C.S. Sloan's Integral Strength

The Budo Secrets of Internal Energy from the Master Samurai Kaibara Ekiken Contemporaneous portrait of Kaibara Ekiken Part One The Way of Nourishing Life For quite some time now, I have wanted to write a series on one of my favorite budo writers of all time, Kaibara Ekiken (sometimes referred to as Ekken).  Ekiken was an interesting figure, to put it mildly (as you will find out if you continue to read). I had originally intended, however, to finish a series I started some time ago on The Hagakure , which I had set aside to write my (now finished) series on Musashi’s The Dokkodo .  However, as I was doing some research for several budo “pieces” that I have also been working on, it dawned on me that I was referring to Ekiken’s works increasingly, and returning to him more and more in my research.  And the more I thought about it, the more I realized that Ekiken might be the perfect writer of budo (at least among writers of antiquity) for our modern world.  I think you will find the sam