Miyamoto Musashi

(1584 - 1645)

Miyamoto Musashi was thirteen when he fought and won his first duel. “I was unbeaten by the enemy because I gave no thought to my life,” he recalled. “I simply walked in and struck.” Though he is said to have fought in dozens of individual sword fights and won all of them, he never served under a daimyo, associated himself with any training academy, or established a permanent residence. “He was outstandingly talented and highly cultured,” wrote his biographer, “but there was something rough and eccentric at the core.”