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Comparing samurai and knights
Comparing samurai and knights
Comparing samurai and knights
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Were the Similarities Greater Than the Differences? Do you know someone in the military? A loved one, a friend, do you know what they go through? I may not, but I do know about the harsh training and war that occurred for the Samurais and Knights. In Europe and Japan the empires were falling and Clans were taking over Japan. The government came up with an idea to create feudalism. There was an agreement in both Europe and Japan that exchanged land for protection. The similarities between Samurai and Knights were greater than the differences. This can be shown by looking at the three most similar areas: social position, training and armor, and life, honor, and death. The Samurai and Knights has their differences, but were the similarities greater than those differences.
The first area of important similarities was the social position. According to Document
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According to Document C “Japan Memoirs of a Secret Empire”, talks about how the samurai and knights both started training at a young ages. The knights started training at ages 4-5 a little earlier than the Samurai who started training at 6-7. The Samurai training only lasted until they were 14 unlike the knights whose training lasted until they were 21. Although, the samurai training was shorter they still covered all the important areas. They also had similar armor and both consisted of metal. The samurai had a little bit more movement in their arms, but the armor was used for the same reasons, protection. Document D by Terry Bennett says, “Samurai did not wear armor on their right arm so they could easily draw their bow.” These similarities were significant because without these things both classes would lose the battle every time, and if they didn’t have armor they would get killed, and these similarities is one of the reasons the two groups are so alike. Both of the classes were so a like that’s it’s hard to acknowledge their
In the book Samurai, Warfare and the State in Early Medieval Japan, Karl Friday focuses on war in early medieval Japan. A central thesis could be the political primacy of the imperial court. (Lamers 2005) This is the tenth through fourteenth centuries, before the samurai became prominent in Japan and were trying to form themselves into more of what we think of them today. Friday focuses on five aspects of war in his book; they are the meaning of war, the organization of war, the tools of war, the science of war, and the culture of war.
Knights and samurai have a lot in common. For example, they both follow a code and protect land. Although they are very similar, there are a lot of things that set them apart. Samurai had a different social status, had different weapons, and expectations. While knights and samurai have many similarities, in a one on one battle, the advantage would be to the knights and this can be seen in their honor code, training, and armor.
In the non-fictional book, The Samurai’s Garden by Gail Tsukiyama and the fictional poem, “ The Suicide Note” by Janice Mirikitani has character(s) that lose something valuable. From both book and poem I can related to the loss that I have endured during my life. However, the loss of both are different for The Samurai’s Garden, Matsu loss her sister from leprosy and Sachi loss her best friend. In “The Suicide Note” the Asian-American student’s family loss their daughter because they think she was never good enough.
The question was, who would win in a battle? A samurai? Or a knight? Of Course they both have their advantages and disadvantages but they also both have things in common that they can't do. A samurai warrior was a member of a powerful japanese military. On the other hand a knight warrior was a man of noble birth who after a couple stages, he would be raised to honorable military rank. While knights and samurais have many similarities, in a one on one battle, the advantage would be to the samurai and this can be seen in their armor, beliefs, and their training techniques.
Document C states that trainees did physical training, poetry, and spiritual discipline in school. They also studied Kendo, the moral code of the samurai, and Zen Buddhism. At age 14, the trainees officially became samurai in a ceremony called genpuku. On the other hand, knights began at age 4 or 5 with learning to ride a pony. Then, he would be sent to serve as a page to his father’s lord at age 7 or 8. There, he practiced with wooden and blunted swords. They also practiced with riding a horse and religious practice. At age 14, they could become a squire. Squires were obligated to fight other men, and help his master knight. If a squire had approval from the knight, they could become a knight themselves. This shows that knights and samurai had a similar training when they were younger. Document E proves that they had to live a similar lifestyle. Samurai followed bushido, which was the way of the samurai. Bushido said that they had to serve their master, be loyal to their friends, and devoting himself to his duty. Knights were obligated to follow chivalry, which said to do no bad deed, be loyal to the king, to give mercy to those who want it, and to be courteous to women. Therefore, samurai and knights both had similar
Japanese sword history spans several centuries. It is commonly divided into five major periods, the Jokoto and Koto periods or the ancient swords, pre-650 A.D, and the old swords from post-650 A.D. until 1596 A.D. when the Shinto...
During the Medieval era, lasting from the 5th century to the 15th century, warfare was considered a way of life. In warfare, the knights were recognized as one of the most powerful warriors on the battlefield. These knights, or mounted warriors, were considered deadly because they could move extremely fast and deal enormous damage to infantry by charging into them. Loyal only to their feudal lords, knights went on conquests, but also stayed in their castle defending their lords. This was important because in feudalism, the lord was at the top of the hierarchy. In order to be the elite of the army, knights needed advanced weaponry and armor. They wore the latest armors and wielded the latest lances and swords which, in the 1300s started to be made out of steel. These warriors were the head of the armies of the medieval armies of Europe.
One of the major changes during that time portrayed in the book was the declining samurai class. During the time of the story Japan had been at peace for a while and the fighting samurai class were starting to become redundant, and started to lose the traits that made them samurais. There are a few examples of the presence
In Japanese history, the period of time that is considered medieval is referred to as staring with the beginning of the Kamakura Shogunate period in 1185 CE, and ending with the Azuchi-Momoyama Period in 1615 CE. During this time period, Japan was ruled in a militaristic-style fashion by a progression of warrior-clan families, with each family known as a shogunate, or bakufu, in a system commonly referred to as feudalism. Feudalism, specifically, is “a social system… in which people worked and fought for nobles who gave them protection and the use of land in return.” In Japan, these nobles were the warrior-class known as bushi. Bushi brought about many changes such as creating and bringing about new markets, standardizing weights and measures, and possibly introducing the use of currency (coins). Al...
...th wore helmets, armor, and worked for their leader, the shoguns or daimyo for the samurai, and for the knights their lord(s). Lastly, they both had peasants. The peasants both had to pay their taxes and had no power. Feudal Japan and Feudal Europe both had a certain social class order for power and how the people lived and worked.
The difference between a good knight and bad knight was very clear in medieval times. Here are a few examples of a how a good knight would conduct himself and act. The amount of Prowess a knight showed was a huge deal that gained other competitor’s respect and maybe even a lady’s respect. Courtly Love was another thing that a good knight would show to his lady. Lastly, a good knight would protect the people around him under danger or certain circumstances. Sir William is a better example of a knight because he displays all three traits.
Knights were an important part of society and feudalism in the Middle Ages, knights were soldiers of the Lord or King and their first priority was to the person he served.Feudalism is the form of government and organization that held medieval society together and kept them from complete chaos. Knights upheld the laws and served their Lord, they made oaths and agreements and both the Lord and knight depended on each other. Feudalism made sure that everyone got what they needed by making oaths and agreements that keep loyalty to the Lord, so if you did something for someone they do something for you, and knights were a key part of feudalism because they kept law and order and protected the Lord.
Around the same time period different parts of the world were following the same government system, feudalism. Because of this system, two warriors arose, samurai and knights. Both had similar codes of honor, and both were extremely loyal, passionate, and skilled fighters. Knights came from Europe and provided feudal lords loyalty and military service, in exchange for land and power. Samurai, on the other hand, were from Japan, but also owed loyalty and military service to feudal lords known as daimyos. Considering the similarities between the two warriors, many people wondered of they were actually more similar than different. That’s at first glance. In reality, these two warriors are very unique with their beliefs, codes and loyalty, the
There are many historical aspects of the Japanese, but the most interesting is the history of the Samurai. In Japans history war played a large role in the country. Controlling clans fought for parts of the land and overall control of the country. These clans were powerful families that resided in the country and who all wanted power and control of Japan for themselves. The families that would be in control were known as Shoguns. These shoguns would have warriors that fought for them if any of the other clan families would try to attack him in order to overthrow him and take his power from him. The Samurai followed a code that developed from Chinese beliefs when in battle. The Samurais code was known as the Bushido. This code was also known as “The Way of The Warrior” which was the main belief s...
...e respect, honor, and loyalty make this difference for me, but there is something to be said about the comparison. I find that the knights are very efficient, great warriors, and are very similar to samurai’s in a lot of ways. They both wear armor, they both train from a young age, and both are taught about honor, loyalty, and respect; but samurais are taught more effectively in their training, and the Japanese concepts were better. So to answer the essential question of this essay, I would say that there is certainly a large amount of similarities between the two warriors, but if you would consider the samurai’s skills that are better, or enhanced; to be differences, than I would have to conclude with no. The ‘differences’, are far too great in my opinion to say that the similarities are so great that they are almost the same, because they are very different indeed.