This will be a long post, offering alot to think about.

For refeance, I have no idea who the Tang family/whatever is, but i chose the name "full tang" becasue of the Japanese swords are one of the few with full tangs (the metal part that runs iside the wooden handle). Just so you know.

I've have taken on a project to find out about Tomoe Gozen, since i find the legend quite interesting. I've done alot of research, and came up with alot of possibilities and likelyhoods about her life. I've singed up on here to share this information, and 'cuz this place looked interesting.

The first point that i wish to bring up is that i believe parts of her legend were modified in the past to fit into traditional womens roles. Bear with me, but i've found reason to believe that she neither wore makeup into atleast battle and the possibilty that she was actualy very large and muscular.

AND SHE DID NOT USE A NAGINATA! The are no records AT ALL that she ever used a naginata (the weapon of fodder, IMHO), and there is plenty of record indicating the use of an over-sized katana (I'm assuming 3 1/2 to 4 shaku blade, and assumably 15 or 16 finger-groove handle).

Ok, the first solid fact that i wish to state is that, especialy in the older era, Nihon was pretty up-tight about the proper roles of women. This being said, if Tomoe was majorly our of the norm (i'll explain reasons and stuff later), it is likely that such notes on her legend would be erased or modified over history.

The following link lead to an ink-brush painting of Tomoe Gozen. Although sketchy due to it's medium, this picture contains nudity.
http://hatsumi.free.fr/tomoe-gozen-copyrght-2003-2004.htm
?Isai? Tomoe used an over-sized sword, a 'might bow' and strong (heavy) armor. The key to japanese warriors is speed. No matter how tough-as-nails, a normal sized japanese woman would be capable of using these with a speed enough to be the greatest in the Kiso army or be "ready to confront a demon or a god, mounted or on foot".
A side note is that, among a handful of other legendry warriors, she probably had the ability to consciously/semi-consiously release adrenalin and cortisol into her body (rather than actualy meeting danger to summon it). I can attest to the value of this ability (something i've always been able to do). It can double your speed and increase your strength many-fold, and afterwards turn to into a pile of jello until you heal. I've pushed my muscles until i could barely stand afterwards even with mild amounts of this bio-chem.
A ready example of a martial artist who could also do this is the Korean fighter Baedel Choi, who, after WW2, defeated all of the best Japanese martial arts schools (barehand) including a kendo school, and as a feat of strenth, stopped a charging bull and broke off it's horns bare-handed/footed. He died of old age, i believe in his late 40's early 50's.

Also, athough i'll post no link, i've found a few picutres on the internet depicting her to have no cosmetics at all. Again, it is likely true that her wearing make-up in battle (and possible even in normal activities) was invented later on to make her less of an oddity, especialy if she realy was extremely muscular (since wearing make-up would just look plain-out weird on a hulk).

After reading over dozens of web-pages, the most likely story is that, to give her husband Kiso time to commit sepuku, she chased down a mounted man named Onda no Hachiro Moroshige, who i think was a field commander, wrestled him, and eventualy cut his head off. The other possiblility is that she cut off Kiso's head to save him from capture, but the earlier was founded better by texts.

I also have a theory that it is likely she strength-trained and sword-trained at a young age before joining Kiso's army in order to be acceptable.

Depending on her participation in the Gempai war, it's possible that this woman killed hundreds of warriors.

I've left-out some possibilities in Tomoe's legend due to thier flamboyant resemblace to play-themes, since it makes them very likely modifications to the real legend.

Notice how history notes nothing on her personality beside "She rode into battle like a man..."?

The stiff roles of the gender in japan is the one thing i dislike of the culture, and frankly, the possiblility of Tomoe being one of the best-ever warriors, over 200 Lbs and not wearing make-up, frankly, makes me giddy.