For his fighting prowess on the battlefield Honda Tadakatsu has earned many praises from various contemporary figures such as Oda Nobunaga, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, and even Ieyasu himself.

Tadakatsu was born in 1548,[4] in Kuramae, Nukata, Mikawa Province (present-day Nishi-Kuramae, Okazaki, Aichi Prefecture),[5] the eldest son of Honda Tadataka.

[6][8][9] Tadakatsu, who became the head of the core branch of Honda clan, was at first a follower of Jōdo Shinshū (True pure land Buddhism).

Ieyasu sent him, Naitō Nobunari,[25] and Ōkubo Tadasuke,[26] to lead the vanguard, where they meet Takeda forces led by Yamagata Masakage and Baba Nobuharu at the battle of Hitokotosaka.

[27] It is said that in this battle Tadakatsu gained recognition from the enemy forces for his antler helmet and his Tonbo-giri spear for his exploit in staving off the charges of Baba Nobuharu’s units.

[25] In 1573, Tadakatsu also served at Tokugawa's greatest defeat, the Battle of Mikatagahara, where he commanded the left wing of his master's army, facing off against troops under one of the Takeda clan's more notable generals, Naitō Masatoyo.

[33] In the end, the Tokugawa forces managed to withdraw safely from the battle due to dexterous performance of Tadakatsu in organizing the cover of their retreat.

[39][40][41] At some point of this battle, 1,500 Takeda soldiers under Naitō Masatoyo managed to break through with 24 men able to climb the third fence to the defensive position of the Oda-Tokugawa forces.

[42] The Kansei Chōshū Shokafu chronicle has recorded that in the final phase of the battle, Tadakatsu fought ferociously until the Takeda forces routed, while a retainer of Honda clan named Kaji Masamichi managed to take the heads of Yamagata Masakage and Baba Nobuharu as a prize.

[44] In 1581, Tadakatsu participated in the Tokugawa army attack on Tanaka castle which guarded by Takeda clan general named Ichijō Nobutatsu.

In this battle, Tadakatsu fought together with Matsudaira Ietada, Sakakibara Yasumasa, and Ii Naomasa as they all climbed the Tanaka castle wall engaging Nobutatsu's soldiers.

[45][46][47][48] Later during the Siege of Takatenjin, Tokugawa forces under Tadakatsu and others stormed the castle managed to kill a Takeda general named Okabe Motonobu.

[51][52][53] In 1582, after the Honnō-ji Incident, Tadakatsu accompanied Ieyasu in an arduous journey to escape the enemies of Nobunaga in Sakai and returning to Mikawa.

The soldiers led by Tadatsugu, While Tadakatsu, Ishikawa Kazumasa, Ii Naomasa, Sakakibara Yasumasa, and Matsudaira Ietada deployed in reserve before entering the battle with Ieyasu himself.

[73] Then in following month, the three of them joined by Sakai Tadatsugu to accompany Ieyasu in his personal trip to Kyoto, where the four of them became famous as "Four Tokugawa Guardians".

[75] Tadakatsu and Sakai Ietsugu captured Sakura Castle and fought against the Chiba clan, allies of the Hōjō in Shimōsa Province.

[40][76] In May 19, Tadakatsu, Torii Mototada, Hiraiwa Chikayoshi, and Kawakubo Nobutoshi, joined with Asano Nagamasa and Shigeka, forming 20,000 strong advance troops besieging Iwatsuki Castle.

[77] In May 14, Tokugawa troops detachment under Tadakatsu, Shimada Toshimasa, and Torii Mototada were attaching themselves to the Toyotomi army besieging Hachigata Castle, with total strength of 35,000.

Before the start of the conflict, Tadakatsu also played diplomatic role as he entered negotiation with Katō Sadayasu, daimyo of Hōki Province, and swayed him to side with Tokugawa faction.

[88] The first group led by Terumasa crossed the Kiso River and engaged in a battle at Yoneno, causing the Hidenobu army routed.

[89] In this battle, Hidenobu castle were deprived the expected support from Ishikawa Sadakiyo (石川貞清), who decided to not help the Western army in this war after he made an agreement with Naomasa.

At first, two Tokugawa generals Nakamura Kazuhide and Arima Toyouji fell into a trap of ambush from the flanks as they were pursuing the fleeing Western Army officers Shima Sakon and Akashi Teruzumi.

[94] At some point during this battle, Tadakatsu rode his horse, "Migoku-Kuro", to penetrate the ranks of the camps of Shimazu Yoshihiro and Ukita Hideie, two of Western Army commanders.

Despite his years of loyal service, Tadakatsu became increasingly estranged from the Tokugawa shogunate (Bakufu government) as it evolved from a military to a civilian political institution.

This was a fate shared by many other warriors of the time, who were not able to make the conversion from the chaotic lifetime of warfare of the Sengoku period to the more stable peace of the Tokugawa shogunate.

[105][106] Another anecdote spoke about physical strength of Tadakatsu stated he could slice a bamboo in a single slash reed using a wooden oar, instead of metal blade.

However, according to the record of Honda Tadakatsu himself, he purposely shorten the length by 1 meter after he reached advanced age to match his physical demand for carrying such weapons, unlike when he was still young.

[110] From the bottom of the shaft, the Tonbokiri has inscriptions of Kaman of Fudo Myoo, the evil-destroying sword Sankoken, the Sa (Sanskrit) of Sho Kannon Bodhisattva, the Kiriku of Amida Tathagata, and Jizo.

While both were fierce warriors of the Tokugawa, Tadakatsu's ability to elude injury is often contrasted with the common depiction of Naomasa enduring many battle wounds, but fighting through them.

[citation needed] Honda Tadakatsu appears in numerous Japanese jidaigeki (historical dramas for television) set in the 16th century.