The Samurai
By. Henry Ledman
By. Henry Ledman
The Samurai
The Samurai, these warriors were members of a powerful military caste in feudal Japan. These warriors existed sometime roughly in between the 9th and 12th century in Japan. These special set of warriors were experts in the martial arts, they were fast, sneaky, and very deadly warriors. Mongolian tribesman introduced martial arts to the Japanesse in 770 B.C. Martial arts was used if the Samurai were unarmed, and they needed to defend themselves. The concept was to use a mix of punching & kicking to defeat your enemy leaving them devastated in pain. The Samurai would honor and follow their Daimyo, which were Japanese lords. Also, there were military leaders known as the Shoguns which were the top military rank. Around the 1880's, Samurai were legally banned from existing. but the legacy of the Samurai still lives on. |
Bushido code
The Samurai followed a specific code called the bushido. The codes you would follow in the bushido were -Samurai must show a sense of justice and honesty -Samurai must show contempt for death -Samurai must display self-control -Samurai must show sympathy to all people -Samurai must demonstrate politeness at all times -Samurai must display sincerity and respect -Samurai must show loyalty towards his superiors |
Seppuku The Samurai would have a ritual they would use if the enemies captured them, or they did wrong to their fellow samurai or citizens. This ritual would show honor and that you respected your Daimyo and the Bushido code. This ritual is called Seppuku which means to commit suicide by getting a sword or knife and stab yourself in the stomach and slice out your own guts. And usually there would be a second man with a sword who would decapitate you if you were in too much pain. And if the Samurai did not have the guts to do Seppuku by the end of the day the Samurai would be tortured to death. |
Weapons
The Samurai had a very special set of weapons. Samurai had two main swords the Wakizashi, and the Katana. The Katana had a curved blade and was razor sharp and was about 29 inches long. The Wakizashi was about 18 inches long. They also had a very long bow called the Long Bow, and the Samurai were excellent archers, and would have incredible accuracy and were deadly at a long distance. Next they had a Long Pole made of either metal or wood, and it was topped with a curved blade, and this was called a Yari. Finally the Samurai would carry a axe called a Ono that was extremely sharp and had a massive blade with a rather short handle that was wrapped in a leather grip. As you can see the Samurai had some of the most deadly weapons that would leave their enemy in fear. |
Armor
The Samurai had a very special set of armor that had an iron helmet with iron neck flaps and also wore a intimidating looking facemask made of iron. Next all of the body armor was made with rows of lacquered leather or metal scales strung together by silk cords giving them flexibility. Also some of the iron and metal was laminated with strips of bamboo to help deflect Katanas and arrows, but the armor could not deflect gun shots. They would wear leather boots, leather pants, leather long sleeve shirt, and finally a pair of leather gloves. |
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