Miyamoto Musashi’s Wooden Practice Swords
Japan’s greatest swordsman, Miyamoto Musashi, killed one of his greatest opponents in a duel on an isolated island. His opponent wielded steel; He carved a wooden sword out of an oar on the way to the fight, which he used to crack his enemy’s skull.
Miyamoto Musashi later became a sword instructor for the Hosokawa family, teaching his famous two sword Niten Ichi style for merely rice. These are his oak practice swords, presented by the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco now, by a descendent of the Hosokawa samurai, a former prime minister of Japan. I saw them with Lisa last month. [BBG]
