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When armor and swords clashed... -
02-14-2007, 09:24 AM
Having been immensely fascinated about the Samurai, their ways and their ever-popular code of honour, which i find particularly admirable. i'd like to share what i've found prior to the topic and hope that prehaps people would like to do the same? ^_^ Also, I've heard that kendo(largely related to Samurai swordfighting-style) is a form of sport in japan. In addition, even certain animes and movies were made based on intensely on the samurai.
i.e. Rurouni Kenshin, Samurai Champloo, The Last Samurai. The Samurai rose out of the continuing battles for land among three main clans: the Minamoto, the Fujiwara and the Taira, and was consolidated in the Tokugawa period. Under the Tokugawa shogunate (1603-1867), the samurai were removed from direct control of the villages, moved into the domain castle towns, and given government stipends. They were encouraged to take up bureaucratic posts. As a result, they lost a measure of their earlier martial skill. Dissatisfied samurai from the Choshu and Satsuma domains of W Japan were largely responsible for overthrowing the shogun in 1867. When feudalism was abolished after the Meiji restoration, some former samurai also took part in the Satsuma revolt under Takamori Saigo in 1877. As statesmen, soldiers, and businessmen, former samurai took the lead in building modern Japan. The Samurai eventually became a class unto themselves between the 9th and 12th centuries A.D. They were called by two names: Samurai (knights-retainers) and Bushi (warriors). Some of them were related to the ruling class. Others were hired men. They gave complete loyalty to their Daimyo (feudal landowners) and received land and position in return. Each Daimyo used his Samurai to protect his land and to expand his power and rights to more land. The Samurai became expert in fighting from horseback and on the ground. They practiced armed and un-armed combat. The early Samurai emphasized fighting with the bow and arrow. They used swords for close-in fighting and beheading their enemies. Battles with the Mongols in the late 13th century led to a change in the Samurai's fighting style. They began to use their sword more and also made more use of spears and naginata. The Samurai slowly changed from fighting on horseback to fighting on foot. The ideal samurai was supposed to be a stoic warrior who followed an unwritten code of conduct, later formalized as Bushido, which held bravery, honour, and personal loyalty above life itself; ritual suicide by disembowelment (seppuku) was institutionalized as a respected alternative to dishonour or defeat. The Samurai were privileged to wear two swords (daisho), and at one time had the right to cut down any commoner who offended them. One sword was long; the other short. The long sword (daito - katana) was more than 24 inches. The short sword (shoto - wakizashi) was between 12 and 24 inches. The Samurai often gave names to their swords and believed it was the "soul" of their warriorship. The oldest swords were straight and had their early design in Korea and China. The Samurai's desire for tougher, sharper swords for battle gave rise to the curved blade we still have today. The sword had its beginning as iron combined with carbon. The swordsmith used fire, water, anvil and hammer to shape the world's best swords. After forging the blade, the sword polisher did his work to prepare the blade for the "furniture" that surrounded it. Next, the sword tester took the new blade and cut through the bodies of corpses or condemned criminals. They started by cutting through the small bones of the body and moved up to the large bones. Test results were often recorded on the nakago (the metal piece attaching the sword blade to the handle). In 1867 the Samurai were banned from the carrying of swords. This attempt to end a thousand year tradition was not received lightly by the proud warrior class and the "stick" katana was born. Innocuous walking canes now concealed the revered blades but the katana, the "Soul of the Samurai", lived on. Lower-ranking samurai, eager for advancement and realizing a new sense of national purpose in the face of encroachment by the Western powers during the mid-19th century, took part in the movement against the Tokugawa regime (military dictatorship) that resulted in the Meiji Restoration of 1868. The samurai class lost its privileged position when feudalism was officially abolished in 1871. Discontented former samurai rose in rebellion several times during the 1870s, but these revolts were quickly suppressed by the newly established national army. - bakufu - Japanese military rule; rule of the shogun - budo - The Way of combat; a name adopted in the 20th century for martial arts in general with an emphasis on their peaceful aspects - bushi - Warrior; name given to all the warriors who made up families with a warrior tradition - bushido - Way of the warrior; a code of honor and social behavior; succeeded the unwritten code of the Way of the bow and the horse - daimyo - a feudal lord; maintained a great number of samurai in their service, who all swore an oath of allegiance to them according to the rules of Bushido - ken-jutsu - The warrior art of the sword; art of using the sword as soon as it is drawn from the scabbard, in order to attack the enemy; transformed into the art of kendo - kendo - Way of the sword; a martial art (budo) of using the sword (ken). This art was developed from the earliest times by the warriors (bushi) of Japan, and from the 14th century on by the samurai. Ken-jutsu was prohibited in 1867 when the samurai were forbidden to carry swords, but was transformed into a martial sport (kendo) for physical and mental training of the young. - naginata - weapon used by foot soldiers against horsemen or to cut the tendons of horses or to disembowel them; also favorite weapon of the wives of samurai and of warrior monks - ninja - a group of men and women specially trained for espionage and assassination; generally drawn from the lower classes and used by the daimyo to assassinate enemies and penetrate enemy fortresses - ronin - during the Tokugawa period, name given to all bushi and samurai who did not serve a particular master, either because the master had died or because his lands had been confiscated. A number of these ronin became martial arts teachers or began some other job which was compatible with their samurai status (e.g., bodyguards). - samurai - a class of bushi (warriors). The original samurai were there for the protection of their lord and were especially trained in martial arts. Later the name was given to all bushi of a certain rank belonging to warrior families - seppuku - the act of ritual suicide performed by the samurai (The expression hara-kiri, to cut the abdomen, more widely used in the West, is considered more vulgar.) - shogun - title given by the emperor to the daimyo who showed himself to be the richest and the most powerful of all the lords - so-jutsu - techniques of using the lance, and performed wearing the ancient armor of the samurai  A clip taken in a samurai school in poland There's no such thing as happy endings, for when you find true love, happiness is everlasting.
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02-14-2007, 03:28 PM
Great post Nard-kun!!! One of the best I've seen in a long time.
Most of that information I knew already, but a lot of the words like Ken-jutsu, Bushi and Budo, I didn't know their meanings. Thanx a bunch ^_^
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02-14-2007, 03:38 PM
haha im truly flattered but, anytime, kanji-kun ^_^
do u hv anymor info on the samurai that hasnt been posted here yet? Like how or where they gather their strength from etcetc. I've heard that they throw away their reason and humanity to defeat their enemies.. nt as in a despicable way tho rather, somewhat cold and heartless. There's no such thing as happy endings, for when you find true love, happiness is everlasting.
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02-14-2007, 03:50 PM
did u see the last guy on my samurai video? the faster u cut, the greater the chance of the object remaining stagnant thru the process and after it even though its been sliced.
i dun think i've seen anyone going abv 35mph lol... nor hv i heard.. >_< There's no such thing as happy endings, for when you find true love, happiness is everlasting.
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02-14-2007, 05:33 PM
Well, Excessum is not sure that this is the right forum for the current topic, but anywho... He is fascinated by the way of samurai as well, particularly their philosophy and education... A samurai was not only a great warrior, but also very educated for that period of time, they were expected to read, write, know mathematics, have interests in such arts as literature and poetry. Their mind became their weapon and the sword a part of their body.
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02-14-2007, 05:37 PM
ahh yes, Excessum, u took the words right outta my mouth ^_^
P.S. dont worry, as u can see from the 1st paragraph in my 1st post, ppl in Japan still practise kendo which is similar to samurai-ing, lol XD and the vid shows a samurai sch too, which proves that it's a sport :P There's no such thing as happy endings, for when you find true love, happiness is everlasting.
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02-14-2007, 09:38 PM
Quote:
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02-15-2007, 03:33 AM
Seppuku.. haha, i thought they had enough guts(literally!) :P
i've seen videos of samurai performing seppuku on themselves without even showing the slightest signs of pain.. O_O P.S. great pic! i was about to post smth like that, too, lolz! ^_^ There's no such thing as happy endings, for when you find true love, happiness is everlasting.
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