[kunitokotachi]

Kokunin:
Being Japanese is not a requirement for following 武士道 (way of the Warrior). There are warriors in every culture that study martial applications. Following the path and being an actual Japanese warrior or 侍 (samurai) are two different things. In addition, we are no longer living in the era of the 幕府 (shogunate) so technically anyone could become one. I do agree though that there is no such thing as a "fair" way to fight a war. War has only one objective which is defeat the enemy. You use whatever tactics, strategy, and technology that you have at your disposal.

Tenchu:I would agree that if two people were having a match and one of them because desperate and starting grabbing testicles and eye gouging it would be unacceptable. As for war or combative fighting in Japan, we have two different philosophies. We have the way a samurai would approach combat and the way a ninja would approach combat. They both understand how each other fights and if they happen to meet they won't wonder if the other person will use some type of "unfair" tactic. The only thing they think about is eliminating their target.

Comparison:
War = a cruel, catastrophic, ruleless, destructive way of fighting
Duel = a more controlled, honorable, specified method of fighting