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Mark Twain once almost had to fight a duel with a man who would have probably killed him dead. Fortunately he had a tutor named Gilles and when Twain’s opponent came by Gilles promptly shot the head off a small bird and told the man that Twain had done it and he was next. Everybody made up and walked away, but Twain later opined on dueling:

“I have never had anything do with duels since, I consider them unwise and I know they are dangerous. Also, sinful. If a man should challenge me now I would go to that man and take him kindly and forgivingly by the hand and lead him to a quiet spot and kill him, Still, I have always taken a great interest in other people’s duels, One always feels an abiding interest in any heroic thing which has entered into his own experience.”

From Gentlemen’s Blood by Barbara Holland

AGAINST

In France, a splendid duel was fought in 1400 between a suspected murderer and his accuser, a dog. The Chevalier Maquer killed Aubrey de Montdidier in the Forest of Bondy, near Paris, and buried the body. The only witness was Montdidier’s greyhound.
The dog went back to town to a friend of his master’s and led the friend to the spot, where he whined and scratched the ground. The body was recovered and reburied, and the greyhound moved in with the friend. Shortly thereafter, it met up with Maquer and attacked him viciously; three men had to pull it off him. The dog was an otherwise gentle and amiable sort, but it kept on flying at Maquer whenever it saw him.

This was reported to the king, who decided it was definitely an accusation and arranged for the single-combat trial. The fight took place on the He de France in Paris, Maquer with a lance, the greyhound with its natural weapons. The dog sprang on the man with amazing ferocity and clamped its teeth around his throat and couldn’t be shaken off. Maquer screamed that he’d confess if they’d pull off the dog.

This, in contemporary eyes, proved the justice of combat trials pretty conclusively, and Maquer was hanged and strangled on the gibbet at Montfaucon.

VIA

[In the face of laws prohibiting dueling...s]ome few, even in the face of the strict new laws, managed to fight anyway. In India in 1894, two British colonial officers, Captain Phillips and Lieutenant Shepherd, suffered a falling-out and contrived an exotic local variation on the duel. They locked a deadly venomous snake, probably a cobra, into a dark room, waited an hour, and then entered the room from opposite doorways, groping their way blindly around the furniture. After ten minutes, Lieutenant Shepherd screamed. Phillips, they say, rushed out of the room with his hair turned instantly white; Shepherd died gruesomely a few hours later.

I already knew a good deal about Musashi from Kenji Tokitsu’s book and Takehito Inoue’s stupendously amazing manga Vagabond (which is literally like the best comic ever – the art, the pacing, the characters, the action, etc.)

However, Lives of Master Swordsmen has a surprising amount of detail about his later life, much of it extremely illuminating.

LOVE
For example, when Musashi was around 50, he 50 began a long-term relationship with the courtesan Kumoi, which prompted the following poem:

When in love
Avoid love epistles and amorous letters
Avoid poems expressing love to your beloved
In their place, devote all your strength
To accumulating and saving money.

MONEY
In light of the above advice it should be no surprise that Musashi was very thrifty. However, when he finally accepted employment with a lord, as part of his hiring requirements, he demanded a small salary. How unusual.

MUNENORI
I had always assumed that Musashi and Yagyu Munenori never came into real contact and thus could not duel one another. In fact, plans for a match against Munenori were twice shelved seemingly due to Musashi. Perhaps he didn’t want to make enemies with the shogunate.

BATTLE
Musashi’s military record is clouded and the traditional recountings of his achievements in the Battle of Sekigahara (1600) and the Battles of Winter and Summer in 1614/1615 are scant and vague. Although he was praised for his achievement, they aren’t listed out, but just described in hyperbolic, non-specific terms, unlike others. Perhaps this is due to fighting on the wrong side.
He also fought in the Shimabara rebellion, caused by tyrannical taxes on the peasants and a nascent Christian faith binding them together into 30,000 men, women and children, who were ultimately annihilated. Daimyo Matsukura, the lord over the district, was beheaded for causing the rebellion.

THE ROOT OF IT ALL
Late in life at 54, on a day when he was confined to bed, his lord Tadatoshi died. A friend paid him a visit. Staring at the sun, Musashi suddenly parted his hair and said, “Look at this. Look at the eczema scars that I still have from my infancy. I can’t shave my sakayaki (forehead to crown) the way all samurai did. I can’t wear a topknot.”

Is that the key to Musashi? Anti-authoritarian form childhood, spurred on by a ruthless single father towards strength, and predisposed against all strictures because superficial scars from a baby. & so Musashi dressed unclean and unkempt, as a way to say – I am fine as I am, able to cut down all you fancy samurai, so you proper people can go to hell.

Kamiizumi Nobutsuna was the founder of the Shinkage (New Shadow) Ryu (School/Style).

Yagyu Munenori inherieted it and became the sword instructor to the Shogunate, a position that was passed down with the Yagyu for some time. His major work is Heiho Kaden Sho.

Munenori’s son Yagyu “Jubei” Mitsuyoshi had an interesting enigmatic career and is a frequent hero in anime. He wrote Tsuki no Sho, and if anybody has a copy, please send one my way or let me know where I can get one.

From the Yagyu Ibun

“… In all martial arts, in all the performing arts and still more in all the forms of human behavior, a man’s postures or moves are based on the movement in his mind. In other words, the movement of the mind is expressed in the postures or moves he takes. Kage (shadow or yin-principle) of Kage-ryu indicates that one’s mind is invisible. The postures and moves are visible, and, therefore, are the yang principle. In the Kage style of swordsmanship, a swordsman reads his opponent’s minds through his postures or moves. More emphasis is, therefore, placed on penetrating the oppoents’ mind than on techniques.
What mind can penetrate his opponent’s mind? It is a mind that has beent rained and cultivated to the point of detachment with perfect freedom. It is as clear as a mirror that can reflect the motions within the human mind. Only with that kind of mind can a man respond accurately to the motions of his opponent’s mind and body.
In the art of fencing, a mind that moves aiming at victory is called kage while the motion on one’s body wielding the sword is called hi.
When one stands face to face with his opponents, his mind must not be revealed in the form of moves. Instead his mind should reflect his opponent’s mind like water reflecting the moon. Thus, he can win.”

I have some great stuff from David Lowry on the mikkyo aspects of Shinkage that’ll get up here someday.

Over 100 duels, 13 with steel swords. He served on the battlefield 37 times without receiving any injuries more serious than minor arrow wounds. The number of men he is recounted as defeating number 212.

Re his Technique, the Hitotsu-Tachi – One Stroke Then Death
“A sword can be divided into three spheres. The first is time of the heavens; the second is the advantage of the earth; the third is combination of the earth and the heaens. This is the secret of hitotsu-tachi.”

Re the Hitotsu-Tachi (this advice makes no sense to me except that one should mind the ma/distance and just avoid strokes like the “moon in the water” instead of blocking so that one can attack at that moment.
“…a swordsman must first position himself directly opposite his opponent’s sword. He can place his sword either aloft before him or at his side; the only essential point is that he must look unprotected, provoking the opponent to a conventional attack. If the opponent’s sword is more than one inch away from his body, the swordsman should not parry his attack. When the sword is only a half inch away, however, the swordsman should take one step forward and slay his opponent. The essential factor is the ability to distinguish the narrow margin which separates and inch from a half inch. Because man is my nature a coward, he will almost always try to dodge an attacking sword. He may be able to resist a space of an inch but half an inch indubitably causes a response. Since your opponent expects a defensive posture. A dodge at even one inch, your lightning fast attack takes him completely off guard. The attack at this final point entails that after deal the hitotsu-tachi the swordsman must touch his opponent’s body.” – Masaki Masahide (1727)

Here is a story about the preliminaries to a duel that is very interesting due to the psychological manipulation involved.

Bokuden was once challenged to a dul with steel swords by a swordsman who wielded two swords so skillfully that he had never lost a match. Before accepting the challenge Bokuden amassed every shred of informnation that was available about his opponent. He sent a letter objecting to his opponent’s style saying that wielding a swrod skillfully with the left hand as well as with the right was unfair. Since this thinking was totally illogical and unreasonable, the challenger become angry and sent back a letter saying, “If you think my using a sword with my left hand is unfair, renounce the match.” Before accepting the challenge, Bokuden sent another ten letters on the same subject to hisopponent. By the day of the duel, the challenger was firmly convinced that his left hand would strike the victorious blow. Assured that Bokuden would be paying strict attention to the second sword, the challenger stepped up to the famous swordsman. But in a flash, Bokuden slashed the opponent’s arm and the duel was over.

Two other googlable stories about Bokuden involve being saved by monkeys & Bokuden on the ferry.

He has a book of 98 poems called Bokuden Hyakushu and if anybody knows where to get it in English or even in Japanese, I’d like to know.

DRAGON strengthens the legs and torso. It reduces Fire in the brain. (Metal, Fire). MONKEY quickens the hands. It pacifies the Spirit.(Water, Earth). TORTOISE improves the balance. It strengthens the Chi of the bones and tendons. ( Earth, Water). COCKEREL quickens the feet. It tones the Spleen and Stomach. (Water, Fire, Metal). SPARROWHAWK stabilizes the center. It exercises the Chi of the Hypogastrium. (Earth, Water). SNAKE improves swift directional change. It “Rubs” the Yin and Yang of the Spine. (Fire, Wood, Earth). PHOENIX strengthens the arms. It tones the Kidneys. (Metal, Water). TIGER strengthens the Spine. It purifies the breathing. (All Five Elements). HORSE teaches expansion power. It tones the Heart. (Fire, Wood). CHICKEN strengthens the feet. It tones the Liver. (Wood, Fire, Earth). EAGLEBEAR strengthens the Shoulders and Hands. It circulates the Breath. (Metal, Water). SWALLOW teaches low basin strength. It improves Mind/Body coordination. (Fire, Water).

- Mike Patteson

At the core of Sun Lu Tang’s Xing Yi Quan system is the 12 animals set. This set consists of 12 lines of movements, each emulating the fighting techniques of the 12 animals that come from heaven and earth. These are the Dragon, Tiger, Monkey, Horse, Water Lizard, Chicken, Sparrow Hawk, Swallow, Snake, Tai Bird, Eagle, and Bear. Regular practice of the 12 animals set benefits the practitioner both externally and internally. Externally, one learns the physical characteristics of each animal-the explosive power of the tiger, or the strength of the bear, for example. Internally, each animal form stimulates the internal energy, or Qi, in a particular and beneficial manner. The remainder of this article describes both the energetic work and the fighting applications of four of the animal forms: the Dragon, Tiger, Eagle, and Bear.”

-  Justin Liu,  Cultivation and Combat: The Fighting Animals of Xing Yi Quan.