The Ground Book: Introduction

 Earth (chi/ji) by Nao of japanesecalligrapher.com

From The Book of Five Rings:

"It is difficult to realize the true Way just through sword-fencing. Know the smallest things and the biggest things, the shallowest things and the deepest things. As if it were a straight road mapped on the ground, the first book is called the Ground Book."

The Ground, or Earth, Book is the first of Musashi's five rings. The others are Water, Fire, Wind, and Void.

The Ground Book tells us that the "Way" Musashi is teaching is the Way of Strategy. Strategy is that handy dandy thing that let's you live to see another day with your limbs, memory, and integrity intact. Though Musashi demonstrates Strategy via the marital arts, he himself tells the reader that recognizing the real Way is difficult when you use only a single tool--in his case, the sword.

How might this translate to the LSAT? Consider, for example, the Assumption question. Assumption questions and vairations on the Assumption make up over 50% of the the Logical Reasoning portion of the test. So let's say you focus on mastering the Way of the Assumption question. You still have roughly 75% of the test to beat. (The math is okay; there are two Logical Reasoning sections). So the true Way of the LSAT is not realized just through the Assumption. There are the smallest things (filling in the answer sheet) and the biggest things (Reading Comprehension) as well as the shallowest things (rules) and the deepest things (inferences) that also need to be known.

The LSAT student needs something like a Ground Book, a road map, to show them the direction of the true Way.

And the test prep companies and tutors in our free market economy know that you, the student, are searching for this road map. Musashi writes about this, too:

"If we look at the world, we see arts for sale. Men use eqiupment to sell their own selves. As if with the seed and the flower, the seed has become less than the flower. In this kind of way of Strategy both those teaching and those learning the way are concerned with coloring and showing off their technique, trying to hasten the bloom of the flower. They speak of 'this dojo' and 'that dojo.' They are looking for profit."

The student should be discerning about a tutor's (this dojo's) or company's (that dojo's) study methods. The brand should be  less impressive than the technique's results.

Musashi says that his school is the best. Why? Because it is not rigid, it changes, and the results are perpetual success. If you're interested in seeing how or if Musashi's Strategy works, check back in and apply what you can from the Meditation's exploration of his Five Rings. Better yet, read the book yourself.

(See and learn more Japanese calligraphy with Nao and Alice here. If you're interested in who the hell Miyamoto Musashi--badass extraordinaire--is, click on his name; or click just his last name here: Musashi. A modern-day Musashi story can be read here--this guy is truly a badass's badass. And if you have an ounce of self-respect, help Japan here, here, or here.)