Miyamoto Musashi - Sword Master
Yamamoto Tsunetomo. "Hagakure" - "Hidden under the leaves" - instruction for samurai (1716).
It has always been and always will be that someone has from birth special abilities in some area. Someone has a good voice, someone already in early childhood has the talent of the artist, well, and someone will be born with the talent of a fencer. And if he notices what he has, so to say, “lies the soul” 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 Musashi and Kojiro.
In Japan, Sinmen Musashi-no-Kami Fujiwara-no-Gensin, known simply as Miyamoto Musashi ("Miyamoto of Musashi"), became such a person. He was born in the village of Miyamoto, in Mimasaka province in 1584 year. Moreover, his ancestors were members of one of the branches of the very strong clan of Harima on the island of Kyushu - one of the southern Japanese islands. Ded Musashi served with the prince at Takeyama castle, and he so highly valued Hirada that he even allowed him to marry his daughter.
When he was seven years old, he lost his father, and then his mother died, and the young Bennosuke (Musashi bore that name as a child), remained in the care of his mother’s uncle, who was a monk. Now it is not known whether he taught him kendo or the boy learned to own weapons independently, but the fact that he killed a man at the age of thirteen is known for certain. And it turned out to be someone Arima Kihei, a samurai who studied at the Shinto-ryu martial arts school, that is, a man who knew how to handle a sword. However, Musashi first threw him to the ground, and when he began to rise, he hit his head with a stick with such force that Kihei died choking on his own blood.
That's how he was portrayed in Japanese w-kiyo ...
Musashi's second fight took place when he was already sixteen years old. He met in it with the famous fighter Tadasim Akim, defeated him again, and then left his home and went wandering around the country, making the so-called "Samurai pilgrimage." The essence of such pilgrimages was to meet with masters from different schools, to gain experience from them, and maybe, choosing a school to their liking, to stay there as a student for a while. It must be said that similar to him ronin, that is, "orphan" samurai, a great many people roamed Japan in those years and someone, like Musashi, traveled alone, and someone in a large group. For example, such a famous swordsman of the XVI century, as Tsukahara Bokuden, had with him a retinue of hundreds of people.
The end of his life Musashi decided to spend far from society, taking up the search for spiritual enlightenment on the Path of the sword. Being engaged only in the improvement of his art, he lived truly in inhuman conditions, blown by the wind and poured by rain in a mountain cave. He did not brush his hair, did not pay attention to women, did not wash, but was engaged only in honing his combat skills. He did not even take baths, so that enemies would not take him unarmed by the unarmed, and therefore he had a very wild and even eerie appearance.
And so he was also portrayed.
Although, this is how he became at the very end of his tumultuous life. And because of his youth, Musashi joined the “West” army to fight against the “East” army Tokugawa Ieyasu. So he had the opportunity to participate in the battle of Sekigahara, fighting as a spearman-ashigaru, and he survived literally a miracle, but what is even more surprising - he managed not to fall into the hands of the winners after the battle.
In Kyoto - the capital of Japan, Musashi came at the age of twenty-one. Here he met in a duel with the master swordsman Seijiro, and if he fought a real fighting sword, then Musashi - a training one made of wood. And despite this, Musashi managed to knock Seijiro to the ground, and then he simply 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 top of his head - a symbol of belonging to the samurai estate, so much was his grief.
But all artists surpassed Utagawa Kuniyoshi (1798 — 1861). He portrayed how Miyamoto Musashi is killing the fantastic beast Nue.
Brother Seijiro decided to take revenge, and also called Musashi to fight, but he himself fell victim to the wooden sword of his opponent. Now the young son Seijiro Yoshioka decided to avenge his father. And although he was still a teenager and he was not even twenty years old, the fame of him, as a master swordsman, was almost above the glory of his father. We agreed that the battle will take place in a pine grove, next to the rice field. Musashi appeared in advance, hid, waiting for his opponent. Yoshioka arrived there in full battle dress, accompanied by armed servants, determined to kill Musashi. But he hid until those who came came to think that he would not come. It was then that Musashi jumped out of his shelter, hacked Yoshioka and, working with two swords at once, managed to get through his crowd of armed servants and ... was like that!
Then Musashi continued his wanderings in Japan, and became a legend during his lifetime. He participated in more than sixty bouts before he was twenty-nine years old, and won all these battles. The earliest descriptions of all these fights of his are described in "Niten Ki" - "Chronicles of Two Heavens", compiled by his students after his death.
In 1605, Musashi visited the Hojoin Temple, which was located in the south of Kyoto. Here he entered into a duel with a disciple of a monk from the Nitiren sect. He was a real “master of the spear”, but Musashi managed to double him over to the ground with the blows of his short wooden sword. Nevertheless, Musashi remained in this temple, deciding to learn new fencing techniques and at the same time sharpening his mind in conversations with monks. The text of instructions for the spear exercises practiced by the monks of this temple has survived to the present day.
Musashi’s life was inextricably linked with swords. Sword tati (rider's sword). The work of the master Tomonari. Japanese National Museum.
In the province of Iga, he, on the contrary, met a skilled warrior who owned the rare art of fighting with the help of a sickle on a chain, called Sisido Baykin. He waved his chain, but Musashi snatched out his short sword with equal speed and thrust it into the chest of his opponent. Baikin's disciples rushed at Musashi, but he, waving two swords at once, turned them to flight.
In Edo, he was met by fighter Muso Gonosuke and offered Musashi a duel. And at that time he was planing a blank for the bow and announced that instead of a sword he would fight her. Gonosuke rushed to the attack, but Musashi deftly dismissed his sword, and then struck him a strong blow on the head, from which Gonosuke fell dead to the ground.
Arriving in Izumo, Mousasi asked permission from daimyo Matsudaira there to meet in a duel with his most experienced fencer. There were a lot of people willing to try their luck in a fight with invincible Musashi. The choice fell on a man who fought with such unusual weapons as an octagonal wooden pole. The fight 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 he lunged, threatening to strike him in the face. He recoiled, and then Musashi hit his hands, smashing both hands.
Then Matsudaira asked Musashi to fight with him. Realizing that it was necessary to act with great caution here, Musashi at first pushed the prince back onto the terrace, and when he attacked him in response, he struck him with a “fire and stone” and broke his sword. Daimyo had no choice but to admit his defeat, but apparently he did not bother him evil, because Musashi then remained in his service as a fencing teacher.
Tati master Yukihir, XII - XIII centuries. Heian Kamakura (Tokyo National Museum).
However, Musashi’s most famous duel was in 17, the year of Keith, that is, in 1612, when, while in Ogur, a small town in Bunsen province, he met Sasaki Kojiro, a very young man who developed a completely amazing The sword fighting technique, known as “swallow pirouette”, is the name after the movements of the swallow tail during flight. Since Kojiro was in the service of a local daimyo, Hosokawa Tadoki, Musashi asked him to allow him to fight Kojiro through a certain Sato Okinaga, who had been trained by his father Musashi. 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 on a visit to a certain Kobayashi Zaemona. It was immediately interpreted to mean that Musashi was scared and ran shamefully.
Katana master motosige. (Tokyo National Museum)
And yes, the next morning, Musashi slept and did not show up at the place of the fight on time. I had to send him a messenger, and Musashi got off with difficulty. At this point, he got up, drank water from a ... wash basin, and climbed into the boat of Sato Okinagh, who took him to this island. On the way, Musashi to begin with, tied up his kimono's sleeves with paper ribbons, and then he wore a semblance of a wooden sword from ... Sato's spare paddle. Having done this, he lay down to rest on the bottom of the boat.
Island Ganryujima, where just was a duel.
When the boat reached the shore, Kojiro and all his seconds were simply shocked by the Musashi that appeared before them. And in fact, he looked unimportant: the disheveled hair was intercepted by a towel, the sleeves rolled up, the hakama tucked. 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 uncovered his sword - a blade of amazing sharpness and quality, made by master Nagamitsu of Bizen, but at the same time he threw the sheath of the sword aside. “You are right,” Musashi exclaimed; you will no longer need them anymore, “and rushed to meet him.
Kojiro was the first to lunge, but Musashi deftly dodged to the side and immediately lowered the sword from the oar directly onto his opponent’s head. He fell dead, but at the same time his sword cut the towel on Musashi's head and in addition the belt on his wide pants and they fell to the ground. Seeing that his opponent was finished, he nodded to the seconds, and so with a bare ass and went to the boat and got into it. Some sources claim that, after killing Kojiro, Musashi seemed to have thrown off the oar and made some quick jumps, and then snatched his fighting swords and with a cry began to swing them over the body of his defeated opponent. According to other sources, Musashi fought this fight so quickly that Kojiro did not even have time to pull his sword out of its sheath!
Wakidzasi is a short satellite sword (Tokyo National Museum).
After that, Musashi completely ceased to use real combat blades in fights at all, but he fought with only one wooden sword with a bokken. However, even with a wooden sword in his hand, he was invincible and, making from this a definite conclusion for himself, he devoted his whole 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, besieging Osaka Castle. Musashi participated in the winter and summer campaigns, but now he fought against those for whom he fought at Sekigahara when he was young.
The blade tanto masters Sadamunee (Tokyo National Museum).
Musashi then wrote about himself that he came to the conclusion of what a fight is and what his strategy is when he was about fifty years old, in the 1634 year. He acquired the adopted son of Iori, a homeless boy whom he picked up while traveling in the Deva province, and with him settled in Ogura and did not leave the island of Kyushu anymore. But his adoptee rose to the rank of captain and as such he fought against the rebels Christians in the 1638 year during the Simabara uprising, when Musashi was already about fifty-five. Musashi himself at this time found a place for himself at the headquarters of the military council of government troops under Shimabara, and faithfully served the Tokugawa shogunate.
Having lived in Ogur for six years, Musashi went to Daimyo Turi, who owned the Kumamoto castle, and a relative of Hokasawa. He spent several years with this prince, was engaged in painting, woodcarving and taught the feudal lord martial arts. In 1643, he became a recluse and settled in a cave called Reigendo. 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 19, May 1645, Musashi passed away. The will, which he left to his students, was called “The Only True Path” and contained the following instructions:
Do not go against the same Path of all times.
Do not seek the pleasures of the flesh.
Be impartial in everything.
Kill the greed.
Never regret anything.
Do not feel insecure.
Never envy anyone else in good or bad.
Do not feel sad in separation.
Do not feel hostility or hostility towards yourself or others.
Never have love instincts.
Give preference to nothing.
Never look for amenities for yourself.
Never look for ways to appease yourself.
Never own precious things.
Do not give in to false beliefs.
Never get involved in anything other than a weapon.
Dedicate oneself to the true Path.
Do not know the fear of death.
Even in old age do not have the desire to own or use something.
Worship buddhas and spirits, but not hope for them.
Never depart from the true Path of martial art.
As for his book, it is so named because there are five parts in it: “Books of the Earth”, “Books of Water”, “Books of Fire”, “Books of Wind” and “Books of the Void”. As for Musashi himself, he is still known in Japan as “Kensei,” that is, “Holy Sword,” and his “Book of the Five Rings” is studied by everyone involved in kenjutsu. And although Musashi himself considered it only “a guide for men who want to learn the art of strategy,” this is a real philosophical work, written in such a way that the more you study it, the more you find it all. This is a testament to Musashi and at the same time the key to the path he took. And he was not yet thirty years old, and he had already become a completely invincible fighter. Nevertheless, he only with even greater zeal engaged in improving their skills. Until the last days, he despised luxury and lived for two years in a mountain cave, plunging into deep self-contemplation like Buddhist ascetics. Even his enemies point out that the behavior of this absolutely fearless and very stubborn person was, no doubt, very modest and sincere, although it shocked someone that they violated the usual rules.
Figure work Musashi.
Interestingly, Musashi himself was a wonderful master in everything he undertook. He perfectly painted with ink, and created works that the Japanese themselves rate very highly. His paintings depict various birds 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 the work “Sankey” (“Militant spirit”). Wooden sculptures and metal products carved by him have come down to our day. Moreover, he founded a school for the manufacturers of swords for swords. In addition, he wrote a large number of poems and songs, only to our time they have not survived. Shogun Yomitsu specifically ordered Musashi to write the sunrise over his castle in Edo. His paintings usually bear the stamp “Musashi” or his pseudonym “Niten”, which means “Two Heavens”. He also founded the fencing school "Niten Ryu" or "Enmei Ryu" ("Clean Circle").
Musashi advised: “Learn the Ways of all professions,” and he did the same. He tried to learn from not only the famous Kenjutsu masters, but also peaceful monks, artisans and artists, trying to expand his circle of knowledge literally to infinity, as far as his life allows him to do so.
But such swords and daggers had purely ceremonial functions and would hardly deceive Musashi ...
Interestingly, the text of his book can be applied not only in military affairs, but also to any situation in life where a decision is required. Japanese businessmen make extensive use of the Book of the Five Rings as a guide for organizing sales campaigns for goods that are conducted as combat operations and use its methods. Musashi seemed strange and even cruel to ordinary people, as they didn’t understand what he was striving for, and ... what is most funny, the success of other people’s successful business also seems to be unconscionable because they know only two ways to enrich themselves: "Steal" and "sell"!
Well, he would not have refused such a headset: everything is modest and tasteful. The sheath is trimmed with silver dust and varnish.
Thus, what Musashi taught is still relevant in the 20th century, and is applicable not only to the Japanese themselves, but also to people of other cultures, and, therefore, has global significance. Well, the spirit of his teachings is easy to express in just two words - modesty and hard work.
Information