As you all know, Samurai and Ninja have always been famous forces and together they have contributed to creating a very unique Japanese culture. So, what is the difference between these two forces?
Because of different purposes, the fighting methods of these two factions become two opposing directions.
Samurai and Ninja
Samurai were well-trained warriors, trained in meditation, and almost unafraid of death. They are self-aware that they are inherently impregnable destruction machines, and that the ability for someone “non-Samurai” to defeat them in a duel is near impossible.
Because of that, Samurai focused mostly on swordsmanship, how to use many other “main lane” lethal weapons like the Naginata, and fighting techniques. They practiced until both their body and mind were solid and their reflexes were sharp, until each of their sword strikes was so powerful that it finished off the enemy with a single hit.
Samurai is well versed in techniques such as Kenjutsu (Sword Technique), Iaijutsu (Sword Drawing Technique), Jujutsu (Junior Technique) and other techniques such as Bojutsu (Kung Fu), Naginatajutsu (Sword Technique), Sojutsu (Sword Technique) ), Kodachijutsu (Short Blade Technique) and Niten (Dual Sword Technique).
Samurai does not mean they only know how to use swords, when there are many outstanding samurai with other weapons like Benkei (with naginata). According to recorded legend, Benkei has stood on the Gojo Bridge since the age of 17, killing anyone who tried to cross the bridge and collecting their swords. He was unbeaten in 999 battles until he was defeated by a young Samurai – Minamoto no Yoshitsune and became his subordinate.
Yoshitsune and Benkei
But overall, they were all very good swordsmen. To be precise, Japan has no less than 10 outstanding swordsmen, because there are countless names in every era. However, we can list such names as: Invincible sword master Miyamoto Musashi, Tyrant Oda Nonunaga, Uesugi Kenshin, Hattori Hanzou, Minamoto no Yorimitsu and Minamoto no Yoshitsune.
Miyamoto Musashi in the manga
Historically, the swordsmanship of the samurai has evolved and divided into many sword sects. Of course, there are sword sects that have perished since no generation has inherited them. It was the samurai who created the richness of the feudal Japanese martial arts.
Usually, samurai used up to 2 swords. One is a katana, and a shorter one hanging at the waist is a wakizashi. Contrary to the myth that samurai used to use katana to fight, they will use wakizashi more because katana for swordsmen is precious, so they don’t want to mess it up. Katana will often take the glory in formal, colorful things like cutting off enemies’ heads, cutting people or seppuku. But when they fight and kill the enemy, they will have to use wakizashi.
Miyamoto Musashi was the first to create and improve the technique of using both swords in battle
Unlike the samurai, the ninja ‘s techniques are very top-notch, but when they fight fairly, their chances are not very high. So if they can’t fight back, what do they do? They will find a way to slit their throats by means of assassination. They are not inherently aggressive.
Or at least they’re better at shuriken than regular samurai.
Ninja’s Shuriken
Shinigami are very good at techniques such as the flying body technique (which is similar to Parkour), the ability to hide, hide and use support tools such as climbing hooks. They tend to use light, compact but highly effective weapons such as shuriken (sword guard), shoku (hand spike), kusari-gama (chain sickle),… and short swords like Tantou (short sword) and wakizashi. Or more realistically, they use a specialized sword called Ninjatou.
Sword of the shinobi
And even… guns. The feudal ninjas knew how to make smoke bombs to launch haze, and then guns to assassinate targets, namely Tanegashima. In general, shinobi not only have more power and technique than humans, but also possess more special weapons than the samurai.
Tanegashima muskets
Despite their many differences, samurai and ninja had something in common. It is they who have become the representative of Japanese culture, become the pride and pride of the whole country. The topic of them has created countless works from movies, comics to games that are famous all over the world.
Therefore, their image will never fade and will continue to last for generations to come.