The Demon's Sermon on the Martial Arts

This manga version of The Demon's Sermon on the Martial Arts dramatically presents these classic martial arts parables written by an eighteenth-century samurai, making them appealing to a wide audience. With atmospheric drawings and an abridged text adapted from William Scott Wilson's fine translation by acclaimed manga writer Sean Michael Wilson, The Demon's Sermon on the Martial Arts comes alive both as great storytelling and as martial arts philosophy.

The tales are concerned with themes such as perception of conflict, self-transformation, and understanding yin and yang. The "demon" in the title story refers to the mythical tengu, a group of demons who guard the secrets of swordsmanship. A swordsman travels to Tengu Mountain and in a series of conversations learns about mushin (no-mind), strategy, the transformation of chi, and how the path of the sword leads to the understanding of life itself.