Musashi Miyamoto - SpeedyLook encyclopedia

Life

His/her father died whereas it was 7 years old, which forced it to pass its childhood under the supervision of his/her uncle, monk and owner of a monastery. He fought in duel and killed for the first time at 13 years (against Arima Kihei in 1596). 17 years old, it took part in the Bataille of Sekigahara (1600) which saw the victory of the army of Ieyasu Tokugawa following the death of Hideyoshi Toyotomi. Engaged in the camp of the losers, it was left for died on the battle field. Until the 29 years age, it took part in an about sixty duels, the majority with a saber out of wooden ( Bokken ) whereas its adversaries had truths sabers ( Katana ). Its last duel (most famous) took place the April 13rd 1612 against the other larger fencer of the Japan, Kojirō Sasaki, which it overcame on the island of Funa thanks to a length Bokken , cut in an oar of the boat which brought it to it. It stopped then the duels then was in charge of the command of an army corps of the Ogasawara lord and took part in the seat of the castle of Hara in 1638, at the time of the revolt of the Christian carried out by Shirō Amakusa. At the 59 years age (1643) it leaves for the Iwato mount, located close to Kumamoto, where it settles in the cave of Regandô. It lays out a coffee table to with it, and the 10 of the tenth month starts to write Gorin No sho.

It created a school of fencing ( ryū ) named first of all École of the two sabers ( Niken ryū ), then École of the two skies ( Niten ryū ), but having a style out of the commun run (simultaneous use of two sabers, one short, other length) and little audience near the emperor, its style will not perdura.

Today its school always exists and is ensured by a line of Masters who go down directly from the disciples of Musashi. This school is the Hyōhō Niten Ichiryū (First School of the Two Skies).

One also finds several schools in the world with the suffix Niten Ichiryu but it do not maintain officially any kind of bond heritage with Hyoho Niten Ichiryu

Gorin No shō

He is the author of a work of strategy, the Gorin No shō , written at the 60 years age, translated into French by Livre of the five rings or Traité of the five wheels . Towards the end of its life, he contemplated and made an introspection on his past and his experiment; he deduced from it that the principles that he had implemented in his martial art (duels) could also be implemented not only in military strategy (confrontation of mass) but also in all the fields. The “five rings” or “five circles” refer to the five stages of the monuments Buddhist ( gorintō ) which represent the five elements of the Japanese tradition. The book thus comprises five chapitres :

Ground : broad outlines of the tactic,
Water : to forge itself physically and spiritually,
Fire : tactic to be applied in the duels and the great battles,
Wind : critical of the other schools of saber,
Vacuum : a statement of the ideal of the Samurai ; let us note that the concept of vacuity as a goal to reach is a recurrent theme in the Budō.

The work is from now on also a reference in the management and business world. One uses primarily the 9 principles resulting from this treaty:

To avoid all thought perverse.
to forge in the way as a practitioner oneself.
To embrace all arts and not to limit themselves to only one.
To know the way of each trade, and not to limit themselves to that which one exerts oneself.
To know to distinguish the advantages and the disadvantages from each thing.
In all things, to be accustomed to the intuitive judgment.
To know instinct what one does not see.
To pay attention to the least detail.
nothing to make the useless one.

Musashi in the popular culture

Books

the life of Musashi was the subject of a cycle of two books, written by Eiji Yoshikawa, Pierre and the Saber and the Perfect Light . Attention, these two works are not to in no case biographies, but many novels; so certain historical facts and outstanding features are preserved, the largest part is invented;
Wandering , a Manga of Takehiko Inoue, adaptation of the novels Pierre and the Saber and the Perfect Light ;

Films

Miyamoto Musashi , carried out by Kenji Mizoguchi (1944)
Samurai Miyamoto Musashi , carried out by Hiroshi Inagaki (1954)
Miyamoto Musashi , carried out by Yasuo Kohata (1954)
Miyamoto Musashi , carried out by Tomu Uchida (1961)
Miyamoto Musashi , carried out by Tai Katō (1973)
Musashi , realized for NHK (2003), with Ichikawa " Ebizo" Shinnosuke

Animate

Shura No Toki ( the era of Shura ) Japanese cartoon carried out in 2004.

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