the way of the sword

Well for this blog I am going to expand on my last one because I never really explained why I like that period of time. So for this one I will be doing just that, and the main reason I like that time period is my two favorite warriors were in that time frame. And they were the sword masters the samurai and the shadow warriors the ninja.
The Samurai is the term for the military nobility of Japan. And they were noble to there leaders. They were fierce warriors. The samurai followed a set of written rules called the Bushidō. Samurai teachings can still be found today in the martial art of Kendō, meaning the way of the sword. Bushido was not only their sword technique It was how they lived there life. It was considered cowardly to run from a battle no matter what the circumstances, it was more important to die a despicable death. So the samurai would fight to the death and they would do anything for their master (shogun).
Samurai were bound by a code of honor and were expected to set an example for those below them. A notable part of their code is seppuku, which allowed a disgraced samurai to regain his honor by passing into death. Committing seppuku, (ritualized suicide through disembowelment), they would pull out a tanto or a dagger and stab them self’s in the gut from the right side and move to the left slicing the stomach all the way across. Then from there they would cut up and then cut all the way right, and they would do this all in one cutting motion (the tanto had to remain in the stomach the whole time). In this manner of killing them self’s they thought they would gain there respect back and be able to rest in piece in the afterlife. The other ritual seppuku was they would do the same thing but when they made they last slice they would have there closest friend cut threw their neck. And the true way of doing that was they would cut the head off but they would leave a little skin so the head would not fall and roll onto the floor and disgrace not only the samurai committing seppuku but the samurai’s friend. No on the battle field if the samurai was wounded instead of bleeding to death they would commit seppuku to regain if honor of losing. What they would do on the battle field is they would just do a single stab into the stomach. If they could not do it them self they would sometimes have a comrade of the person who beat him in battle to stab him once more to end his life. If a shogun was displeased by a samurai or if the shogun died while under the protection of samurai he would ether command them to commit seppuku or if he died they would do it them self because they let their master die.
The samurai used various weapons, but the katana is the main weapon that was used by most. Bushido teaches that the katana is the samurai's soul and sometimes a samurai is entirely dependent on the weapon for fighting. They believe that the katana was so precious that they often gave them names and considered them as part of the living. When a male child would reach the age of thirteen, a ceremony was held and the child was given his first diasho (A katana and a Wakizashi(a smaller version of a katana used for combat in buildings personal protection) together are called a daishō), armor, and a adult name, and became a samurai. The wakizashi itself was a samurai's "honor weapon" and purportedly never left the samurai's side. He would sleep with it under his pillow and it would be taken with him when he entered a house and had to leave his main weapons outside all buildings had this rule.
The samurai were also stressed to have skill with a yumi or longbow, being able to shoot a yumi from horseback was also a great skilled samurai needed.
the yari (spear) was also a big weapon used along with the naginata Staff weapons were also used like bo staff’s or the Kanabo which is a club coated in steel studs, some called it the shield breaker. In later periods, the samurai started using rifles for a deadly weapon. But the main weapon threw out the samurai existence was the katana.
When the child was 13 he began the teachings of bushido by a mature samurai and they would grow a bond called Shudō. The child was the mature samurai’s apprentice and the child would follow him where ever the master went. Along the way the master would teach him bushido. He would also teach him how to fight how to live on his own, how to cook, and most important why to fight and when to fight.
So what I am trying to say is the samurai were fearless warriors that had great wisdom, not only in weapons and fighting but in life. They would not sneak up on people or attack with stealth. They would fight like a man and if he lost. Lots of samurai wanted in life was to fight a great battle they would roam the land looking for the strongest warrior they could and fight him to the death to prove that he was the best and no one could match his skills. That’s what I love about the samurai. They did not care about anything but being a master in combat. Some samurai did not even have a master they were called ronin. Those where the men that would travel around with not home or bonds, they would just wander form place to place in search of something be it a strong warrior or something more personal.
I and going to stop there but I could keep going and who knows maybe next week I will keep with this subject. if not then I will be moving on to why I love the ninja. So keep on reading