I know a lot of people do realize that the Katana is not the main weapon of a Samurai and i’m sure they thought it was spear, but it definitely was not the first. It sucks that we don’t get a lot of representation of their bow usage as much in media as it should. It’s kinda hard to translate just how impressive and powerful shooting with a bow on horseback actually is in movies.
4 weeks ago | 58
Most civilisations realise early on that the best defence is to never get within stabbing range to begin with.
4 weeks ago | 18
I know it's the bow, but I've always loved the naginata.
4 weeks ago | 19
My Shogun 2: Rise of the Samurai game knowledge coming in clutch for this question
4 weeks ago | 16
That's why those classic Samurai armors featured those massive Warcraft-esque shoulder bits, they effectively doubled as mini shields while both arms were busy with a bow and the horse.
4 weeks ago | 6
It's suggested that the earliest samurai were or inspired by Emishi horse archers fighting for the early Yamato polity
4 weeks ago | 4
And they LOOOOOVED guns. Swords were only ever a sidearm anyway. Pole weapons have always beeen the preferred weapon for heavily armoured troops.
4 weeks ago | 11
How samurais usually fought iirc: They went around the battlefield on horseback, shooting you to hell and back with arrows (they were quite accurate). Then if they had to go melee, they used a spear and then the katana.
4 weeks ago | 1
I'm not ashamed to admit I know this because of Final Fantasy 11. The Samurai job in that game has a fairly high archery skill, and I had wondered why.
4 weeks ago | 1
Is there a way to see the percentage of people who chose each answer? I’m genuinely curious
4 weeks ago | 5
Later on the Sengoku Period it's more of a richer horse riding Samurai things. Foot Samurai still favour Yari and Naginata since they'd be leading their men for the honor of First Spear and First Kill.
4 weeks ago | 1
Sword fights are dramatic but the best kind of battle is the one where they didn't realize there was a battle Ranged weapons forever!! 🥰
4 weeks ago | 1
Archery was always a major aspect of samurai warfare. When you say early, what are you referring to? Pre-Shogunate, like the Heian? Or even further back when the Yamato were pacifying the Emishi? In any case, while the bow was the main weapon, they carried other weapons. The sword was more like a sidearm. Not something they would start with. Swords have existed for a very long time in Japan. Even before the Katana (or the proto-Kanata, the Tachi) existed. They used Chinese-style straight swords, as seen with the Imperial treasure sword, Kusanagi.
3 weeks ago | 0
That and grappling. Japanese jujitsu came from the samurai as they started moving into more into melee combat. Later judo won in prominence because jujitsu was less effective in takedowns and had many moves that could cause permanent injury which was not what the japanese police force wanted so japanese jujitsu moved to Brazil and that was where BJJ evolved from. Redesigned for the smaller Brazilian people and used for years against local police and gangs before moving into the sports scene.
4 weeks ago | 0
Augh, I always change my answer from the correct one to a wrong one. I should listen to my gut more
3 weeks ago | 0
Also they made bows that were tall at the top , short on the bottom since riding on a horse is restrictive
4 weeks ago | 0
History of Everything Podcast
What is the original samurai weapon?
Surprise surprise I had 2 last minute cancelations on my sold out Japan trip this November. Care to join me for some history shenanigans? trovatrip.com/trip/asia/japan/japan-with-steven-be…
4 weeks ago | [YT] | 721