Musashi Miyamoto (
He was born under the name Takezou Shinmen (
Appearance
His appearance changes as the series progresses. As an adult he is a tall man around 180 cm (5'11").
As a young man, he tied back his hair. People often compare his hair to an explosion. After the Yoshioka arc, he is about 28 years old and he doesn't tie his hair back. He is covered with scars from the 70 Yoshioka students.
In the Last Manga exhibition, Inoue Takehiko had painted an older version of Musashi. This version is very similar to the self portait of the real Musashi.
Personality
In the beginning of the series, Musashi was portrayed as a hot headed young man driven by his desire to become strong, with a very aggressive personality.
One of the foremost reasons that drives Musashi to excel in sword-fighting, is his desire to overcome his father for all the harsh treatment given during his childhood and Musashi's incapability to rebel. This desire made him violent and feared by others, however Otsu was the only person who didn't fear him.
In Vagabond he was obsessed with being "Invincible under the Heavens" until he realises that it was simply an empty title and how limited he was. When he was asked the definition of "Invincible under the Heavens", he compared it to a heat haze where it gets hot when one strives towards it but it fades when one reaches it.
After destroying the Yoshioka clan, he becomes more gentle and peaceful but he understands he can't escape the spiral of death and killing. As he figured out that he's stuck in the spiral of death and killing, he felt killing others was like stabbing himself.
Relationships
- Otsu: A childhood friend, the two quickly became friends, as they were both lonely children without parental love. When he was recovering from the attack of Yoshioka Denshirou, he kept dreaming and thinking about Otsu until he realized that he loved her. After meeting Otsu in the Yagyu mansion, Musashi saw her waiting for him but he knew that it would be dangerous for her to be in a relationship with him so he distanced himself from her. In the recent events, Musashi claims he wanted to live with Otsu.
- Matahachi Honiden: Another childhood friend. Musashi truly thought Matahachi was his best friend until he abandoned him with Akemi and Oko. Before his fight against Inshun, he thought of Matahachi and wondered if he made a name for himself. When Musashi encounters Matahachi in Kyoto, Musashi was deeply saddened to see how he had changed over the years.
- Soho Takuan: An eccentric monk that acts as a teacher and gives guidance to Musashi. He plays an important role in the growth and development of Musashi and his character. Although Takuan's ways of teaching can at times be brutal, for a young Musashi they were the best forms of lessons since violence was the language he best understood. Takuan's methodology is at times cruel but he deeply cares about Musashi and wishes for him to reach his goal of being invincible under the sun.
- Sasaki Kojirō: When they first met, they instinctively knew that they weren't enemies. After he reunites with Kojiro in Kyoto, they're drawn to each other.
- Jotaro: Jotaro is Musashi's first disciple, who helped heal Musashi after his fight against Yoshioka Denshichiro. Jotaro was forced to quit his job by an uncaring boss and leaves home to follow Musashi and become strong. After a rocky start, the two slowly form an intimate bond as Musashi sees similarities between himself and the boy. The pair both promise each other that they will become stronger, as they don't have a place to return to. At the end of the Yagyu arc, Musashi attempts to leave Jotaro believing he has a better future with the accepting and caring Yagyu clan. However, Jotaro and Otsu pursue Musashi and begin searching for other strong warriors in the hope of meeting him again. While on his journey, Musashi would occasionally wonder about Jotaro's well being.
Biography
Past
Growing up in the late 16th century Sengoku era Japan, Musashi was born as Shinmen Takezo, the son of a samurai family. His father Shinmen Munisai is one of the most renowned samurai across the nation. At a young age, his father divorced his mother and forced Takezo to learn martial arts. Takezo longed to see his mother again and show her how much he grown but his mother rebuffed him, telling him to return to his father. This resulted in Takezo's loneliness, which grew coupled with his fear for his father. On several occasions the young Musashi tried to assassinate his father but always failed, only to be beaten by Munisai afterwards. Takezo would run into the mountains through the bamboo forest to calm down. This led Takezo to train himself with nature, developing a close bond with the wilds. Once he found a swordsman's corpse in a cave and was awed, hoping to be like him. As a child, he became close friends with Matahachi Honiden and Otsu.
By the age of 13, he saw a challenge post by Kihe Arima and accepted the duel. Kihe Arima underestimated Takezo for his young age and Takezo killed the Kihe without hesitation. One time, Ito Ittosai had travelled to his village and dueled with an unknown swordsman. Takezo heard of his stories and admired him. He even sculpted a demon statue and aspired to be like him.
Takezo arc
Aftermath of the Battle
At the age of 17, Matahachi asks Takezo if he wants to join with him to fight for the Toyotomi army against the Tokugawa clan at the Battle of Sekigahara. Takezo agrees to go with Matahachi and Otsu asks Takezo to protect Matahachi and he agrees. He encounters his fateful rival Sasaki Kojiro, Ittōsai and Musō Gonnosuke at the battle of Sekigahara. They duel together against the Tokugawa clan but Takezo gets shot in the leg by a soldier with a crossbow. Ittosai, angered at the usage of modern western weapons, kills the soldier. After the duel, Ittosai and Kojiro are unable to find Takezo and leave with Gonnosuke whilst Takezo laid in the field wounded.
In the aftermath of the battle, the Toyotomi army is defeated and Takezo and Matahachi, both injured, are pursued by "survivor hunters" (also known as "refugee hunters"); hunters who kill those who survived and fought for the losing side. The two proceed to flee the battlefield. After walking for quite a while, they stop for a break. They had been walking for three days, and Matahachi expresses his feelings of incompetence. He goes to urinate and continues to talk to Takezo. As he urinates, someone approaches him from behind and puts his sword on his neck. He turns around to see that it is a real refugee hunter, as he cuts Matahachi's arm. Matahachi yells at Takezo in an attempt to warn him, and Takezo approaches the Refugee hunter. The hunter is quickly and swiftly cut down by Takezo.
The two eventually shuffle away, Takezo holding him up, as he is hurt. They eventually come to another battle field. A young girl is ringing a small bell. Exhausted, Takezo and Matahachi pass out.
Oko's Hut and The Bandits
The two wake up the next morning in a small house. A woman crawls up to Takezo on a wooden floor and asks if he would like a drink. Matahachi tells him to join him also. Takezo, clearly angry, tells him that they're healed and that they're leaving. Matahachi tells him that he must, as they sheltered them for days, even while they were refugees. The woman, Oko, laughs and suggest that her daughter, who is named Akemi, should choose one of them to marry, so they could both stay there. Akemi doesn't say anything, and Matahachi says that he can't, even though she didn't say anything to him. She leaves and Oko says that she refuses to grow up.
Takezo follows Akemi, leaving Matahachi alone with Oko. They gather mushrooms, but Takezo is less than helpful. Filling his basket unknowingly with poisonous mushrooms. Akemi asks why Takezo why he doesn't ask her questions. Matahachi has been asking her questions relentlessly, about how they make a living, her age, where her father is, why she is living with her mother alone in the mountains, and why she wears the bells. Takezo asks how old she is, and Akemi tells him that she is fifteen. Surprised, Takezo admits that that she is older than he expected. He tells her that he is seventeen and she reacts the same way, saying that she thought he was around thirty. Akemi asks Takezo if he has any more questions, and he asks her what she was doing when she found them in the field.
Back at the house, Matahachi is apparently looking through their house. he finds a large number of swords stashed away. Oko walks in as he is looking through them. Meanwhile, Akemi admits that they're thieves. Akemi's mother tells Matahachi that they go to every battlefield, after the fighting is over, and collect swords, armour and anything they can sell for money. They strip them off the corpses, and that's how they make money.
While Matahachi and Takezo lived with Oko and Akemi, Oko attempted to seduce both of the boys. While Takezo refused any advances, Matahachi quickly became her lover.
A man approaches Akemi and Takezo later on. Akemi throws rocks at him and he addresses her by name. The man was Tenma Tsujikaze a bandit leader.
During their stay at Oko's home, Tenma Tsujikaze and his bandits showed up. Tenma tells Oko to not visit the battlefield and steal the weapons and attempted to take the weapons that they had collected. As Oko tries to lure Tenma near her, Matahachi and Takezo kill him and multiple other bandits. As an act of revenge, the next day, the remaining bandits show up again. Takezo kills the rest of the bandits including Tenma Tsujikaze while Matahachi and Oko were having sex in the forest. After the death of Tenma, Akemi, Matahachi and Oko left for Kyoto in order to not be killed by his brother.
Arrival at Miyamoto Village
After being abandoned by Matahachi and company, Takezo walks back to his home village of Miyamoto. There, a man named Heita spots Takezo and runs to tell the news to Osugi Honiden, Matahachi's mother. The village fears Takezo who is seen as a vicious man capable of drawing the fear and violence out of anybody, living by his wits and quickly killing anyone who crosses him. This behaviour frequently got Takezo into trouble, earning him notoriety as a "demon child" and forcing him to live in the mountains After hearing the news of Takezo's arrival, Osugiassumes that Matahachi has come home along with Takezo and asks other villagers if the news is true. Much to her dismay, a villager tells her it's not true and to give up to, Osugi responds by slapping the man.
A pair of samurais enter the village and question Osugi about the whereabouts of the Shinmen Family. Osugi discloses that she is not part of the Shinmen family and it is revealed to her that the men are tracking Takezo due to him killing two men. The men also tell Osugi that Takezo is travelling alone. The news that Takezo has come back without Matahachi angers Osugi and she offers to help the samurais capture Takezo. She tells the men about why Takezo has such infamy in the village: he killed his first man at age 13 and is considered a beast.
As the samurais continue to find a Takezo, they find a body of a fellow samurai. Otsu overhears this as Takezo appears out of a bush in front of her, which she reacts to by screaming. Samurais overhear Otsu's screams which cause Takezo to run back into the bushes with samurais following his tracks.
At Shippoji Temple, villagers of Miyamoto congregate with Captain Aoki to discuss what to do about the arrival of Takezo Shinmen. It is revealed that Takezo spent most of his childhood in the mountain forest and he's a beast who can survive on birds, rabbits and even tree bark.
Men continue to search for Takezo in mountains to convict him of his crimes. As Takezo is eating in the forest, he overhears the footsteps of the villagers, surprised that not only the samurais are after him, but the villagers too.
As he continues to sit quietly in the forest, he jumps at the site of a villager passing by. He tells the villager to relay a message to Osugi and Otsu that Matahachi is still alive but he is not coming back to Miyamoto. Takezo reassures the villager that he will leave the village once the message is relayed. As the villager begins to respond, Takezo attacks him and covers his mouth to prevent him from revealing his location to other villagers passing by. He asks the captured villager if the village has been ordered to capture him to which the villager nods. As he lets go of the villager, the villager goes running saying "It's Takezo!! He's over here!!".
At night, Osugi cries hoping that Matahachi is alive. She hears a sound outside and opens the door hoping it's Matahachi but only sees Takezo standing in front of her. As Osugi meets Takezo once more, mid-sentence, Osugi gets a knife and attempts to kill Takezo. Luckily, Takezo dodges and is surprised. Osugi states she will kill Takezo herself and kill herself after. As she continues to attack Takezo, he takes her knife and finally is able to let out that Matahachi is still alive.
After taking the knife out of Osugi's hand, Takezo apologizes for how aggressive he was with the old lady. Osugi asks if it's true that Matahachi is alive to which Takezo responds with a yes. Osugi sobs and asks why he didn't come back with Takezo. Osugi yells and weakly hits Takezo as she declares him to give her son back and asks Takezo where Matahachi is repeatedly.
Osugi apologizes for losing control and attempting to hurt Takezo. She allows Takezo to come into her home and lets him wear Matahachi's clothes, cooks for him and offers him to take a bath. Takezo is confused and suspicious as to how quickly Osugi becomes kind after her attempt at killing him. Osugi responds by saying that he is a friend her beloved son.
As Takezo takes a bath, villagers and samurais surround the house in an attempt to ambush him. Osugi goes out to greet the men and reveals that it was a ruse and an act of revenge because Takezo came back without Matahachi and claims that he is with another woman. Takezo then breaks down the door to the house and appears in front of the men naked with his katana. Takezo begins to fight the men and states that if they try to kill him, he will kill them first.
Takezo defeats many villagers and Captain Aoki. After being surrounded by two villagers, Takezo runs into the forest while the remaining pursuers chase him. He eventually falls and is greeted by the monk Takuan Sōhō. As Takuan analyzes Takezo, he concludes that although Takezo is big, he has a small heart. Takuan notices that Takezo is frightened of him and even though he is the one with the sword; his nerves are constantly on the edge and ready to lash out at those around him. As the pursuers catch up, Takezo hides in the bushes and the pursuers question Takuan of his whereabouts. Takuan points to a random direction to lead the pursuers away and once they are gone, he yells and states that Takezo is here. Takuan laughs as Takezo looks on, shocked.
The next day, the manhunt intensifies. Otsu, who is being harassed by the infatuated Captain Aoki, hides behind and tree where she is greeted by Takuan. Takuan accompanies Otsu as she goes back to Captain Aoki. As Takuan sits and speaks with Aoki, he questions his ability to capture Takezo since all he does it drink and behave foolishly.
Meanwhile, Takezo is attacked by Kohei Tsujikaze in an attempt to get revenge for killing his brother Tenma. Takezo is pinned down and stabbed in the arm but is able to stab Kohei in the thigh. Kohei quickly pushes off of Takezo and the two men stand and duel. As they duel, Kohei admits that he isn't hurt that his brother died and angered that he didn't get to kill him himself. Pursuers witness the duel and surround Takezo as Kohei leaves.
As Takuan continues to speak with Captain Aoki, Aoki gets defensive and threatens to kill Takuan with his katana for the disrespectful comments. Takuan continues to insult Aoki, and states that the villagers should be paid for the manhunt since they need to make a living. He advises that Otsu go and capture Takezo.
Takezo's Capture
Otsu and Takuan go deep into the forest and cook a stew. A hungry Takezo is lured in by the smell. Takuan senses Takezo's presence and tells him that he is weak and can barely stand. Takezo begins to hallucinate and sees the faces of all the men he has kill as they shout 'kill him!!'. Once Takezo stops hallucinating, Otsu asks about Oko, the woman Matahachi ran off with. Otsu runs and hugs Takezo and he drops his katana, falling to his knees. Takuan carries Takezo back to village and he is hung to a tree with a rope wrapped around his waist.
Takezo is tied to a tree day and night and begins to think about his past, his mother, his cruel father and his goal to become invincible under the sun. Osugi visits the captured Takezo, smiling at his suffering. Without Matahachi, Osugi hopes the Hon'iden line continues if Otsu marries Aoki, but Otsu renounces the Hon'iden after discovering what Matahachi did. The bandit Kōhei Tsujikaze attempts to kill Takezo once again, but Takuan scares him off with his enormous ki, and decides to conclude Takezo's matter.
Takuan convinces Takezo to change, and releases him. Guilty for the harm and deaths he has caused, Takezo weeps as he wonders if he deserves to die. Takuan tells him 'there is no light... for those who do not know darkness... live on and endure the shadows!!'. Just then, Otsu arrives: she has abandoned the Hon'iden. Takuan renames Takezo as Musashi Miyamoto to make him start his life anew. Musashi, Takuan and Otsu leave the Miyamoto village.
First Yoshioka arc
The story timeskips to when Musashi Miyamoto is 21 and arrives to the capital, Kyoto.
Musashi, in his quest to become Invincible Under The Heavens, intends to challenge the famed Yoshioka school. But on the way there, his arrogant attitude and confidence in defeating the Yoshioka school provokes a young man in the street to draw his sword and put it at Musashi's neck. Before Musashi can even react, the young man states that Musashi would die trying to duel the Yoshioka school. The young man then heads back to the girls he was drunk with. Musashi heads to the Yoshioka dojo nonetheless and challenges them using only his wooden sword against their steel swords. Musashi demands a challenge with Seijuro Yoshioka but is denied.
The members state that first Musashi must fight the low-level members. He kills 5 of them. After defeating the 5 lower level students, Musashi then fights Ryōhei Ueda, the rank 3, but the duel is halted by the entrance of Denshichiro, the rank 2. Denshichiro claims that Ryohei is weak and can lose to Musashi and doesn't want Ryohei to tarnish the reputation of the school. Denschichiro then duels Musashi. As they prepare to duel, Seijuro enters and Musashi recognizes him as the young man he met in the street earlier that day.
Seijuro offers Musashi to take some sake and leave. Musashi refuses to do so which prompts Seijuro to cut Musashi's wooden katana and leave a scar on Musashi's forehead to scare him off. Seijuro then leaves but Musashi stays nonetheless, and Denshichiro decides to fight him. Though Musashi has much less skill than Denshichiro, they fight to a standstill. Denshichiro has his left shoulder dislocated, while Musashi loses a lot of blood from his wounds on his forehead and torso.
Just when Musashi and Denshichiro are about to engage in a final collision, the school catches fire. Denshichiro tells Musashi that they will have a rematch in one year, then everyone escapes. Matahachi witnesses Musashi as the two escape the fiery dojo. Shocked, Matahachi runs to the injured Musashi.
Following the fire at the Yoshioka dojo, Matahachi drags Musashi to a local inn, where he is tended to by the inn's errand-boy, Jotaro along with Takuan who was also visiting Kyoto. Jotaro, an orphan who dreams of being a samurai, begs Musashi to take him as his apprentice. Seeing much of himself in the boy, and encouraged by Takuan, an initially reluctant Musashi accepts, and they begin travelling together as master and pupil.
Hozoin arc
The Hozoin temple and school consists of monks that are trained in martial arts using a spear instead of sword. The monks are revered for their skill and training.
Musashi and Jotaro appear at Hozoin Temple, searching for Inei Hozoin, the head, and intending to duel him. As the two walk to attempt to find the temple, they see an old monk working in the fields. Afraid that the man is dangerous, Musashi stops Jotaro from asking the man for directions. The old man claims that Musashi has so much bloodthirst that he feels threatened by even an old man. The old man continues on to say that Musashi is clumsy and graceless and then questions Musashi's skill and gives some insight into his bloodthirst before Musashi and Jotaro leave.
At the Hozoin temple, Gion Toji arrives, mocks one of the most skilled monks, Agon; amputates another monk's arms whilst duelling and leaves announcing he will return everyday and do the same until Musashi comes. As the amputated monk heals from the damage, he retells what occurred to Inshun Hozoin, the childish but incredibly skilled prodigy of the Hozoin school. Fascinated by Gion Toji, Inshun eagerly asks Agon to allow him to take on Toji.
At night, the old monk from the fields invites Musashi and Jotaro to his home. He offers them words of rationale, food and housing. He asks Musashi what is true strength, a question that has been on Musashi's mind. Musashi, although grateful for the housing, is still intimidated by the old man. The monk then asks Musashi if he would like sake which annoys Musashi since monks traditionally don't partake in such behaviours.
That night, as Agon and Inshun practiced, they speak of Musashi and how he single-handedly challenged the Yoshioka school and proved to be an equal match against Denshichiro.
The next day, Musashi visits the temple while Jotaro slept and attacks Agon whilst he trains. He defeats Agon as Toji watches from afar. As Toji and Musashi spoke to one another, they began to duel. Inshun, oversees the duel and introduces himself. He then asks Agon which man beat him to which Agon responds with Musashi. Excited, Inshun declares that he wants to fight Musashi. Musashi asked if Inshun was strong, and if he defeated him, if he would be considered strong. Inshun told him that he was probably stronger than Inei. Inshun further states that if he is defeated, Musashi could call himself strong. However, Musashi was outmatched by Inshun, not landing a single blow with his wooden sword while taking hit after hit from Inshun's spear. Inshun's superior technique and stamina prove to be too much for Musashi, who relies on his brute force. Musashi refused to concede when given the chance, and Inshun realised he would have to kill him. Facing death, Musashi ran away from Inshun.
When Musashi regains consciousness after escaping Inshun, he is in a house, surrounded by the same old monk from before and Jotaro, who parts ways saying he is disappointed in Musashi's cowardice. The monk then reveals that he is Inei Hozoin. He takes care of Musashi's recovery and training, stating that he needs him to become Inshun's ultimate rival: Inshun is excellent in physique and technique, but because of this, he never had a life-threatening fight and thus never developed his spirit.
Musashi then asks Inei to train him to defeat Inshun, which Inei agrees to. He takes Musashi to the mountains, telling him to live out in the mountains training. Each day, Inei would come to check on Musashi and duel him with a practice spear. Inei defeated him each time. Inei did this as he knew that Inshun was missing one last thing; a life or death experience: mortal combat. He believed that having Inshun face mortal combat would make him truly strong. Inshun, meanwhile, is still unaware that Musashi is alive. He has lost his previous vigor, and while he is still an immensely skilled fighter, he seems to have given up on improving, stating that he is bored. Musashi, now well trained, calmer and wiser, realizes that Inshun is coming, ready to duel with him. When Inshun learns that Musashi is alive, he immediately writes a letter to Musashi, promising to meet him in the mountains for a rematch the next day.
Musashi, now able to dodge Inei's attacks, walks to the school at night in the rain to duel with Inshun. While he stands in the rain, he begins to hallucinate his father. He proceeds to walk back to the forest and wash himself at a stream and thinks of Otsu and Matahachi and admits he's not ready to die. At dawn, Musashi sees smoke in the forest and walks towards it. there, he finds Inshun, Agon and Inei sitting by a campfire waiting for him.
At last Musashi and Inshun have their rematch. This time, Inshun wields a lethal, cross-shaped spear. The fight turns out to be a clash of spirits. Musashi, now much calmer and attentive, makes Inshun nervous. Inshun thrusts with his spear but Musashi dodges it, only gaining a scar in his right cheek, and once inside the spear's range he counter-attacks smacking Inshun's head with his wooden sword. Musashi wins. In his celebration, Musashi briefly reverts to his savage self. Inshun's backstory is then shown in flashbacks; the real reasons In'ei wanted such a fight was to make Inshun stop trying to bury his traumas and start to have empathy with the others.
In the arc's epilogue, Musashi and Inshun recover. In recognition, Musashi is presented with formal clothes and a pair of steel swords. Inshun, now much friendlier and closer to his mates, becomes the Hōzōin head. The two part ways, vowing to have another match, which won't be life-threatening. On his way out, Musashi finds Jotaro, who has changed his mind, and they both head to the Yagyu estate.
Yagyu arc
Baiken arc
Second Yoshioka arc
Post-Yoshioka arc
Farming arc
A swordsman appeared before Musashi with no intention to fight but Musashi's bloodlust driven him away.
In the recent chapters, he meets a young boy called Iori who recently lose his father. Musashi lived with Iori for some time and bonded with him very well. Iori becomes interested in swordmanship after observing Musashi practicing his sword. However Musashi encourages Iori to farming than wielding a sword.
Last Manga exhibition
It is unknown whether the contents of Last Manga exhibition is canon but the theme was "What if Musashi dies?"
It shows an elderly Musashi who resides in the mountain as a hermit living inside the Reigando Cave. It sets after Musashi finishes writing his famous book: "The Book of Five Rings". Musashi becomes more like Sekishūsai and Ittosai with the wisdom of Sekishūsai and the playfulness of Ittosai.
As a dying old man, he meets new and old visitors. One of the new visitor is Fuki who was introduced as a young boy listening to Matahachi's story about Musashi journey. Fuki admired Mushashi and desires to become Musashi last disciple. Musashi mistaken Fuki as Jotaro and he apologizes that he didn't do much as his master. Fuki tried to cut Musashi down when he thought Musashi was asleep but Musashi uses his fan to change the trajectory of the blade.
An elderly Inshun greets Musashi and kept his promise to meet him one last time, their encounter was like good friends.
Yagyū Jōnosuke and his grandson visited Musashi. It was revealed that Jōnosuke is Jotaro, it was hinted that Otsu may possibly be his wife when he mentioned she died last spring and was 8 years older than him. Jōnosuke tells Musashi that he will forever be remembered for his way of life and many people outside the gates waiting to pay their final respect to him.
Jōnosuke's grandson found out that Musashi dies peacefully, Jōnosuke was shocked and Fuki cries out for the loss of his master. His last thoughts were Otsu who comforts him by holding his hand and asked if he's okay and Musashi replied back he's fine.
He meets the people who were killed by him and makes peace with them: Ueda, Seijuro, Denshichiro and Baiken.
He also meets his father, it was revealed that his desire to be "invincible under the Heaven" was to have his bond closer to his father. Munisai replied that only detest would grow but Musashi say that even detest is also a bond between them. Munisai was surprised and asked what did he desire and a few artwork revealed that Musashi wanted to bond with his mother and was willing to give up his sword. This indicates that Musashi truly wanted to have a family bond.
He also meets his spiritual teacher Inei & Sekishūsai who both agreed that it was fun to meet Musashi.
Kojiro as a young boy greets Musashi in the beach, he speaks to him and accompanies him to the after life.
Abilities
At a young age, his father would teach him Jutte which helped him to create the two sword style.
Musashi is unique in terms of his sword-skill for the unfamiliar movements and lack of style he uses. This is due to the fact that he spent most of his entire time in the forest having been labelled as a demon child by his village for his demeaning and wicked nature. Frankly, the forest is his home and where his master resides.
He is known for his arm strength, in the Yagyū arc he was able to cut a steel sword with one hand.
Swordsmanship: Niten Ichi-ryū (二天一流; literally meaning: "Two Heavens as One Style") - he created the two sword style by wielding a katana on the offensive right hand while the Wakizashi on the defensive left hand. He questioned himself why Japanese swordsman only use one sword during fights. He displayed full use of the two sword against Tsujikaze Kōhei/Shishido Baiken.
One of the secrets of the technique is to throw the wakizashi blade like a shuriken/kunai.
Equipment
As a young man, Musashi often carved and carried Bokken (wooden swords) to use in fights. the lethality of these weapons varied, and while Musashi manged to kill many of his opponents with Bokken, a number of his more skilled opponents managed to survive their bouts with only minor injuries.
He was later given a set of swords by Inei; a Katana and wakizashi.
Gallery
