The
Iaido Journal Apr 2010
Book Review - The Real Musashi:
Origins of a Legend
copyright ©
2010 Kim Taylor, all
rights reserved
The Real Musashi: Origins of a legend
The Bushu Denraiki
Translated and annotated by William de Lange 2009
Floating World Editions 2010
isbn 978-1-891640-56-8
This is a
translation of the Bushu Denraiki, written by the fifth generation
student of Niten Ichiryu, Tachibana Minehira, (later Tanji Hokin) in
1727.
In 1690
Tachibana Minehira became a retainer of Kuroda Tsunamasa, fourth daimyo
of the Kuroda han in Fukuoka, and after 1707 lost this position,
eventually taking the name Hokin. Hokin traced his lineage from Musashi
by the following:
1-Musashi Miyamoto
2-Terao Magonojo Nobumasa
3-Shibato Sanzaemon Yoshinori
4-Yoshida Taroemon Sanetsuru (fencing instructor to the Kuroda)
5-Tachibana Sendayu Minehira (Hokin Tanji 1671-1746)
6-Tachibana Taneakira (Yahei Masunaga)
Hokin became 5th head of his line in 1703 and eventually passed it to his nephew Tachibana Taneakira.
This book, the
Bushu Denraiki, is the recollection of discussions Hokin had with his
teachers, Yoshida Sanetsuru and Shibato Yoshinori. It is, according to
William de Lange, the earliest record of Musashi's life aside from
Musashi's own writings and his memorial stone.
I recommend
that any student of Musashi read this book. It is a useful reference
and can give students of the Niten Ichiryu a few insights into the
school. In order to read it most profitably, especially for Niten
students, I suggest reading the translation only, and then going back
to read the translation plus the annotations from de Lange for the
historical context.
I am a student of Niten Ichiryu and am much more interested in the school than in the larger history of Japan. (My
own practice of Niten Ichiryu comes through a different line of
instructors from Terao Motomenotsuke Nobuyuki, brother of Terao
Nobumasa.) As such, from my own admittedly skewed viewpoint, much
of the additional writing from de Lange is superfluous to the
translation. Having said that, the author does provide valuable
information on how later biographies of Musashi corroborate or
contradict Hokin's writings. An example of a somewhat marginal bit of
explanation from de Lange is his discussion of the 47 ronin (the
Genroku Ako Incident, p. 69) This tale of revenge (teki-uchi) is rather
tenuously connected to Musashi by his act of burei-uchi (striking down
for insolence) as mentioned by Hokin. I do not mean to imply that this
extraneous material is common in this book, it is not, but de Lange
does tend to wander a bit afield in his writings as seen
especially in his three volume set on famous Japanese swordsmen. This
book is more restrained.
"The Real
Musashi" shares a small, self-imposed problem with other recent
translations of writings by and about Musashi, and that is to ignore
the availability of modern students of the Niten Ichiryu when talking
about the techniques of Musashi's school.
On page 24 de
Lange describes Migiwaki no kamae as: "a stance in which one awaits the
opponent's attack with the sword held at the height of the right
armpit, the tip of the blade pointing downward, and its sharp side
turned outward. It is the last of Musashi's five kamae..."
Figure 1 represents my reading of this stance from the description.
The idea that the right tip is down comes, I suspect, from the usual migiwaki single sword stance as shown in figure 2.
In fact
the migiwaki stance in the Niten Ichiryu as described in the Go Rin no
Sho is commonly accepted by current students as a two-sword stance (as
are the other four kamae) and is seen in figure 3. The student does not
wait with the long sword at armpit height, but meets the opponent by
thrusting to armpit height as he closes.
The description
of katsu totsu on page 53 is similarly difficult to imagine from the
description as translated from Musashi's writing. "katsu as one raises
one's sword to stab and totsu as one strikes down". The following video
(click here), demonstrates a potential interpretation of this katsu-totsu movement, with single sword and with two swords,
as it relates to the concept of kissaki gaeshi (turning the tip) as
performed in my line of Niten Ichiryu. I don't claim that this is what
Musashi practiced, we are 350 years away from the man, but it fits with
what some current students of Niten practice. One can also see how
Musashi's young student, using this fundamental practice of the school,
could have driven the thief back into the fence where he finally caught
and killed him. (Read the book for the story).
On page 76
Hokin mentions that Musashi developed three sets of basic techniques
that amounted to three different styles, and mentions one called
Musashi-ryu is still in existence.
De Lange
suggests that, rather than developing three separate styles at the same
time, Musashi may have had three different styles over his lifetime. He
backs this up with another book, the "Heiho senshi denki" of Niwa
Nobuhide (a later biography) where the author states that Musashi
founded his school at 25 but only established the true Way, with the
five kamae we know today, at 50. It
may be true that Musashi developed several styles, I have heard of the
Musashi-ryu and the Enmei-ryu as well as the Niten Ichiryu, but a
simpler explanation can be made if one looks at the currently practiced
Niten Ichiryu where there is a set of 12 techniques for the long sword,
another set of 7 for the short sword and finally, a set of five kata
for the long and short sword together. These final five kata are called
Chudan, Jodan, Gedan, Hidariwaki and Migiwaki, after the five kamae
mentioned in the Go Rin no Sho. Three sets, virtually three different
styles.
I have no
special knowledge of the truth here, I wouldn't presume to speak to
what Musashi actually taught in 1640 but the methods of those who
practice the Niten Ichiryu today would provide at least one more
possibility when one is trying to interpret the writings of Musashi and
his students.
These are small
quibbles and do not detract from the chance for students in the west to
read what appears to be a good translation of the Bushu Denraiki.
