Quote:
Originally Posted by rghtcrs4u
i know he is considered one of the best sword fighters ever...but does anybody think his fighting methods were a little cheap. i read a book about his strategies...seems like he was pretty much a cheater...he used to attack people before they were ready...just seemed kinda cheap because my perception of the samauri was that they were very honorable and always had respect for their opponent....this just kinda made me wonder...
what do yall think?
|
Many modern perceptions of how a Samurai should act were invented late in the Tokugawa shogunate after many many years of peace. The samurai had the authority, money and most importantly free time, due to having no job, to wax philosophical about the nature of honor and duty without their ideas ever being put to test during a time of war.
These Tokugawa area ideas about the samurai spirit are totally at odds with writings of earlier times during which the country was in a perpetual state of civil war for hundreds of years. Samurai, hid, assassinated, switched sides, retreated from battle just as much as any other prudent soldiers, generals and/or politicians have in other cultures through out history.