The Japanese Samurai Warrior

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Samurai Legend - Fact and Fiction

Most samurai were bound by a strict code of honor called Bushido, and were expected to set an example for those below them. A notable part of the Bushido code is seppuku, which allowed a disgraced samurai to regain his honor by passing into death, where samurai were still beholden to the rules of Bushido. However, the Bushido code was written in peace-time and it may not truly reflect the samurai's character as a warrior. Whilst there are many romanticised characterisations of samurai behaviour, studies of Kobudo and traditional Budo indicate that the samurai were as practical on the battlefield as any other warrior.

Despite the Bushido, in practice, samurai could be disloyal and treacherous, cowardly, brave, or overly loyal. Samurai were usually loyal to their immediate superiors, who in turn allied themselves with higher lords. These loyalties to the higher lords often shifted; for example, the high lords allied under Toyotomi Hideyoshi were served by loyal samurai, but the feudal lords under them could shift their support to Tokugawa, taking their samurai with them. There were, however, also notable instances where samurai would be disloyal to their lord or daimyo, when loyalty to the emperor was seen to have supremacy.

A legendary ability was the Duel of Wills, a psychological technique to test an enemy's mental strength without having to engage in actual fighting. Both combatants (who must be, as samurai, of equal status) lock eyes and remain staring at each other in silence and without moving a muscle, until one of the opponents yields (though there are stories of - rare - instances in which both opponents relent simultaneously).

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.
It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Samurai".

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