It takes a lot of things to become a samurai. Honor, respect, discipline, and courage are some of the values needed. Also, you must go through many physical trails.
One of the most important aspects of being a samurai is respect. You must respect all of the people you meet, no matter their social rank. You would bow to them and say the proper greeting to them. Samurai would also show respect during duels. They would bow to their opponent, even though the samurai knew that that man could kill him. Samurai also needed great discipline to be successful. They have to practice the Japanese martial arts of Kendo and Ju-Jitsu. Kendo is like the Japanese version of fencing in which the person uses a Shinai (Bamboo Sword) and wears armor, then practices by dueling others. Ju-Jitsu is the hand-to-hand martial art of the samurai. The person uses the opponents weight and height to their advantage in conjunction with throws, punches, kicks, and grapples.
A samurai wielding a naginata.
Samurai Senshi 2
Samurai Senshi 1A samurai needed to become talented in these martial arts if he wanted to survive on the battlefield.
Another important quality a samurai had to have was courage. A samurai had to always think about death and about how you can die at any time. This made the samurai be ready to give their lives for their clan leader. The samurai clans would charge at their enemies, not stopping for anything, even if they were wounded. They wouldn't stop until they won the battle. During the 1800's, when Japan was beginning to become more modern, many samurai clans led rebellions against the Japanese army. They were trying to preserve the old traditions and ways. They showed their great amount of courage by charging the Japanese armies when the samurai only had their swords, and the...