Samurai Weapons
The History Of Samurai Training
The Best Resource on the Net for Samurai Weapons and Japanese warriors training. Amazing stories about Ancient Japanese culture. Let your imagination role with striking Facts about Japan and it's unique culture.
History of the samurai is fascinating for people worldwide.
This page provides a brief summery about the weapons and training of the famous Samurai.
Don't forget to look at the
History of the Samurai
Gallery. All of the photos there are links to more pages about the Samurai culture, swords, Armor and movies.
Be sure to check out the
Samurai women
page for some very surprising stories, and
Samurai clothing
and
Samurai masks
pages for a background on the Samurai lifestyle.
The Japanese warriors were a military army created in order to protect the noble class during Ancient Japanese Culture.
These warriors had a strict code of loyalty to the feudal lord (Daimyo).
These warriors were highly respected. They were actually high ranking servants of the shogun - the military leaders of Japan.
Most of them performed the regular tasks of the Japanese warriors at that time – collecting money from the farmers and protecting their Daimyo's life and honor.
The Samurai Japanese warrior was basically knowledgeable and received Samurai training which included not only the Japanese swords and Martial arts, but also Confucianism and Buddhism which were the basis of the
Bushido code of the Samurai.
Feudal Japan was in continuous state of war and fighting. This helped to develop the Samurai weapons into the wide variety that it was.
The warrior's training included the use of a wide variety of weapons – bows and arrows, knives and their most famous weapon and symbol - the Japanese swords.
Let’s take a look at the different types of samurai weapons…
Japanese Samurai Swords
The most famous of samurai weapons are the
Japanese Samurai swords,
also called 'the soul of the Samurai'.
These Japanese Samurai swords were called Katana. They were long swords (average length - 70cm) that were moved back and forth in a cutting movement that easily sliced limbs.
Remember the deadly scene in the movie 'Kill Bill' where Uma Thurman fights by herself a whole gang of Japanese warriors?
She announces to the defeated 'Crazy 88' that they may run off, but they must leave behind their detached limbs, which belong to her now.
The long sword was so sharp that it could easily cut a man in two, even through his armor.
These deadly tools struck terror into the hearts of the enemy and the farmers which were inferior to the Samurai.
The Japanese warriors stuck them in their belt, on the left hand side, so they could be reached and put into use in a split second.
The Wakizashi
The Japanese warrior always carried a second sword named a Wakizashi.
These weapons had shorter blades.
The Wakizashi had an advantage for use in a close encounter.
Carrying both of these swords gave the warrior an advantage over someone armed with only one sword.
Tanto - The Knife
Another one of the samurai weapons was the Tanto, which is more of a knife. It was used in surprise attacks.
The Tanto was between 15 - 30 cm, designed mainly as a stabbing weapon.
It could also be thrown at the enemy.
Ninja Samurai Sword
Daimyo who needed 'special services' like 'elimination' of someone, or other tasks that required going into enemy territory like following somebody, used 'special Japanese warriors' that were trained for these missions.
Those were the Ninja, who were simply warriors that had the skills to do so.
There was no such thing as a special
Ninja Samurai Sword.
Ninja Samurai Sword is a Hollywood fiction.
The Ninja used the Japanese swords.
The sword cover which held the Ninja Samurai Sword was sometimes longer than the sword itself. This helped the ninja to hide secret documents in the case.
Shuriken - Throwing Stars
The Shuriken is the most well known Ninja weapon. It is simply a piece of flat metal with sharpened edges that was thrown at the enemy.
The Shuriken was mainly used to distract or frighten the enemy, so that the Ninja warrior could escape. The Shuriken was easily made lethal by dipping the edges in poison.
The Yumi and Ya - Bow and Arrow
The bow and arrow were the most effective long-range weapons available during feudal times, until the introduction of guns in the 16th century.
The Japanese warriors had to learn how to fire accurately standing, kneeling, and riding a horse.
The yumi (Japanese bow) was over two meters, higher than the archer.
A typical Japanese bow was made of bamboo with a string of silk. The arrow was made of bamboo too. It was a deadly weapon.
The Strangest Of Samurai Weapons – The Japanese Fans
Strange to be included on a page about Samurai weapons, but the Japanese fans were used as weapons.
The warriors carried Japanese fans tucked in their belts.
Of course it was not the innocent paper Japanese fans. It was a weapon in disguise.
Their special type of fan was called Tessen. A Tessen was a fan made out of solid steel.
The dummy fan was actually one of the most brutal Samurai weapons.
The Japanese warriors would use it in a variety of 'creative' ways – throwing at someone, beating people or stubbing them.
These fans came in very handy when entering places were weapons were not permitted.
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Samurai weapons to History of the Samurai
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