Life Among The Samurai Dbq Analysis

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Swords clash and bang. The sound of war rings throughout the battlefield. Samurai and knights make this booming noise, fighting for their daimyos and lords. Thousands of miles apart, similar feudalistic societies arose, developing their own elite warrior classes. In Japan, samurai protected the peasants, their lords, and especially the Emperor. They went to war to defend the people selflessly. Knights were the Medieval warriors of Europe. These soldiers went to war on horseback and defended their kingdom. If engaged in battle, the Samurai would triumph over knights because of higher pain tolerance, extreme training, and religious peace.

The first reason that samurai would win is that they are trained to endure hardships, pain, and suffering. According to “Life Among the Samurai” by Eleanor Hall (Doc. D), boys were subjected to physical challenges such as fasting, marching barefoot in the snow, and keeping rigid postures for long periods of time. On top of all of this, they had to endure these challenges without complaining or showing any discomfort. Through challenges, samurai
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Training started at birth when a samurai was given his or her first sword. In “Japan: Memoirs of a Secret Empire” by PBS (Doc. B), it states that school for young samurai was a unique combination of physical training, poetry, and spiritual discipline. The youth often studied kendo. Kendo is the art of fencing with wooden sticks. Part of training also included studying Bushido, the strict samurai code of honor and behavior. It emphasized ethical behavior and self-discipline. Some might say that knights had longer, harder training, but that is false. A knight’s training started at age four or five, but samurai training started as early as two or three. Another thing about samurai training is that the Japanese warriors continued to train and practice when not in battle. Knights did barely any fighting other than tournaments and

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