Miyamoto Musashi
Short introduction: Miyamoto Musashi (around 1584-1645) was legendary swordsman of Japan known for creating his own fighting style with two swords. He had no master (as every samurai does), so he was ronin. Many historians do agree that he was the most skilled swordsman for fact that he won over 60 duels on life and death until he reached age of 30. It is known that he was a wanderer, looking to attain glory by challenging various people to a duel. He is also the author of book "The book of Five rings" in which he explain the path (or the way) of the warrior and teaching of his school Niten Ichi-ryū .
His first duel:At the age of 13 he was already confident enough to challenge an older samurai named Arima Kibie of the Shinto Ryu (school). Arima made the mistake of disrespecting Musashi by treating him like a child, which resulted in Musashi throwing him on the floor and beating him with a six foot wooden staff until his opponent died vomiting blood.
At 16:At 16 Musashi left the monastery and it would not be long before he found himself fighting his second duel, which he won easily. Soon after he would face a tougher challenge when he fought in the Battle of Sekigakarai (1600) on the side of the Ashikaga Clan against the victorious army of Ieyasu Tokugawa.
Seijuro Yoshioka This duel was fought with bokken (wooden sword) and like many instances of one-on-one combat at the time, was not meant to be to the death. Both warriors agreed beforehand that the winner would be declared by a single blow which was promptly administered by Musashi, who broke Seijuro’s arm in the process. After the battle, Seijuro retired from his position as head of the Yoshioka Ryu and became a Zen monk.
Denshichiro YoshiokaAs the brother of Seijuro, Denshichiro became the head of the family and soon challenged Musashi in order to regain honour for his family name. This time the duel would be to the death and as was his custom, Musashi turned up late in order to get his opponent angry, a tactic that worked well on both the Yoshioka brothers. Fighting again with a bokken, Musashi won the fight easily, killing his opponent instantly with a head blow and leaving the reputation of the Yoshioka Ryu in ruins.
Matashichiro YoshiokaThe new head of the Yoshioka Clan was a 12 year old named Matashichiro, who also challenged the warrior who had brought dishonour to his family. As the time requested for the fight was at night, Musashi became suspicious that foul play was afoot so he turned up early and hid himself from sight.
Sure enough, when the boy arrived he had a retinue of men armed with swords, bows and rifles who all found a hiding place intending to ambush Musashi while Matashichiro acted as bate. When the time was right, Musashi charged the young warrior and cut his head clean off. Surrounded by the boy’s retinue, he then drew his second sword and cut himself a path through the men trying to kill him before escaping into nearby rice fields.
This not only ended the Yoshioka Ryu, but was also a pivotal moment for Musashi according to many historians as it is believed that it was his first conception of fighting with two swords, a style that would become his trade mark in later years.
The Defeat of Sasaki Kojiro The most famous duel Miyamoto Musashi fought while on his musha shugyo was against Sasaki Kojiro in 1612, who at the time was the Shogun’s martial arts teacher and the most feared and respected warrior in the land. Kojiro was seen as the ideal warrior who looked and acted the part of the samurai as laid out in the bushido code to a tee.
Musashi on the other hand was the complete opposite who was less concerned with his image or how society perceived him and more concerned with beating anyone who faced him in battle. The two agreed to meet on an island and unsurprisingly Kojiro turned up in a timely manner, sporting the best clothes and swords money could buy.
Musashi however made his opponent wait knowing that his turning up late would anger him, thus having a negative effect on his concentration and focus; Kojiro’s anger would have only increased when his opponent did finally arrive sporting his usual dirty rags instead of attire befitting a man of their social class.
Kojiro had his swords made just a little longer than the average sword length to give himself reach advantage over his opponents however it seems Musashi knew this and devised a strategy to combat it. It is believed that he fought with a bokken that he fashioned out of an oar on the boat ride to the island, making it longer than his opponent’s sword in order to beat him at his own game.
When the fight began, the two moved to attack simultaneously and Musashi’s reach advantage showed through from the start as while Kojiro managed to cut a nick in Musashi’s clothes, he himself was cut in the head. The two great samurai warriors moved towards each other for a second attack and once again Kojiro could only cut his opponent’s clothes while the extra few inches of the bokken allowed Musashi to cut his opponent’s throat, killing him instantly. In other versions of the story, Musashi uses two sticks to defeat his enemy and in others still he wins the fight with two swords (as depicted below).
Quotes:“Teaching people a large number of sword techniques is turning the way into a business of selling goods, making beginners believe that there is something profound in their training by impressing them with a variety of techniques. This attitude toward strategy must be avoided, because thinking that there is a variety of ways of cutting a man down is evidence of a disturbed mind. In the world, different ways of cutting a man down do not exist.”
“The important thing is to polish wisdom and the mind in great detail. If you sharpen wisdom, you will understand what is just and unjust in society and also the good and the evil of this world; then you will come to know all kinds of arts and you will tread different ways. In this manner, no one in this world will succeed in deceiving you. It is after this stage that you will arrive at the wisdom of strategy. The wisdom of strategy is entirely distinct. Even right in the middle of a battle where everything is in rapid movement, it is necessary to attain the most profound principle of strategy, which assures you an immovable mind. You must examine this well.”
“When your opponent is hurrying recklessly, you must act contrarily and keep calm. You must not be influenced by the opponent.”
“This is a truth: when you sacrifice your life, you must make fullest use of your weaponry. It is false not to do so, and to die with a weapon yet undrawn.”
For the endBy my opinion, Miyamoto Musashi was without a doubt the most badass character I ever heard of. The tactics he applied to annoy oppoenents and the way he challenged most known warrior with a bokken was damn good enough to be known as legend today. So what you guys think?
