P2+Swords,+Armor+and+Bows

=P2 Swords, Armor, and Bows=

Baez S. Andrew L. WC 2/21/11 The samurai used a lot of weapons when they were in battle. Samurai used the best swords ever. The swords weigh three pounds or are lighter. They were made to slice swiftly and precisely. When in battle the samurai moved the blade in a circular motion. The short blade is called the wakizashi. It was used to commit suicide. The suicide was called seppuku. Then there is the long sword that was used in battle. It is called the katana. If you take the katana out you have to use it. If he loses after he takes the sword out he would have to commit the suicide with the short sword. The training swords that the Samurai were wood, Seiki from The Ghost In The Tokaido inn was given a wooden sword that he used instead of the medal sword. The swords are made with the personality of the samurai.

The samurai swords were made from the best sword smiths in the Japan. The sword smiths took weeks to months to make. There were 2 kinds of medal. The blade was made with a soft middle and a hard outside edge. The sword has 12 folds in it when it is made. After it is brought to a certain temperature is dipped in cool water. This makes the blade razor sharp. Another weapon the samurai uses is the bow.

The samurai bow took years to master and it still does today. The samurai bow is called yumi. The bow skill was a prized samurai skill. It was used for religious ceremonies and for battle. The bow is 8 feet long. The bow was made to be tall as or taller than the samurai who used it. This made the bow top heavy. The bow was made out of 30 year old bamboo. To use the bow you bring the bow up to your ear. Then you push it away from you. To protect yourself from the bow you must wear the samurai armor.

  The samurai armor is for protection, but it is also for showing family and friends strength and power. The Do is the body armor. The Kote is the armor the covers your arm. The shin guards are called Haidate. The Mempo is the face masks. The Sode is the shoulder guard. The Kabuto is the helmet. The last part is the Shirko or the nesk guard. The samurai was very hard to make.

The samurai armor takes years to make. That is why it was made by a lot of people. The armor is formed from pieces of iron, bamboo, silk, and leather. They make small plates. The small plates make lacquered. Then they are put together with rawhide cord. In conclusion the samurai used their weapons for a lot of different things. Without their armor there would be very little samurai left. That is why there everything that they used in battle is so important.

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Conlan, Thomas D. Weapons & Fighting Techniques of the Samurai Warrior: 1- 1877 AD. New York: Metro Books, 2008.
 * Citation**

Deal, William E. Handbook to Life in medieval and early modern Japan. New York: Facts on File, Inc. 2006.

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Sands, Stella Ed." Dressed for Success." Samurai. Kids Discover. Nov. 2004

Turnbull, Stephen ."Samurai Armor" Warriors of Medieval Japan. New York: Osprey Publishing Ltd., 2005

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; line-height: 18px;">[|To Read What Baez Learned]

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; line-height: 18px;">[|To Read What Andrew Learned]