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Miyamoto Musashi (1584? - May 19, 1645) was a famous Japanese swordsman.
Much of Miyamoto Musashi’s past is shrouded in mystery and legends. His
place and date of birth are in doubt. Apparently he was born into a samurai
family in the village of Miyamoto in the province of Mimasaka. His full name
was Shinmen Musashi no Kami Fujiwara no Genshin.
Reputedly Musashi’s mother died in childbirth and either his stepmother
Toshiko raised him – even after his father Shinmen Munisai divorced her, or
his mother's brother, a priest raised him. He met his father occasionally
and they may have sparred together. By the time Musashi was nine, his father
was either dead or had totally abandoned the boy.
Musashi also apparently contracted eczema in his infancy and it
influenced his appearance. One story claims he never took a bath because he
did not want to be surprised unarmed. When he took his new name for
adulthood, Musashi selected the name of his birthplace, Miyamoto.
According to the introduction of his The Book of Five Rings, where he
states some autobiographical details, he had his first successful duel by
the age of thirteen. His first opponent was an accomplished samurai Arima
Kibei.
According to tradition he fought in the Battle of Sekigahara in the
troops of Ashikaga. He does not mention this in The Book of Five Rings.
After the war was over he left for Edo. According to his adopted son Iori,
in 1604 Musashi fought a victorious duel against master swordsman Yoshioka
Seijuro using only a bokken, a wooden sword. Reputedly he had a grudge
against Yoshioka family for how they had treated his father. After he had
defeated the father, he killed both boys in duels – though the latter one
was more of an ambush. Records of Yoshioka family claim otherwise.
From 1605 to 1612 he traveled extensively all over Japan in Musha-Shugyo,
a warrior pilgrimage during which he honed his skills with duels. He was
said to have used bokken in actual duels. He is said to have fought over 60
duels and was never defeated. Japanese historians seem to believe that he
could not have won all of them alone, without some assistance from his
students.
In April 14, 1612 he had his most famous duel with Sasaki Kojiro who was
using nodachi, a long two-handed sword. Musashi came late and unkempt –
possibly to unnerve his opponent - and killed him with a bokken that he had
made from an oar.
He briefly established a fencing school in 1612.
In 1614-1615 he reputedly joined the troops of Tokugawa Ieyasu when he
had besieged the castle of Osaka of the again rebellious Ashikaga family.
Other accounts claim he actually served in the defending side but many
historians disagree with that. 1615 he entered the service of Ogasawara
Tadanao in Harima province as a construction supervisor. During his service
he adopted a boy called Iori and originated Enmyo Ryu school of kenjutsu.
In 1627 he begun to travel again. In 1634 he settled in Ogura with his
stepson Iori. Later they apparently entered the service of daimyo Ogasawara
Tadazane when he fought in the Shimabara Rebellion.
Six years later Musashi moved to service of Hosokawa Tadatoshi, daimyo of
Kumamoto castle to train and paint. In 1643 he retired to a Reigandou cave
as a hermit to write The Book of Five Rings. He finished it couple of weeks
before his death around May 19, 1654.
After his death, various legends begun to appear. Most talk about his
feats in kenjutsu and other martial arts. Others tell that he killed giant
lizards in Echizen. He gained the stature of kensei, “a sword saint” and
various tales connect him with other contemporary martial artists.
Musashi perfected the two-sword kenjutsu technique he called niten’ichi
(two heavens as one) or nito’ichi (two swords as one). In that swordsman
uses both katana and wakizashi at the same time. Reputedly two-handed
movements of temple drummers inspired him. He was probably able to do this
due to his unusually large size. Most of his contemporaries held their
katana with both hands.
Musashi was also rare in that he was a loner. He had no formal training
in any of the formal kenjutsu schools – aside from dueling with their
representatives. He also had a rather no-nonsense approach to fighting with
no additional frills or aesthetic considerations. This was probably due to
his real-life combat experience.
Especially in his later life Musashi also followed the more artistic side
of bushido. He made various Zen brush paintings and calligraphy and sculpted
wood and metal. Even in the Book of Five Rings he emphasizes that samurai
should understand other professions as well.
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