Book of Five Rings is the classic work on strategy from the viewpoint of the individual warrior. This is your guide through earth and water. Musashi tells us he meditates (I am a man with a smooth forehead.) in code, and is a devotee of the Goddess (Kannon). Rather surprising coming from one of the more successful sword duelists in Japanese history. You really have to understand combat, chi kung, and sensitivity to grasp many of Musashi's concepts. He lies a lot. He leads you astray while giving you awesome information that could save your life. He complains about problems in his day that are still problems in ours. Whenever he says, "Study on this." or "Oral tradition only." he is usually warning the informed reader that one should, but few do, break this principle down and get to work as he has only revealed the tip of the blade to the neophyte. The Harris translation is what I usually have students read first and everyone should own it in hardback just because you will read it forty or fifty times, but particularly at white belt and red belt it should be read often.

The Cleary translation is a better translation than the Harris but doesn't reveal much about the man or his artwork which are important to understanding his style of fighting. The Cleary translation also includes Yagyu Munenori's scroll for the shinkage ryu. As Musashi holds strategies for the individual, Munenori benefits the company commander or group leader, particularly those that gather intelligence. The Yagyus discuss hardcore strategy as well as the esoteric application of a few methods. Interestingly enough though Munenori mentions he has seen people use various types of mind control he claims not to be very good at it. Questions from his perspective are asked at orange belt.