“If we rejected anyone who made a mistake once, then we probably wouldn't have any useful people at all. A person who has stumbled once will behave much more sensibly and be more beneficial because he has experienced remorse. A person who has never been wrong is dangerous."
Yamamoto Tsunetomo. "Hagakure" - "Hidden under the leaves" - instruction for samurai (1716).
It has always been and always will be that someone has special abilities from birth in some area. Someone has a good voice, someone already in early childhood has the talent of an artist, well, someone will be born with the talent of a swordsman. And if he notices what his soul is about, so to speak, and develops innate abilities through exercises, then … the skill of such a person will increase a hundredfold!
A modern monument at the site of the duel between Musashi and Kojiro.
In Japan, such a person became Shinmen Musashi-no-Kami Fujiwara-no-Genshin, known simply as Miyamoto Musashi ("Miyamoto of Musashi"). He was born in the village of Miyamoto, in the province of Mimasaka in 1584. Moreover, his ancestors were members of one of the branches of the Harima clan, which was very strong at that time, on the island of Kyushu, one of the southern Japanese islands. Musashi's grandfather served with the prince at Takeyama Castle, and he valued Hirada so highly that he even allowed him to marry his daughter.
At the age of seven, he lost his father, and then his mother died, and the young Bennosuke (Musashi had such a name in childhood), remained in the upbringing of his maternal uncle, who was a monk. It is now unknown whether he taught him kendo or whether the boy learned to wield a weapon on his own, but the fact that he killed a man at the age of thirteen is known for sure. Moreover, it turned out to be a certain Arima Kihei, a samurai who studied at the Shinto-ryu martial arts school, that is, a person who knew how to handle a sword. However, Musashi first threw him to the ground, and when he began to rise, he hit him on the head with a stick with such force that Kihei died, choking on his own blood.
This is how he was portrayed in Japanese u-kiyo …
Musashi's second fight took place when he was already sixteen years old. He met in it with the famous fighter Tadashima Akime, defeated him again, and then left his home and went to wander around the country, making the so-called "samurai pilgrimage". The essence of such pilgrimages was that, meeting with masters from different schools, gain experience from them, and maybe, having chosen a school to your liking, stay there as a student for a while. I must say that ronin like him, that is, "ownerless" samurai in Japan in those years roamed a great many and someone, like Musashi, traveled alone, and someone as part of a large group. For example, such a famous swordsman of the 16th century, like Tsukahara Bokuden, had a retinue of hundreds of people with him.
Musashi decided to spend the end of his life away from society, looking for spiritual enlightenment on the Path of the sword. Being engaged only in improving his art, he lived in truly inhuman conditions, blown by the wind and watered by rain, in a mountain cave. He did not comb his hair, did not pay attention to women, did not wash, and was only engaged in honing his combat skills. He did not even take a bath, so that the enemies would not catch him unarmed, and therefore had a very wild and even creepy appearance.
And that's how he was also portrayed.
Although, this is how he became at the very end of his stormy life. And in his youth, Musashi joined the ranks of the army "West" to fight against the army "East" Tokugawa Ieyasu. So he had a chance to participate in the Battle of Sekigahara, fighting as an ashigaru spearman, and he survived literally by a miracle, but even more surprising - he managed not to fall into the hands of the victors after the battle.
In Kyoto, the capital of Japan, Musashi ended up at the age of twenty-one. Here he met in a duel with the master swordsman Seijiro, and if he fought with a real combat sword, then Musashi - a training sword made of wood. And despite this, Musashi managed to knock Seijiro to the ground, and after that he just beat him with his wooden sword. When the servants brought their unfortunate master home, he, burning with shame, cut off a knot of hair on the crown of his head - a symbol of belonging to the samurai class, so great was his grief.
But all the artists were surpassed by Utagawa Kuniyoshi (1798-1861). He depicted Miyamoto Musashi killing the fantastic Nue beast.
Brother Seijiro decided to take revenge, and also challenged Musashi to battle, but he himself fell victim to the wooden sword of his opponent. Now the young son of Seijiro Yoshioka decided to avenge his father. Moreover, although he was still a teenager and he was not even twenty years old, the fame of him as a master swordsman was almost higher than the glory of his father. We agreed that the battle would take place in a pine grove, next to a rice field. Musashi appeared in advance, hid, waiting for his opponent. Yoshioka arrived there in full military attire, accompanied by armed servants, determined to kill Musashi. But he hid until those who came did not think that he would not come. It was then that Musashi jumped out of his hiding place, hacked to death Yoshioka and, working with two swords at once, managed to break through his crowd of armed servants and … he was like that!
Then Musashi continued his wanderings in Japan, and became a legend during his lifetime. He fought in over sixty bouts before he turned twenty-nine and won all of those fights. The earliest descriptions of all these fights of his are described in "Niten Ki" - "Chronicle of Two Heavens", compiled by his students after his death.
In 1605, Musashi visited the Hodzoin Temple in southern Kyoto. Here he entered into a duel with a student of a monk from the Nichiren sect. He was a real "master of the spear", but Musashi managed to knock him to the ground twice with blows of his short wooden sword. Nevertheless, Musashi remained in this temple, deciding to learn a new technique of swordsmanship and at the same time refining his mind in conversations with the monks. The text of the instructions for exercises with the spear, which the monks of this temple practiced, have survived to this day.
Musashi's life was inextricably linked with swords. Tati sword (rider's sword). The work of Master Tomonari. Japanese National Museum.
In the province of Iga, on the contrary, he met with a skilled fighter who owned the rare art of fighting with a sickle on a chain, whose name was Shishido Baikin. He swung his chain, but Musashi drew his short sword with equal speed and thrust it into the chest of his opponent. Baikin's disciples rushed to Musashi, but he, brandishing two swords at once, turned them to flight.
In Edo, he met the fighter Muso Gonosuke and offered Musashi a duel. And at that time he was planing a blank for a bow and announced that instead of a sword he would fight her. Gonosuke rushed to the attack, but Musashi deftly waved his sword away, and then struck him a strong blow to the head, from which Gonosuke fell dead to the ground.
Arriving in Izumo province, Musashi asked permission from the local daimyo Matsudaira to meet in a duel with his most experienced swordsman. There were many who wanted to try their luck in a fight with the invincible Musashi. The choice fell on a man who fought with such an unusual weapon as an octagonal wooden pole. The skirmish took place in the garden of the library. Musashi fought with two wooden swords at once and drove the enemy onto the steps of the veranda, and then lunged, threatening with a blow to the face. He recoiled, and then Musashi hit him on the hands, shattering both hands.
Then Matsudaira asked Musashi to fight with him. Realizing that it was necessary to act here with great caution, Musashi first pushed the prince to the terrace, and when he attacked him in response, struck him with a blow of "fire and stone" and broke his sword. Daimyo had no choice but to admit defeat, but apparently did not harbor anger at him, since Musashi then remained in his service for some time as a fencing teacher.
Tati master Yukihira, XII - XIII centuries. Heian Kamakura (Tokyo National Museum).
However, Musashi's most famous duel was a fight that took place in the 17th year of the Keite era, that is, in 1612, when, while in Ogure, a small town in the Bunsen province, he met Sasaki Kojiro, a very young man, who developed an absolutely amazing a sword fighting technique known as the swallow pirouette, named after the movement of the swallow's tail during flight. Since Kojiro was in the service of the local daimy, Hosokawa Tadaoki, Musashi asked him to allow him to fight Kojiro through a certain Sato Okinaga, who had studied with Musashi's father himself. Daimyo gave permission, and it was decided to fight on a small island in the middle of Ogura Bay at eight o'clock in the morning the next morning. Musashi spent the whole night outside the house, feasting at a guest of a certain Kobayashi Dzaemon. This was immediately interpreted so that Musashi got cold feet and fled shamefully.
Katana of Master Motosige. (Tokyo National Museum)
And yes, in the morning of the next day, Musashi slept and did not appear on time at the scene of the fight. They had to send a messenger for him, and the Musashi were hardly obtained. Then he got up, drank water from … a basin for washing and climbed into the boat of Sato Okinaga, who took him to this island. On the way, Musashi first tied up the sleeves of his kimono with paper ribbons, and then cut himself a kind of wooden sword from … Sato's spare oar. Having done this, he lay down to rest at the bottom of the boat.
Ganryujima Island, where the fight took place.
When the boat approached the shore, Kojiro and all his seconds were simply shocked by Musashi who appeared in front of them. Indeed, he didn’t look good: his disheveled hair was caught in a towel, his sleeves were rolled up, his hakama was tucked up. And without any ceremony, he immediately got out of the boat and, with a stump of an oar in his hand, rushed at his opponent. Kojiro immediately drew his sword - an amazing sharpness and quality blade made by the master Nagamitsu of Bizen, but threw the sword sheath aside. “You're right,” Musashi exclaimed, you won't need them anymore,”and rushed to meet him.
Kojiro lunged first, but Musashi deftly dodged to the side and immediately in turn lowered the sword from the oar directly to his opponent's head. He fell down dead, but at the same time his sword cut the towel on Musashi's head and, in addition, the belt on his wide trousers, and they fell to the ground. Seeing that his enemy was finished, he nodded his head to the seconds, and so with his bare ass and went to the boat and got into it. Some sources claim that after killing Kojiro, Musashi seemed to throw back the oar and make several quick jumps, and then drew his combat swords and began to swing them with a cry over the body of his defeated opponent. According to other sources, Musashi fought this battle so quickly that Kojiro did not even have time to draw his sword from its scabbard!
Wakizashi - short companion sword (Tokyo National Museum).
After that, Musashi completely stopped using real war blades in fights at all, and fought with only one wooden sword with a bokken. However, even with a wooden sword in his hand, he was invincible and, drawing a certain conclusion from this for himself, he devoted his entire further life to the search for the "Way of the sword."In 1614 and 1615, he again went into battle, but only now on the side of Tokugawa Ieyasu, who was besieging Osaka Castle. Musashi participated in both the winter and summer campaigns, but now he fought against those for whom he fought in his youth at Sekigahara.
Tanto blade by master Sadamune (Tokyo National Museum).
Musashi then wrote about himself that he came to the idea of what fighting is and what his strategy is, only when he was already about fifty years old, in 1634. He got an adopted son, Iori, a homeless boy, whom he picked up while traveling in the province of Deva, and with him settled in Ogure and never left Kyushu. But his adopted child rose to the rank of captain and in that he fought with the rebels Christians in 1638 during the Shimabara uprising, when Musashi was already about fifty-five. Musashi himself at this time found a place in the headquarters of the military council of government troops near Shimabara, and faithfully served the Tokugawa shogunate.
After living in Ogur for six years, Musashi went to the daimyo Churi, who owned the castle of Kumamoto, and a relative of Hokasawa. He spent several years with this prince, was engaged in painting, woodcarving and taught martial arts to his feudal lord. In 1643 he became a hermit and settled in a cave called "Reigendo". There he also wrote his famous book "Go Rin No Se" ("The Book of Five Rings"), which was dedicated to his student Teruo Nobuyuki. A few days after the completion of this work, on May 19, 1645, Musashi died. The testament that he left to his disciples was called "The Only True Way" and contained the following instructions:
Do not go against the unchanging Path of all times.
Don't seek the pleasures of the flesh.
Be impartial in everything.
Kill greed in yourself.
Never regret anything.
Don't feel insecure.
Never be jealous of another, whether good or bad.
Do not feel sad when separated.
Do not feel dislike or hostility towards yourself or others.
Never have love attractions.
Give preference to nothing.
Never seek comfort for yourself.
Never look for ways to please yourself.
Never own precious things.
Don't give in to false beliefs.
Never get carried away with any subject other than weapons.
Devote all of yourself to the true Path.
Do not know the fear of death.
Even in old age, not to have the desire to own or use anything.
Worship buddhas and spirits, but do not rely on them.
Never stray from the true Path of martial art.
As for his book, it is named so because it contains five parts: "The Book of the Earth", "The Book of Water", "The Book of Fire", "The Book of Wind" and "The Book of Void". As for Musashi himself, he is still known in Japan as "Kensei", that is, "Holy Sword", and his "Book of Five Rings" is studied by all who practice kenjutsu. And although Musashi himself considered it to be just "a guide for men who want to learn the art of strategy," it is a true philosophical work, written in such a way that the more you study it, the more you find in it. This is Musashi's will and, at the same time, the key to the path he traveled. Moreover, he was not yet thirty years old, but he had already become a completely invincible fighter. Nevertheless, he only with even greater zeal began to raise the level of his skills. Until his last days, he despised luxury and lived for two years in a mountain cave, immersed in deep self-contemplation like Buddhist ascetics. Even his enemies note that the behavior of this absolutely fearless and very stubborn person was, without a doubt, very modest and sincere, although it shocked someone by breaking the usual rules.
Drawing by Musashi.
Interestingly, Musashi himself was a wonderful master in everything he undertook. He drew beautifully with ink, and created works that the Japanese themselves value very highly. In his paintings, various birds are depicted with great skill, for example, cormorants, herons, the Shinto god Hotei, dragons and flowers, Daruma (Bodhidharma) and much more. Musashi was also a skilled calligrapher who wrote Senki (Warlike Spirit). Wooden sculptures and metal products carved by him have survived to this day. Moreover, he founded a school of sword tsuba makers. In addition, he wrote a large number of poems and songs, but they have not survived to our time. Shogun Iyomitsu specifically commissioned Musashi to paint the sunrise over his castle in Edo. His paintings usually bear the seal "Musashi" or his pseudonym "Niten", which means "Two Heavens". He also founded the Niten Ryu or Enmei Ryu (Pure Circle) fencing school.
Musashi advised: "Study the Ways of all professions," and he himself did the same. He tried to learn from the experience not only from the famous masters of kenjutsu, but also from peaceful monks, artisans and artists, tried to expand the circle of his knowledge literally to infinity, as far as life allows him to do it.
But such swords and daggers had purely ceremonial functions and would hardly have seduced Musashi …
It is interesting that the text of his book can be applied not only in military affairs, but also to any life situation where a decision is required. Japanese businessmen make extensive use of The Book of the Five Rings as a guide to organizing marketing campaigns, which are carried out as military operations, and in doing so use its methods. To ordinary people, Musashi seemed strange and even very cruel, since they did not understand what he was striving for, and … the funny thing is, to most modern people, the successful business of other people also seems to be a shameless thing, because they know only two ways to get rich: "Steal" and "sell"!
Well, and he would not refuse such a headset: everything is modest and tasteful. The scabbard is finished with silver dust and varnish.
Thus, what Musashi taught remains relevant in the 20th century, and is applicable not only to the Japanese themselves, but also to peoples of other cultures, and, therefore, has global significance. Well, and the spirit of his teaching is easy to express in just two words - modesty and hard work.
