Sign in with Facebook
Loading...
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. Humandesire is the root of this perversity."
Woven deeply into the martial traditions...more
Woven deeply into the martial traditions...more
Hardcover, 221 pages
Published
November 1st 2006
by Oxford University Press, USA
(first published September 15th 2006)
Friend Reviews
To see what your friends thought of this book,
please sign up.
This book is not yet featured on Listopia.
Add this book to your favorite list »
Community Reviews
(showing
1-30
of
255)
I personally love this book, written 284 years ago, but it's not for everyone. This translation is cryptic at the best of times, and unless you're familiar with a lot of vague taoist alchemy/esoteric martial arts concepts, it'll probably confuse the shitake mushrooms out of you. I AM familiar with many of them, and I still find it baffling at times.
Also, what was the translator thinking, renaming it in english? "The Demon's Sermon on the Martial Arts" is enough to scare off most christians and i...more
Also, what was the translator thinking, renaming it in english? "The Demon's Sermon on the Martial Arts" is enough to scare off most christians and i...more
Don't be thrown off by the title. In Japan, the concept of a "demon" pretty much encompasses a variety of mythological beings: some of them benevolent, some malevolent. In this case, the bulk of the book relates to a hypothetical dialogue that a Samurai Sojourner has with a series of Tengu (birdlike Japanese mythological beings) about the "deepest secrets of the martial arts". However, in this particular version, there is also a collection of other stories on the same subject, all from a predomi...more
Steven gave this to me as a present. It is about just what it says. Really wordy and strange. I read half and skimmed through the rest. There were a couple of interesting stories on reincarnation but not worth reading the whole thing to get to them.
If you are interested in martial arts or Zen, or philosophy then read this book. It tells a tail of how to look at life and existance from a different side than the usual western lens.
This book provides deep insights involving martial arts!
This is a good book on the principles and philosophies of the Martial Arts. This is not a book on technique or style, but more on how to be a Martial Artist.
Huge reread value. Abstract meditations on the nature of ch'i.
May 16, 2013
Man Solo
marked it as to-read
May 08, 2013
Tyler Prete
added it
May 03, 2013
Cristian Contini
added it
May 03, 2013
Dan
marked it as to-read
Apr 19, 2013
Michael
marked it as to-read
Apr 12, 2013
Cameron Torbet
marked it as to-read
Apr 11, 2013
Munsif Rehman
marked it as to-read
Mar 28, 2013
Simon
added it
Mar 20, 2013
David
is currently reading it
Mar 19, 2013
Santhosh Raj
marked it as to-read
Mar 03, 2013
Никола Нешић
marked it as to-read
There are no discussion topics on this book yet.
Be the first to start one »
Jan 09, 2012 11:39am