EWING,+PATRICK+O

= = =Samurai's= by:Patrick Ewing

TABLE OF CONTENTS

PAGE 1.....................................BECOMING A SAMURAI WARRIOR

PAGE 2......................................SAMURAI WEAPONS

PAGE 3......................................SAMURAI CODE OF HONOR

PAGE 4...................................... THE WAY OF THE SAMURAI'S LIFE

PAGE 5......................................SAMURAI WOMAN

PAGE 6.......................................BELIEFS

PAGE 7........................................HISTORY

PAGE 8........................................SAMURAI TRAINING

PAGE 9........................................CHILDHOOD

PAGE 10........................................SAMURAI TRADITIONS

PAGE 11........................................BIBLIOGRAPHY

PAGE 1 BECOMING A SAMURAI WARRIOR

In spite of drastic changes through which samurai life passed, one thing remained constant—the rigid discipline and training it took to become a samurai. Whether the end result was a warrior, a bureaucrat, or an artist, a samurai was expected to excel. This does not mean all samurai lived up to expectations, of course, but the tradition of dedication to one's calling was always present.

Where and by what means a samurai warrior was educated and trained depended upon the time period in question, since educational opportunities increased through time. During all times, however, the extent and quality depended upon family status, and a great gulf separated high and low ranks. Sons of elite samurai attended special institutes or temples and had tutors to educate them in classical studies and the martial arts.

PAGE 2 SAMURAI WEOPONS
 * **Arming Sword** - after the 14th century, with the appearance of the longsword the simple, single-handed weapon became known as a short sword or arming sword, since it hung from the belt of the knight, while his longsword hung from the saddle. In the mid-15th century treatise How a Man Shayl be Armyd, the author advises: “hys shorte swerde upon hys lyfte syde in a rounde ryunge all nakid to pulle out lightlie....and then hys long swerd in hys hand.’
 * Backsword** - The backsword was so named because it only had one cutting edge. The non-cutting edge (the back of the blade) was much thicker than the cutting edge thus creating a wedge type shape which was said to increase the weapons cutting capacity. Also known as a "Mortuary Sword", or the German "Reitschwert."
 * Basilard** - a two-edged, long bladed dagger of the late Middle Ages, often worn with both civilian dress and armour.
 * Bastard Swords** - developed in the mid 1400's as a form of long-sword with specially shaped grips for one or two hands. These swords typically had longer handles which allowed use by one or both hands. The sword's hilt often had side-rings and finger rings to defend the hand, and a more slender, or tapered, narrowly pointed blade. Bastard swords continued to be used by knights and men-at-arms into the 1500's, and for a time, enjoyed the civilian side-arm role that would later be superceded by the sidesword and rapier.
 * Broadsword** - A term popularly misapplied as a generic synonym for medieval swords. The now popular misnomer "broadsword" as a term for medieval blades actually originated with Victorian collectors in the early 19th century.

The term " broadsword" seems to have originated in the 17th century, referring to a double-edged military sword, with a complex hilt. A medieval sword was simply called a "sword," a "short sword" (in the works of George Silver), or an "arming sword."

Further complicating the issue is a "true broadsword," which is actually an 18th century short naval cutlass. The term did not take on the meaning of a wide-bladed medieval sword until the later 19th century. Since then, it has entered popular use by collectors, museum curators, fight directors, and authors. What should modern students call it? The word "sword," seems to work very well.

Medieval swords appeared in a variety of forms, but generally had a long, wide, straight, double-edged blade with a simple cross-guard (or "cruciform" hilt). The typical form was a single hand weapon used for hacking, shearing cuts and also for limited thrusting which evolved from the Celtic and Germanic swords of late Antiquity. Over time, the sword became more tapered and rigid, to facilitate thrusting, and began to add a series of protective rings to the hilt, to defend the fingers and hand. This was the birth of the "cut and thrust" or "sidesword." ||

PAGE 3 SAMURAI CODE OF HONOR



We can hardly begin a discussion on Bushido without introducing the Samurai warrior. After all, it is the Samurai that developed, chose, and dedicated their entire lives to the unwritten code of conduct, known as Bushido. To do less, would be a dishonor to their memory and the legacy of martial ways, which still serves to prevent many of us from being barbarous savages, in our own martial art. The Samurai are legendary in their warrior prowess and skill. Dedication, loyalty, and true honor were the characteristics of these warriors, that made them famous as well as a sought after commodity by the ruling class. Their upper social status remained with them for many centuries, until the later 1800’s. The Samurai actually arose from the feudal warrior class of the late 1100’s through the early 1300’s, during the Kamakura Period. It was during this time that the Samurai class became quite a powerful member of the aristocracy. The professional warrior class had many of the social advantages that the upper class enjoyed, such as monthly stipends to live on, no travel boundaries, and were legally permitted to wear the long and short swords, which also served to signify their social status. The Samurai, well-disciplined and highly trained warriors, were typically stoic in nature. These qualities were further influenced and developed by Zen Buddhism, during the Muromachi period, somewhere in the early 1300s through the 1570’s (1336 – 1568). As a result, the life of the Samurai had not only become one of discipline and military education, but a rich cultivation of the spirit and mind through the arts of writing, painting, calligraphy, philosophy, etc. It was as if a Renaissance was being experienced within their social sect. Zen had provided the warrior class with personal enlightenment, polish, and refinement. Many of the truly Japanese arts that were born of the samurai still exist today, such as sword drawing ( Shimmeimuso-ryu founded by Shigenobu Hayashizaki), Kendo (the most notable swordsman in Kendo is Kagehisa Ittosai Ito), archery, as well as tea ceremony.

PAGE 4 THE WAY OF A SMAURAI'S LIFE There is an old tale that is told in Japan called In the Land of the Rising Sun. "Go! And may prosperity attend thy dynasty, and may it, like heaven and Earth, endure for ever." With this command, the sun god Amaterasu sent her grandson Ninigi to rule over Japan. Ninigi descended from the heavens, but he only stayed on the island, and left it up to his grandson Jimmu to fulfill Amaterasu's wish. Jimmu journeyed to the main island of Honshu, where he became the firs emperor of the Land of the Rising Sun.

This tale of Japan's beginning is related in the Nihon Shoki, or Chronicles of Japan. Ever since the 700s when the story was set down, Japan's many clans have placed themselves under the reign of an imperial family, who claimed to trace its origins back to Jimmu. This dynasty founded a long lasting capital in Nara, which drew its inspiration from China. Earlier, the Japanese court had used a Chinese model for a series of political reforms known as the Taika, which was aimed at strengthening the central government.

Japan did indeed benefit from Chinese thought and technology in the areas of medicine, art, mathematics agriculture, which was brought by Korean and Chinese immigrants. From Korean traders, the Japanese also got a new religion, Buddhism, which went from India to China and then to Korea. According to Nihon-Shoki, a sixth-century Korean ruler had sent the Japanese court a Buddhist image and scriptures and a personal message: "This doctrine is amongst all doctrines the most excellent."

PAGE 5 SAMURAI WOMAN It has to be noted that the term "Samurai" is a gender-specific term, referring to males specifically. An academic article on this can be found [|here] [|Japanese] women had a specific role in Japanese society. Most of them were taking care of house and crops and raising children. There were a few women who were samurai. One of the most famous Japanese samurai women was [|Itagaki]. She lived during the end of the Heian period ([|794] – [|1192] [|AD]) and owned her own army of about 3000 warriors. In [|1199], Itagaki, fought against 10.000 Heike soldiers. She was very good in handling [|naginata] [|sword], which made her very famous. Samurai women were also trained to defend themselves and their children. They usually did it while their warrior husbands were engaged in battles. The samurai wife was called okusan (in translation "one who remains at home"). This is why samurai women were trained to handle polearms (naginata) and short daggers ([|Tanto]). During the Edo period ([|1600]-[|1800] AD), Japanese women were trained to handle naginata by the age of 18. The short [|kaiken] knife was used by the young women to defend their virtue, or to take their own life in case they lost it. The Japanese women, especially the samurai wives, were very respected. They possessed qualities that made them a important part of Japanese society. They were obedient, self-controlled, loyal, responsible, etc. They were skilled in dance, food preparing, arts, children education, care for relatives and all persons who lived in her house (including servants. A good Okusan also had to deal with property managing, financial and other records. The samurai women were also very disciplined, never expressed too much feelings. By religious laws (Confucian) a woman should be subdued to her husband; while her husband takes care of his wife and children. Wifes of rich samurai were very well dressed and enjoyed a good position in society. They were not participating in physical labor. All women were not allowed to involve in [|politics] or warfare. Of course, there were women who were powerful. For example, in Muromachi period, the wife of Ashikaga Yoshimasa ([|1449] – [|1474], 8th [|shogun]), Hino Tomiko ruled in his place. The Toyotomi Hideyoshi's ([|1536] – [|1598]) mistress became the real master of [|Osaka] castle after his death. Yamauchi Kazutoyo's ([|1545] – [|1605]) wife, Chiyo, was one of the most loyal wifes known in Japanese history. Her power was of another kind, she supported her husband during hard times, saving to buy a horse for her husband. Yamauchi Kazutoyo never took a mistress, though it was a known tradition for samurai, and didn't leave Chiyo despite the fact that she couldn't have more children than one (a girl, Yone). During Tokugawa Era ([|1603] – [|1867]) the women education became very important. Girls were taught to write, read, dance, etc. beginning at a young age. The main criteria for marriage changed. Among the most important were: physical attractiveness and education. There were created special books for women. They mainly taught how to take care of house and children. But by the end of Tokugawa period women attended philosophical and literary classics. PAGE 6 BELIEFS A samurai believes that his swords hold his [|soul], so they became the most important thing he has. Furthermore, the samurai were allowed to fight anybody who did not show them proper respect. Every sword had to be tested; to do this, the owner of the sword could [|execute] a criminal. With this method the warrior was able to test his sword's sharpness. Samurai lead their lives according to the [|ethic] code of //bushido//, which translates as //the way of the warrior//. This implies loyalty to one's master, self-[|discipline] and respectful, ethical behaviour. When a samurai lost his master, also called //[|Daimyo]//, he was called a //[|Ronin]//. After a defeat, the samurai chose to commit [|ritual] [|suicide], which is also called //Seppuku//. In this ritual they cut their [|stomach] before the [|enemy] was able to capture them, in the case of a war. In Europe, this ritual is mistaken for //hara-kiri//. Hara-kiri means "to cut the stomach". In other words, hara-kiri refers only to the action done by Seppuku and not the whole ritual. Seppuku was a more [|honourable] death for a samurai than being captured by the enemy. Another reason to commit Seppuku was the death of the Daimyo. With this ritual, a samurai was able to show how [|loyal] he was to his (dead) master. There were periods when Seppuku was forbidden, but despite the bans there were samurai who still committed it. The bushi's training methods like [|meditation], [|judo] and [|kendo] are still followed today. Although the samurai do not have official recognition in modern Japan, the successors of these families are well respected. 

PAGE 7 HISTORY

The samurai's importance and influence grew during the Edo Period, when powerful landowners hired private warriors for the protection of their properties. Towards the end of the Edo Period, two military clans, the Minamoto and Taira, had grown so powerful that they seized control over the country and fought wars for supremacy against each other. In 1185, the Minamoto defeated the Taira, and Minamoto Yoritomo established a new military government in Kamakura in 1192. As shogun, the highest military officer, he became the ruler of Japan. During the chaotic Era of Warring States (sengoku jidai, 1467-1573), Japan consisted of dozens of independent states which were constantly fighting each other. Consequently, the demand for samurai was very high. Between the wars, many samurai were working on farms. Many of the famous samurai movies by Kurosawa take place during this era. When Toyotomi Hideyoshi reunited Japan, he started to introduce a rigid social caste system which was later completed by Tokugawa Ieyasu and his successors. Hideyoshi forced all samurai to decide between a life on the farm and a warrior life in castle towns. Furthermore, he forbade anyone but the samurai to arm themselves with a sword. According to the Edo Period's official hierarchy of social castes, the samurai stood at the top, followed by the farmers, artisans and merchants. Furthermore, there were hierarchies within each caste. All samurai were forced to live in castle towns and received income from their lords in form of rice. Masterless samurai were called ronin and caused minor troubles during the early Edo Period. With the fall of Osaka Castle in 1615, the Tokugawa's last potential rival was eliminated, and relative peace prevailed in Japan for about 250 years. As a result, the importance of martial skills declined, and most samurai became bureaucrats, teachers or artists. In 1868, Japan's feudal era came to an end, and the samurai class was abolished.

PAGE 8 SAMURAI ARMOR More than a half century in the making, one of the finest private collections of armor in Japan has been acquired by Shogun Art. It is our privilege to be able to exhibit many of these rare and historically important items in an exclusive showing on our SHOGUN ART website. We will exhibit 30 remarkable items of armor. One new item will be showcased each day. Shogun Armory and Shogun Art were established in order to provide high quality and historically important Japanese Fine Art and Armor to discriminating collectors around the world. Our goal is to maintain the highest standards of authenticity. You can be assured that each piece has been researched and accurately described to the best of our ability. Most of our select pieces of Samurai Fine Art come directly from Japan. We take great pride in providing the best possible items. If you have any specific needs or are searching for that special Kabuto, Menpo or complete set of Samurai Armor let us know. We work with some of the best and most experienced sources in the world. Our goal is to ensure that our customers are proud to own the items they obtain from Shogun Armory and obtain a lifetime of aesthetic pleasure from the beauty of these items. We are always in the market for various types of antique Samurai Armor. If you have a piece of armor or a whole collection let us know. We would be happy to arrange for a free appraisal.

PAGE 8 SAMURAI TRAINING

Samurai military training differed from era to era. During the late medieval period, the "Age of the Country at War," military training for most samurai was not all that elaborate. Most warriors, especially rank-and-file samurai and ashigaru, probably learned just the basics of weapons handling from their fathers and/or their peers, and then acquired most of their skills through experience and practice--kind of the way American inner-city kids learn to street-fight today. Some took this sort of thing more seriously than others and went looking for teachers or had access to real bugei experts nearby--or passing through. Most didn't need or seek out extensive formal instruction. There were, of course, a handful of men who really dedicated themselves to perfecting the arts of blade-to-blade combat, but the fact that so many ryuha trace themselves to the same people strongly suggests that this wasn't all that widespread a phenomenon. There are a few dozen really famous martial artists from the late 15th and 16th centuries, and there probably weren't more than a few hundred teachers around at any given time, even in medieval times. During the Tokugawa era, when bugei ryuha evolved into the kind of organizations we know today, the vast majority of samurai probably did little or no training. Tokugawa samurai were sword-bearing bureaucrats mostly, not sword-wielding warriors--because there were no wars. In fact, it's likely that the total number of real experts, and possibly even the total number of serious students, in the bugei wasn't significantly higher in Tokugawa Japan than it is today. Please don't, BTW, confuse ryuha with "clans." The tie-in between the two isn't direct. Most medieval and Tokugawa era daimyo had personal bugei teachers for themselves and their families, and these teachers all belonged to one ryuha or another. But the same ryuha could and did provide this sort of teacher for more than one daimyo. And daimyo could and did employ teachers from more than one ryuha. Many daimyo, especially during the Tokugawa era, also operated domain schools staffed by teachers from one or more ryuha for their samurai retainers. Policies as to who could--or must--attend this sort of instruction varied from domain to domain and daimyo to daimyo. And, of course, there were also a great many ryuha that were entirely or almost entirely localized in a single domain. Many domains had several of these, including some, like the Kunii house's Kashima-Shinryu, that were purely family traditions. Other ryuha were more national in scope, headquartered in major cities like Edo or Kyoto and offering instruction to samurai from numerous domains. (This was why bugei schools became focal points of the anti-shogunate movements during the late 1800s: they were places where samurai from different domains could legally meet and interact, without immediately drawing the suspicions of domain and shogunal officials.) PAGE 9 CHILDHOOD

The samurai are considered to have been the most skillful and truest warriors in all the history of mankind. To become a samurai, it is not enough to acquire a **samurai sword**. It is not even enough to learn the skills of fighting with a samurai sword. Being a samurai is a part of a long-established Japanese tradition and culture. It is some practical and moral knowledge that is inhabited somewhere in a person's inner world and becomes the inherent part of it.

If you are eager to bring up a child that will be overwhelmed by the spirit of a brave warrior or you dream of upbringing the same spirit inside your own universe, make sure to study the following article about the peculiarities of the traditional samurai's education in a Japanese family.

PAGE 10 SAMURAI TRADITIONS

The rank of a samurai in the medieval Japan was inherited by one generation from another. A son followed the steps of his father and was educated to become a professional warrior, a representative of the military nobility and belonged to the same feudal clan as his father. That is why the parents in a samurai family paid their close attention to the upbringing of the younger generation in the //bushido spirit// from the early childhood. The main task of the mentor of a young bushi was to work out the natural features of character of a true samurai - it implied the education of a physically strong man who would fully master the military art strengthened by the knowledge of the moral principles of the ruling class.

A son of a samurai was surrounded by the meticulous care from his very first days. The child was perceived as the successor of the family's name, the keeper and heir of family traditions. He was given the right to hold religious ceremonies devoted to the ancestor worship. According to the Shinto and Confucianism teaching only the men could fulfill the rites and express their gratitude towards the spirits of the ancestors in order to provide comfort to their souls. Naturally, the birth of a boy meant a real celebration for a samurai's family.

The special attention was offered to the first son as by the samurai's law he became the direct heir of the house, all the family's fortune and the samurai's name. Moreover, a son inherited the lot and the rice ration received by his father from the feudal. That is why in case a samurai had no heir in his family or a concubine who could give birth to the samurai's son, the feudal confiscated his lot and took away his family's name. It meant the samurai was excluded from the social structure and became a ronin. This method was widely put into practice in the time of the first tycoons of Tokugawa as the land was under their direct control. Since 1615 the samurai were allowed to adopt an heir from his relatives bearing the same family name.

PAGE 11 =BIBLIOGRAPHY= =RESEARCH: GOOGLE SEARCH, WIKIPEDIA, WEB DEFINITI0N= =PICTURES: PHOTOBUCKET.COM,GOOGLEIMAGES= =DEFINITION: SAMURAI MEANS a type of warriors united to a lord in the imperial court. The samurais were there for there protection of there lords, and they were highly trained in the martial arts. The samurais were the only ones who were allowed carry to swords with them.=