Great Swordsmen, Real and Mythical

Miyamoto Musashi
Shinmen Musashi no Kami Fujiwara No Genshin (Miyamoto Musashi) is the archetypal Japanese swordsman. Born in 1584, his life spanned a pivotal time in Japanese history, and he became the kind of warrior about whom legends are born. Even more amazing is that the incredible feats attributed to him actually seem to be confirmed by the best available historical records. In his life, Musashi is said to have fought over 60 duels with the sword, winning them all.

As a young teen, Musashi fought as a lowly foot soldier in the battle of Seki Ga Hara, a terrible conflict in which 70,000 people died in just three days of combat. Steeled by the vision of war, Musashi resolved to master the art of military strategy, beginning with a mastery of the sword.

Musashi dedicated his life to the study of swordplay, living in poverty as he wandered Japan in search of worthy opponents. As a young man in the capital city of Kyoto, he waged a terrible war with the Yoshioka family. The family had made their living for years by teaching swordsmanship lessons to aspiring samurai and rich lords. Musashi went to the school, and challenged Yoshioka Seijuro, the oldest son of the school's founder, to a duel. Musashi wounded Seijuro, sending him home in shame, carried by his students on a makeshift stretcher made from a window shutter. The second oldest Yoshioka son, Denshichiro, issued a challenge to Musashi out of a desire for revenge. Musashi killed Denshichiro. Elders of the Yoshioka family then issued another challenge to Musashi, in the name of Seijuro's son, Hanshichiro, who was just a boy. At the appointed date, many armed "seconds" appeared to assist Hanshichiro. Musashi appeared in their midst and slew the boy, then fought his way to safety.

By the time he was about thirty years old, Musashi was invincible. He rarely used a real sword in duels after that. Perhaps Musashi's most famous duel was with Sasaki Kojiro. Kojiro was a young swordsman who was equally adept at swordplay, and self-promotion. To secure a position as a sword teacher to a rich and powerful lord, Kojiro challenged Musashi to a duel, to be staged on Funashima Island, near Ogura. The duel was witnessed by a number of powerful dignitaries and lords. Kojiro approached with his long sword, and Musashi faced him with a wooden stick he had fashioned from a broken boat oar. With an artless approach, Musashi stepped straight in. Kojiro was thus forced to try to beat Musashi to the punch. Musashi countered Kojiro's attempt at a preemptive strike, then crushed Kojiro's skull with the broken oar. Kojiro's sword had passed so near Musashi's head that it cut the towel Musashi used to bind his long hair.

After that, Musashi's reputation as Japan's strongest living swordsman was widely established. Despite many offers to enter into the employ of powerful lords as a teacher of swordsmanship, Musashi continued his single minded pursuit of perfection. In about his fiftieth year, Musashi states that he came to understand strategy. He spent several short periods in the employment of great lords around that time. Musashi served in the field staff during the massacre of Christians at Shimawara in 1638. During that time, Musashi relaxed his training somewhat, and cultivated his talent as a painter. Some of Musashi's art is today among the most prized, and priceless, in the world.

In about the year 1643, Musashi retired from military life. He again lived in poverty, taking residence in a small cave called Reigendo. In that cave, he wrote his famous treatise on strategy known as Go Rin No Sho (A Book of Five Rings). The Go Rin No Sho is today one of the most popular and incisive descriptions of strategy available, and is well known to businessmen, military strategists, and martial artists.

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Yagyu Munenori
Yagyu Munenori (1571-1646) was a great swordsman and teacher to the Shogun Tokugawa Ieymitsu (the supreme military commander of the nation). Yagyu Munenori was a central figure in joining the ideals of Zen to those of swordplay. Munenori carried on a correspondence with the Zen monk Takuan Soho, and those letters provide some of the clearest available insight on how the problems faced by the swordsman are a microcosm of the struggle for spiritual enlightenment.

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Tsukahara Bokuden
Tsukahara Bokuden (1490-1572) was the classic knight-errant. A rich nobleman, he traveled the Japanese countryside, often with a full entourage, in search of adventure. Of course he often found it. Several colorful and pithy stories involving Bokuden's exploits appear in D.T. Suzuki's Zen and Japanese Culture. My favorite involves a situation in which Bokuden, who by then was a master of the sword, was challenged by a mannerless ruffian. When asked about his style, Bokuden replied that he studied the "Style of No Sword." The ruffian laughed, and insultingly challenged Bokuden to fight him without a sword. Bokuden then agreed to fight the man without his sword, but suggested they row out to a nearby island to avoid disturbing others. The ruffian agreed, but when he jumped from the boat to the shore of the island, drawing his blade, Bokuden pushed the boat back out, leaving the ruffian stranded on the island. Bokuden explained, "This is my no-sword school."

The lesson of the story is not that brains overcomes brawn, but that Bokuden respected the sword too much to use it to resolve a trivial dispute. Tsukahara Bokuden saw the sword as an instrument for pursuing personal perfection, and would not draw it save to accomplish that goal.

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Minamoto Yoshitsune and Benkei
Minamoto Yoshitsune and Benkei are historical figures of mythical proportion. Much of the early part of Japanese feudal history is dominated by the struggles between the powerful Taira and Minamoto clans. Yoshitsune was a talented and well-trained young prince in the Minamoto clan. While traveling the country, he encountered Benkei, a rogue monk who had taken possession of a bridge, and refused to let anyone pass without paying a duty. Benkei held Samurai in disdain, as few of them, in his judgment, had earned the privilege of being in a position of power. He had, over the course of time, acquired a large cache of weapons from the many Samurai he had defeated at the bridge. But in his battle with Yoshitsune, Benkei had found his match.

After hours of struggle with no winner, Benkei decided that he had finally met a man worthy of the title of Samurai. He resolved to serve Yoshitsune, and many gallant deeds are attributed to the two men. The adventures of Yoshitsune and Benkei are the stuff of children's stories, and the two are considered a shining example of idealism and loyalty.

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Sasamori Junzo
Dr. Sasamori Junzo (1886-1976) was a member of the House of Peers in Japan, and was a master swordsman. Dr. Sasamori cowrote with Gordon Warner the definitive English language text on Kendo, titled This Is Kendo. His contribution to education furthered the popularization of Kendo, and have earned him a special place of respect in the history of the art.

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Mori Torao
Mori Torao was modern giant of Kendo who did much to raise the standard of Kendo training in the United States. Most of what I know of Mori Torao was related to me by my teacher, and other Kendo teachers, who studied under Torao Sensei. Mori Torao came to the U.S. as a teacher of Kendo. The Japanese community in California joined together to provide the resources to bring a strong Kendoist from Japan to teach them. At that time, Mori was well known in Japan, and many considered him a once-in-a-century swordsman. A tiger of a man, his skill and dedication had elevated him above virtually everyone else.

In the U.S., Mori took up European style fencing to augment his Kendo skills. He quickly became so good at it that he was sought as a teacher of that art as well.

I have seen pictures of Mori Torao, and his face looks sweet and cherubic, almost angelic. My teacher's stories of him are quite different, however. Apparently he fought savagely in the training hall. According to stories told to me, his style often resembled Judo as much as Kendo. He would do anything to break his opponent's defenses, including shoving, and foot-sweeping. Furthermore, his attacks would not relent once he had his opponent on the ground.

My teacher always spoke of Mori Sensei in the most respectful terms, and held him up as an example of single-minded devotion to Kendo. Mori Torao, my teacher said, would train in front of a mirror for an hour every day, to perfect his stance. Mori convinced my teacher that a strong stance is at the core of every strong Kendoist. At it is true that every strong Kendoist I've met has faced me with the same erect, square-shouldered, eye-to-eye attitude that indicates a sincere and unwavering commitment to a purpose.

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Miyazaki Masahiro
Miyazaki Masahiro is a modern giant of Kendo. In 1991 he became the only man in the 40-year history of the All-Japan Kendo Championships to win two consecutive years. In 1996 he became the only man to win the championship title four times.

Mr. Miyazaki is a policeman with the Tokyo Metropolitan Police. He is an accomplished Kendoist, having reached the sixth black belt rank before he was 30 years old. He holds the title of Kyoshi, equivalent to an Associate Professor of Kendo.

I had the great honor to meet Mr. Miyazaki in 1992 in Salt Lake City. He was traveling the United States with his wife and young son, visiting Kendo clubs. My impression of him is a very kind and unassuming gentleman, so different from the typical successful young American athlete. He was a little shy, but with some coaxing, he related several wonderful stories of his training in the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Kendo hall. In our training hall, he gave a very good and useful lesson, providing individual attention to all our club's members. At the end of class, he actually free-sparred with every member of our club, from the unranked up to the senior students.

Actually, it would be hard to consider what he did with us as "free sparring." He clearly did not leave first gear until he faced our strongest student, a young man of the third black belt rank named Morita Yoichi, who was visiting Utah from Japan. For a brief moment, Mr. Morita appeared to match Mr. Miyazaki's intensity. Then Mr. Miyazaki eased into second gear, and overwhelmed Mr. Morita effortlessly.

My own match with Mr. Miyazaki went as well as I could have hoped: I managed stay on my feet the whole time, and I resisted the urge to just turn around and run away. His speed and strength are phenomenal, and he struck resounding blows on me at will. His aggression never let up for an instant, and I got the disturbing feeling that he could have killed me with that flimsy bamboo shinai, and there would have been nothing I could have done to stop it. Of course he demonstrated the gentle firmness of a true master as he crushed me like an ant, without actually harming me in the least.

I thoroughly enjoyed the time Mr. Miyazaki spent in our humble little club, and I feel like I was generously given a rare opportunity. It was like playing a game of one-on-one with Michael Jordan, or kicking a soccer ball around with Pele! It really changed my concept of how good a Kendoist can become. The fact that this great man treated us all with politeness and courtesy increased my respect for Miyazaki Sensei.

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Takeno Ken
Takeno Sensei was my Kendo teacher from when I started in 1987 until his death in 1993.

I was introduced to Takeno Sensei by my Karate teacher, Rick Hobusch. Hobusch Sensei knew that I had a great desire to study Kendo, and through his colleagues, learned that several others were interested in luring Takeno Sensei out of retirement. I must admit that I was intrigued. What could motivate a 72 year old man, who had not practiced Kendo in forty years, whose health was failing, to commit to something as difficult as starting a Kendo dojo? Once I began training under Takeno Sensei, it did not take long for me to see what his motivations were. He sought to reinstate the legacy of his father, and to polish his soul in preparation for the end of his life.

Takeno Ken's father Gijiro was a teacher of Kendo in California. Ken had an athletic physique, and quickly progressed in his father's school. In college, Ken received an NCAA scholarship to to attend USC, where he played football. I once saw a photograph, taken around 1940, of two dozen stout young men in a Kendo training hall. My teacher's father sat in the position of honor at the center, and my teacher sat at his right hand. Those, my teacher told me, were just the black belts. Clearly it was a strong school.

When the war broke out in 1941, my teacher and his family could not afford to be associated with a military art. They burned their Kendo equipment, and moved from California to avoid interment in a concentration camp. My teacher came to Salt Lake City, where he made his living as a manager.

When he came out of retirement, Takeno Sensei was a stern teacher, with old-school ideas from the days in his father's dojo. He permitted no fooling around in the Kendo hall. He impressed all his students with the idea that Kendo was important, and must be taken seriously. He firmly believed that the highest purpose of Kendo study was to improve one's character, and he demanded the highest class of behavior from all his students at all times. Takeno Sensei tolerated no concessions to tournament matchplay. He once chided me for ducking my head to avoid a strike, letting the blow land outside of a legal target area, on my shoulder. "What difference does it make," he asked me, "if you're cut from shoulder to groin, instead of head to groin? You're just as dead." He always thought of the shinai as a real sword.

As Takeno Sensei's health began to deteriorate, I, as the senior student, took on more responsibility around the dojo. It was hard work, I was unprepared for it, and sometimes I didn't want to do it. But no matter how poorly he felt, Takeno Sensei still came to practice, and lent his advice to me after class. Even when he was too sick to get out of his wheelchair, he was an inspiration to all his students, who knew that anything less than a full effort would never do while Takeno Sensei was in the dojo. Takeno Sensei was deeply honored in 1992, when All-Japan Kendo Champion Miyazaki Masahiro came to his school as a guest teacher.

When Takeno Sensei passed away, he did so with grace and dignity, like a true Kenshi. His influence persists today in the hearts of his students, who otherwise would never have learned about the wonderful art of Kendo. The last time he came to practice, he gave me a bit of earthy wisdom that I have grown to appreciate: "Sometimes the hardest part about Kendo is just forcing yourself to go to the dojo." He was right, of course. Once I get to the dojo, I know why I came, and I'm always glad I did.