ความคิดเห็นที่ 3
Among the great bugeisha (martial artists) whose lives fanned the flames of countless legends in Japan stands one unfortunately not as well known by many Westerners.
In Japan, however, Yagyu Jubei became the stuff of legends, the focus of several semi-fictitious novels written soon after his death, and the protagonist in many newspaper serials, novels, movies and television shows. Legends have become so entwined with real documents that, like Musashi, we often can't tell what is true and what is fairy tale.
Born to the Sword Yagyu Jubei Mitsuyoshi (some sources read his given name as Mitsutoshi) was the first son of Yagyu Tajima No Kami Munenori; the swordmaster to the Tokugawa shoguns. It was this Munenori who served the first Tokugawa shogun, Ieyasu, at the Battle of Sekigahara. After the battle, Ieyasu secured dominion over the country, and made Munenori a sword instructor (kenjutsu shinan) and minor daimyo (lord of a province). Subsequently, Munenori rose to become a major advisor and sometsuke or oh-metsuke (overseer of the daimyo).
Munenori's father, Yagyu Matauemon No Jo Muneyoshi Sekishusai, was the founder of the family's swordfighting tradition. Muneyoshi was lord of Koyagyu Castle, near present-day Hotokuji Temple. The Yagyu clan is listed as one of many who fought against the Miyoshi and Matsunaga clans, and for a time it appears that Muneyoshi served Oda Nobunaga, who was also fighting the Miyoshi and Matsunaga. The Yagyu, under Muneyoshi, lived in a quiet hamlet in the area of Yagyu, several miles outside of Nara City proper, in the middle of the Yamato river basin.
This location, as we shall see later, was pivotal in later struggles for dominion of the land, and figured into the Yagyu family's involvement in the political machinations of the great warlords. Although Yagyu village was tiny hamlet in the countryside, it was surrounded by fiercely independent farmer-warriors who would band together when their common interests were threatened by outside forces. While isolated by valleys and mountains, access through the Yamato plains was essential for any general hoping to consolidate rule over all of Japan. The rolling flatlands, interspersed by deep valleys and pine-covered mountains, surrounded the first capitol of Japan, Nara, and touched the southern edges of Kyoto, the then-current capitol. An eastern daimyo hoping to advance into Kyoto to claim the title of shogun, the supreme generalissimo of the land, had only a few options of passes through natural barriers. One road led straight through the Yamato area. Currying favor with the landed gentry and samurai of that locale, therefore, would be a crucial factor for any ambitious warlord east of Kyoto.
In terms of martial arts, Yagyu Muneyoshi studied the Shinto-ryu and the Toda Itto-ryu. Finally, he trained with a genius of swordsmanship, Kamiizumi Ise No Kami, and received a master's license in the Shinkage-ryu.
Muneyoshi, so they say, was already quite a capable swordsman, but lost to Ise No Kami in a two-out-of-three match using the Shinkage-ryu's innovative leather-wrapped split bamboo practice sword. Straightaway, Muneyoshi asked to be a disciple. Some years later, he was awarded a license of mastery in the ryu. The family's version of the style became known later as the Yagyu Shinkage-ryu. Later, family members were enlisted to serve two branches of the Tokugawa family, and thus two major strains of this ryu developed; the Edo Yagyu, based in Edo town (present-day Tokyo), and the Owari Yagyu. Some martial arts historians say that a slightly different variation also developed among the family members that remained in Yagyu village, and called this system the Yamato Yagyu.
Muneyoshi first encountered Tokugawa Ieyasu at Kyoto's Takagamine mountain. Currently a busy, crowded suburb of Kyoto City, Takagamine was once a quiet hillside, dotted only by the huts of farmers, craftsmen, temples and shrines. It was there that Ieyasu, facing troubling intrigues by his rival, Ishida Mitsunari, took the time to observe a demonstration of martial arts by a relatively unknown country samurai, Muneyoshi.
After demonstrating his martial art with his sons, Muneyoshi faced Ieyasu, who was armed with a wooden practice sword. The aged Muneyoshi was barehanded, but he disarmed and threw Ieyasu with ease.
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DigiTaL-KRASH!!!
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7 มี.ค. 48 06:00:43
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