The Samurai

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 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, to name a few.

The unwritten Samurai code of conduct, known as Bushido, held that the true warrior must hold that loyalty, courage, veracity, compassion, and honor as important, above all else. An appreciation and respect of life was also imperative, as it added balance to the warrior character of the Samurai. He was often very stoic with a deep and strong philosophical passion. He could be deadly in combat and yet so gentle and compassionate with children and the weak. 
 At the early 1600’s (part of the Tokugawa or Edo era, 1600 – 1868), in an attempt to settle social unrest in Japan, the feudal caste system in Japan was beginning to see its first signs of erosion. The Samurai class was then forced to take on other trades (civil service, merchantilism, etc.), as society enjoyed the peace and social order for nearly 350 years under the dictatorship of the Tokugawa regime. The lifestyle and demand for the samurai was in the process of change. By the end of the 1800's, the once prestigious warriors and their families had then found themselves in financial impoverishment and starving.

Today the once proud Samurai are now remember in the History books, although there are some practices of the Samurai arts once incorporated into there combative skill!