Miyamoto Musashi (宮本 武蔵, 1584–1645) is also known by his other names, Shinmen Takezō or Miyamoto Bennosuke, or his Buddhist name Niten Dōraku. He was an expert swordsman and rōnin who was known for his many duels even when he was very young. Miyamoto Musashi was the author of The Book of Five Rings, about tactics, strategy, and swordfighting philosophies that are still used today. He also founded the Hyōhō Niten Ichi-ryū or Niten-ryū style popular for its two-sword techniques.
Sasaki Kojiro, known as ‘Demon of the Western Provinces’ was a master swordman who was born in Fukui prefecture. He earned this nickname because of his skill with the nodachi, since nodachi swords were often depicted as something that a demon would use. Legend says that Kojiro was a very flamboyant man. He quite often wore the clothes of a Kabuki actor which made him stand out, though a man of Kojiro’s skill level didn’t necessarily have to worry about what people thought of his attire.
He was also known as Ganryu, a name shared with the sword style he eventually came up with. Ganryu means ‘large rock style’, and involves the use of the nodachi. He was known for a particular technique called Tsubame Gaeshi, which translates to “the turning swallows cut”. Swallows move very fast and erratically, and they can also change directions very quickly which is where the name of this technique came from. The speed that he went from his first swing to the next was extremely fast, which is quite surprising considering he wielded a very long sword.
Some of his duels before fighting against Miyamoto Musashi include one in which he fought against three different men armed with swords, while the only thing he was wielding was a Tessen, or war fan with outer spokes made of plates of iron. Without a sword, he defeated every one of them with his fan, which showed he was a skilled warrior with more than just a sword. Then again, it also shows his skill with swords since you have to know what you’re fighting against. There’s another legend in which he defeats his own uncle, and then of course the one in which he fights Musashi. Unfortunately that’s the only duel that we really know the details of.
Sasaki Kojirō and Miyamoto Musashi were involved in one of Japan’s historic duels in 1612. The two swordsmen were bitter rivals at the time. There are several accounts on the story that led to the actual duel; the one considered the most accurate goes like this.
Miyamoto Musashi, wishing to put an end to the notion of who is really the best swordsman, requested Lord Hosokawa Tadaoki (a respected samurai), through his trusted vassal Nagaoka Sado Okinaga, to arrange a duel between the two swordsmen. The duel took place on 13th April 1612, in the remote island of Ganryujima of Funashima, off the coast of the Bizen Province. As part of a strategy to throw off Kojirō ‘s inner state of being, Musashi arrived three hours late.
When he finally arrived, the officials of the duel as well as Sasaki Kojiro were extremely irritated; Kojiro was full of rage. On drawing his katana, he threw his scabbard aside, prompting Musashi to further enrage him by commenting, “If you have no more use for your sheath, you are already dead.”
The duel began with both men on guard as a show of respect for the other’s skill with their own style and technique. In the end, though, there could be only one winner. Musashi had provoked Kojirō to make the first attack. Miyamoto quickly countered and succeeded in breaking Kojirō’s left ribs and puncturing his lungs, eventually killing him. Because of this event, Musashi attained spiritual awakening and renounced ever doing lethal duels in the future.
