Miyamoto Musashi

Miyamoto Musashi (宮本 武蔵, Miyamoto Musashi^?; Harima Province, March 1584-Reigandō, June 13, 1645) was a famous warrior of feudal Japan. He is also known as Shinmen Takezō , Miyamoto Bennosuke , or by his Buddhist name Niten Dōraku . His full name is Shinmen Musashi no Kami Fujiwara no Harunobu ("No Kami" is a noble title, while "Fujiwara" is the name of an important noble family of that time). He is the author of the renowned treatise on martial arts titled The Book of Five Rings (Go-rin no sho).

Biography

Details of Miyamoto Musashi's early years are difficult to verify. Musashi himself simply states in The Book of Five Rings that he was born in the province of Harima. Niten Ki (an early biography of Musashi) supports the theory that Musashi was born in 1584: "[He] was born in Banshū, in Tenshō 12 [1584], in the Year of the Monkey." Historian Kamiko Tadashi, commenting on Musashi's text, observes: "Munisai was Musashi's father...he lived in the village of Miyamoto, in the Yoshino district [of Mimasaka province]. Musashi was probably born here." His childhood name was Bennosuke (弁之助).

Kamidana of the Heiho Niten Ichi Ryu School.

Musashi gives his full name and title in 'The Book of Five Rings' as Shinmen Musashi-no-Kami Fujiwara no Harunobu (新免武藤原玄玄). His father, Shinmen Munisai (新免無二斎) was a noted martial artist and master of the sword and jutte (also jitte). Munisai, in turn, was the son of Hirata Shōgen (平田将監), a vassal of Shinmen Iga no Kami, the lord of Takayama Castle in Yoshino District in Mimasaka Province. Lord Shinmen trusted Hirata and was thus allowed to use the Shinmen name. As for "Musashi", Musashi no Kami was a court title, making him the nominal governor of Musashi Province. "Fujiwara" was the lineage from which Musashi claimed descent.

Munisai and Musashi's birth date: Munisai's tomb says he died in 1580, which is in conflict with the commonly accepted birth date of 1584 for Musashi. Further confusing his date of birth, the extant Miyamoto family genealogy relates that Musashi was born in 1582. Kenji Tokitsu has suggested that the accepted birth date of 1584 for Musashi is incorrect, as it is based primarily on a literal reading of the introduction to 'The Book of Five Rings' where Musashi states that the years of his life "add to 60" (resulting in the twelfth year of the Tensho era, or 1584, when working backwards from the date of well-documented composition), when it should be taken in a more loose, literary sense, indicating not a specific age, but simply that Musashi was in his sixties when he wrote it.

Born in 1584, possibly in the town of Miyamoto, Mimasaka province. Musashi's ancestors were a branch of the powerful Harima clan, originally from Kyushu province, Japan's southernmost island. His grandfather, Hirada Shokan, was a servant of Shimmen Iga No Kami Sudeshige, master of Takeyama Castle and an important feudal lord of the time.

When Musashi was seven years old, his father, Munisai, died or disappeared (exactly unknown), about a year after his mother, Omasa, died. Because of this, Benosuke (as Musashi was known as a child) was placed under the guardianship of a priest, his maternal uncle. With this, we find Musashi as an orphan during the time of Toyotomi Hideyoshi's country unification campaigns. The son of a samurai, during one of the most violent times in the history of Japan, the writings describe him as a young man with a tumultuous character, with great willpower, and physically very developed for his age. His uncle insisted that he study the arts of the warrior, and this, together with his physical development and his violent nature, meant that he was soon involved in combat. It is not known if his inclination towards Kenjutsu was at the behest of his maternal uncle, or if his aggressive nature brought him closer to fencing: «...From my earliest youth my heart leaned towards the Way of the Warrior».

Miyamoto Musashi.

First duel

I have been trained in the field of strategy since my youth, and at the age of thirteen I fought a duel for the first time. My opponent was called Arima Kihei, a fit for the sword of the Systolist ryū, and I defeated him. At the age of sixteen I defeated a powerful adept named Akiyama, who came from the province of Tajima. At the age of twenty-one, I went up to Kyōtō and fought duels with several famous school sword adepts, but I never lost.

Miyamoto Musashi, Go rin no sho.

In the introduction to 'The Book of Five Rings,' Musashi stated that his first successful duel was at the age of 13, against a samurai named Arima Kihei who fought using the Kashima Shintō-ryū style, founded by Tsukahara Bokuden (born. 1489, died. 1571). The main source of mourning is the Hyoho senshi denki ("Anecdotes about the deceased Master"). Summarized, his quote is as follows:

In 1596, Musashi was 13 years old and Arima Kihei, who traveled to perfect his art, published a public challenge in Hirafuku-mura. Musashi wrote his name on the challenge. A messenger came to the temple of Dorin, where Musashi stayed, to inform Musashi that his duel had been accepted by Kihei. Dorin, Musashi's uncle, was surprised by this, and tried to ask for mourning in the name of Musashi, based on the age of his nephew. Kihei was convinced that the only way his honor could be cleaned was if Musashi apologized to him when the duel was scheduled. So when the time was set for mourning, Dorin began to apologize for Musashi, who simply threw himself at Kihei with a six-foot team, shouting a challenge to Kihei. Kihei attacked with a wakizashi, but Musashi threw Kihei on the ground, and while Kihei was trying to get up, Musashi hit Arima between his eyes and then shot him. Arima was said to be arrogant, too eager for battle, and not a terribly talented swordsman.

William Scott Wilson, the lonely Samurái.

There is a record of a fight in which he defeated and killed an adult warrior, when he was only thirteen years old. His opponent was Arima Kigei, an expert samurai from the area's Shinto Ryu school of Kenjutsu martial arts. His opponent was an expert with the sword and spear, who had walked around the town challenging everyone and putting up a notice that said: "Whoever wants to challenge me will be accepted." When Musashi read it he wrote below it: "I will challenge you tomorrow", and wrote his name. That afternoon a note arrived from Kigei accepting the challenge to a 13-year-old boy and indicating the place of the duel. The next morning Musashi set out for the dueling site with a wooden sword in hand. As Arima Kigei drew his sword, Miyamoto knocked the man down, later hitting him on the head as he was about to get up. Kigei died vomiting blood.

The next serious match on record occurred when Musashi was 16, in which he defeated Tadashima Akiyama of Tajima Province. Around the same time he left his house to begin a pilgrimage in which he honed his skills through numerous combats, both in individual fights and in battles. He sought experience and knowledge, finding all kinds of duels and contests in which he was victorious: "...I traveled province after province fighting with warriors of all types and formations, but none could defeat me in the more than sixty duels in which I participated." There were many rōnin (masterless samurai) traveling the country on similar expeditions, some alone like Musashi, and others who enjoyed the patronage of some school or feudal sector like the famous samurai Tsukahara Bokuden, creator of the Mutekatsu Ryu school, who had traveled with a retinue of over a hundred men in the previous century. This type of pilgrimage trips in search of experience and improvement was called Musha shugyō. He finally settled down when he was 50 years old, as he considered he had learned all he could learn by wandering.

Throughout this period of his life, Musashi remained relatively apart from society, devoting himself exclusively to the quest for enlightenment through the Way of the Sword. Devoted only to perfecting his skills, he lived in a rather precarious way, wandering the country and sleeping rough in the dead of winter, not caring about his physical appearance, taking a wife, or pursuing any profession other than his own. study. Although there are some references that he had a girlfriend named Otsu. It is said that he never entered a bathtub for fear of being caught unarmed, and that his appearance was rough and savage.

At the Battle of Sekigahara, in which Ieyasu succeeded Hideyoshi as Japan's top leader, Musashi was among the ranks of the Ashikaga army and against Ieyasu. I mean, he was on the losing side. He survived not only the three days of the battle, in which around 70,000 warriors died, but also the following days of hunting down and slaughtering the survivors of the defeated army.

Shurikenjutsu was used to seize the initiative when a warrior was attacked by several adversaries at once. The distance to launch the projectiles used in this combat art is relatively short, but it is related to the weaponry of the adversary. In Musashi's school, against opponents armed with short weapons (for example sabers), the minimum distance to throw a Shuriken must be greater than 1.80 meters. In the case of not maintaining this safety distance, they were dangerously exposed. In the event that the adversary is armed with a long weapon (Yari or Naginata type), the minimum distance increases until reaching a space that oscillates between 2.70 and 3 meters. On this occasion, the Musashi school proposes leaving the small projectiles to use the short saber (wakizashi) as a throwing weapon. To achieve good effectiveness in this type of throw, it can generally be done from a distance of less than 3 meters, although the distance can be increased to a maximum of 4 meters on special occasions.

Miyamoto's school incorporates the wakizashi as a projectile into genjutsu. The way to throw the short sword, from a distance of less than 3 meters, consists of holding the tsuka at a slightly lower level than the tsuba area. If the distance increases up to 4 meters, the weapon is held by the tsuka in a different way. In this case, the weapon is held by the tsuka but, unlike the previous method, closer to the tsuba, placing the index finger on the fore-end. The two possibilities are carried out with the Jikida-ho launch method, trajectory without turning the weapon or straight trajectory. The action of the arm in these short saber throws describes a 90º movement, both from top to bottom and from bottom to top, either vertically or horizontally.

Finally, this school also considers the possibility, remote on the other hand, of throwing the long saber (katana). This type of technique is performed as if a short spear or javelin were thrown. The saber is held from its dorsal part (Mune), near its center of gravity, which is located near the hilt. The throw is also of the Jikida-ho type. The maximum distance of this launch is 4 meters, as in the previous case. It is said that Miyamoto Musashi achieved great skill, both to throw a real saber and a wooden saber (Bokken).

The most representative fact of the use of the Wakizashi (short saber) as a projectile can be found in the book written by Toyoba Seigo in the year 1712, titled 'Nitenki' (writings on the two skies). This author, a disciple of the Musashi school, wrote in this book various passages from the life of the founder of his school. In one of these passages, he recounts the combat between Musashi and the warrior known by the family name of Shishido, later baptized Baiken Shishido by Eiji Yoshikawa in his novel entitled 'Miyamoto Musashi'. According to the 'Nitenki' Musashi fought with Shishido, he was an expert in the art with the Kusarigama. This original weapon and Shishido's great reputation caused Musashi to travel to Iga Prefecture to challenge this warrior.

The two experts headed out into the open. Arriving at the right place, once they were face to face, Shishido began to turn the weighted chain of his weapon. Musashi, a strategic genius, sought the optimal distance to avoid being hit by the chain. He drew his katana and held it with his left hand, then drew the short saber with his right hand. This position is called in this school Gyaku-nito (the two swords in reverse). Musashi makes a circular motion with the wakizashi above his head. This action, unusual among Japanese warriors, partially blocked his opponent. Shishido, who had hoped to catch one of Musashi's sabers with his chain, lost his concentration. This was taken advantage of by Musashi to advance and Baiken was forced to fall back. At this moment, Musashi launched the wakizashi that plunged into his opponent's torso. Musashi immediately attacked him lethally with the katana, achieving victory in this dangerous combat. In the Nito Ryu school, the technique used by its founder in this combat is known under the name Sanshinto (the saber of the three spirits). The first spirit refers to the one that causes the circular movement of the wakizashi , an action that causes the adversary to divert attention from it. The second spirit prepares the warrior to hinder with the wakizashi the possible attack of the opponent. Finally, the last spirit originates the ability to defeat the enemy with the katana. Apart from the Nito Ryu school, other schools are known for the transmission of Wakizashi throwing techniques, such as Onko Chishin Ryu (founded by an adopted son of Musashi), and Kageyama Ryu.

Musashi's musha shugyō led him to more than 60 matches between the ages of 17 and 30, never being defeated. These disputes were almost always crowned with the death of the rival. The samurai were introduced to the military arts so that they would become good strategists, brave and capable of making extreme decisions quickly. In wars and disputes, his attitude was serene, even in the face of death. The one who found enlightenment through Kenjutsu developed a precise decision of reality, rewarded with dignified and honest conduct. Musashi was a master in the Way of the Sword. He sought perfection in the art of the sword, until his fame reached the main courts of Japan.

Possibly Musashi's most famous duel was that of Ganryu, in the year 1612, when he was 30 years old. In the province of Ogura, Buzen province, he fought Sasaki Kojirō, a samurai with a reputation for invincibility. He had managed to develop a combat technique based on the 'flying swallow's tail' move, known as Tsubame gaeshi. The name of his sword, or as he called it, was "The drying stick." It was a straight-edged nodachi with a blade over 90 cm in length. On the morning of the duel, Musashi took a boat to the island in question. Along the way, he carved a spare boatman's oar with his wakizashi, and made himself a large wooden sword. He used a paper string to tie his kimono. In this form he appeared before Kojiro. Musashi jumped out of the boat and walked across the water to the sand. He was running quite late and that angered his opponent more than usual. When the opponents approached, Sasaki Kojirô drew his katana and threw it to the ground. Seeing this, his opponent told him: "You have lost the Kojirô duel." Kojirô asked him why. Musashi said: “You have lost to me the moment you have drawn your scabbard and thrown the scabbard on the ground. You did that because you know you won't need them anymore." After such a statement he began the fight. During the battle, after dodging a blow thrown by Kojirô with his katana, Musashi turned his back to the sun and launched himself at him, defeating him with a precise blow to the head. After defeating Sasaki Kojirō, considered one of the most skilled samurai of the time, he went through a great spiritual change. From then on, he never in his life used real swords in any duel, he would only use wooden swords (or bokken). He was "invincible", and from then on he would devote himself to the search for perfect understanding through Kendo. In 1614 and 1615 he had the opportunity to gain more experience in the art of warfare and siege. Tokugawa Ieyasu besieged the Osaka fortress where the insurgent supporters of the Ashikaga family had taken refuge. Musashi joined the Tokugawa forces during the winter and summer campaigns, now fighting those who had fought alongside him in his youth at the battle of Sekigahara. According to his own writings, he came to understand the art of strategy at the age of fifty, in 1634. That year he and his adopted son Iori, an orphan he had met in Dewa province on the voyages from him, they settled in Ogura. He never left the island of Kyushu again. The house of Hosokawa had entrusted him with the command of a key site in Higo province, Kumamoto Castle, and the new lord of Buzen was Ogasawara. Iori found employment under Ogasawara Tadazane, as a captain in the army he fought against the Christians in the Shimabara uprising of 1638, Musashi was fifty-four years old. The lords of the southern provinces had always been antagonistic to the Tokugawa and had been the instigators of intrigues with foreign powers and Japanese Christians. Musashi was a staff member of the Ogasawara army at Shimabara where Christians were massacred. After this the Tokugawa closed the ports of Japan to foreign communication, and they would remain so for over two hundred years. Musashi wrote: "The true Art of the Sword cannot be understood from the narrow confines of mere swordsmanship." "When you have understood the Way of strategy there will not be a single thing that you cannot understand" and "you will see the Way in all things." He, in fact, became a Master of Arts and Skills. He produced masterpieces of ink paintings, probably more valued by the Japanese than anyone else's ink paintings. His works include cormorants, herons, the Shinto god Hotei, dragons, birds with flowers, the bird on a dead tree, Daruma (Bodhidharma), and others. He was an expert calligrapher, evidenced in his work "Senki" (Spirit of War) which goes like this:

The stream of a winter river reflects the moon, like a mirror, and is transparent.

Fighting school of the two skies. Kan ryû tsuki obi, sumerukoto kagami no droposhi

This is a well-known poem by Musashi. Winter water evokes the coldness of the leaf and the lucidity of the mind. The river does not stagnate, it flows without ceasing, as the mind and the will must do at the moment of combat. The water is transparent, but its surface reflects in a different way the bluish color of the moon.

In 1641 Lord Hosokawa Tadatoshi (son of Hosokawa Tadaoki) and lord of Kumamoto trustfully receives a manuscript written by Musashi, which contains 35 articles or tactical saber lessons. It is believed to be incomplete, as his Daimyo suddenly dies. It is a work of great value, his name is Heihō Sanjūrokajō. After this, Musashi becomes sad and indulges in calligraphy and writing.

A small wooden sculpture of the Buddhist deity Fudo Myoo is known to be in private hands. A Kwannon sculpture, recently lost. He did metalwork, and founded a school of tsuba (katana guards) makers on which he signed "Niten" after his name (alluding to his Niten Ichi Ryu school). It is said that he wrote poems and songs, but none of these have survived to this day. It is also said that he was commissioned by Shogun Tokugawa Iemitsu to paint the sunrise over Edo Castle. He constantly sought contact with priesthood intellectuals, artists, monks, artisans and famous painters of the time, with the sole purpose of broadening his knowledge. He said on a certain occasion: «he Studies the Ways of all professions». As an artist he greatly emphasizes the monochrome ink painting style, producing his work in the early Edo period. Musashi is better known by his stage name Niten. He left us a collection of 10 works, made in the purest monochrome ink style, which can be placed among those that best express the spirituality of this pictorial school. Musashi's work (-Niten-) is an example of a simplified art and as he had already developed in the school of the saber, existing this same parallelism of undeniable inner strength. The style of vigorous strokes (sword cuts) and abbreviations in which he had been a Llang Kai master in the Song dynasty of China continues in his works. This technique, called gempitsu in Japanese, is the result of amazing training in brush strokes, which can be handled with incredible strength and speed. Each stroke is the expression of an inner feeling, which is stamped on the paper forever. In one of Miyamoto's best-known works (Niten), "Bird Perching on a Dead Branch," the branch is made of a single determined stroke of the brush, with a gradation of intensity given as skillfully as Llang Kai could have done.. This is the result of many years of continuous practice, until achieving absolute mastery of the brush and all its possibilities. 'Niten' liked to paint solitary and haughty birds (ronines), in which he perhaps saw his own reflection as a man-at-arms.

The world of objects means nothing, but each of the usual objects contains the absolute. The small is as insignificant and respectable as big. We do not take over objects, but they take over us. Nor does a work of Zen art mean anything; it exists. The form is empty, the void is nothing but form. The circle is empty and full. The things and the emptiness between them are worth the same.

Musashi is known by the Japanese as Kensei, that is, «divine fencer» or «Sword Saint».

In 1643 he wrote «The Book of Five Rings» (Go Rin No Sho), referring to Earth, Water, Fire, Wind and Void (the five elements of the Universe of Buddhism). It is the only one among the martial arts books that deals not only with military strategy or individual sword combat, but with any situation in which it is necessary to use tactics. Japanese businessmen use the "Book of Five Rings" as a business management manual, developing sales campaigns as if they were military operations. And whether it works well or not depends simply on how well the Principles of the Strategy have been understood. Does not count: When I reached thirty, I reflected on my past. I understood that all my victories were not due exclusively to my mastery in combat; that perhaps they were only due to my natural ability, or that the wishes of heaven were favorable to me, or that the strategies of the other schools were inferior to mine. After this conclusion I studied morning and night to seek the Principles, and only at the age of fifty did I come to understand the Way of the Warrior. Since then I have lived without following any particular school and with the virtue of the warrior I practiced many different arts and skills: everything that no teacher could teach me. The book is not a thesis on strategy, according to his words "it is a guide for men who want to learn strategy", he wrote about the various aspects of Kendo, in such a way that each one can study according to their level. A beginner can take advantage at the novice level, just as an expert can pick up subtleties at the expert level. The more you read, the more you find on its pages. It is definitely his last legacy, the key to the path he traveled. When at thirty he had become an expert wrestler, he did not set himself up and found a school, replete with success, but he doubly devoted himself to study.

In 1642 Musashi suffered attacks of neuralgia, which were indications of his future life of illness. In 1643 he retired to a cave called Reigandō (meaning 'spirit rock cave') on Mount Iwato, to devote himself to contemplation. As a hermit to write ‘The Book of the Five Rings’. He finished it in the second month of 1645. In the fifth month, foreseeing his death, Musashi left his possessions after giving the handwritten copy of 'Go Rin No Sho' to his closest disciple Terao. magonojo. He died in the Reigando cave around the 19th of the fifth month, possibly June 13, 1645. The Hyoho senshi denki describes his death thus:

At the time of his death, he rose. He had his belt tight and his wakizashi. He knelt, holding the sword with his left hand and a rod in his right hand. He died in this posture at the age of sixty-two. The chief vassals of Lord Hosokawa and the other officers met, and laboriously carried out the ceremony. Then they laid a grave on Mount Iwato at the command of the Lord.

Hyoho senshi denki

Notable is the fact that Musashi supposedly died of chest cancer, and not in combat. His death was peaceful, and occurred after finishing the Dokkōdō ('The Way of Walking Alone', or 'The Way of Self-Reliance'), twenty-one precepts on self-discipline to guide women. future generations.

His body was buried in his armor as he wished, in the town of Yuge, near the main road to Mount Iwato, facing the direction the Hosokawas traveled to Edo; the remains rest in a tomb 6 km from Kumamoto Castle. His hair was buried on Mount Iwato.

Nine years later, according to one of the main sources of his life, a monument with a main eulogy for Musashi was erected in Kokura by order of Miyamoto Iori; this monument was called Kokura hibun. An account of Musashi's life, the Niten-ki, was published in Kumamoto in 1776, by Toyota Kagehide, based on the recordings of his grandfather Toyota Masataka, who was a second-generation student of Musashi's.

With the experience gained during all his duels, he learned to adapt to each situation, using all the possible resources at his disposal and handling the weapon at his disposal in the best possible way. Miyamoto's disciples wrote many of these feats in the Niten Ki or Chronicle of the Two Heavens.

The stories are nothing but stories told and written at the convenience of the authors, full of lies and truths. This is how the story they teach us is described.

A phrase that has been fulfilled precisely with him. Real things are said mixed with legends. Today it is difficult to distinguish which things are true from everything that is said about this mythical lone warrior.

Musashi, though well known for his two-sword technique, was a master of a number of other arts besides his swordsmanship. His father, Munisai, was an expert with the jutte (iron club) and the tachi (ancestor sword of the katana) and it is understood that she would have taught Musashi how to use these weapons at a very early age. He was an excellent student and reached a high level of proficiency by his early teens—the time of his first duel. It is widely believed that Miyamoto Musashi's abilities came from experience in battle and individual combat. However, not all of Musashi's lessons were learned from his teammates or in combat. Shioda Hamanosuke, one of Musashi's students, was an expert in the Bō (staff) and showed him all the techniques that he knew. Musashi made a number of modifications and included them in his teachings. His interest in polearms is believed to have begun after his brief duel with Muso Gonnosuke, the founder of Shinto Muso Ryu Jojutsu (short stick). It is also believed that he learned Shurikenjutsu (throwing blades) from another of his students named Takemura. ^{[citation required]}

Myths

• Like all the samurai or ronin of the time used wakizashi and katana. After developing his skills for many years and already withdrawn from the duels I went to use a bokken, demonstrating to those who challenged him in his retirement, his great abilities. The myth is that he used it for much of his life.
• Legends say that Musashi never bathed, for fear of being caught without his swords, the reality is that he had smallpox marks in his body and embarrassed him to bathe in the baths that were then community and public. Although it is true that it depends on the different moments of his life because later Musashi would be invited to the home of famous teachers and houses of nobles, where they would simply not accept someone in poor hygiene conditions. Although it is known that most of his life was a somewhat careless person with his physical appearance.
• It has been said that Musashi created the style of the two swords after seeing a European duel in the Nagasaki area. At that time, European duels used a long sword and a short sword, like Musashi did. The reality is that the development after being in a situation committed against several enemies who tried to kill him could come from all the flanks.
• According to the stories, a good day entered a tramp with two high-quality swords in a tavern asking for food. The guy was stinking and around him, he'd blow up three flies attracted by the bad smell he fired. When he saw him sitting on a table, eating, two neighbors of the village began to talk about that character, wondering who would have stolen those steels, and tacking him as a thief and a pork, when, at a given moment and without a word, the vagabond lifted up his sticks in three soft and agile movements, causing the three flies to fall on the table after having caught them with them. Both villagers fled from the spate tavern, for that was definitely Miyamoto Musashi.
• According to a very widespread legend, at the beginning of the centuryXVII the Samurái warrior Musō Gonnosuke Katsuyoshi would have created the middle cane or jō after being defeated in a singular battle by the famous Miyamoto Musashi; in which Katsuyoshi fought with a bō against the two bokkens of Musashi, Musashi forgave his life.

Principles

Musashi's teaching can be reduced to nine principles:^{[citation needed]} Study, bokken in hand, near a teacher. The peculiarity of the koryu teaching is that it is expected from the role it embodies and demonstrates its mastery with each generation.

1. Avoid all perverse thoughts.
2. Forge on the Way practicing it yourself.
3. Open all the arts and not limit yourself to one.
4. To know the Way of each profession, and not to be limited to that which one exercises.
5. Know how to distinguish the advantages and disadvantages of each thing.
6. In all things, get used to intuitive judgment.
7. Know instinctively what you don't see.
8. Pay attention to every detail.
9. Don't do anything useless.

Techniques

Miyamoto Musashi created a series of seiho, commonly called kata^{[citation needed]}:

1. Tachi seiho: 12 seiho in dachi, long sable. However, the study is done with the bokken.
2. Nito seiho: 5 seiho with dachi and kodachi, long and short sables, which correspond to the 5 seiho of the Water Book. The study is done with the bokken.
3. Kodachi seiho: 7 techniques for kodachi.
4. Bōjutsu: 20 seiho in the bō, long stick.

Author

He is the author of several texts on the sword and its strategy.

• Hyodokyo, the mirror of the way of strategy.
• Hyoho Sanjugo Kajo, thirty-five strategy instructions.
• Hyoho Shijuni Kajo, forty-two strategy instructions.
• Dokkōdō, the way forward alone.
• Go Rin No Sho, the five-ring treaty.

The Book of Five Rings

He is the author of a strategy book, Go Rin No Sho, written at the age of 60, translated as Book of Five Rings or Treaty of Five Wheels (French). The title reads in Japanese Sho Gorin but the habit was taken over by the translators, according to a quite common reading trend in Japan, says Gorin no Sho. Towards the end of his life, he pondered and introspected on his past and his experience; he deduced that the principles that he had implemented in his martial art (duels) could also be implemented not only in military strategy (mass confrontation) but also in all areas. The "five rings" or "five circles" refer to the five stories of Buddhist funerary monuments (gorintō) that represent the five elements of the Japanese tradition. The book therefore has five chapters:

1. Earth: Musashi explains here the guidelines of his tactics and for his explanations to be more accessible, compares them to the work of the carpenter.
2. Water: Musashi exposes a method designed to forge physically or spiritually. Explains how to keep the mind watch, body maintenance, eyes, how to hold a sword and use it, foot position, etc. All you write is based on your own experience, acquired throughout your life through tireless fights and exercises for many years. What he writes is not the fruit of his imagination; everyone can benefit from it by themselves, no matter what kind of life they lead.
3. Fire: Musashi explains the tactics to be applied in the simple duel and in the big battles, thinks the same rules govern them.
4. Wind: In criticizing the characteristics of other schools, Musashi highlights the philosophical spirit of his Niten school.
5. Empty: a declaration of the ideal bushi; the notion of void as a goal is a recurring theme in Budō and the completion of Musashi's tactics can be summed up in a word: Empty. The Void is comparable to the purified firmament of all clouds of disorientation. The Japanese ideogram reads kū in Chinese and sora in Japanese. Sora refers to heaven in its place, and kū refers to the Chinese notion of "empty" Buddhism. Translating by "empty" is consistent with the Buddhist aspect of the path described by Musashi.

In art

At the theater

The teacher Kano Tanshû, an actor of the Nô theater from the Kita school, created a play dedicated to Musashi, Gorin-sho-den, in Aix-en-Provence in 2002. It was staged in September 2008 the Gorin-no-sho, by Miyamoto Musashi, in the open air on the river bank, in Kokura (Fukuoka), in the place where this samurai lived.

In literature

• Usagi Yojimbo, American comic by Stan Sakai, where the story of an anthropomorphic samurai rabbit is portrayed, who, after the death of his daimio, decides to undertake a journey of self-learning as rōnin. The character of Usagi is clearly based on the famous ronin Miyamoto Musashi.
• The book of the five ringsFor Miyamoto Musashi.
• Dokkōdō (‘The Way of Self-Discipline’)For Miyamoto Musashi.
• Musashi (novela)For Eiji Yoshikawa.
• Vagabond (manga)(based on the Musashi novel by Eiji Yoshikawa).
• Yaiba (manga/anime).
• Samurai Champlooin chapter 21 "Falsa melodía" (manga/anime).
• The Nigromante The Secrets of the Immortal Nicolas FlamelFor Michael Scott. In this novel it appears as the immortal Niten also known as “The Sword”.
• Ranma 1⁄2. It is constantly referenced in this sleeve.
• Baki-Dou (Manga), by Keisuke Itagaki (Mangaka). It makes its appearance almost at the beginning of the sleeve. Mitsunari Tokugawa creates a clone of the fossilized remains of Musashi so as to witness the most powerful man and samurai in Japan Feudal. His presence endures throughout the sleeve, given his great participation through the fights, in which he demonstrates his abilities out of the ordinary, rivaling Yujiro Hanma. This is also referenced in the previous Keisuke Itagaki, Baki: Son of the Ogre, by the creation of the treaty on martial arts "The book of the five rings" and by the mention of Yujiro to Baki, in which he mentions that Baki's perception had reached the level of Miyamoto Musashi.
• In the anime Shuumatsu no Valkyrie (2017) appears during the third confrontation as a spectator and in some memories of Sasaki Kojirō.
• Musashi appears as a character in the game for mobiles fate/grand order
• Bamboo Bladein chapter 74 "IRRITATION AND UNCERTAINTY" (manga/anime).

At the movies

• 1924 - Miyamoto Musashi: His duel with Tsukahara Bokuden (Yaroku Kobayashi).
• 1929 - Miyamoto Musashi (Kintarô Inoue).
• 1943 - Miyamoto Musashi: Duel at Kongoin temple - Nitôryû Kaigen - Kongôin no kettô (Daisuke Itô).
• 1944 - Miyamoto Musashi, the swordsman (Kenji Mizoguchi).
• 1954 - Samurai I: Miyamoto Musashi (Hiroshi Inagaki).
• 1955 - Samurai II: Duel in the temple Ichijoji - Zoku Miyamoto Musashi: Ichijôji no kettô (Hiroshi Inagaki).
• 1956 - Samurai III: Duel on Ganryu Island - Miyamoto Musashi kanketsuhen: kettô Ganryûjima (Hiroshi Inagaki).
• 1961 - Miyamoto Musashi 1: Zen and sword (Tomu Ushida).
• 1962 - Miyamoto Musashi 2: Showdown at Hannyazaka Heights - Hannyazaka no ketto (Tomu Uchida).
• 1963 - Miyamoto Musashi 3: The duel against Yagyu, Birth of the Nito-Ryu Style - Nitoryu kaigen (Tomu Uchida).
• 1964 - Miyamoto Musashi 4: The duel at Ichijoji - Ichijoji no ketto (Tomu Uchida).
• 1965 - Miyamoto Musashi 5: Musashi Vs Kojiro - Ganryû-jima no kettô (Tomu Uchida).
• 1971 - Miyamoto Musashi 6: Shinken Shôbu (Tomu Uchida).
• 1973 - Miyamoto Musashi (Tai Katô).
• 1992 - Ganryu-jima no ketto: Kojiro and(to) Musashi (Yuko Natori).
• 2003 - Ganryujima (Seiji Chiba).
• 2009 - Musashi: The Dream of the Last Samurai - Soken Ni Haseru Yume: The Dream Of Riding With Double Swords (Mizuho Mishikubo) - [animation].
• 2014 - Miyamoto Musashi (Ryôsuke Kanesaki) - [TV].
• 2019 - Musashi (Yasuo Mikami).
• 2020 - Crazy samurai Musashi (Yûji Shimomura).

In video games

• Ronin Blade - Looks like a swordsman.
• Brave Fencer Musashi - His protagonist, Musashi, is an alternative and younger version.
• Musashi: Samurai Legend - Continuing the previous one. Different protagonist, but same name.
• Warriors Orochi - Looks like a playable character.
• Kengo Zero - Master of struggle.
• Sengoku Basara - Looks like a playable character.
• Shogun's Blade - Looks like a playable character.
• Soulcalibur - Heishirō Mitsurugi is inspired by Miyamoto Musashi.
• Samurai Warriors 2 - It appears as a playable character.
• League of Legends- The Yasuo character is based on Miyamoto Musashi.
• Ryu ga Gotoku Kenzan! (Yakuza Kenzan) - The protagonist is called Kazumanosuke Kiryu, and is inspired by the figure of Musashi.
• Samurai Shodown - The protagonist Haohmaru is strongly inspired by Musashi, having a similar story even.
• Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance - The character Jetstream Sam is inspired by Miyamoto Musashi.
• Fate/Grand Order - It appears as one of the protagonists, with gender change because it is set in a parallel universe.
• Final Fantasy VII - The game is based on the duel between Musashi and Sasaki Kojirō. Representing the protagonist Cloud Strife to Musashi and the villain Sefiroth to Kojiro. The plot revolves around the rivalry of both, and culminates with the duel by the sword. Its designs (including weapons) are a cyber-punk version of that of those two historical samurai.
• Legacy of the Beast - It appears as a character available in the video game based on the discography of the English band Iron Maiden. At the same time, she dedicated a theme to the album Piece of Mind called Sun and Steel.