Why Musashi Fought with Two Swords
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- čas přidán 22. 03. 2022
- ●Facts You Didn't Want to Know About Miyamoto Musashi
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Miyamoto Musashi is one of the most well known samurai swordsmen in Japanese history and he is very famous for being a dual katana fighter.
But why did he use two katana swords?
Miyamoto Musashi won more than 60 duels in his 20s, and participated in three major wars and survived them all. Musashi devoted his whole life to studying and mastering the art of swordsmanship until the very last day of his life. All of his findings have been documented in a book called "The Book of Five Rings".
His core belief was that a samurai must be trained to be able to properly fight in any environment. That‘s why he taught everything from how to use dual katana, various forms, and even the correct mindset during a battle.
A person who only knows how to use a single katana with both hands will not be able to fight properly when his arm is injured, when he runs, or when he suddenly has to ride a horse.
But in other words, if you’re in a situation where fighting with two swords is a disadvantage, you should immediately hold a single sword with both hands. The important teaching of Musashi is to fight in a way that is most advantageous to you.
*The content is based on personal studies and experience
There is no intention of denying other theories and cultural aspects
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●Facts You Didn't Want to Know About Miyamoto Musashi
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Miyamoto Musashi is one of the most well known samurai swordsmen in Japanese history and he is very famous for being a dual katana fighter.
But why did he use two katana swords?
Miyamoto Musashi won more than 60 duels in his 20s, and participated in three major wars and survived them all. Musashi devoted his whole life to studying and mastering the art of swordsmanship until the very last day of his life. All of his findings have been documented in a book called "The Book of Five Rings".
His core belief was that a samurai must be trained to be able to properly fight in any environment. That‘s why he taught everything from how to use dual katana, various forms, and even the correct mindset during a battle.
A person who only knows how to use a single katana with both hands will not be able to fight properly when his arm is injured, when he runs, or when he suddenly has to ride a horse.
But in other words, if you’re in a situation where fighting with two swords is a disadvantage, you should immediately hold a single sword with both hands. The important teaching of Musashi is to fight in a way that is most advantageous to you.
*The content is based on personal studies and experience
There is no intention of denying other theories and cultural aspects
Exactly Right
Musa raised the serpent in the wilderness
🧔🏾♀️
🙏🏾
☯️
Can i bring a sword
If not the greatest, he is one of the Greatest Swordsman in the World
OG kirito right here
There's being bigger than others too 😆
"if you find yourself in a fair fight, your tactics suck"
I'll remember that phrase.
@@KrasBadan О, ще один Богдан
@@user-ek2xg3ps5s Мы довольно редкие.
A fair fight isn't
I will start makin unfair fights
"Cheese the boss of the level, they would do the same" - Miyamoto Musashi
Well said
you won. with one life at stake, it seems the only reasonable thought.
He also literally cheesed his way through some fights he couldnt win directly.
This is highly accurate with his writings in book of 5 rings. It's not swordfighting, it's strategy, so get those exploits ready and abuse the AI and glitches as much as possible.
He must've fought some monster out there
I read somewhere that his actual secret technique was throwing his short sword at his opponent. Chad move.
It was a throwing knife, they referred to them as swords as well.
"oh,so you say you can fight in any enviroment?,well then how about range,your sword can't do anything about it"
Musashi:*start trowing his sword
@@sethdusith6093 no. It was a wakazhi. A short sword. Goofy
"haha! Ive found your weakness, i, an archer, can defeat you with my bow!"
*Holds short sword with malicious intent*
Jp version of Parry this you filthy casual
Basically this dude had the mindset of "There's no rules in a fight" before it was a thing lmfaoo
If fighting is sure to result in victory, than you must fight, even though the ruler forbid it; if fighting will not result in victory, then you must not fight even at the ruler's bidding. -overly edgy quoted Sun Tzu
If you need dirty trick to win then you shouldn't hesitate to use it, what matters is that you win the fight
@@MrSam2497 "If fighting is sure to result in victory, then you must fight!" Sun Tzu said that, and I'd say he knows a little bit more about fighting than you do, pal, because he invented it, and then he perfected it so that no living man could best him in the ring of honor.
@@misko5877 rip a legend
@@misko5877 "AAAAAAAAAAH"
@@starplatinum2414 "TO THE LEFT!"
"Use aimbot in PVP. Your opponent deserves no less."
-Miyamoto Musashi
XDXD
He would actually throw his short sword at opponents sometimes very smart 😭
Honestly sounds like something he'd say.
"Always bring a gun to a knife fight."
"Stab them in the balls. Eye and Sack."
Funny enough guns arrived in 1543,I'm surprised he didn't pull a gun out.
@@Shenjow6I’m pretty sure that’s a myth. Throwing your sword means if it doesn’t kill them, which it likely won’t, at most it’ll decently cut them, then they’ll be able to pick up your sword and use it against you.
Musashi's teaching was so detailed that he even wrote that one should try to fight with the sun behind your back, and if it's not possible, try to keep the sun to your right, as most people are right-handed and have a natural viewing bias towards the left.
Japanese Zeros used that in the pacific against the USA very well
I believe the old western films took that philosophy when a stand off takes place and whoever is facing the sun, is also facing death.
@@pulledtrigger I mean that's why most of the times the time was noon
@@yagami1134 that's rather obvious, if you are directly facing the sun then you get glare in your eyes which will hinder your vision 😊
@@cs3k3”high” noon too. Assuming that is when the sun it at it’s highest point
"fight in a way that is most advantageous for you", proceed to come late and bash sasaki kojiro's head with a piece of wood from his boat
Now that's a mindset
I mean it was a contest for best swordsman of there time so he basically flexed
He carved out a bōken that was slightly longer than kojirōs’ who was known to use a longer sword, basically catching him off guard in a spot where kojirō thinks he has the advantage, other telling say he waited and came at kojirō at an angle when the sun was in his eyes, that wasn’t just a bash, that was a well executed tactical bash.
@@gobblegobble5567 Yeah Kojirō used a Ōdachi/Nodachi. I love that Musashi had the follwing mindset "between victory or honor, I'd choose victory"
And I also love the tactic against Kojirō. Carving a bokutō just a little longer than Kojirō's Nodachi/Ōdachi just to gain an advantage in their fight xd
He had to make it fair fight for Kojiro
When I think of Musashi, what comes to the forefront of my mind is when, having accepted a challenge to a duel, he chose an island as the battleground, took a boat out there with his opponent, let his opponent get out, and then rowed away, leaving him stranded. That, and the time he showed up to a duel late and won it with a wooden sword he had carved from an oar on the way there.
In other words, he was mad disrespectful.
@@vividao4123 yep, for a samurai it was pretty dishonorable what he did
@@diegoparedes6115 *_Facts, literal cheating and ruining family's honour._*
@@diegoparedes6115 wasnt Musashi not a samurai, he was just a swordsman?
Didnt he just wacked the dude with the oar and rowed away
What i thought Samurai were taught:
"Fight honorably, no matter the cost"
What Miyamoto taught:
"Win, no matter the cost"
The fun thing is, most codes of honor were about how to act off the battlefield. On the battlefield? People did what they had to win and survive. Honorable fighting was only really a thing if you and your opponent had agreed on terms beforehand.
I mean he did have honorable duels, but yeah wise enough to fight with tricks and dirty , because thats a thing in fights.
Ok he probably learned from opponents ganging up and trick him, but still.
@@marocat4749 The Master survived well over 60 duels, as well as 2 large battles that many thousands fought died in.
Europe: "What about...you know...shields?"
Musashi: "What about...another sword??"
Also musashi: how about an oar?
Fate/Grand Order Musashi : "What about ...sword that shoots laser beam ?"
Zoro: "What about a third one?"
"Never bring a gu- I mean a shield to a sword fight"
@@Aerodumb Killer Bee: "What about 8???"
Fights with duel katana
Refuses to elaborate
Gigachadgrindset
Fights with duel katana
Writes a book to elaborate
Proceeds to grind his way to fame and glory
I can see this as a subtitle to a peaky blinders edit with fed up as the background music
Fights with dual katanas
Writes a book in which he refuses to elaborate further
Dies to lung cancer
Absolute Giga chad
"Always fight in a way advantageous to you"
Cause when you fight in a level field, that's when you start to lose.
If you ever find yourself in a fair fight it's because your tactics suck.
“Use rotten breath on Radahn” -Miyamoto Musashi
"Mimic summon was programmed in the game. What do you mean it's cheating to use it? - Miyamoto Musashi
Bacterian approves.
Use Bleed on Malenia.
Bleed and mimic tears are apart of the game, so its not cheating when your opponent does not own the ability to fight against it if he doesent own a technique to defend himself
~Miyamoto Musashi
"One thing does one thing, two things does four things" His book is a great read for expanding one's mindset and full of great life advice. Also he tended to get ambushed by multiple opponents once his fame grew enough so duel weilding was helpful. Also it's my understanding he used a shorter blade as a secondary not double katana. But with so many duels and ambushes I wouldn't doubt it happened. Love these vids!
In this context the second "katana" is being used to describe it in the very loose "sword" or "blade" sense. It was in fact a full size katana and wakizashi combo though, and worth pointing out.
"Because I can, filthy casual" -Musashi
I did a style study on Niten Ichi Ryu a few years back. A large chunk of his teachings are literally hidden in the techniques he taught. It was a super fascinating study. I'd love to make my way to Japan for some formal Niten Ichi Ryu training. We don't have any schools that teach it out my way.
Is that the discipline that uses two swords; I’ve seen it with a katana and the shorter wakazashi is that the same discipline or is two katanas a separate discipline
@@leoalcaraz6153 yes, Niten Ichi Ryu uses a katana and wakizashi. There are kata for wakizashi, katana, both, and bo. Later kata were added for jitte.
@@TamashiiRyu thanks i always wondered
@@leoalcaraz6153 i think its the same with bamboo martial arts where in india they use it to fight against invaders plus also learn discipline from it, it also includes swords or shields for combat.
where do you live ? Niten ichi ryu has dojos in different countries.
I like when you say "mindset" and point to your temples elegantly
*"Know yourself, and you'll win every battle"*
-Sun Tzu
Didn't he also say "know your enemy, and you need not know the outcome of a hundred battles"?
@@kamikaze4172 KNOW YOUR ENEMY AND YOURSELF YOU PEICES OF [insert insult here]
dqw4w9WgXcQ
Having read his book, I can rell you even when not fighting, The Way of Strategy is something incredibly important to have. It helps you I social interaction, helps in a work environment, even with family.
Is there an English translation
He's written more than one book it seems. Which one?
@@mygghunter literally called "the book of five rings"
@@asurmenhandofasuryan4610 Theres a few translations from the old formal Japanese it was written in. Whilst it's not very big book, every line had meaning & thought behind it so its very precise with many levels of understanding. Book 5 - The Book of The Void is apparently the hardest. I didnt really get it bc it was way above my head, all it really got was the Void isnt MUSHIN or *No Mind* it's another state of mind. Musashi had serious depths.
"I needed that bloodloss build up bro"
-Miyamoto Musashi
"Keep in mind, these are dual swords. Two halves of a single weapon. Don't think of them as separate, 'cause they're not. They're just two different parts of the same whole."
-Zuko
Musashi be like: "Hey, as long as it works"
“Oh look they’re blocking one of my swords!” *stab*
Oh look the strength of two vs 1 handed
@@SwarfCrawler you wouldnt keep your blades against each other and stare at each other as fiction and anime show. So yes, if you have two swords AND know how to use them with skill and speed, you have the huge advantage
"There are no hard and fast rules. You just win your battles. That alone is the most important rule of the Ashina style."
-Isshin
Bro Isshin was literally the best character in that game, both versions that you fight are just amazing.
Other youtubers: Dual sword weilding is trash and inefficient
Musashi: Hehe
Probably the offhand katana was used in a way parrying dagger or bucklers were used in European martial arts. You're using it to parry, block or bind your opponents katana then used your own katana to attack your enemy. And there's some techniques that could only be applied when using it one handed. So the opponent that were used to dueling another person with two handed sword would immediately get caught off guard with the unfamiliar techniques.
Musashi was a youtuber?
@@muhamadsayyidabidin3906 truthfully believe he did largely fight one handed even when holding the smaller blade. While it could be used for parrying I think he usually just used it to be sneaky. At a close range a smaller blade would be more useful wouldn't it? It is also easier to throw and to hide among other things.
Tbf it's not far off from a rapier and parrying dagger
@@Anonymous-xq5cs Depends on which Musashi. I can think of one that absolutely would be provided she was paid in rice served in a holy grail.
"When in doubt, use the bonk"
- Miyamoto Musashi.
“That’s not funny.”
- Sasaki Kojiro
@@Dra9ondemon 😂 Thanks for the laugh. 😂
"For quick victory, one must bring a Glock in a swordfight"
-a Gunmurai
Ah yes, Samurai in the 1800
Isshin, the glock saint
*Isshin Flashbacks*
“Nobody said every fight had to be a fair one.” -Musashi
"Fighting fair is following a path to an trap"
~Miyamoto Musashi
*Only the Winner decides if it was a fair fight* - Me 2024
"fight in a way that is most advantageous to you"
US military doctrine : write it down, hurry up write it down!
he keep repeating, "you had to practice this a lot," in his book.
Musashi saw "Switching to your secondary is faster than reloading" and decided to go even further beyond.
Essentially that's what happened. Also, he fought in a unconventional away and his opponents were not accustomed to dual welding technique Musashi fought in.
Says Call of Duty
I’ve actually read this book. Going to re-read it
Miyamoto Musashi be like: “NONO JEREMY YOU’RE NOT IN THE RIGHT MINDSET, YA GOTTA GET INTO THAT SIGMA SAMURAI MINDSET JEREMY!”
Campers in cod: I was following Mushashi's advice, "fight in a way that benefits you the most"
Zoro: I'm gonna pretend I didn't see that
Zoro rn : *pathetic*
@@LeviAckerman11361 freaks comparing irl legend to Zoro, I'm a big Zoro fan. But you're being disrespectful
@@zawarudo6287 🤓 unharmful jokes are not allowed! Fun detected! You're being very disrespectful!
@@bigman9015 *Disrespect to real swordsman detected* *target eliminated* *enemy reinforcement has arrived* *exterminate the enemy*
@@bigman9015 shut Up
Sup, my family is actually half Japanese but we live in South Africa. While many will think it's cool, others will judge you because of your roots. So to avoid being harassed in school, my father strayed away from the Japanese culture and eventually gave in to Western norms and never raised us as part Japanese. So it's really cool to learn about my roots and the culture. Thanks for sharing with us. You nice, keep going
Where about do you live?
dont be ashamed of your ancestry! you must be proud to be a japanese
the ability to adapt to our situation even environment is our greatest strength.
"Always fight in a way that is most advantageous to you."
I can bet that if you gave Miyamoto Musashi a glock, he'd most likely use it in a sword duel.
He'll exchange the other sword with it. Instead of dual swords it's a combo with one sword and a gun, still technically a sword duel because he has one sword but no one said you should bring an extra gun🤣
I mean, thats what Samurai did in the 1800s 💀
I mean samurai did it, and monks, so why not.
"Prepare for trouble!"
- Musashi
"Let's kengo batou! Oh yeah, so sexy!"
- Miyamoto Musashi
Why did that sound like a Natsuki quote?
Well simple, he was tengen uzui's ancestor.
And Inosuke 🐗
@@kanekighoullover3972 and Zoro's
@@LeviAckerman11361 not Oden?
🤓
Miyamoto Musashi was truly ahead of his time,
He unlocked Starburst Stream
Switching to a secondary sword is faster than reloading your primary sword
"When faced with someone who hates sand, make sure there is enough high ground for you to stand." - Miyamoto Musashi
RIP Sasaki Kojiro.
Best villain ever
The key to survival is adaptation to your environment!
“If it works it works”
~Miyamoto Musashi
Musashi is literally five parallel universes ahead of his enemies.
Japanese author’s title before: Book of five rings
Now: That time when I reincarnated as a goblin who is also a slime in a kingdom where the demon king is the demon king where the demon king rules but also doesn’t but still he’s the demon king so yeah
Why did i read it like i was reciting the rap part of ruler of everything
I actually read the book when I was a teenager and trained Kendo ^^
“The progenitor of being a hack!”
-Sasaki Kojiro, or at least someone like him
Miyamoto Musashi, Sakamoto Ryoma, and Kazuma Kiryu all meeting up in the afterlife like the spiderman meme
Man who beats people two two swords in fair fights
Man who puts his hand on his blade to feint it into drawing a gun and shooting his enemies
Man who beats people with his hands like a 5 yo child plays with a teddybear
*3 japanese giga chads*
Absolutely love your channel!
Sending some love from Paris.
I think tengen and inosuke were inspired by him.respect to that dude 🔥
Inosuke is more inspired as him due to the fact that he lives in the mountain and has bloodthirst for battle and is energetic and has animal instinct and ofc use dual katana and all of these was how musashi was during him being a teen to early adulthood
you might mean Aoshi Shinomori...
Dont forget Kirito
@@xenjira YES
@@xenjira kirito's pretty humble and actually uses his Swords to beat his rivals 🤣
Mushashi was mad disrespectful in some stories.
"Why Musashi fought with 2 swords?"
Because he thinks it's cool, and so do we.
"And remember Sekiro, you hesitate you loose"
Okay, next time I am in a sword fight I will remember that.
Zoro: *”Weak.”*
That's his ancestor. Better not disrespect. For someone who had a bad navigation he should be 🤣
Zoro: hold my 3rd katana.
amazing how musashi was probably one of the greatest swordmen, and yet he's also the kind of guy that would bring a gun to a sword fight
I find this extremely interesting. Thank you for this!
"I just thought it would look cooler..."
Also I learned about Musashi from Kamen Rider Ghost
To be pedantic, Musashi transcribed using a lighter wakazashi alongside a katana, the thought being that using a smaller, lighter blade was more effective for parrying(a parallel of dagger and rapier fencing in the west)
In his Book of Five Rings, he says that since you have two hands and you can train them to fight equally well, you should use two swords instead of one.
Weebs: Musashi.... mhmmm that name sounds familiar
That’s that sandwich with rice and spam and those yummy green things, right?
Baki
it only sounds familiar for me because of the train stations in the nambu line in tokyo
Fate
Swimsuit daisuki~
-Fate fans probably
So he can be remembered later in life as an anime girl in niche anime series
**hears musashi**
INTENSE BAKI FLASHBACK
Huge respect to Miyamoto Musashi OSU 🙏
Musashi vs okita
If someone parry's your right hand, you can stab him with your left hand
I love the line "suddenly need to ride a horse", as if that's something that you can do on accident.
Musashi fought in 2 major battles that saw hundreds of thousands of Samurai & peasant recruits fighting. Over 30,000 were slaughtered at The Battle of Sekigahara in 1600 where Musashi was on the losing side. Grabbing a spare horse the owner doesn't need anymore might be how he survived when SHTF. He became Ronin after this battle when he was 17. He was in his own words in 6 Major battles in his life, tho later managed to pick the winning sides better.
I've studied Go Rin No Sho semi-religiously for years. I would love to see a longer video on Musashi.
Remember: *Strategy is built on information.*
It’s important to remember that he didn’t use two swords of the same length, he would use his longsword and short-sword because two swords of the same length can be entangled while fighting and crossed by the opponent
Advantageous is pronounced "ad-van-tay-juss". I love both your long and short form videos.
So a pragmatic rather than a romantic. I like that, that makes him even more impressive.
I studied a two sword style when I did Kendo/Kenjitsu. It allows you to block another weapon and still be able to attack. In one of our katas, depending on which direction you went a sword was used to block an attack so you could stab. Of course you block with the side of the blade, not the blade edge.
1 v 1 sees this man pull up with 2 swords ight I’m out
If you fight one man who fights with two swords, youre not fighting a 1v1
He is so wise as well as a disciplined fighter I have read his scriptures
Me, Amore massage used to meditate a lot. He was locked inside a library with only his sword and meditation and reading. When he was released from the monastery, he was unbeatable. He had a dream before he had a fight. The dream told him go for the plexus. So he thought someone with a staff, and went for the plexus and saved his young life.
Little known fact he also killed poseidon in a fight
Cheers for 1000 years !
@@hafiynexo7680 oy, that's Kojiro, Musashi's opponent
"Always fight in a way that is most advantageous to you"
_"Every 60 seconds in Africa a Minute passes"_
U never heard word called "reckless" before¿ theres people who still pick a fight even they in disadvantageous
@@vera2892 Even people who think surviving the fight isn't the main goal, Musashi's teaching were a direct subversion of classic Bushido, where honor was everything.
"The best players use aimbot and wallhacks. You must examine this well" -The Scroll of Salt
"Because two is better than one" - Miyamoto Musashi
What do people wear under a kimono for example in winter? Isn’t it cold?
Kimono is the outer layer of their outfits. They typically wear five, aix, seven layers of silk robes depending on their wealth and status.
They usually have underwear-like layers, usually made out of silk or hide.
Rich mfs like Samurai were using multiple layers of silk to show status and wealth.
the common folk were using a few thin layers of lether and hide, because Silk is extremly expensive and also cant be bought by anyone who has money.
It's always been a bit fascinating to me that he preached specifically 2 katanas. As far as I'm aware, all the sword manuals from Europe during the Middle Ages, if they had a dual-wielding technique at all, were pretty vehement in having one be significantly shorter than the other. Daggers can be the same length, because they are short enough, but two long swords will more often than not get in each others way during a fight, and don't really provide a greater threat distance range. Thus why fencing masters would use a rapier and a dagger, not two rapiers. Even niito in kendo mimics a katana/tanto pairing, not two katanas.
It was actually a uchikatana(30+inches inc handle)and a wakakashi (correct spelling) usually 22-26 inches
No wonder Anime has so many legendary characters. Here we have an actual legend known for his unorthodox fighting style, and he documented his fighting knowledge in "the five rings" even the name sounds like a legend.
He used two swords in order to dish out twice the pain a single katana cannot do.
Advantageous is pronounced "ad van TAY jus" with the stress on the caps, not as "ad VAN tudge-us," like in the video. Though it's an understandable mistake given that you pronounce advantage as "ad VAN tudge." And before any of you get on my case for pointing this out, Shogo has said he's appreciative of these kinds of corrections in the past, and that I'd never do this if that wasn't the case. 😊
Simple answer: Musashi was a badass.
How's your fingers doing, Shogo?
We, in Italy, had a similar fighter called Fiore Dei Liberi (Who trains medieval fencing surely knows him)
He was a bit of a killer, like Musashi, who used to fight against multiple opponents at once always killing anyone he defeated
A tricky fighter and a deadly man for sure
That artwork showing a short katana on his left hand reminds me of rapier and dagger fighting, the shorter weapon could parry and make opportunistic attacks without getting in the way of your sword
The difference being that rapiers were more of a thrusting, stabbing weapon, likewise the Main Gauche (Left hand dagger). Katanas & Wakizashi can stab but the curve makes it less effective. They slashed a lot more relying on placement.
Protecting the edge or "Hamon" of the sword was also paramount bc it was hardened for retaining sharpness, but that made the edge more brittle & it could chip.
Wakizashi's are still at least 2' long or more. Katanas 3 - 3.5' depending on the era made. So the Wakizashi still has striking range for slashing or stabbing. Incorporating two longer blades was what made Musashi so different & skilled. It sounds silly but *Prince of Persia* Gyllenhaal's double short sword style reminds of what Nitens style looks like. The elements are there, 2 curved blades tho the movie had 2 shorter roughly Wakizashi sized but much wider blades. Great choreography tho.
Bloody fgo, ruined my perspective on history
ISHANA DAITENSHOUUU
Musashi: Always fight in a way that is advantageous to you.
Chong Li: *smiles*
Musashi: Always fight in a way that’s most advantageous to you.
Also Musashi: arrive 3 hours late and use a wooden sword.
The biggest thing that fascinates me is his in sight to battle phycology with him defeating two heads of a sword fighting school simply by being late and throwing the masters off them the school tried to kill him with another mock duel he suspected this so he shows up early to throw them off cause now they are expecting him to be late and then his duel with the demon of the western provinces he knew he was master of the long sword so he carved a wooded sword a bit longer to give him extra reach
"Pocket Sand."
-Miyamoto Musashi
The advantage of having a weapon in each hand is just being able to close a line and attack on the same beat
idk how much of this is historically accurate, but in the novel, Musashi first adopted the dual wielding technique after being ambushed by the House of Yoshioka, which included something like 200 men. While tactically retreating, he subconsciously pulled out his second sword to stave them off while he escaped. Iirc he ended up writing a section in The Book of Five Rings talking about fighting an army as one man using the second sword
I would love to hear more about his duel with sasaki kojiro