“Skill and Skull” lucky bardele
“The mind should not be pulled about by the body; the body
should not be pulled about by the mind.”
—Miyamoto Musashi
IT WAS ONCE said of the nineteenth-century philosophy firebrand Friedrich
Nietzsche that “before Nietzsche, philosophy was only philosophy... after
Nietzsche, philosophy became dangerous!”
Similarly, while there were undoubtedly accomplished Samurai in general and
masterful swordsmen in particular in Japan prior to the sixteenth century, none
before him, nor any of those who lived after him, ever came close to rivaling the
claim to fame of Ben No Soke (1594–1645).
Better known to history as Miyamoto Musashi, here is the man ultimately—
universally acknowledged by both friend (of whom he boasted few) and foe (of
whom he bested many!) as Kensei, “Sword Saint,” the greatest swordsman to
ever live in Japan . . . some claim, in the world!
Credit where credit is due. More than a handful of true sword “Masters” lived
in Japan both before and after Musashi. Although after Musashi, would-be
sword adepts walked with a wee bit more humility, Musashi having given them a
higher—some claim, the highest—standard to emulate.
Since his death—indeed, even while he lived—many were the speculations—
some informed, some merely superstitious—as to “the source” or “the secret” to
Musashi’s seemingly magical ability to best any foe.
Musashi personally killed over 1,000 men during his lifetime—over sixty of
those in personal duels (the first when Musashi was only thirteen!), the rest he
slew while fighting in six different wars.
Best a single opponent, and your enemies might be inclined to dismiss your
victory as “dumb luck.”
Carving 1,000 notches on your scabbard . . . and “dumb luck” leaves the
conversation with tail tucked!
thousand men—warriors of varying skill levels with varying weapons in
hand, but warriors all—painted Musashi’s victories with their life’s blood.
That’s a whole lot more than “luck”! Perhaps “the favor” of the Gods,
Buddhas, and fierce Fudo, who still guard the jewels of the Japanese
archipelago?
Or perhaps the obvious? The requisite to any success: from an early age,
Musashi worked his ass off to master his chosen craft—his calling.
If you decide Musashi’s “secret” was “dumb luck” or that he myopically
depended on “the will of the Gods” or some other supernatural succor miserly
and arbitrarily doled out by an uncaring universe, then, rather than studying the
man and the myth and the methods of Master Musashi, you must remain content
to “accept” your lot in life, your assigned place and predestined portion
(minuscule though it will be!) of the overcrowded and increasingly arid teats
Mother Nature begrudgingly shoves into your crying face!
On the other hand, if we correctly determine that—as with all Masters of their
craft—Miyamoto Musashi’s success was due to his deliberate equal cultivations
of skill and skull, developing his invincible physical prowess while devoting
equal blood, sweat, and tears to the culture of his brain, then we, too, one day
determine—and dare—to master the Musashi Method, to make it our own.
Whether then, having apprehended Musashi’s Busbido, we choose to focus
our attention on defeating our foe with brilliant blade, blunt force trauma, or a
wily bank statement, it matters not. Only victory matters. That is the essence—
both skill and skull of the Musashi Method.
Many think it ironic, even amazing, that Musashi, “Japan’s greatest
swordsman,” won his greatest duels without ever drawing his sword!
A swordsman who so perfected his art to the use of two swords, before
ultimately reaching the point of perfection to where he no longer needed to use a
sword? Such a man, myth, and method must surely be worthy of our study?
Surely there is something(s) of benefit to be found somewhere within
Musashi’s mastery of both his skill (first with the sword, and then with every
other weapon imaginable at the time!). And, just as important if not more so, his
mastery of his skull—intelligence, both the innate and the gathered variety.
Study of Musashi—man, myth, and method—thus opens the door for mastery
of our own “skill and skull,” the one vouchsafing the other.
“Skill and skull,” Musashi’s twin swords.
“The notion that the pen is mightier than the sword is a fantasy.day.—BoyéHere, then, is Lesson Number One:
We learn from Musashi: Never stop learning. Even when someone hands you
a Certificate of Completion, high school diploma, or even a Yale sheepskin, that
simply means it’s time to really start studying.
It’s been said, “Chasing after the unfamiliar, we fall to the familiar!” Indeed,
most auto accidents happen within, what? Five miles of home?
Likewise, the minute you start thinking you know it all, that there’s nothing
further for you to learn, that’s the very minute one of your enemies (yeah, you
do have enemies!) who does believe in “lifelong learning” gets the upper hand
over you by begging, borrowing, or stealing that singular, surprising piece of
information—we call it intelligence ’round these parts—you (1) were unaware
of, and (2) are therefore now unprepared and unable to defend against.
Having mastered the long sword at an early age—for some a lifelong struggle!
—Musashi would go on to master the use of two swords simultaneously, as well
as the other popular weapons of his day: the manriki chain, the shuriken
throwing star, archery, spear, and bo-staff. Still not satisfied, before the end of
his life, Musashi also became a respected calligrapher, painter, sculptor, writer,
and master of the cha-do tea ceremony.
Nothing exists in a vacuum.
“Knowing Your Environment,” first and foremost, means recognizing and
taking advantage of any edge your environment offers you.
Yes, this means our being willing to seize up a rock or break a limb off a tree
when necessary to defend ourselves. But, on a deeper level, “Know Your
Environment” means taking advantage of every opportunity provided by your
environment—and that includes every opportunity to learn.
Musashi can be accused of being many things during his life—not all of them
flattering! What Musashi can never be convicted of is letting an opportunity
pass.
Neither can the charge ever be leveled against him that he allowed tradition,
family ties, or his “appointed” station in life to hold him back from “lifelong
learning.”
For Musashi “lifelong learning” had less to do with longevity and more to do
with “learning” to guard your own life—literally!
Thus we find Musashi learning from his estranged father, from those Samurai
around him, from the history and often self-serving mythology of his own
Samurai class, and then from every Tom, Dick, and Buddha he ran into during
his wanderings.THE COMING OF THE SAMURAI
“The heroes of ancient Japan love and die within their shells of
silk and steel.”
—M. Yourcenar
Musashi was born in the Japanese Samurai class in 1594, but, during his life,
he would go out of his way to study the life and crafts of Japan’s other three
classes: the merchant, artisan, and peasant. “Learn the ways of all crafts” became
one of his maxims, indeed, safeguarding him at various times in his life.
For example, finding himself on the losing side of a battle, forced to “go to
ground” while his bloodthirsty enemies literally beat the bushes for him,
Musashi was able to fall back on survival skills learned from peasants: how to
live off the land, how to find shelter, etc. Later in life, Musashi would master
various arts (e.g., calligraphy, sculpting, etc.), skills that not only brought him
fame (something he never sought) and also opened doors (an advantage he was
keenly aware of).
One often overlooked, or at least ill-understood act of Musashi was his
sometimes carving his fighting sword out of wood, a most useful skill
undoubtedly picked up from some peasant craftsman or the other.
Thus, where other of the haughty Samurai class merely tolerated the three
lower classes, Musashi went out of his way to learn from the little people around
him.
The Samurai did not begin to emerge as a separate and distinct class in Japan
until the eighth century, when a specialized cadre of knights recruited from well-
to-do families were commissioned by the emperor; called Kondai (literally,
stalwart youth), these were the first “samurai.”
Up until this time, the Japanese army had been composed mainly of spear-
wielding foot soldiers. In a break with tradition, these new warriors preferred the
sword, not only mastering its destructive potential, but also adopting it. Some
might say, “parading it,” as the symbol of their unique status.
The single-edged katana sword that is today synonymous with the Samurai
was invented when a master craftsman named Amakuni, living in the time of
Emperor Mommu, A.D. 687–708, divided the original two-edged Japanese-by-
way-of-China sword.
1
Japanese mythology in general and Samurai mythos in particular trace the
origin of the Japanese, never Chinese, sword back to semi-mythical Prince
Yamato, who succeeded in uniting Japan, ancestor of the Yamato line of
emperors. Reportedly, Yamato discovered a sword in the tail of a great dragon
he slew.
2 This Yamato sword went on to become one of the “Three Treasures,”
Japan’s version of “Crown Jewels.”
3
Finally, in the twelfth century, after centuries of fighting between ambitious
Samurai Daimyo lords leading powerful families and clans of Samurai, the
Minimoto clan was led by eldest son, Yoritomo.
4
Forcing the emperor to a more ceremonial position, Yoritomo declared
himself Japan’s first Shogun (supreme military leader), in effect establishing
rule-by-Samurai for the next six hundred years.
By the time of Musashi’s birth in 1584, the Samurai were both universally
respected and feared throughout the Far East.
Between Yoritomo coming to power at the end of the twelfth century and
Musashi coming into the world in the middle of the sixteenth century, Japanese
Samurai had already honed their killing arts through three hundred years of
fighting amongst themselves, in addition to withstanding two attempted
invasions by heretofore undefeated Mongols (the first in 1266 and again in
1269).
In 1568 Samurai strongman Oda Nobunaga beat out his fellow rival, Daimyo,
to seize command, effectively ending a 150-year period of internecine Japanese
slaughter known as “The Age of the Warring States.”
Nobunagas’s rule was followed by the rule of Midiyoshi Toyotomi, a man as
unique in his own way as Musashi, born two years after Hidiyoshi came to
power.
Musashi and Toyotomi share something in common: the commonfolk.
As already mentioned, Musashi went out of his way to learn from everyone he
came into contact with, regardless of their social rank. It is not too far a stretch to
imagine that Musashi may have been inspired in this by the fact that Toyotomi,
who ruled Japan as “The Taiko,” was not Samurai, but had been born a
commoner.
Toyotomi spent much of his early life as a Ninja thief
5 before graduating to
spy, then lieutenant for Nobunaga.
If such a “commoner” could ascend via his own mettle and manipulation to
become supreme leader of Samurai-dominated Japan, perhaps there wassomething, perhaps many things, a Samurai like Musashi could learn from the
“little people.”
In modern times, think of the “little people” as all those people you come into
contact with each day but don’t notice: the doorman, that bossy lady at the
DMV, the clerk at your “routine” stops along the way during a normal day,
perhaps even your housekeeper or even your secretary? All the “little people”
you disrespect by ignoring, who just might hold a grudge, who just might
succumb to your enemy’s suggestion on how to “get back at that inconsiderate
bastard” ... you being the “inconsiderate bastard” in question.
6
MUSASHI: THE EARLY YEARS
“What pains a man trains a man.”
—Attila the Hun
As already mentioned, some biographers continue to insist that Musashi was
completely self-taught, a prodigy, born with a sword. No, wait! Born with two
katana in his hands.
Truth be known, Musashi’s father was himself a noted swordsman, master
instructor for the powerful Shinman clan. In fact, in his masterpiece Gorin no
sho (“Book of Five Rings”), written near the end of his life, Musashi signs his
name Shinman Musashi no kami Fujiwara no Genshin, with clear reference to
his family’s service to the Shinmen.
So, while perhaps not born with literal katana in hand, the child Musashi
came into this world with his first cries being drowned out by the sound of
clashing blades.
How could young Musashi not have learned something from his father, his
father’s numerous Samurai students, perhaps even from shugyosha
7
frequenting
the elder Musashi’s dojo.
Most likely, the boy Musashi, back then known as Ben no Soke and nothing if
not observant, learned from all these.
Genes being genes, his having come from solid sword-wielding stock to begin
with, let alone being raised from birth in a school where swordsmanship wastaught, Musashi had both Nature and Nurture in his favor. We can easily
imagine young Musashi not only learning from any and all examples placed
before him, but, given the boy’s precocious propensity that would come to pass
for his personality in later life, we can also easily imagine him quickly, perhaps
easily, surpassing not only his father’s students, but soon challenging his father
as well.
Not surprising then that Musashi should strike out on his own at an early age.
Whether this sudden departure from under his father’s thumb came before he
killed his first man at age thirteen, or because of said killing, we can only
speculate.
We do know that by age thirteen Musashi was full-grown, reportedly big for a
Japanese. Musashi was also left-handed, which may account for his later ability
to master the use of two full-sized katana, wielding each adroitly with either
hand.
Musashi’s later trademark wanderlust manifesting at this early age, added to
what must have been increasing estrangement from his father, were both further
encouraged by the fact the whole of Musashi’s world was staring down into the
Abyss of violent change—with the Abyss glaring back!
With the death of “the Terrible Taiko” Hidayoshi Toyotomi in 1603, the
powerful Tokugawa clan made their move to seize total power from those still
supporting the lost Toyotomi cause and from other ambitious factions. All this
bloodshed and jockeying for position came to a head at the battle of Sekihahara,
which Musashi fought in at the age of sixteen. Unfortunately, Musashi backed
the losing side against the victorious Tokugawa. Thus, instead of winning glory,
like a thousand other “rebels,” Musashi found himself a fugitive, forced to
survive out in the wilds while the victorious troops of the Tokugawa hunted
down and slaughtered any Toyotomi survivors.
Needless to say, Musashi survived and, never a man to hold a grudge, years
later he would find himself in service to the Tokugawa regime, a regime that
would successfully rule Japan for next two hundred years.
In 1637, then in his sixties, Musashi fought on the side of the Tokugawa
regime against the Christians at the rebellion of Shimabara.
THE WAY OF THE RONIN I: TASTE THE WIND, RIDE THE WAVE“As long as you remain ignorant of the true Way, even if you
think you are on a sure Way and that you are doing well in
accordance with Buddhist laws or in accordance with the laws
of the world, you will deviate from the true Way, because you
overestimate yourself and your way of seeing is distorted.”
—Miyamoto Musashi
For much of his life, from the time he killed his first man at age thirteen,
Musashi travelled the length and breadth of Japan as a ronin.
The word ronin literally means “wave man,” as in a man, specifically a
Samurai, who is unattached to any Daimyo. This is analogous to a knight with a
king to serve.
Samurai became ronin for various reasons: the death of their Daimyo or the
dissolution of his fief, most often for his having backed the wrong faction in
some Samurai squabble or the other.
Until the practice was officially outlawed during the Togugawa Period, loyal
Samurai practiced junshi, ritual suicide, allowing them to accompany their
Master into The Void, the most notable account of junshi being the oft-told 1701
tale of “The 47 Ronin.”
It seems Daimyo Kiro had somewhat of an anger management problem.
8 Well
aware of this flaw in his rival Daimyo’s personality, Kiro’s enemy Asano tricked
him into drawing his sword in anger while both were visiting the Shogun. As a
result of this breach of etiquette, Kiro was ordered to commit seppuku, an order
he promptly obeyed.
Everyone then expected Kiro’s 47 Samurai retainers to follow him with
junshi. But, to everyone’s surprise, and to their disgrace, all 47 instead chose to
become ronin.
For the next two years, wherever they went, these 47 ronin were scorned as
cowards.
However, on the second anniversary of Lord Kiro’s death, all 47 of his ronin
secretly gathered outside Asano’s castle and, before anyone inside realized what
was happening, they had breached its walls.
Caught by surprise, Asano’s Samurai quickly fell beneath the vengeful blades
of the 47.
The next morning, the 47 ronin placed the head of Asano on the grave of their
lord Kiro and then, one by one, all 47 committed seppuku, finally joining theirLord in the Afterlife!
Though the tale of The 47 Ronin was said to take place many years after
Musashi’s death, much of Musashi’s life mirrored the wayward, often
impoverished, and even despised life of the ronin Samurai.
First, it was usually considered dishonorable to have been dismissed by one’s
Daimyo. Sometimes this came about when financially strapped or else politically
ostracized Daimyo were forced to “downsize.” Other times, Samurai were let go
because they had proven themselves useless or untrustworthy. People being
pretty much the same then as now, there as here, people just assumed the worst:
that the Samurai had been tossed out by his Lord for the latter rather than for the
former.
Having been dismissed by one Daimyo, some Samurai—for example, those
fortunate to receive a recommendation from their former boss, or those whose
skill and reputation preceded them—would likely find service with another
Daimyo.
However, for the majority of ronin, especially during the Tokugawa Period,
pickin’s were slim. As a result, some became bullies and highwaymen, taking
what they wanted from farmers and from unguarded merchants (thereby
contributing to the overall disdain and dread in which ronin in general were
held).
Other ronin hired themselves out as bodyguards, some even as assassins.
Several Ninja clans and cliques sprang up from dispossessed ronin. Still other
ronin went to work for Otokodate, secretive militia-esque fighting units (aka,
hatamoto-yakko) financed by various guilds and merchant syndicates, who used
them for tasks ranging from guarding merchant caravans to street-fighting
against rival merchant syndicates.
Finally, some out-of-work Samurai saw the writing on the wall, i.e., that the
Tokagawa regime finally forcing peace between the numerous warring Samurai
factions meant that, in the future, there would be less demand for Samurai skills.
As a result, many Samurai literally hung up their swords and became farmers,
craftsmen, even becoming merchants themselves.
During his life as a ronin, Musashi played all these roles at one time or
another: working for one Daimyo or another, fighting for them in wars, often
teaching martial arts to their other Samurai, hiring on with merchants to
bodyguard men and materials, learning the ways of the farmer, the woodsman,
the secrets of craftsmen, including swordsmiths. As already mentioned, he
gained a reputation for himself as an artist, as adept with clay and brush as he
was performing the tea ceremony.
Published by lucky bardele
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