FIND AN OLD JAPANESE GUY AND BECOME A SAMURAI!!

[Musha]

Hi all, I was watching TV today and was thinking about for the rest of the day. On UK TV there an evening show called Richard & Judy on live every week day. They invite guests to talk about subjects like UFOs in the UK yesterday and general boring chat thought the program.

Today they invited a man from Cheadle Hume a town right near where I live the only living foreign samurai, he said:
"When I was about 7 I went to cubs, but right near cubs I could see a Japanese man over a fence practising, I thought he moved so gracefully. So another week I decided to climb over the fence and say, Can I join your class?. The man promptly hit him to the ground. But the next week he allowed my to practice." "After about 20 years the Japanese man died and made me a Samurai, I got to go to Japan and was presented a set of Samurai armour by the emperor?" Sorry if he did not meet the emperor but I have a bad memory :D. "The guy was learning Karate! and Iaido! and did not seem too good at Iaido any way. So strange.

[Khabbi]

Well

1:to be samurai u have to be 100% Japanes
2:Born in a Samurai Family
3:Born befor 1900 because the samurai class was disbanned in the 18somthing

So even though by some miracle were born in Japan , in a family that has samurai roots , and you follow the bushido and practise Kenjutso kyudo , iaido and kendo , its 10000000000 % imposible to become a samurai.

ppl need to stop trying to become somthing that has no place in todays society and start living a normal life.

Khabbi

[Hiryu]

Well

1:to be samurai u have to be 100% Japanes
2:Born in a Samurai Family
3:Born befor 1900 because the samurai class was disbanned in the 18somthing

So even though by some miracle were born in Japan , in a family that has samurai roots , and you follow the bushido and practise Kenjutso kyudo , iaido and kendo , its 10000000000 % imposible to become a samurai.

ppl need to stop trying to become somthing that has no place in todays society and start living a normal life.

Khabbi



NoNoNoNoNONONONONONONONOOOOOOOOOOOOO
Tell Me It AINT SO!!!!!!!

I know fer certain it aint so! I got da sword, da clothes and I finally can put the coulotts on right, so I must be a samurai! After all da money I paid, I better be one! Well, back to wax on wax off practice!

[Khabbi]

haha

maybe you can get a refond ?


Khabbi

[hyouriittai]

To be a true samurai, you need one of these:
http://www.thewebcollection.com/samurai_3000.html

"The Samurai of the year 3000 AD. is a master of high technology fighting and weaponry and the primary arm is the plasmium sword, a device constructed by highly disciplined weapon masters using an extremely secretive form of physics."

"The UC1258 and UC1260 feature the Samurai code of justice, service, and honor on the hand guard, engraved in their secret language."


Holy cow! If I knew about this sooner, I would never have joined kendo! These things are only a fraction of the cost of our equipment! I can't wait until 3000 AD -- where do I sign up!?

[hamish]

Must have got hit in the head that first time he climbed over the fence!

[Rurouni]

Well

1:to be samurai u have to be 100% Japanes
2:Born in a Samurai Family
3:Born befor 1900 because the samurai class was disbanned in the 18somthing

So even though by some miracle were born in Japan , in a family that has samurai roots , and you follow the bushido and practise Kenjutso kyudo , iaido and kendo , its 10000000000 % imposible to become a samurai.

ppl need to stop trying to become somthing that has no place in todays society and start living a normal life.

Khabbi

Even though you cannot BE a samurai...you can always have the soul and mind of one...in the world to day, we need more people like them anyways...

[Khabbi]

Why would we need ppl who were stuck in the age befor 1900 ? ,
Dont we have enuff soldiers ? , do we need ppl who want to be samurais coz they have seen some movie ? , Samurai's where higher up in rank then pesents and regular ppl , do we realy want ppl who look down on others ?

Wouldent it be much more easier to just be a nice guy ? ( gal )

Khabbi

[dorkusxmaximus]

eEEEEWwww that guy sounds eerily similar to Frank Dux (that freakin' dude from Bloodsport).

[Will]

eEEEEWwww that guy sounds eerily similar to Frank Dux (that freakin' dude from Bloodsport).

HEY! that's based on a TRUE story. Don't be knocking Bloodsport, that was my favorite movie right after Ninja Turtles 1 when I was growing up.

[yukiko]

you are right about samurai!but hey, hear me out!there is a hidden exception. there was a samurai who was not 100% japanese. There was a samurai in kyushu who was half white and half japanese, his family name is Hosokawa.You might recognise this name as this name became really famous around mid 90s.cuz the prime minister at that time was called Hosokawa. And in deed his ancestor is this half white, half japanese guy!!!!so there you go, there is an exception.but not many people know this.I only know this cuz i used to watch history tv program in japan!:) :wink: :smiley:

[Shiro]

I love it when some nut claims he's a samurai :)

They always overlook some important things about samurai, though:
- Samurai never called themselves samurai. I think they called themselves bushi.
- They always consider samurai as something as something supernatural. I can't really describe it, but it's almost like superheroes. The samurai class was "just" the warrior class of Japan (I put just between quotes because I consider they had exceptional skills, but nothing like superheroes off course :p).
- They almost always refer to the code of the samurai. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think there was a written, uniform samurai code. I think it was rather an unwritten set of moral values that could vary upon the fief the samurai was attached to.
- There are no samurais anymore since 1867 and the Meiji Restoration. The samurai class was set aside for good then.
- You didn't "become" a samurai, you were born into a samurai family and raised as one.
- Hagakure isn't the samurai code! It's just the reflections of one single person about what being a retainer/samurai was. The book is still very intresting and provides a good view of how life was back then.

Besides, I actually know someone who descends from a samurai family and she said that fact doesn't matter a lot to most japanese nowadays.

[Khabbi]

Bushido wasent even thought of befor the Edo period . thats about 1600-1867( not sure on the date but ill trust shiro on that ) . befor that there was no bushido , So the thought that all samurai followed the bushido is realy wrong. And when bushido came in play it was in a sense to keep the unemployed samurais in check .

I havent read anything about a half white samurai so im gonna stick to what i know and that is that there where only japanes samurais . forigners dident have much freedom in japan back then , very strict rules , so i dont know if they would allow a "white guy" to get a samurai chick pregnent.

As for supermen , like now some soldiers are real good , and disiplined , and there are some that are total crap and commit crimes . It was the same back then.

thats all for tonight class children lol

Khabbi

[mystic_kendoka]

i have a friend, takamasa saito, hes from a samurai origin... but doesnt speak of it, he doesnt care much for swords, he does jiujutsu (however u spell it)

[Shiro]

As for supermen , like now some soldiers are real good , and disiplined , and there are some that are total crap and commit crimes . It was the same back then.

Exactly. Those who think they are samurai almost consider it like they were jedi or something, it's totally wrong. The samurai were "just" the japanese military back then.

Like Mystic says, even in Japan, samurai origins don't matter anymore. So what's the point of claiming you are one?

Besides, I think most of the people who really believe they are samurai just need friends to play with, or something. I also think they would wet their pants if they really had to pick up a live blade for a duel (now, I'm not saying I would do better, but at least I don't claim to be a samurai).

btw, the Edo period is: 1603 - 1867. So Khabbi wasn't far from it :) (I looked it up).

[Khabbi]

close but no cigar =) , thanx shiro , its nice to know some ppl read books and search the internet to get facts . seems alot of ppl get their knowledge
nowadays from hollywood movies .

As for ppl wanting to become samurai , im not sure whats wrong with their coconut. :smiley:




Khabbi

[Shiro]

close but no cigar =) , thanx shiro , its nice to know some ppl read books and search the internet to get facts . seems alot of ppl get their knowledge nowadays from hollywood movies .

As for ppl wanting to become samurai , im not sure whats wrong with their coconut. :smiley:

Khabbi

I just love history :)
And people who think they are samurai should take a look at it.

Here's a good site about it: http://www.samurai-archives.com/
For those who are not familiar with japanese history, look things up about Takeda Shingen, Oda Nobunaga and Tokugawa Ieyasu. It's really, really intresting :).

[Khabbi]

I was actualy gonna recommend The Samurai-Archives and The Samurai History Forum to you ( Shiro ), but no need if you already know about them hehe

As for Famous Samurai I kinda like SAITO Denkibo , theres a short story about him here on K-W . somthing charismatic about him hehe .

As for the Samurai forum , its a real good one , just dont pay any attention to the " i wanna be a samurai / Ninja " and "who would win in a fight betwen samurai and a ninja " posts .

Khabbi

[Shiro]

I was actualy gonna recommend The Samurai-Archives and The Samurai History Forum to you ( Shiro ), but no need if you already know about them hehe

As for Famous Samurai I kinda like SAITO Denkibo , theres a short story about him here on K-W . somthing charismatic about him hehe .

As for the Samurai forum , its a real good one , just dont pay any attention to the " i wanna be a samurai / Ninja " and "who would win in a fight betwen samurai and a ninja " posts .

Khabbi

I knew the site, but I haven't really checked the forum yet because I thought there would be a lot of wannabes :). But I'll check it out this afternoon, thanks! :)

[Priam]

We'll you might have to be 100% Japanese to be a samurai.

But you can be 0% and still become a ninja...I know, I saw it on T.V. :)

http://www.pazsaz.com/master.html

[hyouriittai]

We'll you might have to be 100% Japanese to be a samurai.

But you can be 0% and still become a ninja...I know, I saw it on T.V. :)

http://www.pazsaz.com/master.html

I never thought I'd see an eighties pop-martial arts television series alongside "Sister Sister" on th same network..

[Khabbi]

I know it was just a joke , but still i feel a need to pick apart the joke and analyze it :smiley:

The "ninja " were actualy Samurai , Another myth shatterd to pieces :smoker:

The last real ninja was prob James Bond in "You only Live twice" . :smiley:




Khabbi

[additions]

i think maybe it is you guys who need to do a bit of research before making statements about the guy.

his name is karl beattie and is a producer/director who runs his own production company that has worked for the bbc.
we are not talking about some crackpot wannabe.

as for the old guy he stumbled on as a youth, that was otsu maeda.

karl beattie is the current World Traditional Full Contact Martial Arts Champion. He won the title in 1994 and holds it to this day after knocking out the then undefeated champion Tiju Fukura. Karl has never been beaten and holds an impressive record of 85 official fights, 85 wins and 75 KO's. He is the only person to take the title out of Japan and for his efforts has been awarded a Samuraiship, one of only eight honoured outside of Japan.

[mystic_kendoka]

i want to be a samurai... does that mean if i can KO karl, i can be a samurai?

the championship is full contact right? does that mean bokutos allowed? AND bogu..

piece of cake... you'll be hearing from me and my new experience as a samurai...

jk... i am NOT retarded...

[JSchmidt]

[font=Arial][color=black]his name is karl beattie and is a producer/director who runs his own production company that has worked for the bbc.
we are not talking about some crackpot wannabe.


You don't know much about the BBC, eh :D.


Jakob

[hyouriittai]

You don't know much about the BBC, eh :D.


Jakob

Yeah, I thought being a crackpot was one of the prerequisites for working on the BBC? Heh, kidding.

[AlexM]

karl beattie is the current World Traditional Full Contact Martial Arts Champion. He won the title in 1994 and holds it to this day after knocking out the then undefeated champion Tiju Fukura. Karl has never been beaten and holds an impressive record of 85 official fights, 85 wins and 75 KO's. He is the only person to take the title out of Japan and for his efforts has been awarded a Samuraiship, one of only eight honoured outside of Japan.

This is a joke right?

"Tiju" is not a Japanese name (it's unpronouceable in Japanese).

There is no such thing as a Traditional Full Contact Martial Arts Champion. (plus it reeks of typical fraudulant budo claims).

"Samurai" is a social class. An abolished one. If Japan starts turning out samurai it's because they've turned back the clock over 100 years and have decided that the Meiji revolution was just a big misunderstanding. There is no such thing as samuraiships. It's like being named King of France: The title does not exist, so one cannot be named to such a post.

Don't knock the BBC News! I love BBC News. The accents, the reporting, the fact that they give the weather in New Dehli like it's a normal thing. I heard an interview of Lord Roberston (Head of Nato) and wow! The reporter was unafraid to say things that you never hear in North America: "But, Lord Roberston, isn't that hard to believe given the past interventions?" (i.e. Don't you think you're full of it?).

[Shiro]

I looked up about Karl Beattie and samuraiship on google.... I found only 1 site, from a tv show...... doesn't sound really believable to me......

[Khabbi]

Yeah , forget history , forget that its imposible , just go and win some championship and get a "samuraiship" ,

Sorta like Ninjutsu students that become ninjas ?

Ive always wanted to be a bottle of whisky , so maybe if i work for the BBC , win some championship in japan , maybe , just maybe , i can become a bottle of whisky


Khabbi

[Musha]

Ah he was called Karl Beattie! I forgot and tried to search but there was nothing about it at all. Maybe the TV show was to embarrassed to put any thing on the web about that episode :D.
What I was actually thinking was when his sensei died he told him to carry on the club. But the guy runs a ghost hunting club!.

One more thing, I have been trying to work out for a wile what Katare actually is. Try doing Karate in Hakama and see how easy it is :D.

A Japanese man once went to China in history and trained with a Chinese man doing Chinese martial arts. The Japanese man then went back to Japan and tried to teach people what he had learned, but he knew so little that no one wanted to learn. After that most people just learned forms of Judo that was much more useful than kung-fu types of martial arts.

The only place karate really took off was Okinawa much closer to Taiwan than Japan. I think the only Japanese martial arts need DOU or RYUU at the end. Karate is nothing to do with Samurai or Japan at all.

[additions]

but my point still stands.
you all made comments regarding the guy before you even looked for any additional information.

and just because it isn't on the internet does not mean it is not true.
conversely i kno that just because it is on telly does not make it true.

i posted the only thing i could find but it does raise the question/point of more information being needed before you pass comment.

[Khabbi]

NO , your point does not "still stand" because the samurai were disbanned in 1867 ( 18 somthing anyways ) there for there can be no Samurai today .

So whats your point ? , that even when its imposible , it can still happen coz u say so additions ?

the fact still stands , the guy / guys who think they are samurai are nutters

"To say there can be modern-day samurai is like saying there can be modern-day Roman Legionaries; in fact, its even more ridiculous, because the Roman Legionaries were never officially abolished."

do ppl still think dinosaurs are out there ? and dragons ? geeeeeeeeez

Khabbi

[Shiro]

but my point still stands.
you all made comments regarding the guy before you even looked for any additional information.

and just because it isn't on the internet does not mean it is not true.
conversely i kno that just because it is on telly does not make it true.

i posted the only thing i could find but it does raise the question/point of more information being needed before you pass comment.

Additional information? You think I just disagree because I feel like it?

I have NEVER heard of someone being granted samuraiship and don't you think I would have found at least one site about Beattie if he really was that big of a champion?

[mystic_kendoka]

also.. isnt beattie a girls name?

[Shiro]

I love it when some nut claims he's a samurai :)

They always overlook some important things about samurai, though:
- Samurai never called themselves samurai. I think they called themselves bushi.
- They always consider samurai as something as something supernatural. I can't really describe it, but it's almost like superheroes. The samurai class was "just" the warrior class of Japan (I put just between quotes because I consider they had exceptional skills, but nothing like superheroes off course :p).
- They almost always refer to the code of the samurai. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think there was a written, uniform samurai code. I think it was rather an unwritten set of moral values that could vary upon the fief the samurai was attached to.
- There are no samurais anymore since 1867 and the Meiji Restoration. The samurai class was set aside for good then.
- You didn't "become" a samurai, you were born into a samurai family and raised as one.
- Hagakure isn't the samurai code! It's just the reflections of one single person about what being a retainer/samurai was. The book is still very intresting and provides a good view of how life was back then.

Besides, I actually know someone who descends from a samurai family and she said that fact doesn't matter a lot to most japanese nowadays.

Okay, now who gave me a bad reputation point for this post saying "hey , dude, im new, but still, you dont have to be 100% jap to become a samurai , the ture meaining is guard"?

It might sound a little whiny, but I don't want to get blames for nothing :p.
I am only expressing my views, not forcing you to believe them...

And can someone tell me what "the ture meaining is guard" means?

[xvikingx]

...And can someone tell me what "the ture meaining is guard" means?

It means nothing. Obviously written by some uneducated boob who still thinks there are samurai. 'additions' perhaps. Don't worry about reputation either, it also means nothing.

[Jackal]

I am replying to this thread because i was searching on google about Samurai and this came up. I read through the entire thread and I have to say one thing.

There is a man in europe who is an actual Samurai. He has the bloodline of royalty from back in the day and is a legitimate samurai. There was a couple page article about him in a magazine. I dont remember his exact name so I cannot tell you it. But it is possible to have Samurai in this day and age. But you can never become a Samurai.

And btw, the man had only a trace of japanese blood in him. He officially became a Samurai when they traced his blood line back to japan. His mother was english.

I registered just to say this.

[Will]

is it possible to be an "honorary samurai." Kind of like how people become Honorary police officers...they're not one really, but it's just a title.

[mystic_kendoka]

or sth like knighthood in england, they're not really knights.. just called sir yadda yadda

[Shiro]

I am replying to this thread because i was searching on google about Samurai and this came up. I read through the entire thread and I have to say one thing.

There is a man in europe who is an actual Samurai. He has the bloodline of royalty from back in the day and is a legitimate samurai. There was a couple page article about him in a magazine. I dont remember his exact name so I cannot tell you it. But it is possible to have Samurai in this day and age. But you can never become a Samurai.

And btw, the man had only a trace of japanese blood in him. He officially became a Samurai when they traced his blood line back to japan. His mother was english.

I registered just to say this.

If he actually descends from a samurai family and behaves normally about it, I don't have any problem with it.
I'm just having something against people who base their knowledge of samurai on movies and shout out loud that they "live by the code", that's all.

[mystic_kendoka]

if they claim to follow the 'code', pretend ur a relative of the emperor. and command him to commit seppuku...

PS i take no responsibility if they do indeed commit seppuku...

[Khabbi]

Well you can come from a samurai family from back in the day , the samurai familys dident all comit seppuku . but , since they abolished the samurai cast u cant be a samurai today , nobody is claiming they are a knight now adays.

I mean if they shut down all banks one day and then 100 years later some kid is claiming to be a banker , coz his fathers fathers father was a banker 100 years ago

PPL !! for f#cks sake , get over it ! . Its hard to belive that even though that theres historic facts that its over and done with , we can still find ppl that have seen some dude , some where , some time , that won a contest , that lives in europe , that is a samurai , coz the old woman on the mountin , sad he could find the dragon katana , in the lake , he is now the emperor of japan , and that makes him a samurai , and a ninja.

We got the historic facts sayin its over , and ppl with PHDs saying its over , even Japan says its over . but for some reason europe and the states have samurai .


Khabbi
i need a drink

[Shiro]

It means nothing. Obviously written by some uneducated boob who still thinks there are samurai. 'additions' perhaps. Don't worry about reputation either, it also means nothing.

I got it: the ture meaining is guard = the true meaning ... :)

and that statement is wrong, samurai means "he who serves"

[Shiro]

Well you can come from a samurai family from back in the day , the samurai familys dident all comit seppuku . but , since they abolished the samurai cast u cant be a samurai today , nobody is claiming they are a knight now adays.

I mean if they shut down all banks one day and then 100 years later some kid is claiming to be a banker , coz his fathers fathers father was a banker 100 years ago

PPL !! for f#cks sake , get over it ! . Its hard to belive that even though that theres historic facts that its over and done with , we can still find ppl that have seen some dude , some where , some time , that won a contest , that lives in europe , that is a samurai , coz the old woman on the mountin , sad he could find the dragon katana , in the lake , he is now the emperor of japan , and that makes him a samurai , and a ninja.

We got the historic facts sayin its over , and ppl with PHDs saying its over , even Japan says its over . but for some reason europe and the states have samurai .


Khabbi
i need a drink

Go Khabbi, Go! :)
I completely agree with this statement!

[AlexM]

I am replying to this thread because i was searching on google about Samurai and this came up. I read through the entire thread and I have to say one thing.

There is a man in europe who is an actual Samurai. He has the bloodline of royalty from back in the day and is a legitimate samurai. There was a couple page article about him in a magazine. I dont remember his exact name so I cannot tell you it. But it is possible to have Samurai in this day and age. But you can never become a Samurai.

And btw, the man had only a trace of japanese blood in him. He officially became a Samurai when they traced his blood line back to japan. His mother was english.

I registered just to say this.

No, for the last time (I promise): There is no such thing as the title of samurai anymore. Even if your ancestor was a samurai, you are not. It is an abolished social class.

There is no way to live as samurai in the modern world: no matter what anyone says to the contrary about "following the code of bushido" in modern times. It is simply not possible because it would necessitate the whole of society to follow along with such a belief.

I promise to not respond to any following posts concerning samurai in this thread. :D

[frederico]

Originally Posted by Jackal
I am replying to this thread because i was searching on google about Samurai and this came up. I read through the entire thread and I have to say one thing.

There is a man in europe who is an actual Samurai. He has the bloodline of royalty from back in the day and is a legitimate samurai. There was a couple page article about him in a magazine. I dont remember his exact name so I cannot tell you it. But it is possible to have Samurai in this day and age. But you can never become a Samurai.





No, for the last time (I promise): There is no such thing as the title of samurai anymore. Even if your ancestor was a samurai, you are not. It is an abolished social class.

There is no way to live as samurai in the modern world: no matter what anyone says to the contrary about "following the code of bushido" in modern times. It is simply not possible because it would necessitate the whole of society to follow along with such a belief.

I promise to not respond to any following posts concerning samurai in this thread.

you dont undestand... samurai were only abolished in Japan.. not it Europe.

[Shiro]

you dont undestand... samurai were only abolished in Japan.. not it Europe.

Yes, we should inquire if the samurai class is still recognized here at the european parliament....... :D

[xvikingx]

you dont undestand... samurai were only abolished in Japan.. not it Europe.

This is a joke, right? ::Please be a joke. Pleeeeaase::

[kyoshiro]

you dont have to be 100% japanese to become a samurai, you have to have the skills, more of a state of mind, to become a samurai, let me make this simple, go to this website, and read the pages, you bunch of retards, you will finaly learn the ways of the samurai....................http://www.hut.fi/~renko/hag1.html

[xvikingx]

you dont have to be 100% japanese to become a samurai, you have to have the skills, more of a state of mind, to become a samurai...

Nice guy... Well I am a nice guy too. Ask anyone here. So I'll be nice and not tear into the very obvious problems with you and your statement.
As far as becoming a samurai; not happening. The very top of an abolished class system. You didn't need any skill you needed family records and money (at one point). Despite what you and many other diluted fools like you believe, a lot of "samurai" were not skilled with a sword, they merely carried one as a symbol of what rank they held in society. Not a very glorious one considering most families were broke, living off of loans (sound familiar), and where being surpassed in wealth and success by both the farmer and merchant class. Which gave an even greater reason to get rid of the samurai class. Things didn't change much though as far as class. "Samurai" simply stopped wearing swords and cut their hair. Movies like "The Last Samurai" and stories glorifying the samurai to propagate war in Japan, would have you believe otherwise.
Oh yeah, when you talk about "samurai" I think what you mean is "bushi".

[xvikingx]

http://www.hut.fi/~renko/hag1.html
What is this? The hagakure?! Put that garbage away! It's not about being a samurai, it's about being blind, subservient, retainer. Idealistic rubbish for people who can't think for themselves.

[xvikingx]

Sorry, three in a row. I hadn't noticed until now that he had sent me a PM as well. He said pass it on, so I'll share with you all.

>im new, but half of these people dont understand the true meaning of samurai,

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

half the people on here dont even know what the word samurai means, its japanese for guard, and 2nd of all, you dont have to be 100% jap to be a samurai, you have to learn the ways, be one with the mind, go here to this website and read this it will help you , pass this message on to everyone....this is the true ways of the samurai<

I have studied the Japanese language for close to four years now. Nothing pisses me off more than when people who don't know what they are talking, try to tell me what a Japanese word like "samurai" means. I am off to meet my wife for dinner and she is going to wonder why I am in such pissy mood now.

[Shiro]

you dont have to be 100% japanese to become a samurai, you have to have the skills, more of a state of mind, to become a samurai, let me make this simple, go to this website, and read the pages, you bunch of retards, you will finaly learn the ways of the samurai....................http://www.hut.fi/~renko/hag1.html

As a matter of fact I read the book a couple of months ago......
First of all, you should know that this is only a small part of the original Hagakure, so I if you base yourself on the translation, it is INCOMPLETE.
Then... Hagakure is not THE samurai code (there isn't really a written code anyway), it is just a collection of events Yamamoto Tsunetomo shared with a younger samurai the last years of his life.
You seem to forget that the samurai represented a social class. You had to be born into a samurai family to be raised that way, it has nothing to do with being Japanese or not.

If you are a kendoka, I strongly recommend you to read this: http://www.kendo.or.jp/english-page/english-page2/concept-of-Kendo.htm
It's the concept of Kendo according to the AJKF, it says nothing about becoming samurai!
The art we study comes from the samurai but it isn't the art of becoming a samurai.

[Shiro]

Nice guy... Well I am a nice guy too. Ask anyone here. So I'll be nice and not tear into the very obvious problems with you and your statement.
As far as becoming a samurai; not happening. The very top of an abolished class system. You didn't need any skill you needed family records and money (at one point). Despite what you and many other diluted fools like you believe, a lot of "samurai" were not skilled with a sword, they merely carried one as a symbol of what rank they held in society. Not a very glorious one considering most families were broke, living off of loans (sound familiar), and where being surpassed in wealth and success by both the farmer and merchant class. Which gave an even greater reason to get rid of the samurai class. Things didn't change much though as far as class. "Samurai" simply stopped wearing swords and cut their hair. Movies like "The Last Samurai" and stories glorifying the samurai to propagate war in Japan, would have you believe otherwise.
Oh yeah, when you talk about "samurai" I think what you mean is "bushi".

Although I really liked The Last Samurai ;) I totally agree with this.
There have been great samurai and there is something inspiring in their filosophy, but it wasn't all like that. It's like the knights and the nobles in medieval europe: there were great knights but there were also ruthless bastards.

[Shiro]

Sorry, three in a row. I hadn't noticed until now that he had sent me a PM as well. He said pass it on, so I'll share with you all.

>im new, but half of these people dont understand the true meaning of samurai,

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

half the people on here dont even know what the word samurai means, its japanese for guard, and 2nd of all, you dont have to be 100% jap to be a samurai, you have to learn the ways, be one with the mind, go here to this website and read this it will help you , pass this message on to everyone....this is the true ways of the samurai<

I have studied the Japanese language for close to four years now. Nothing pisses me off more than when people who don't know what they are talking, try to tell me what a Japanese word like "samurai" means. I am off to meet my wife for dinner and she is going to wonder why I am in such pissy mood now.

As I said (and looked up from several sources) samurai means "he who serves", not guard...
It is not because you studied the language that you know more than us, you should at least respect our point of view. All the things I say against yours are backed by people on this forum and by research I did on the subject.
Kyoshiro: You read only the site or do you have the book too?

[frederico]

HAHA!!! i was joking.. but seems that there are people here that arent.. thats sad.

[Onara]

you dont have to be 100% japanese to become a samurai, you have to have the skills, more of a state of mind, to become a samurai, let me make this simple, go to this website, and read the pages, you bunch of retards, you will finaly learn the ways of the samurai....................http://www.hut.fi/~renko/hag1.html
This person is obviously joking, right?

[Shiro]

This person is obviously joking, right?

I definitely hope so....

[Khabbi]

This thread has given me a serius drinking problem

Khabbi

[additions]

i am fully aware of a 'samurai' is/was.
i am not saying that what the guy said is true or not.

i was just pointing to the fact that a lot of you guys made a comment without first looking for any additional information.

and like someone said, IF they did give him an honorary title, it wouldn't make him a samurai per se, just means that he has been granted a certain honour (in recognition of achievenmet/history?)

[Shiro]

i was just pointing to the fact that a lot of you guys made a comment without first looking for any additional information.

You didn't even bother to ask where our point of views come from......

[mingshi]

just when you think about how stupid the whole argument is...

TRUE STORY OF AN ENGLISH SAMURAI (http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/allnews/content_objectid=13814421_method=full_siteid=50143 _headline=-TRUE-STORY-OF-ENGLISH-SAMURAI-name_page.html)

[Khabbi]

well , Adams is the one that inspired ( the writer of Shogun) to write Shogun ( lol ) , But the Mirror has the story wrong , theres been alot of talk about if he was realy a samurai , even though he got handed land and ppl under him , he dident get the rank samurai .

Isent the mirror a gossip paper ? ( I dont live in "britland" )

Well I wouldent trust a newspaper over history books . football fans have prob heard that Henke Larsson was going to barcelona , then a week later he was going to newcastle , and the maneger of newcastle has no idea about the trade . Papers suck lol

Khabbi

[Shiro]

just when you think about how stupid the whole argument is...

TRUE STORY OF AN ENGLISH SAMURAI (http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/allnews/content_objectid=13814421_method=full_siteid=50143 _headline=-TRUE-STORY-OF-ENGLISH-SAMURAI-name_page.html)

Okay, I have to admit that if this article is true, people could become samurai :).

But I was talking about the present fruitcakes who think they are samurai.

Adams became a samurai because he helped Tokugawa Ieyasu, not because he read a book or saw a movie :).

[litige]

Samurai belongs to royalty, you connat be a samurai without aspiration to, or belonging to royalty, or a family belonging to royalty. Adams became Samurai because he was close to the emperor, thats all. It's not because you live by all the codes of the samurai that you are one. Since their are no more emperor or shogun in japan, their are no more samurai. If you belong or are affiliated to royalty these days (England, Gales, Monaco) you are not a knight, but just a lucky person (if its being lucky).

[thesamuraisword]

Dear Gentlemen on this forum. I would like to state that you are right on some subjects but mostly wrong.

There are such things as Samurai's today that fact that people believe that to be a samurai you have to live in a shack in a field in the middle of Japan apart of a ancient tribe wherein Japanese armor. Is infact wrong?

Being a Samurai is a way of life. "Bushi" means "WARRIOR" and "DO" means "THE WAY". Anybody can become a Samurai; I myself am one along with many others White, Black, and Japanese.

I would like to add a piece of Text, which makes a Samurai
"The elite Samurai warrior trained for many years in the art "Bujutsu". The Samurai were experts in a wide variety of combat skills including ground fighting, fighting unarmed, fighting with arms and fighting from horseback. Early Samurai used bow and arrows, and swords. Later Samurai used swords, spears and naginata (halberds). Samurai often named their swords, in a dedication of devotion. They believed that their warrior spirit was contained within their swords. They dedicated their lives to the combat arts of Bujutsu. - The gradual decline of the Samurai continued until the last Shogun resigned during the Meiji Restoration in 1868. Dissatisfied Samurai had led the revolt against the shogun, but the new government abolished feudalism and betrayed the Samurai by stripping them of all their privileges in 1871. Thus ended the era of the Samurai.

The history and philosophy of the Samurai lives on in the form of the Samurai sword, which has become a much sought after symbol of this historic and heroic bygone era, And today still lives in the hearts of many who wish it."

So in saying what I have. I hope for the people out there who wished to be Samurai you can. And for the rest who wish to object to this all I can say is please do your homework before mouthing off in a forum about something you really don't understand about.

Also although I do have both a wakizashi and a katana sword. But the amour is of course only for a high warrior in those days.

And I myself like many aren’t the Samurai warriors, Where just Samurai.
Plus there are still villages in Japan, which follow the code they don't battle or kill others they follow and practice. Anyone who wish's it may join the village (But must leave everything behind, TV, Power, phones,) You will be and live the life of a Samurai.

Thank you...

[litige]

Arrmmm, you told us we were wrong. I'll tell you that you too are wrong.

You may have heard that Samurai means, Who serves.

Serves who you ask?? serve the royalty. The daimyo, the shogun, the emperor, anyway, serve someone who rules over something (king, prince, etc.) do you serve the current shogun of Japan? or the king of France?
in both ways, no. So you are nor a samurai, nor a king. You can behave like one, and thats the beauty of it, but you are not those people, you are a "spirit warrior" with a way of thinking that is based on the codes, and the way of thinking of these people, not the way of live. Stop telling you are a samurai, you are not. You can only jsut say you behave like one, and what's bad about that?

[xvikingx]

Dear Gentlemen on this forum. I am a crazy idiot. Let me tell you a little about what I "know" about being a samurai... blah blah blah...

Thank you...

O.k. lunatic, who should not own two swords, thanks for sharing. :confused2

[Onara]

Dear Gentlemen on this forum. Plus there are still villages in Japan, which follow the code they don't battle or kill others they follow and practice. Anyone who wish's it may join the village (But must leave everything behind, TV, Power, phones,) You will be and live the life of a Samurai.

Thank you...
??????????????????????????????????
The loony bin has sprung a leak...

[Raiza]

??????????????????????????????????
The loony bin has sprung a leak...

Sounds like a plug for some cult like Aum Shinrikyo! Scary. :rolleyes:

"Yes, you too can become a samurai! Now sign away your life right here."
"Do I get to have a real katana? Katanas are so cool!"
"Once you've given us your account authorization, we'll be more than willing to show you the way of the sword. It's a difficult path involving chanting all day, creating wonderful substances using the alchemy of nature and being completely subservient to our daimyo."
"What about the sword part?"
"That comes after you sign these forms and hand over your passport."
"Where do I sign?"

[Dan Shea]

Well

1:to be samurai u have to be 100% Japanes
2:Born in a Samurai Family

Khabbi
You're actually not correct on these counts.

See here for 1:
http://hsv.com/writers/jeffog/wa-hist.htm

William Adams was an English pilot (not plane, ship) who was awarded the title of Samurai by the Shogun. He is the real life Miura Anjin whom Shogun the movie is based on.

For number 2:

One could marry into the Samurai class or be awarded the title based on deeds or services performed.

William Admas fits this, as do any of the fairly wealthy merchant families of the time who married into Samurai families.

It was a caste, but it was not a strict caste, there was some limited mobility between castes in fuedal Japan. Ryoma, Katsu and other factions of the Meiji restoration were all born to petty or impoversihed samurai and rose to rather large positions of power well beyond their birthright.

The title and lifestyle is completely archaic by today's standards, but if you read up on the subject you'd be surprised by the types of misconceptions most Westerners harbor.

The term Samurai itself is viewed very different by Japanese than Westerners.

But no, you can not be a samurai in today's world and it is quite the juvenile fantasy to expect to be able to. You're better off striving for more realistic goals like improving your kendo. :)

Take care.

[Khabbi]

"One could marry into the Samurai class or be awarded the title based on deeds or services performed."

actualy i did know about this , you could even buy your way into a samurai family , or a merchant family .

reason i wrote those short 3 points was to prov that nobody can be samurai today , dident want to go into more details and dates and exeptions .

Im still not sure on Adams , ive heard that he wasent samurai , he was just given some title and land / people . But anyway , this isent importan because he lived around 1600 , and not 2004 , And if he was given a samurai title , it was directly from the shogun , and there is no shogun , no lord to serv ,today

Just tryin to kill the neo samurai's dreams :smiley:

[mystic_kendoka]

anybody want to be a samurai? all you gotta do is come over here to belgium, swear loyalty and your life to me (handing over passport/ID card/birth certificate/insurance papers etc.), and you get a cheap hakama and iaito for your service... then you'll have a lord to serve...

[additions]

er...
that's the kind of person i said the english guy isn't....

oh, just to let you know.
i've asked around and sent a few e-mails but as of yet, no real replies.

um, another little question that has arisen out of pure curiosity;
anyone have the names of the existing 'samurai' families (if any still exist)?

[Shiro]

um, another little question that has arisen out of pure curiosity;
anyone have the names of the existing 'samurai' families (if any still exist)?

There were a whole bunch of them. Some more important than others. The three most important families of the sengoku jidai (16th century) period were the Takeda, the Oda and the Tokugawa but they all had 'minor' samurai families around them.
If you go back in time even more, you will find the Taira and the Minamoto, they fought the Gempei wars against each other (12th century, I guess).
I think the Minamoto created the first military government of Japan and that the samurai became even more important from that period of time on.

And please, don't hesitate to correct me if I'm wrong :).

[Shiro]

I forgot to add something......

There are descendants of those families, off course, but their lineage isn't recognized as a distinction or something.

[IsahoNaginata]

" I think they called themselves bushi"


Well technically all warriors in Japan were (and are) bushi. Even the ashigaru soldiers were technically bushi. Samurai was a word that they did in fact use to refer to their class and profession but ultimately samurai is just one more flavor of bushi.

"Since their are no more emperor"

Also, I seem to recall that there is still in fact an Emperor in Japan. From what I have been told the Emperor is the same as the Queen of England, a royal figure head who is little more than a cultural bit of history these days, and that the country is ruled by a Prime Minister or some such instead. But the Shogunate is definately gone.

As for the service: you could be a samurai in service to the Emperor and not be a samurai. If you did not directly serve one of the shogunate (at least during the Tokugawa Era) you were considered ronin and not samurai.

[Khabbi]

"As for the service: you could be a samurai in service to the Emperor and not be a samurai. If you did not directly serve one of the shogunate (at least during the Tokugawa Era) you were considered ronin and not samurai"

That doesent make sense , the only way to become a ronin is to be a samurai , all samurai were samurai no matter what lord they served . Its not like its a job like today , u were most likly born a samurai and after that nothing can change it . Ronin is just a masterless samurai ,

Like i said befor , read better books lol ,
:smiley:

[IsahoNaginata]

Ronin WERE masterless samurai and afforded the rights and priviledges of such, but other than that they could not technically be samurai in the strict sense of the word because one of the essential qualities that makes someone a samurai is having a lord to serve. I am sure that the legitimacy of any ronin's claim to the samurai class were regularly contested.

And could you PLEASE not insult my education, Mr. "No, you're wrong... oh wait... nevermind... I just checked, you're right but... uh... I know more than you!"

[Khabbi]

well now i realy have a legit reason to question your education , what I said was :

"Im not sure on that fact" and "checked and dident find anything" and asked you 2 questions ,

that means that I dident say you were wrong , I was questening your info.

So the :
"No, you're wrong... oh wait... nevermind... I just checked, you're right but... uh... I know more than you!"

statment is dead wrong :smiley:

And for petes sake , dont get upset

[alan dean]

Im of white Viking stock myself...

If a guy from Japan wanted to say he was a Viking too,,,what would I say to him?

[Piedmont Triad]

Ok, If you are so smart what was Karl Beattie doing 20 years ago in the USA???? I know let's see what research you have on that time frame.



i think maybe it is you guys who need to do a bit of research before making statements about the guy.

his name is karl beattie and is a producer/director who runs his own production company that has worked for the bbc.
we are not talking about some crackpot wannabe.

as for the old guy he stumbled on as a youth, that was otsu maeda.

karl beattie is the current World Traditional Full Contact Martial Arts Champion. He won the title in 1994 and holds it to this day after knocking out the then undefeated champion Tiju Fukura. Karl has never been beaten and holds an impressive record of 85 official fights, 85 wins and 75 KO's. He is the only person to take the title out of Japan and for his efforts has been awarded a Samuraiship, one of only eight honoured outside of Japan.

[Piedmont Triad]

HINT: He got his nose broken in a sparring match with who????? Under what conditions did he go back to the UK????


i think maybe it is you guys who need to do a bit of research before making statements about the guy.

his name is karl beattie and is a producer/director who runs his own production company that has worked for the bbc.
we are not talking about some crackpot wannabe.

as for the old guy he stumbled on as a youth, that was otsu maeda.

karl beattie is the current World Traditional Full Contact Martial Arts Champion. He won the title in 1994 and holds it to this day after knocking out the then undefeated champion Tiju Fukura. Karl has never been beaten and holds an impressive record of 85 official fights, 85 wins and 75 KO's. He is the only person to take the title out of Japan and for his efforts has been awarded a Samuraiship, one of only eight honoured outside of Japan.

[kendonewbie]

um, another little question that has arisen out of pure curiosity;
anyone have the names of the existing 'samurai' families (if any still exist)?
Yeah, I know one. Nice guy. Has redhead twin daughters, too. Nice girls...anyway. Yes, I do know a family with "Samurai" lineage. Thing is, they don't consider themselves samurai. Just normal, white/japanese americans. Probably has to do with the fact that samurai
A. Were a social class that was disband years ago, and don't really have any place in modern day society
B. Isn't a trait you inherit. I'd be like saying "Hey, my great, great, great, great grandmother was a crack whore. Guess that makes me a crack whore too!"

[Nanikure]

It'd be like saying "Hey, my great, great, great, great grandmother was a crack whore. Guess that makes me a crack whore too!"
Hahaha good one. Here's a cookie.

[theicychameleon]

100% japanese? What about that guy William Adams, he was made Hatamoto wasn't he?
From a samurai family: as far as I know people could be granted the rank of samurai, It wasn't terribly common but I'm sure I read that it did happen. But its all a little academic. The Meiji government did away with the samurai. I can't see the emperor resurrecting it (just think of all the people born by now who have a samurai great great grandfather). It'd be a bit useless to have a superior social class that consisted of the entire country. :D On the other hand there'd have to be a resurgence in sword manufacture and inflation in sword prices. Any we have'd be worth a mint! *cha ching* :D

[Kenzan]

Are any of the people who last posted to this thread even alive?

MmmMmMmmMmm.....Threeeeead Necromancyyyyyyy...:silly:

[Neil Gendzwill]

Old thread.