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Miyamoto Musashi was born Shimmen Takezo in what is now West Hyogo Prefecture (or East Okayama Prefecture, depending on who you ask). just before the long period of stability marked by the Tokugawa Shogunate. His father was a strict man, but a great warrior in his own right. Still, many considered the Shimmen family to be provincial warriors.
Growing up Takezo led a life that can only be described as hard. His father taught him harshly, and while Takezo proved to be a natural warrior, his father's style of teaching gave the young boy no understanding of the finer points of being a samurai. Yet Takezo was supposedly almost supernaturally strong: as a young teenager he accepted a challenge posted by an experienced samurai; it was common in those days for student warriors to travel the country and improve their skills in duels. Takezo beat him easily. A few years later Takezo went to Sekigahara, the key battle between the Tokugawa faction and those loyal to the great general Hideyoshi (who is one of the most fascinating figures of that era). Takezo chose to fight for Hideyoshi, the losing side. This made him an outlaw.
Events after this are somewhat disputed. While it may not be correct, I prefer the story as told by famous Japanese author Yoshikawa Eiji. Without going into great detail, after the battle Takezo found himself a prisoner in Himeji Castle. Yoshikawa credits this to the famous priest Takuan Soho (who, in addition to being a leading thinker that freely moved through all levels of society from the top down, also created the delicious Takuan pickles). In Himeji Takezo spent a great deal of time reading; he supposedly undertook no physical training, but instead worked on improving his spirit. It was there that he began what would be a lifelong journey to become a perfect human being, a man that could live every day without taking actions that caused regret. He also changed his name to Miyamoto Musashi: Miyamoto for the village where he was born, Musashi as another reading of the Kanji used for Takezo.
His life was fairly long, particularly for a warrior who spent his early years actively looking for fights with the greatest samurai in the country. In his life he supposedly only lost one fight, that encounter with Takuan that led to his imprisonment in Himeji. One of his greatest achievements was the two sword technique, where the long sword is held in one hand and the short sword in the other. Near the end of his life he wrote Go Rin No Sho, the Book of Five Rings; considered a great work in martial arts literature, the lessons of that book continue to inspire modern business leaders.
