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Miyamoto Musashi

Much of Miyamoto Musashi's early life is shrouded in mystery. His place and date of birth are uncertain, and three different places lay claim to his birthplace. 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, which means, "Member of Shinmen family, the family name Musashi, clan Fujiwara, adulthood name Genshin". His childhood name is either Takezō or Benosuke. The name Musashi is taken from Musashibō Benkei, the warrior monk who served Minamoto no Yoshitsune and known as the great warrior who used nine weapons.

Miyamoto Musashi (1584-1645)

Reputedly Musashi's mother died in childbirth and 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 years old, his father had totally abandoned the boy. When he took his new name for adulthood, Musashi selected the name of his birthplace, Miyamoto.

It is said that Musashi contracted eczema in his infancy, which affected his appearance. Another story claims that he never took a bath, because he did not want to be surprised unarmed, which is untrue. He would be unlikely to be received as guest by such famous houses as Honda, Ogasawara and Hosokawa if this were the case (Scott Wilson 2004). These and many other details are likely embellishments that were added to his legend.

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 Kihei from Kashima, who fought using Shintō-ryu style. According to tradition he fought in the Battle of Sekigahara in the troops loyal to Toyotomi Hideyori as a mercenary. He does not mention this in The Book of Five Rings. Though he had some success in this battle, the Toyotomi side lost and he had barely survived escaping this battle.

Ichijoji Sagarimatsu, Location of Battle between Musashi and Yoshioka Family

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 the Yoshioka family for how they had treated his father. This duel was not supposed to take the loser's life and thus Musashi left without taking Yoshioka's life. It is said that Seijuro never held a sword afterward as his pride had been shattered. After he had defeated the father, he killed both boys in duels — though the latter one was more of an ambush. Yoshioka family records however claim that Musashi had been hit in the head by Seijuro and lost. In the subsequent battle, Musashi fled the scene. Most duel records from these times praised their wins but rarely mentioned their losses so it is impossible to know what exactly happened. Yet the fact that they had written records at all is an indication that they were survivors of duels. Sources conflict as to what weapons were used. (See Scott Wilson 2004 - Tokitsu 2004)

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 bokuto in actual duels. Most of duels from these times did not try to take the opponent's life unless both agreed, and wooden swords were used. He is also 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 a 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 to be longer than the nodachi. Musashi switched to wood after this fight believing it to be superior in reliability to steel. He briefly established a fencing school that same year.

In 1614 - 1615 he reputedly joined the troops of Tokugawa Ieyasu when he had besieged Osaka Castle of the Toyotomi family. Other accounts claim he actually served in the defending side, but many historians disagree with them. In 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 the Enmei Ryu school of kenjutsu.

In 1627 he began to travel again. In 1634 he settled in Kokura with his stepson Iori. Later they apparently entered the service of daimyo Ogasawara Tadazane when he fought in the Shimabara Rebellion. Iori served with excellence in putting down this rebellion and would gradually rise to the rank of karo, a position equal to a minister. Musashi, however was injured by a thrown rock while scouting in the front line.

Six years later Musashi moved to service of Hosokawa Tadatoshi, daimyo of Kumamoto Castle to train and paint. In 1643 he retired to a cave named Reigandō as a hermit to write The Book of Five Rings. He finished it a couple of weeks before his death around June 13, 1645.

After his death, various legends began 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 nitōichi ("two swords as one"). In this technique, the swordsman uses both katana and wakizashi at the same time. It is said the two-handed movements of temple drummers inspired him. Today Musashi's style of swordsmanship is known as Hyōhō Niten Ichi-ryū.

In actual fact Nito Seiho bears no resemblance whatsoever with drumming. Jitte techniques taught by his father use a long sword in the right and jitte in the left. In his time a long sword in the left hand was referred to as gyaku nito. Musashi was also an expert in throwing weapons. He frequently threw his shortsword. In fact before the Meiji era multi faceted skills were a necessity. A Kongen Buddhist Sutra refers to the two heavens as the two guardians of Buddha.

Musashi was a loner. He spent many years studying Buddhism and swordsmanship. He was an accomplished artist, sculptor, and calligrapher. Records also show that he had architectural skills. Also, he 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.