"Miyamoto Musashi is THE most famous swordsman of Japanese history and fiction. There are innumerable movies and two television series concerned with his life and adventures. Jidai Geki are the visual adventures (sanitized for mass consumption) of various heroes, real and fictional, of Japanese folklore. They are characterized by stylized violence, lush period costumes, and a psuedo-archaic dialect of Japanese that is fully intelligible to modern T.V. audiences but has the sound and feel of classical Japanese. For many, Jidai Geki are easily digestible versions of history. Miyamoto Musashi is famous for defeating more than 60 opponents in sword duels. To those in the know... he was famous for his ability to judge the distance between a sword blade and his body. Musashi would wait until his opponent's sword was within one-half the width of grain of rice from his forhead befor he would make his attack... ensuring that his opponent would already be entirley committed to his attack and unable to change his mind or the direction of his swing as Musashi moved into position to kill (or K.O.) his opponent. Tsubamae-gaeshi means "return of the sparrow" and knowing that is enough to defeat the technique. Joe wa miyukichan daisuki dayo.
-Joseph Ksander |
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