On the morning of April 13, 1612, Miyamoto Musashi boarded a boat and headed across gently rolling waves into the Sea of Japan. His destination was the island of Ganryujima, a small island between Kyushu and Honshu. There he was to face a fearsome swordsman named Sasaki Kojiro, who wielded a traditional nodachi, or Japanese longsword. The blade was called a "drying pole" for its length, and Kojiro was an expert with it. He developed a stroke called Tsubami Gaeshi, which translates to "The Turning Swallow's Cut," because of its similarity to the movement of a swallow in flight. Kojiro and Musashi were rivals, both famous and accomplished swordsmen. The duel was arranged to settle their rivalry.

On that morning, Kojiro arrived at the little island on time. Though spectators were prohibited for duels of this nature, the island had managed to acquire a sizable number of them. They waited, eager to see a display of swordsmanship.

And they waited.

And they waited some more.

Musashi decided to sleep in that morning, taking his time to eat a full breakfast. On the island, the spectators watched as Kojiro grew more and more angry at Musashi's disrespect. Finally, three hours after the duel was supposed to begin, Musashi's boat landed on the beach. He stepped out, armed with nothing but a bokken, a wooden training sword. Musashi had carved the bokken out of an oar he found on the boat, and it was with this weapon that he faced Kojiro.

Angry at being kept waiting, Kojiro drew his sword from the scabbard and then threw the scabbard into the sea, signifying that he would not stop until either he or Musashi was dead. It was then that Musashi remarked, "If you think you won't need that scabbard again, you're already dead."

The spectators waited, tense and hushed, as the two men circled one another. Kojiro struck, his nodachi whistling as it sliced through the air. Musashi struck as well.

Musashi's headband, sliced cleanly through, slipped from Musashi's head and fluttered away in the breeze. Kojiro wasn't so lucky. He staggered, his head reeling from the bokken's blow. Musashi struck again, this time breaking one of Kojiro's ribs, and it was this blow that ended Kojiro's life.

Modern business isn't nearly as violent or dangerous as the world Kojiro and Musashi inhabited, but we can still learn from their encounter. Kojiro allowed Musashi to throw him off balance and lose focus. Whether this was intentional on Musashi's part is lost to history. Every business owner faces uncertainty, and there is always a chance that a venture will not go as planned. We can either remained focused on the goal, or, like Kojiro, allow our emotions to run unchecked, throwing us off balance and vulnerable to missteps. Success comes when we focus on the things we can control, centering our efforts on what will bring us closer the goals we set for ourselves.

Miyamoto Musashi is revered as one of the greatest swordsmen who ever lived, and his legend lives on his treatise on swordsmanship, The Book of Five Rings, still available today.