good master can point the way, developing inner resiliance with learning and learning from many masters as the oportunity arises will lead you to become a powerful and unstoppable autodidact. When there is no one to teach you, practice what you know and experiment, iterate, and innovate. In this way, you can develop a unique style that suits you rather than being trapped by convention. Make sure to reality check your work and remain grounded. Without checking in with reality, you may develop delusions about what you practice, but as long as you continue to practice reality testing, you can lean well on your own and get more out of the masters you do find. Remember that in Musashi’s world, if you lose touch with reality, it meant death. Keep this mentality, and you will stay on course.
The spirit of the thing itself
While this may sound mystical or esoteric, there is really nothing magical about this. Musasshi simply describes what is possible when you practice with intensity, develop the ability to make decisive, bold actions, remain grounded while developing your unique style, and practice with the mentality you will need in real-world encounters. In the translation, this is described as connecting with the ‘spirit of the thing itself’ when you are in accord with the way of your art, and it seems to be acting through you rather than you acting through it. This is commonly described as flow these days, achieving a no mind state while in the act. Conscious thought is lethal in a sword duel; you need to act on well-trained instinct and hit without thinking. As Musashi described, make your spirit bigger than the opponent and crush him. As part of whatever path you take, make it your mission to connect with the spirit of your craft, make your fighting stance your everyday stance, so to speak. Make it part of you and let it move through you.
Hesitate and you will lose
Musashi heavily emphasizes the bold, decisive move. Killing in one blow. Overwhelm your opponent and defeat them in body and spirit. Ensure they have no chance to regain composure by applying continual pressure. In this way, you keep them off balance, reactive, and unable to impose their own will. If you pull this off, victory is assured, as they will have lost before they realize what is happening to them. Always seek to gain and maintain the initiative. To do otherwise is to fail.
Becoming unstoppable
Musasshi won all 61 duels because he forged his mind into the mind of a warrior. He practiced endlessly and made his art his own. He connected to the art in a way that people of his time couldn’t accomplish, and he did whatever was necessary to win. After all, as Musashi discussed, the way of the warrior is to defeat the enemy; all else is secondary. Focus with intensity on the things that truly matter with your craft, block out all distractions, fancy, flowery techniques which impress but do not win fights are useless against the determined realist who practices what works and acts decisively with a resolute mind focused on victory.
Resources:
Musashi M. (1994) Musashi’s Book of Five Rings: the definitive interpretation of Musashi’s classic book of strategy. (trans. Kaufman S .F.) Tuttle Publishing