The Sword of No-Sword: Life of the Master Warrior Tesshu Paperback – October 18, 1994

For a long time I was very skeptical of people's claims regarding the greatness of Yamaoka Tesshu. The issue I took was when viewed against someone like Musashi, who killed many adversaries in documented duals often with a wood sword, I couldn't see how anyone could compare such a record with someone like Tesshu who lived in a time of Samurai decline and was not a dueler. After reading this book, now I know.This is essential reading for anyone on the martial path, and you will be floored by what an amazing individual Tesshu was. Sword of No Sword is loaded with stories and anecdotes on his life, examples of his greatness, and gems of philosophy and martial wisdom.Tesshu was basically a renunciate freak of nature. He trained harder, drank harder, calligraphied harder, and was simply inhumanly productive partially because he almost never slept. I want to give a number of my favorite quotes, but I don't want to ruin the journey for anyone. However I will make this one exception:"Tesshu placed himself in formal zazen posture, bid his family and friends goodbye, closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and entered eternal meditation. Some accounts said he smiled briefly just before his death. He was 53 years old." (p81) It is said Tesshu is the only person to "die in state", meaning in zazen during the 19th century.As you can probably tell The Sword of No Sword made me a passionate Tesshu fan. It is said he scripted over 1 million calligraphy's in his life. I am fortunate to have acquired one. I highly recommend this book. Enjoy!!

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.

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.

I recently read this wonderful biography about Tesshu, a Master Warrior. He was an important figure in the martial arts and the government in Shogun Japan. John Stephens writing is easy to read and helps the reader see various aspects of life at that time and most importantly gives insight into the character of this remarkable man.Moon water or suigetsu is a wonderful concept which became clearer to me while reading Tesshu's poetry. His calligraphy is shown as well, giving a fuller picture of his gifts and importance as a historical figure.

A fantastic book which chronicles the life of master swordsman tesshu. It talks about his enlightenment and the events leading up to it. I loved the calligraphy examples that were included. This book will offer you insights into your life and will provide an invaluable opinion on zen, swordsmanship, calligraphy and strategy. This book belongs on every martial artists shelf as well people interested in zen.