Yagyu Muneyoshi
Yagyū Muneyoshi ( Japanese 柳生 宗 厳 ; * 1527 near Nara ; † March 25, 1606 in Kyoto ) was a well-known swordsman in Japan. His stage name was Sekishūsai ( 石 舟 斎 ).
Life
Yagyū Muneyoshi came from a daimyō family of the Taira clan. When the warlord Tsutsui Junshō tried to conquer the territory of the Yagyū in 1544, they retreated to their castle and fought from there. The Yagyu clan held off the besiegers for three days, but surrendered on the third day. In this battle, Muneyoshi fought his first fight at the age of 17. Due to the defeat, the Yagyū had to recognize their conqueror Tsutsui as a new general.
He befriended the founder of the Shinkage-ryū (Reformed Shadow School) Kamiizumi Hidetsuna after he lost a duel against his nephew and student Hikita Bungorō . As Kamiizumi's best student, he was appointed by him after a few years as head of the school, which Muneyoshi renamed to Yagyū Shinkage-ryū after the death of his teacher . Even then, the style used a Fukuro Shinai , a modification of the Shinai bamboo sword .
After Yagyū Muneyoshi worked as a teacher of the Shogun Ashikaga Yoshiaki from 1566 , he visited Kyoto with his son Yagyū Munenori in 1594, where he disarmed and defeated Tokugawa Ieyasu, who was armed with a wooden sword, during a demonstration of his skills with a throwing technique. He then became Tokugawa's Hyōdo (teacher in military matters).
He took part in various battles in the course of the unification of the Japanese Empire . In 1577 he was defeated by Oda Nobunaga .
From a battle against the Sōhei , allied with the Matsunaga clan , it is reported that he “caught an arrow with his hand”.
He also trained ninja troops , which became one of the foundations for the Japanese secret police.
Web links
- ninja.ch
- angkor-verlag.de ( Memento from March 4, 2008 in the Internet Archive )
Individual evidence
- ^ Yagyū Toshinaga: Shōden Shinkage-ryū . Shimazu Shobō, 1989, ISBN 4-88218-012-X (first edition: Kōdansha, 1957, reprint).
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Yagyu, Muneyoshi |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | 柳生 石 舟 斎 宗 厳 (Japanese); Yagyū Sekishūsai Muneyoshi |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Japanese swordsman and hyōdo |
| DATE OF BIRTH | 1527 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | at Nara |
| DATE OF DEATH | March 25, 1606 |
| Place of death | Kyoto |