of the sword, the samurai’s thoughts and actions must be instantaneous, together as one. Zen master Taisen Deshimaru in The Zen Way to the Martial Arts, stated:
Intuition and action must spring forth at the same time.
The key to wielding a sword in quickness is focus upon nothing except the task at hand. Yagyu Munemori wrote:
The heart of the samurai is like a mirror, empty and clear.
In a sense, the samurai warrior became a symbol of the perfect warrior. When two samurai dueled, sometimes the two warriors would draw and slash simultaneously dealing death blows to both.
The second important weapon for a samurai was the Yumi, a bow made of composite wood or bamboo, laminated to protect it from the elements. Arrows were made of bamboo. They were longbows and its strength was measured by how many men were required to string it.
Yari were the spears or polearms used in various ways. The variety of techniques was called Yarijutsu, the use of the spear. If the samurai was mounted, the yari could be used to deal slashing strokes from a distance.
The nodachi was a two-handed sword that looked like a giant katana; one warrior by the name of Makara Naotaka used a nodachi that had a five-foot long blade.
The kanabo or tetsubo was a wooden club wrapped in iron with iron studs. It looked like a baseball bat and was used for breaking swords, horse’s legs and serious trauma even to armored opponents. [I]
Kama was an inventive weapon probably developed early when farmers were trained to be samurai, a farming tool resembling the western sickle. A left- and right-hand Kama was made and used simultaneously just as the long and short sword and is still used in martial arts training today.
While not a weapon, samurai’s defense was their armor, designed to be as light as possible in order to move freely and quickly – an advantage against rigid heavier armor of opponents; their headgear was full helmets decorated to resemble a fierce demon, frightening to opponents.
Another bladed weapon was the tanto, a dagger used for close quarters usually concealed for surprise attacks.
When a warrior was wounded and survived, in most cases bled to death from the wounds of razor-sharp blades, treatment was primitive. In a 14th century medical manual, the following is the treatment for stomach wounds:
Cover the intestines with dried feces, then close the wound with mulberry sutures and spread cat-tail pollen over the area. Activities to be avoided were anger, laughter, thought, sex, activity, work, sour foods and sake.
The feces were most often horse dung.
One of the most famous samurai in Japanese history was a woman, a warrior of the Genpei War from 1180 to 1185.
Tomoe was especially beautiful, with white skin, long hair, and charming features. She was also a remarkably strong archer, and as a swordswoman she was a warrior worth a thousand, ready to confront a demon or god, mounted or on foot. She handled unbroken horses with superb skill; she rode unscathed down perilous descents. Whenever a battle was imminent, Yoshinaka sent her out as his first captain, equipped with strong armor, an oversize sword, and a mighty bow; and she performed more deeds of valor than any of his other warriors. [II]
Minamoto no Yoshinaka was Tomoe’s master and after defeating the Heike he took Kyoto to become the leader of the Minamoto clan. Yoritomo, his cousin, sought to stop Yoshinaka so he sent his brothers Yoshitsune and Noriyori to kill him. Yoshinaka and Yoritomo warriors fought the Battle of Awazu on February 21st, 1184, where it was said that Tomoe Gozen took the head of one of the enemy. Yoshinaka’s samurai fought bravely, but were outnumbered and were defeated. With only a few of his soldiers left, Yoshinaka told Tomoe Gozen to flee because he wanted to die with his brother Imai no Shiro Kanehira, a half-brother. She left the battlefield and sometime later became a Buddhist nun in Echizen. Different stories have filtered down in history, but she is a real historical figure.
Tomoe Gozen has been immortalized in many ways, such as a character in the novel and 2010 min