The Demon's Sermon on the Martial Arts
by Issai Chozanshi
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Book Summary Information
Author: Issai ChozanshiTranslator: William Scott Wilson
Edition: Hardcover
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2006-09-15
ISBN: 4770030185
Number of pages: 224
Publisher: Kodansha International
Book Reviews of The Demon's Sermon on the Martial Arts
Book Review: Exceptional work Deserves to be widly known
Summary: 5 Stars
Though designed for the martial arts audience the work actually encompasses a profound religious view that many who have only a marginal interest in the martial arts would find inspiring. The work is by turns a funny, brusque, burlesque and serious. If one has an interest in Zen one will find this little volume of interest.
The Demon's Sermon on the Martial Arts by Issai Chozanshi, translated by William Scott Wilson (Kodansha International) Woven deeply into the martial traditions and folklore of Japan, the fearsome Tengu dwell in the country's mountain forests. Mythical half-man, half-bird creaŽtures with long noses, Tengu have always inspired dread and awe, inhabiting a liminal world between the human and the demonic, and guarding the most hidden secrets of swordsmanship. In The Demon's Sermon on the Martial Arts, a translation of the 18th-century samurai classic by Issai Chozanshi, an anonyŽmous swordsman journeys to the heart of Mt. Kurama, the traditional domain of these formidable beings. There he encounters a host of demons; through a series of discussions and often playful discourse, they reveal to him the very deepest principles of the marŽtial arts, and show how the secrets of sword fighting impart the truths of life itself.
The Demon's Sermon opens with The Discourses, a collection of whimsical fables concerned with the theme of transformation--for Chozanshi a core pheŽnomenon to the martial artist. Though ostensibly light and fanciful, these stories offer the attentive reader ideas that subvert perceived notions of conflict and the individual's relationship to the outside world. In the main body of work, The Sermon, Chozanshi demonŽstrates how transformation is fostered and nurtured through ch'i--the vital and fundamental energy that flows through all things, animate and inanimate, and the very bedrock of Chozanshi's themes and the martial arts themselves. This he does using the voice of the Tengu, as the reader is invited to eavesdrop with the swordsman on the demon's revelations of the deepest truths concerning ch'i, the principles of yin and yang, and how these forces shape our existence. In The Dispatch, the themes are brought to an elegant conŽclusion using the parable of an old and toothless cat who, like the demon, has mastered the art of acting by relying on nothing, and in so doing can defeat even the wiliest and most vicious of rats despite his advanced years.
This is the first direct translation from the original text into English by William Scott Wilson, the renownedtranslator of Hagakure and The Book of Five Rings. It captures the tone and essence of this classic while still making it accessible and meaningful to today's reader. Chozanshi's deep understanding of Taoism, Buddhism, Confucianism, and Shinto, as well as his insight into the central role of ch'i in the universe, are all given thoughtful treatment in Wilson's introduction and extensive endnotes. A provocative book for the genŽeral reader, The Demon's Sermon will also prove an invaluable addition to the libraries of all those interŽested in the fundamental principles of the martial arts, and how those principles relate to our existence.
William Scott Wilson was born in 1944 and grew up in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. As an undergraduate student at Dartmouth College in 1966, he was invited by a friend to join a three-month kayak trip up the coast of Japan from Shimonoseki to Tokyo. This eye-opening journey, beautifully documented in National Geographic, spurred Wilson's fascination with the culŽture and history of Japan.
After receiving a B.A. degree in political science from Dartmouth, Wilson earned a second B.A. in Japanese language and literature from the Monterey Institute of Foreign Studies in Monterey, California, then undertook extensive research on Edo-period (1603-1868) philosophy at the Aichi Prefectural University, in Nagoya, Japan.
Wilson completed his first translation, Hagakure, while livŽing in an old farmhouse deep in the Japanese countryside. Hagakure saw publication in 1979, the same year Wilson comŽpleted an M.A. in Japanese language and literature at the University of Washington. Two decades after its initial publicaŽtion, Hagakure was prominently featured in the Jim Jarmusch film Ghost Dog. Wilson's other translations include The Book of Five Rings, The Life-Giving Sword, The Unfettered Mind, the Eiji Yoshikawa novel Taiko, The Flowering Spirit: Classic Teachings in the Art of NO, and Ideals of the Samurai, which has been used as a college textbook on Japanese history and thought. Wilson is also the author of the The Lone Samurai, a best-selling study of the life of legendary swordsman Miyamoto Musashi.
Traveling frequently to Japan for research and pleasure, WilŽson currently lives in Miami, Florida.
Summary of The Demon's Sermon on the Martial Arts
The Demon said to the swordsman, "Fundamentally, man's mind is not without good. It is simply that from the moment he has life, he is always being brought up with perversity. Thus, having no idea that he has gotten used to being soaked in it, he harms his self-nature and falls into evil. Human desire is the root of this perversity."Woven deeply into the martial traditions and folklore of Japan, the fearsome Tengu dwell in the country's mountain forest. Mythical half-man, half-bird creatures with long noses, Tengu have always inspired dread and awe, inhabiting a liminal world between the human and the demonic, and guarding the most hidden secrets of swordsmanship. In The Demon's Sermon on the Martial Arts, a translation of the 18th-century samurai classic by Issai Chozanshi, an anonymous swordsman journeys to the heart of Mt. Kurama, the traditional domain of these formidable beings. There he encounters a host of demon; through a series of discussions and often playful discourse, they reveal to him the very deepest principles of the martial arts, and show how the secrets of sword fighting impart the truths of life itself.
The Demon's Sermon opens with The discourses, a collection of whimsical fables concerned with the theme of transformation-for Chozanshi a core phenomenon to the martial artist. Though ostensibly light and fanciful, these stories offer the attentive reader ideas that subvert perceived notions of conflict and the individual's relationship to the outside world. In the main body of work, The Sermon, Chozanshi demonstrates how transformation is fostered and nurtured through ch'i - the vital and fundamental energy that flows through all things, animate and inanimate, and the very bedrock of Chozanshi's themes and the martial arts themselves. This he does using the voice of the Tengu, and the reader is invited to eavesdrop with the swordsman on the demon's revelations of the deepest truths concerning ch'i, the principles of yin and yang, and how these forces shape our existence. In The Dispatch, the themes are brought to an elegant conclusion using the parable of an old and toothless cat who, like the demon, has mastered the art of acting by relying on nothing, and in so doing can defeat even the wiliest and most vicious of rats despite his advanced years.
This is the first direct translation from the original text into English by William Scott Wilson, the renowned translator of Hagakure and The Book of Five Rings. It captures the tone and essence of this classic while still making it accessible and meaningful to today's reader. Chozanshi's deep understanding of Taoism, Buddhism, Confucianism, and Shinto, as well as his insight into the central role of ch'i in the universe, are all given thoughtful treatment in Wilson's introduction and extensive endnotes. A provocative book for the general reader, The Demon's Sermon will also prove an invaluable addition to the libraries of all those interested in the fundamental principles of the martial arts, and how those principles relate to our existence.
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