Review of Zen and the Samurai Sword

I haven't studied Zen before now, but I do study hoplology, the art of human combative behaviour, and finding a new perspective upon which to contemplate fighting with swords was the reason I asked for this book, and while there was some aspects of learning how to use a sword, the majority of the book was in the teaching of how to think and act in the discipline of Zen. Throughout, there were few mentions of the sword itself and how that would tie into the nature of Zen thinking, and as noted at the beginning of the book, to understand the relationship of Zen and the sword, you must first know Zen.

Which gave the book the feel that it was promoting the idea of learning Zen above all else, that there isn’t actually an integration between Zen and the Sword, and this was underscored in the eighty-eigth lesson “Decide whether you want Zen or the Sword”, whereby you have to decide what you want, if you say you are inspired by both, then, in truth, it is probably the sword you want.

I’ve studied sword work for years, and reading through the first hundred and twenty pages of the book, I found that there was a lot of similarities, the clarity of thought, the need to have no preconceptions of what you are thinking, of how you are about to fight, no idea of what you’re going to do, but that you have the clear mind with which to do it. At the end of the book, two anecdotes end in the revelation that the author feels ashamed of his lack of effort with Kenjutsu, but was pleased with his training in thought and action.

There’s a checklist at the end for those not wanting to read through the book, and I can’t help but think that it was given so that people could look through to refresh their knowledge from time to time, but if the book was read with the correct approach, no refreshment is required.

Where am I going with this?

I loved the clear and concise definitions of what Zen is, how it should be approached and considered, the different parts of it, the four Noble Truths, the Six Perfections (which are actually the cornerstones of any martial practise), the Eightfold Path, the Ten Ox-Herding pictures, and how those things are integrated into everyday life without having to consider them at all. A way of life is a way of life, you do not consider it, you live it.

And I did find this interesting, from an intellectual perspective, but as the book warns, do not seek to intellectualise Zen, and in my own truth, the other disciplines that I practise, that of the Sword, that of the Pen, mean more to me than Zen does, and so I choose them.

But I’m thankful for the lesson.

Thanks to Watkins Publishing and the Author for the Free ARC, my views are my own, no incentive offered or accepted.