Everything is Within: The Philosophy of the World’s Greatest Samurai, Miyamoto Musashi

When you think of a samurai warrior, what comes to your mind?

You probably conjure a strong fighter clad in armor wielding a katana ready to strike down an army of foes.

While this holds true for many of Japan’s samurai, Miyamoto Musashi, who is often credited as the most famous samurai in history, made his legacy in the philosophy and writings he left behind.

In his writings he speaks on how to best train to use a sword and duel opponents, but his most memorable words describe how you can best improve yourself.

Who Was Miyamoto Musashi

Before diving into his philosophical teachings, Musashi’s exploits as a dueling samurai cannot be understated.

Truly being deserving of the legendary legacy he left, Musashi is said to have defeated over 60 opponents without ever experiencing defeat.

His first duel took place at the age of thirteen where he fought and killed a samurai in combat with only a wooden sword.

This trend continued for Musashi as his final duel saw him squaring off against the powerful swordsman, Sasaki Kojiro. On his way to battle Kojiro, Musashi fashioned a wooden boat oar into a long staff to use for the fight.

The momentous duel was over almost as quick as it began with Musashi landing a single counter strike on Kojiro which killed him. This final duel happened when Musashi was only 28.

It wasn’t until the end of his life after years of reflection that Musashi sat down to gather his thoughts and lessons into a book.

The Philosophy of Miyamoto Musashi

Musashi recorded his teachings into The Book of 5 Rings. In his writings he speaks on his esoteric sword style and how someone can grow and excel in their craft:

“there is nothing outside of yourself that can ever enable you to get better, stronger, richer, quicker, or smarter. Everything is within. Everything exists. Seek nothing outside of yourself.”

When you are looking to improve a skill, it’s easy to fall into the mindset of needing something outside of yourself to improve.

Especially in today’s digital age, you can fall into a rabbit hole of information on any topic. This only leads you to waste time “researching” without actually putting in the needed effort.

For example, when wanting to become a writer, I felt as though I needed to read dozens of articles and watch multiple YouTube videos to get my bearings.

While most of them repeated the same structures and teachings for how to be a writer, none of them gave me the drive to start writing consistently.

This is because without the internal alignment to want to write, you will never take the steps necessary to start and find the discipline to keep going and improving your craft.

Refining Your Craft

However, once you find your initial internal alignment, your journey isn’t over. The true mark of mastery will come once you’ve spent thousands of hours practicing and refining your skills.

Musashi writes of how only with repeated hours of training can one truly become proficient in their craft:

“A thousand days of training to develop, ten thousand days of training to polish. You must examine all this well.”

Whether you are 5 years into perfecting your skills or are just starting today, it’s key to ensure not only are you internally aligned with your goals, but your expectations are also adequately set.

Rome wasn’t built in a day and samurai legends aren’t made overnight. It’s only with years of mindful practice that you will refine your skills to an esteemed degree.