WAKIZASHI
TACHI SWORDS
UCHIGATANA SWORD
JAPANESE CAL
Greetings, Time Travellers!
Butterbye helped me change shape for my
adventure into the world of the Samurai!
KATANA SWORD AND WAKIZASHI
UCHIGATANA SWORDS
TANTO
WAKIZASHI
WOW!
There's so much to learn about the Samurai, it would take ages to explore....
but now I think you need a little bit of fun!
How would you like to make an official Samurai hat you can wear? You would ?
Great..... Just click on our samurai to learn how!
As you are all aware, there are many people in this world
who don't have enough food to eat.
There are many reasons and that is for you to discover.
But I have a very special misson for you.
What is the mission?
A hunger crisis on the fictitious island of Sheylan
Your Objectives:
1. Air Surveillance: The causes of hunger and malnutrition
2. Energy Pacs: Nutrition and the cost of feeding the hungry
3. Airdrop: WFP’s emergency response
4. Locate and Dispatch: Global food procurement
5. The Food Run: Land-based logistics
6. Future Farming: Long-term food aid projects
This is a video game, provided by the United Nations World Food Programme
UNITED NATIONS FOOD FORCE LINK
Now I really have to go..... My Next mission, all I can say is......WOW!
BLUE FLAME
BLUE FLAME
COMMANDER TANK SAMURAI
Commander Tank..... It's Me... Really!
I've always found the
mysterious world of the Samurai
fascinating.....so I decided to
explore their world with you!
Are you ready?
The name Samurari was a term for the military nobility in Japan. The word 'samurai'
is derived from the archaic Japanese verb 'samorau', changed to 'saburau' ,
meaning 'to serve'; a samurai is the servant of a lord.
A samurai was usually named by combining one kanji (symbol meaning a word)from his
father or grandfather and one new kanji. Samurai normally used only a small part of
their total name.
The samurai used various weapons, but the katana is the weapon that is synonymous
with samurai. Bushido taught that a samurai's soul is their katana and sometimes a
samurai is pictured as entirely dependent on the katana for fighting. They believed
that the katana was so precious that they often gave them names and considered
them as part of the living. This contrasted with the swords and crossbows of Europe
at the same time which were, principally, tools for combat. However the use of
swords did not become common in battle until the Kamakura period (1185-1333),
where the


(the predecessors to the katana) became prevalent. The katana itself did not
become the primary weapon until the Edo period.
After a male child of the bushi (warrior)was born, he would receive his first sword
in a ceremony called mamori-gatana. The sword, however, was merely a charm
sword covered with brocade to which was attached a purse or wallet, worn by
children under five. Upon reaching the age of thirteen, in a ceremony called
Gembuku, a male child was given his first real swords and armour, an adult name,
and became a samurai.
The wakizashi itself was a samurai's "honour blade"
the samurai's side. He would sleep
would be taken with him when he left or
leave his main weapons outside.
The Tanto was a small dagger sometimes worn with or instead of the Wakizashi in
a daisho.
A samurai with no attachment to a clan or daimyo was called a ronin. In Japanese,
the word ronin means "wave man", a person destined to wander aimlessly forever,
like the waves in the sea. The word came to mean a samurai who was no longer in
the service of a lord because his lord had died, because the samurai had been
banished or simply because the samurai chose to become a ronin.

Their pay was measured in koku of rice (180 liters; enough to feed a man for one
year). Samurai in the service of a han (feudal lord) were called hanshi.
A legendary ability was the Duel of Wills, a psychological technique to test an
enemy's mental strength without having to engage in actual fighting. Both
combatants (who must be, as samurai, of equal status) lock eyes and remain
staring at each other in silence and without moving a muscle, until one of the
opponents yields (though there are stories of - rare - instances in which both
opponents relent simultaneously).
The samurai are the legendary armored swordsmen of Japan, known to many
westerners only as a warrior class. Who was the first samurai? No one really knows.
There are four factors that defined the concept of the samurai:

The samurai was a well-trained, highly skilled warrior.

The samurai served his daimyo, or master, with
absolute loyalty, even to the death. In fact, the word
samurai means, "those who serve."

The samurai was a member of an elite class, and
considered superior to common citizens and ordinary
foot soldiers.

The samurai's life was ruled by Bushido, a strict warrior code emphasizing honor.
The native religion of Japan was Shintoism, until Buddhism replaced it in the 5th
century, A.D. One school of Buddhist teaching, Zen Buddhism, encouraged followers
to attain enlightenment through intense meditation and contemplation of seemingly
nonsensical questions. This discipline was popular with samurai, who understood they
needed to train and practice until their combat skills became like breathing;
something they did naturally, without having to think about it.

The amount and form of a samurai's training depended on the wealth of his family.
In lower-class families, sons were sometimes sent to village schools for basic
education, but they received most of their samurai training from their fathers, older
brother, or uncles. Training in martial arts was considered very important, and often
began at age five. Sons of wealthy families were sent to special academies, where
they were tutored in literature, the arts, and military skills.

The image of the samurai that is probably most familiar is that of a sword master
wielding his curved katana with deadly skill. However, for the first few centuries of
their existence, samurai were better known as horse-riding archers. Firing a bow
while riding a horse was a difficult task, and mastering it required years of constant
practice. Some archers practiced on targets tethered to a pole, which could be
swung to make a moving target.

Swordsmanship was taught in a similarly relentless manner. One story tells of a
master who would strike his students with a wooden sword at random times
throughout the day and night, until the students learned to never relax their guard.
While being a warrior was central to a samurai's life, they were also poets,
politicians, fathers and farmers. They were expected to be well-educated in other
areas, such as literature and history. During the Tokugawa period, a peaceful era,
the samurai were not needed much as warriors, so these academic skills were
especially useful. However, some samurai masters warned their students not to
dwell on words and paintings too much, fearing their minds would become weak
A katana was never worn without its companion sword -- the wakizashi, a shorter
weapon with a broader blade. Together the two swords are referred to as daisho,
meaning "large and small."
represents the katana and
represents the wakizashi.
Two factors led to the end of samurai: the urbanization of Japan, and the end of
isolationism. As more and more Japanese moved to the cities, there were fewer
farmers producing the rice needed to feed the growing population. The luxurious
living enjoyed by the shoguns and many daimyos started to wear away at the
economic system. Many Japanese, including lower class samurai, grew dissatisfied
with the shogunate because of the worsening economic conditions.
Samurai weapons are well-known for their superb construction,
especially the swords which were without doubt the finest ever made!.
The Samurai played a pivotal role in the last 1,500 years of Japanese history. In
fact, the history of that period in Japan essentially is the history of the samurai.
During the era of the rule of the samurai, the term yumitori ( "bowman") was
also used as an honorary title of an accomplished warrior, even though
swordsmanship had become more important. (Japanese archery (kyujutsu) is still
strongly associated with the war god Hachiman.) In fact, for the first few
centuries of their existence, samurai were better known as horse-riding archers.
The samurai were not mercenary warriors, roaming Japan and fighting for whatever
warlord would pay them. They were bound to a specific lord, or daimyo, and also
bound to their communities by duty and honor.This code of honor was known as
Bushido, and comes from the word "bushi", which means "warrior." The Japanese
word "do" means "the way." So Bushido means, "the way of the warrior." This code
evolved from an earlier period, when samurai were archers and horsemen. The
training and devotion needed to master these skills and bond with a horse led to
kyuba no michi, "the way of the horse and bow."
SAMURAI SWORD MASTER
JAPANESE WHEEL
and
were used to commit seppuku, a ritualized suicide.
The
and purportedly never left
with it under his pillow and it
entered a house and had to
The word dai (large)
the word sho (small)
JAPANESE FLAG
JAPANESE EMBLEM
SAMURAI
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Time's a flyin' and I've already received my next mission.....
So until next time........Commander Tank signing off!
Well, not quite!
These are the six missions. Are you up to the challenge?
You can always return to the Magic Time Machine
by pressing the back button on your browser
UNITED NATIONS FOOD PROGRAMME LINK
Check out the rest of the crew!
JAPANSE EMBLEM
DJ KOOL DOG
Step this way to the
DJ KOOL DOG
This article is excerpted from an article on Wikipedia®. This article and photos are distributed under the terms of the
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