Samurai Training Techniques

Samurai comprised Japan's military class from approximately A.D. 794, when the Heian Period saw landowners beginning to hire warriors to protect their assets, to 1868, the end of Japan's feudal era. Also known as "bushi," samurai employed a range of weapons in their work and training, including the bow and arrow, the spear, the gun and the sword.

  1. Bushido

    • The base of the samurai's training was to teach him to live his life by the principles of Bushido, a Confucian belief system whose name translates to "The Way of the Warrior." Bushido was the framework for the samurai's whole curriculum of studies, centering on three main tenets. "Chi" translates loosely to intellectuality, but Bushido stressed the importance of wisdom over a base of knowledge. "Jin" means benevolence, and "Yu" means courage, both of which were drilled into the samurai throughout all of his training.

    Jujitsu

    • One of the most important practical pieces of a samurai's training was the art of jujitsu, a martial art that allowed a samurai to incapacitate an opponent without weaponry or killing. It was taught using a foundation of anatomical knowledge, with which samurai knew where to strike or twist an opponent. It was developed around A.D. 1100 by a samurai named Yoshimitsu. For centuries, it was only taught to samurai, though martial arts schools around the world now teach the time-honored skill to civilians.

    Calligraphy

    • As proper calligraphy was considered a good indication of one's personal character in feudal Japan, and as the correct execution of Japanese characters is a mark of artistic prowess, samurai were trained extensively in the art of good writing. A samurai was a man of action and character, and any skill that would help him develop usable skills and a good character was emphasized.

    Other Skills

    • Samurai were trained extensively in the use of other weapons through fencing, archery and marksmanship courses. Other practical subjects included the use of spears, horsemanship and combat tactics. Though mathematics was not part of their curriculum--since feudal warfare was unscientific and Bushido did not emphasize quantitative thinking--samurai were educated in ethics, history and literature. It was thought that these subjects were important to build a samurai's character.