The Salutary Tale of Sasaki Kojiro
Regular readers of this blog will know that I am a bit of a student of the life of Miyamoto Musashi. Arguably Musashi's most well known exploit was the duel with Sasaki Kojiro on Ganryujima Island in 1612 in which he killed Sasaki Kojiro with a wooden sword carved from an oar. A lot has been written about Musashi over the years but this post is going to look at his opponent for reasons that will hopefully become clear. (Plus it's only fair - Kojiro was not a villain after all).
Kojiro was an accomplished swordsman known as 'The Demon of the Eastern Provinces' and had formed his own school with many students known as the Ganryu (Large Rock school). This style was founded on the use of the No-dachi an extra long variant of the katana and Kojiro was famed for using a sword known as 'the Drying Pole' due to it's unusual length. His signature move was the 'Turning Swallow Cut' which although not historically documented seemed to rely on a return stroke after an initial downward cut. It was a well known but well feared technique that had earned Kojiro a fearsome reputation and a valuable occupation as a sword-master for the powerful Hosokawa fief. The famous duel was to be a comparison of techniques between two swordsmen of great renown.
So why did Kojiro lose? Was he simply out matched by Musashi in terms of skill? Well, probably not in a technical sense. Here are my thoughts on why Kojiro lost on that fateful day of 13th April 1612.
Mental equilibrium - it is famously documented that Musashi arrived very late for the duel and that Kojiro was enraged at the implied insult, throwing his scabbard into the sea in anger as he approached Musashi. This loss of poise is cited by many as a prime reason for his defeat. One can imagine the slight felt by Kojiro as he waited; he, a respected retainer of a powerful clan kept waiting by an itinerant and unconventional wandering swordsman..... the indignity of it all! But pride goeth before a fall.....
Reliance on a limited range of techniques - Kojiro was famed for both a specific technique and a specific unconventional weapon. Musashi used this against him by crafting an oar into a longer weapon, thus negating Kojiro's advantage. It was only a few inches difference but it did count.
Out-thinking himself - As mentioned before, Kojiro was famed for his swallow cut technique but in his fight with Musashi it is not mentioned that he employed it, or if he did, he could not execute the return stroke in time. Musashi had a reputation for assimilating and countering techniques rapidly. Did Kojiro try to change his style at the last moment in response to this with fatal consequences? Or was it simply because he was angry?
Conventional thinking vs unconventional thinking - Kojiro was very much the product of his society. A samurai who had practised his skills under a Master, worked his way up and gained patronage from a powerful Lord. Musashi admitted to no master or instruction, wandered the country at will, had no sponsor and paid little heed to social or martial convention. Maybe when confronted by such an anomaly Kojiro was put off balance?
Musashi was just better - Musashi himself didn't think so and always regarded Kojiro as an equal after the event. It was after this duel that Musashi said he would no longer fight to kill and that "the previous victories were not due to my having mastered strategy. Perhaps it was natural ability, or the order of heaven, or that other schools' strategy was inferior. After that I studied morning and evening searching for the principle, and came to realise the Way of strategy when I was fifty." It took nearly twenty-five years for Musashi to perfect his skills but it was Kojiro who taught him his most valuable lesson.
That's my view but as Musashi himself would say "You must work it out for yourself".......
Kojiro was an accomplished swordsman known as 'The Demon of the Eastern Provinces' and had formed his own school with many students known as the Ganryu (Large Rock school). This style was founded on the use of the No-dachi an extra long variant of the katana and Kojiro was famed for using a sword known as 'the Drying Pole' due to it's unusual length. His signature move was the 'Turning Swallow Cut' which although not historically documented seemed to rely on a return stroke after an initial downward cut. It was a well known but well feared technique that had earned Kojiro a fearsome reputation and a valuable occupation as a sword-master for the powerful Hosokawa fief. The famous duel was to be a comparison of techniques between two swordsmen of great renown.
So why did Kojiro lose? Was he simply out matched by Musashi in terms of skill? Well, probably not in a technical sense. Here are my thoughts on why Kojiro lost on that fateful day of 13th April 1612.
Mental equilibrium - it is famously documented that Musashi arrived very late for the duel and that Kojiro was enraged at the implied insult, throwing his scabbard into the sea in anger as he approached Musashi. This loss of poise is cited by many as a prime reason for his defeat. One can imagine the slight felt by Kojiro as he waited; he, a respected retainer of a powerful clan kept waiting by an itinerant and unconventional wandering swordsman..... the indignity of it all! But pride goeth before a fall.....
Reliance on a limited range of techniques - Kojiro was famed for both a specific technique and a specific unconventional weapon. Musashi used this against him by crafting an oar into a longer weapon, thus negating Kojiro's advantage. It was only a few inches difference but it did count.
Out-thinking himself - As mentioned before, Kojiro was famed for his swallow cut technique but in his fight with Musashi it is not mentioned that he employed it, or if he did, he could not execute the return stroke in time. Musashi had a reputation for assimilating and countering techniques rapidly. Did Kojiro try to change his style at the last moment in response to this with fatal consequences? Or was it simply because he was angry?
Conventional thinking vs unconventional thinking - Kojiro was very much the product of his society. A samurai who had practised his skills under a Master, worked his way up and gained patronage from a powerful Lord. Musashi admitted to no master or instruction, wandered the country at will, had no sponsor and paid little heed to social or martial convention. Maybe when confronted by such an anomaly Kojiro was put off balance?
Musashi was just better - Musashi himself didn't think so and always regarded Kojiro as an equal after the event. It was after this duel that Musashi said he would no longer fight to kill and that "the previous victories were not due to my having mastered strategy. Perhaps it was natural ability, or the order of heaven, or that other schools' strategy was inferior. After that I studied morning and evening searching for the principle, and came to realise the Way of strategy when I was fifty." It took nearly twenty-five years for Musashi to perfect his skills but it was Kojiro who taught him his most valuable lesson.
That's my view but as Musashi himself would say "You must work it out for yourself".......
posted by Dave at
1:50 PM
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