Miyamoto Musashi fought 61 duels to the death and never lost. not once. in 61 fights where the loser died, he survived every single one. he is considered the greatest swordsman in Japanese history. he wrote The Book of Five Rings, which is still required reading at Japanese military academies and Western business schools 400 years later. he practiced strict celibacy for the majority of his adult life. Musashi lived as a ronin (a masterless samurai) from age 13 to his death at 62. the ronin life was deliberate isolation: no lord, no wife, no home, no possessions beyond his swords and his clothing. the isolation was not poverty. it was design. he stripped every attachment from his life so that nothing competed with the sword for his energy, his attention, or his fear. he wrote in The Book of Five Rings: "do not pursue the taste of good food. do not hold onto needs you no longer have. do not collect weapons beyond what is useful. do not fear death." the philosophy is a complete system of energy conservation. every impulse that does not serve the sword is eliminated. sexual energy is the most powerful impulse and therefore the most important to redirect. his final duel, against Sasaki Kojiro (considered the second greatest swordsman alive), was fought on a small island. Musashi arrived late to disrupt Kojiro's composure. he had carved a wooden sword from an oar on the boat ride over. he defeated the greatest swordsman in Japan with a weapon he made from a boat part in 20 minutes because his preparation wasn't in the sword. it was in the 30 years of energy conservation that preceded the moment. the Japanese concept of "mushin" (no mind) describes the state a warrior enters when the conscious mind is eliminated and the body moves from instinct and training alone. Musashi described this state as accessible only when the body's energy is undivided. sexual release divides the energy. the divided warrior reaches mushin less often and less deeply. the undivided warrior lives there. 61 duels. zero losses. the greatest combat record in samurai history was produced by a man who lived without sex, without a home, without possessions, and without a single attachment that competed with the single purpose his energy was directed toward. the sword received everything. everything else received nothing. the results speak for 400 years. the man who fought 61 fights to the death and won every single one didn't just practice better technique. he practiced a stricter energy discipline than anyone he fought against. the sword was the same steel. the body was the same muscle. the energy behind the swing was not the same. it never is.