Tsukahara Bokuden: A Samurai Warrior Ahead of His Time
Tsukahara Bokuden (1490-1571) was renowned in Japan as the finest swordsman of his day, winning many battles through out his life. The son of a Shinto priest, he was always practicing his sword skills as a child and as a young man began forging a reputation for himself as a fearless warrior. By the time he reached later life, Bokuden would change his world view and came to believe that the merit of not fighting far outweighed the benefits of killing one’s opponents, a philosophy that was unusual in his day but is generally accepted today by martial artists of most styles throughout the world.
