Musashi struck first, Bokuden parried the blade using the lid of an iron pot from the hearth as a shield (as depicted in a nishiki-e by Tsukioka Yoshitoshi). As Tsukahara Bokuden had died in 1571, 13 years before Musashi's birth in 1584, the meeting is an apocryphal myth. According to modern Japanese author and practitioner of Japanese martial arts, Tokitsu Kenji, Tsukahara fought his first duel to the death at the age of 17. Through his lifetime, he fought another 19 duels and in 37 battles. He was wounded 6 times but only by arrows. His death toll is estimated to have been 212 kills. Death and legacy Bokuden died of natural causes in 1571. His grave at is in Kashima, Ibaraki. Those devoted to the art of Japanese sword-fighting, would make pilgrimages to the Kashima Shrine because it is considered the spiritual home of kenjutsu. Subordinates These are traditionally considered students of Bokuden: Ujii Shouken Morooka Ichiha/Ippa Makabe Ujimoto Narita Nagayasu Saito Denkibo Matsuoka Norikata Hayashizaki Jinsuke Ashikaga Yoshiteru Kitabatake Tomonori Hosokawa Fujitaka Imagawa Ujizane Kamiizumi Nobutsuna Yamamoto Kansuke In popular culture Books Shotaro Ikenami "The Last Journey of the Bokuden" Kadokawa Group Publishing, 1980 Yo Tsumoto " Tsukahara Uden 12th Game " Kodansha, 1983 Gishū Nakayama "Tsukahara Bokuden" Tokuma Shoten, 1989 Ryuichiro Mine "Nippon Kenkiden Tsukahara Uden" Shodensha, 1993 Shotaro Ishinomori "Tsukahara Bokuden" Shogakukan, 1996 Yukio Yahagi "Undefeated Sword Saint Tsukahara Bokuden" Kodansha, 2011 Movies In Akira Kurosawa’s film, Seven Samurai, the scene in which the character Gorobei’s swordsmanship skills are tested is based on an episode from Tsukahara’s life. TV "Tsukahara Bokuden" (October 2nd to November 13th, 2011, NHK BS Premium Performance: Masato Sakai. The original is the above-mentioned "Twelfth Game") Video Games In the video game Nioh 2, Tsukahara makes an appearance as a combat teacher. The player must beat him to unlock new skill tiers References Bibliography Steven Turnbull: The Samurai Swordsman. Tuttle Publishing 2008, (restricted online version (google books)) Jinichi Tokeshi: Kendo: Elements, Rules and Philosophy. University of Hawaii Press 2003, Tsukahara Bokuden: The Hundred Rules of War. Createspace Independent Publishing Platform 2017, 1489 births 1571 deaths Samurai Japanese swordfighters Martial arts school founders