Weapons & Warriors: The Bushidō of the Samurai

Art by Steven DeVon Jones

Way of the Warrior Knight. That is what Bushidō means. It is the code that a Samurai lived by, and if he was honorable, he died by it as well. Some could say it was a form of chivalry, and there are quite a few similarities. Like the Knights of Europe, the Samurai were extensions of the government, nobles in their own right, allowed to deal justice when necessary and known to command troops when capable. Unlike the Knight of Europe, where title and victory in battle were often sought after, the Samurai balanced his violent lifestyle with wisdom and extreme discipline. Riches and status were not his goal.

Bushidō requires that all Samurai must be loyal to the death to whoever they serve. They must remain honorable even when they are about to die. Don’t bother interrogating a Samurai because he would rather die a horrible painful death than dishonor himself. They were trained at birth to be loyal, deadly and practical. They would shed their own blood if they dishonored themselves.

 
Surprisingly, there was no written or spoken code for Bushidō. It was more of a creation of beliefs that evolved over generations of military families. As the child was born, he was destined to be Samurai, and started training as soon as he could walk and understand his lessons. After centuries of families training children in this manner, there was never a need to create a written reference to what the code actually was, it was just naturally accepted and known. It wasn’t until later when historians tried to search out its roots that Bushidō was even named.

Weapons & Warriors: The Tessen of the Samurai

Art by TL Jeffcoat

You Mortal Kombat fans have seen this used by the ninja Kitana, but what you may not know is that this is not a purely fictional device. These specially designed fans were made with iron spikes and were very popular tools among Samurai and many others in Feudal Japan who were able to afford them.

The Tessen was designed to appear as an everyday fan used for cooling off. Instead of wood or paper panels, it was made with thin strips of iron, which were then sharpened. The fan could be folded up to hide its deadly nature and carried around without anyone knowing its true identity. This comes in handy when a Samurai enters an area that swords are forbidden, such as another lord’s home in which he refuses to allow the Samurai inside while armed with his katana. With the Tessen, the Samurai remains armed, despite his host insisting otherwise.

Weapons & Warriors: The Daishō of the Samurai

The word Daishō stands for big-little in Japanese and is often referenced towards the style of dual swords that Samurai wore. It was a combination of two swords known as a katana and a wakizashi, or in some cases the even smaller tantō, with matching designs. Most of you are probably familiar with the katana. It only happens to be one of the most famous weapons on Earth and is used in many forms of martial arts around the world. The popularity of this sword is not overblown due to symbolism and legends either. It is one of the most deadly swords ever designed. Lightweight and extremely strong, this blade is capable of literally cutting a man in two. In fact, many Samurai tested their katana after it was forged by executed a criminal. If the blade did not cut the man in two, he returned the sword to the smith, sometimes with murderous intentions. The Samurai took their katana very serious, their life depended on this sword, and a poor design could cost him his life.