The Life-Giving Sword

<b>A real-life samurai&#146;s Zen teachings on sword training as a spiritually transformative practice&#151;essential reading for aspiring martial artists and strategic thinkers alike</b><br> &#160;<br> The legendary seventeenth-century swordsman Yagyu Munenori was the sword instructor and military and political adviser to two shoguns&#151;and a great rival to Miyamoto Musashi. Despite his martial ability and his political power Munenori&#146;s life was spent immersed in Zen teachings. These teachings formed the framework for his deeply spiritual approach to sword fighting. Munenori saw in the practice of the sword a way to transform the student into a total human being.<br> &#160;<br> <i>The Life-Giving Sword</i> is Munenori&#146;s manifesto on his approach. His central themes are the &#147;life-giving sword&#148;&#151;the idea of controlling one&#146;s opponent by spiritual readiness to fight rather than by actual fighting&#151;and &#147;No Sword&#148; which is the idea that the mind must be free of everything even the sword itself in order to get to the place of complete mastery. Munenori&#146;s ideas are applicable not only to martial arts but to business and human relations as well.