Den - the transmission

The Japanese word den roughly translates as the transmission of something. It is written with two characters meaning a person, the other turning or revolving. In essence it could symbolize one person turning to another to impart knowledge or information. In modern fencing this is now the Coaches job; in martial arts it is the sensei’s job. In the old days in Japan it was usually the Senior master of the particular school who would transmit his accumulated knowledge to his students (in some cases only one student would ever get the full picture – he would then become the new Master).

These days knowledge transmission is easy via books, television, radio and lately the internet. In some ways this is good as it makes knowledge freely available. In other ways it is bad as the information may not be accurate and even if it is, it is almost cheapened by it’s easy availability. Most experienced athletes or martial artists will be the first to (rightly) insist that you can’t learn a sport or art by book alone, you have to practice it. I would agree but what I would say is that you can intellectually explore your chosen sport or art via the medium of the written word. The nearest thing I have to a ‘bible’ is the Book of Five Rings. It’s a book that I read again and again as every time I do it has more depth to reveal. It is relevant to martial art, sport, fencing and life in general. This book was written in the 17th century in Japan by a man whos life was so remote from mine and most modern folk that it is almost incomprehensible even to modern Japanese. Miyamoto Musashi could never have expected his work to resonate down through the years into many languages but I consider myself to be one of the inheritors of his tradition. I will never wield a katana in anger, my calligraphy is not even close to passable and I can’t paint in ink worth two hoots right now but I can study his words and apply his principles to that which I do. There are so many things to be learnt from his work that it is only appropriate that it has found its way onto the internet. Here’s a link. Be warned though. Each translation and interpretation I have read has been subtly different, which only further hints at the depths to be uncovered.
http://ninjamarket.com/a-book-of-five-rings
There are some other links to other interesting reading. Enjoy!