Miyamoto Mushashi In feudal Japan, there were two types of warriors: Samurai and Ronin. Samurai were loyal to a particular Master, while Ronin answered to no one. One of the most famous Ronin in history was Miyamoto Mushashi who lived in the 16th and 17th centuries. He wrote the masterpiece of swordsmanship known as the "Book of Five Rings." In more recent times, Bruce Lee could be considered a Ronin. He famously broke from the teachings of his Master Yip Man to create his own unique martial art of Jeet Kune Do. His conversion from Samurai to Ronin was prompted by his difficulty in winning a fight against fellow martial artist Wong Jack Man. Lee discovered that sticking dogmatically to the Wing Chun techniques taught by his Master limited his growth as a martial artist. I had a similar epiphany. One day I attended a martial arts class and I was asked by my instructor to demonstrate effective defenses against a straight right or cross. By this time I had trained in
Thoughts on Combat Sports and Martial Arts