Though the vehicle of this book is technique, its essence is mind. To Musashi, the martial arts were an approach, or psychology, to the Way. They were not something to be bought and sold, as so many of the martial arts schools both then and now make them out to be, nor were they something to decorate one’s life. Conflict is real. The Way is real. The student must use his or her real experience to resolve the two. And it is mind, far more than technique, that will be the enabler. Musashi insisted on that real experience, and the reader should not miss the fact that the phrase “You must investigate this thoroughly” is repeated more than any other in the book.
And from the "The Book of Five Rings" itself, Musashi says:
"If through your training you can
freely move your entire body at will, you will defeat others with this
body. And if your mind becomes trained
in this Way, you will defeat others with your mind. Extending yourself this
far, how could this be a Way for your own defeat?"
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