The Sword of No-Sword: Life of the Master Warrior Tesshu

This is a very nice book by John Stevens, and if you have encountered his other books, you probably know that not only he knows what he is talking about himself being a practitioner of various Oriental arts, but his books have a certain readability that appeal to the mass reader, not just someone who is into the martial arts, or calligraphy etc.Yamaoka Tesshu was undoubtedly a very special man. Not only was he very tall for a Japanese man (over 2m) but was a powerful swordsman, calligrapher, and poet, many say the best, or one of the best of his day. John compares him to Miyamoto Musashi only somewhat more humane in his approach to dealing with the enemies. Of course it was a different era and required development of somewhat different set of skills. To me though, Musashi remains unrivaled in his approach to strategy and battle tactic. Tesshu's life was complicated and he passed on sitting in Zazen. This is interesting as no one except him was able to do that in the Meiji Era. He passed away at will.The book talks about his life in a very interesting context of his time and his friends, who are a story in themselves. But it was nice to know and come to value this individual, and be inspired by him, if not by his fanaticism, definitely by his immense stamina and spiritual strength. With his death, I really felt like the world has lost someone very kind and very important. I definitely recommend this book to the students of Zen, but especially swordsmanship, as there are Tesshu's writings in the back, as well as many of his calligraphy pieces in which you can see his stroke and judge how good of a swordsman he may actually have been without being able to see him fight on the video.Again, I would like to reiterate in conclusion, that being a "good swordsman" is not just about being good with the sword. Far from it, in the Japanese understanding one comes to see the larger picture of life, death, human nature and relations. All that comes to play a very crucial role in one's posture.

At the time I read Mr. Stevens' book it was about the only comprehensive biography of 'the last sword saint', Yamaoka Tesshu available in the English language. (Now there is one other, 'The Truth of the Ancient Ways, by Anatoliy Anshin.)The author, a highly dedicated and intelligent man, researched for 10 years to write it.Sadly, he had an agenda (he always does), and carefully built a book around it. He has this platonic perfect ideal of a Warrior Sage, and does his level best to make flawed but skilled mortals like Ueshiba Morihei and Yamaoka Tesshu fit into it. Knowing something about the life of Ueshiba Morihei and how much John Stevens conveniently skipped or wrested into a more platonic ideal light, I can't help wondering what Mr. Stevens left out of this one.Of course, he included a lot of good things, too. Stories and anecdotes from the life of Tesshu, examples of some of his best calligraphy and explanations of why they are good, and most valuable of all, a section at the end of Tesshu's writings on the way of the sword. Those writings gave me so very much to think about!Tesshu was a fascinating man. Impulsive, easily addicted, with a high natural level of empathy and a low level of self-preservation. Watching this flawed giant oddball of a man trying to beat his body and soul into Enlightenment was very interesting.Still....How did Tesshu, in an Edo period where so many of the martial arts had become either all show or all sport, find the true, beating, ancient heart of real combat? Mr. Stevens doesn't tell us. How did Tesshu go from penniless ragged young husband and father to personal guard and adviser of the shogun (The. Shogun!)? Mr. Stevens doesn't tell us - not even what year it occurred. How did he come to then accept a position in the Meiji emperor's guard, and what kind of policies did he advise him in? Mr. Stevens doesn't say, because he doesn't care. How many children did Tesshu have, and what was his family life like? What influences -- beyond zen -- does his calligraphy show? How did he react to a changing Japan? How did he impact politics, and what were his political beliefs? What kind of daily sword practice did he do?I wish I knew.As a biography, it's sorely lacking. The author is a devout Buddhist and serious martial art practitioner (Aikido, not sword, so he doesn't seem to care much about things only applicable to the sword) -- anything that falls outside of that is uninteresting to him. This is not a documentary, a biography. This is a story, a carefully curated portrait of a Zen Patriarch, and so anything that doesn't have much bearing on the Zen (either meditation, temple-building, in calligraphy, in a funky thing Tesshu said, or in sword-work) ... doesn't make the cut.Still worth the purchase price just for the writings of Yamaoka Tesshu in the last 20 or so pages.

The Sword of No Sword, Life of the master warrior Tesshu,Tesshu Yamaoka was a man who was famous in Japan for a variety of reasons. For us martial artists he is most known for his swordsmanship. Further he was famous for his calligraphy and his zen practice. His calligraphy is still very sought after by collectors. These three practices, Ken-Zen-Sho are in his case as with many other famous martial artists inseparable. He was also famous as a statesman as well as his part in the peacefull surrender of Edo castle.This book is the biography of this master showing his life as a martial artist as well as a statesman in the turbulent era which marked the birth of modern Japan, the bakamatsu. It talks about how the three ways led him on his path to enlightenment. The book has many illustrations of Tesshu’s work and also contains Tesshu’s teaching. Often compared with Musashi as they both exemplify the same spirit of warrior ship what makes Tesshu interesting is that there is more reliable information available on him. This was the first work about Tesshu available in English.This book is indispensable in the library of any martial artist interested in the Japanese Budo arts, anyone interested in Japanese calligraphy and the people interested in zen. Last but not least I recommend this book to anyone who loves a good inspirational story.

Over the years I have bought a couple of copies for myself including the kindle version as well as other copies for friends.This book is a definite must read for all martial artists who pursue the martial way of living and are interested in developing their spirit, not just technique or wanting to be the 'best fighter'.It will not teach you specific things but rather inspire you to improve yourself and make you think.Tesshu is rightly revered in Japan but is not so well known in the West - perhaps because too many martial artists are not as interested in developing themselves and making the world a better place by starting with themselves.If you have a deeper side, read it - you won't be sorry!

The best book available in English on Yamaoka Tesshû a Japanese Meiji swordsman, zen master, and master calligrapher.His life, his philosophy, excellent!

Came as described, shipped on time

The book is highly inspirational, especially fo those who seek for a way to balance everyday obligations with reaching one's dreams. The edition is nice too, so I am well satisfied with the quality of the book, it's contents and the delivery. I am going to read more stuff written by Stevens.

Intriguing.