The Legendary Miyamoto Musashi(1584-1685)
Miyamoto Musashi was a great figure in Japanese
history. Not only was he an effective military leader with great strategies, he
was respected as an extremely talented artist. His works of art which included
paintings, sculptures and calligraphy were among one of the finest in Japanese
history. However, Musashi was best remembered as a great swordsman. He is known
as the ‘sword saint’ (Kensei) to
the Japanese for his “supreme skill with the sword.”
Musashi’s full name was Shinmen Musashi No Kami
Fujiwara No Genshin. He later took the name Miyamoto to honor his birthplace.
Musashi was orphaned at a young age, and was raised by his uncle who was a
Buddhist priest. At 13, Musashi was physically large for his age. He was a
strong-willed and boisterous youth. Musashi took on kendo and became very good
at it. It was recorded that he slew a man in combat at just thirteen. His
opponent was Arima Kigei of the Shinto Ryu military arts school.
At 16, Musashi left home and embarked on a “Warrior
Pilgrimage”, which saw him victor in scores of contests and which took him to
war six times, until he finally settled down a at the age of fifty”. Musashi
was also known for a series of notable duels in Kyoto against the Yoshiokas who
were fencing teachers to the Ashikaga family. Musashi defeated the elder
brother, Genzaemon and the second brother, Denshichiro.
He was then challenged by Genzaemon’s young son, Hanshichiro. Musashi
hid and waited for him, jumping out and cutting him down when he least expected.
After that ,Musashi continued to travel all over
Japan. He soon became a legend. His name and stories were found in registers,
diaries, on monuments, and in folk memory from Tokyo to Kyushu. He had more than
sixty contests before he was twenty-nine, and won them all. “The earliest
account of his contests appears in Niten
Ki, or "Two Heavens Chronicle", a record compiled by his pupils a
generation after his death.”
Musashi spent part of his
life living apart from society while he focused single-mindedly on the search
for “enlightenment by the Way of the sword. Concerned only with perfecting his
skill, he lived as men need not live, …neither dressing his hair nor taking a
wife nor following any profession save his study.” It is said he never bathed
for fear of being attacked. His appearance was unkempt and wild. It was
suggested that his weird behavior could have been planned to confuse and
frighten his rivals.
Musashi’s most famous was the
battle with Sasaki Kojiro, a retainer of the Hosokawa clan and the foremost
fencer in northern Kyushu. The battle took place in 1612. The story has it that
at the appointed time, Kojiro saw no sign of Musashi. Musashi had overslept in
an inn. He got up slowly had his breakfast before making his way to the battle
site. On his way, Musashi cut an old oar into the shape of a sword. As he
approached the island, the angry Kojiro went up to him. They exchanged a few
words which made Kojiro even more upset, and he slashed at Musashi’s head with
his sword. Musashi was quick to response by aiming a fatal blow at his head. As
Kojiro fell, his sword cut the towel from Musashi’s head and tore the hem of
his divided skirt. Musashi gave him one more fatal blow and his opponent was
killed.
After that battle, he was involved in the fighting at
Osaka Castle in 1614-15. From then onwards, he became devoted to searching for
the perfect understanding by way of kendo. He continued to search for the true
meaning of swordsmanship, “believing that the art of the sword transcended
mere technical skill or fighting ability”.
In 1946, Musashi retired to a cave called “Reigendo”
where he wrote Go Rin No Sho (The book
of 5 Rings), addressed to his pupil, Teruo Nobuyuki, a few weeks before he died
on 19th May 1645. In his own words, the book is a
“guide for men who want to learn strategy”. The more one reads the book
the more one finds in its pages. Musashi wrote "When
you have attained the Way of strategy there will be not one thing that you
cannot understand" and "You
will see the Way in everything". This applies to any situation where
plans and tactics are involved. “Japanese businessmen have used Go
Rin No Sho as a guide for business practice, making sales campaigns like
military operations, using the same energetic methods.”
Musashi's life study is still very much relevant
today as it was centuries ago, and applies not just to the Japanese but all
other races. As Victor Harris writes his inspiration could be sum as
"humility and hard work".