answersLogoWhite

0


Best Answer

The training of a Japanese Samurai, began at the age of 5, at which point a man would give his son, to the care of his brother, the boy's uncle. The Japanese frowned on fathers training their own sons because, as all fathers love their boys, the fear was that dad was going to be too soft, be too easy on them, and Samurai training was very much life or death, they were training to be a soldier. Upon arriving at his uncle's house, the boy would work as a servant for about 3 years, before any formal sword instruction began.

In addition to sword instruction, they were taught various forms of Buddhist meditation, given a classical Chinese education which was common of upper class feudal era Japanese, and upon hitting puberty, more rigorous training would begin. The core of the physical side of Samurai training, lay in Sumo; in fact the reason Sumo is so revered in Japan, is because Sumo is the FOUNDATION, for the training of a Samurai. Before you do your family's style of Jiu Jitsu, as all Samurai families had their own style, or your clan's, before learning the other Samurai weapons, the various staves and spears, the bow and arrow, and learning the art of Yabusame or "horse Archery," you learned Sumo.

If a boy could not survive Sumo training, he could face being disowned by his own father. Why the harshness? Feudal era Japanese Samurai believed, if you can not survive a Sumo stable, you will not survive in battle. All Samurai, regardless of build, had to learn Sumo. Now the whole issue with being fat, is a relatively recent phenomenon; as it became more and more a sport, it began favoring men whose bodies were more heavy set. Thus you began seeing less "fat but muscular" men, and more "fat and strong" types as the years passed. The general build of a Samurai was "fat but muscular." That is, that type of men with arms like bodybuilders, but bellies like a sack of potatoes. Of course Japanese swordsmen ran the gamut of body types; what mattered most was whether or not a boy was strong enough to survive the training, not how he looked, and, what can I say, some dudes are tougher and stronger than they look. Never judge a book by its cover and all that.

Upon completing Sumo, a Samurai boy would learn his clan's style of Jiu Jitsu. Modern Judo, is in fact an amalgam of several styles, that is, Judo is composed of techniques which Dr. Jigoro Kano, the sport's creator, felt were the most scientifically relevant. Dr. Kano hand picked Jiu Jitsu techniques which he felt were the simplest and easiest to learn, and most applicable to how the laws of physics affected the human body, as well as their efficiency. In other words hundreds of Jiu Jitsu styles contributed a move or two to Judo, that is why the art is so comprehensive in terms of grappling.

Obviously through all this, sword practice would continue. Upon completing the training, and surviving the often harsh strength building methods, by now having reached manhood, the boy was no longer a boy but a Samurai. If you were asking regarding conditioning, and strength building, it was mostly the stuff they now do at Sumo stables. In order to get strong, what Samurai used to do, was lift logs over their shoulders, and then run uphill with them, the distance I think roughly 5 miles. According to legend, one particular Samurai did an uphill jog with a 900 lb log over his shoulders.

Miyamoto Musashi, generally reccomended, simply, just living in the wilderness, and practicing your art. Nothing fancy, nothing secret; just live in the wild, and practice. The wilderness itself, according to the Yamabushi, or Japanese hermits, will make you strong. Simply living and surviving there is enough for overall "conditioning." The idea that the Samurai did not do strength building exercises is a myth; truth is they did, their favorite method was playing around with large logs. Bear hugging them, lifting them over their shoulders and running with them, basically a lot of the stuff, very often, you see some MMA guys do today.

Now where there is a peculiar difference however, is that in the Sumo stable, they felt your strength training was not complete until you were strong enough to uproot a tree with a bear hug. If you trained to become that strong, THEN you truly earned the title of "Yokozuna." A fully trained Sumo master, had to be able to do two things; uproot a tree with a shoulder charge, that is keep hitting with your shoulder, American Football style, an NFL type charge, until you knock it down. The other thing is bear hug and uproot it. Incredible? Unbelievable? Hey you asked man; I swear, I am not making this up.

For what its worth, I think in some Japanese museums, they have large tree trunks on display with grooves, roughly the same size as a human shoulder. That is trees with marks, dents on the trunk, put there by shoulders. Common sense of course demands that hopefully they were wearing some sort of armor..... I mean, hitting a tree trunk bare chested, you're gonna skin yourself. Its not entirely impossible though, because in eras past, people used to wear clothing with much heavier and thicker fabric. If your clothes tore, you couldn't just go to the store and get new threads; you were gonna get a bit breezy if your clothes were made from easily torn fabrics, or not thick enough. Provided they had the sense to wear protective padding hey, those men were pretty stocky, so, its possible.

User Avatar

Wiki User

12y ago
This answer is:
User Avatar
More answers
User Avatar

Wiki User

12y ago

they did alota really hard push ups for their pe class

This answer is:
User Avatar

Add your answer:

Earn +20 pts
Q: What did samurais do for training?
Write your answer...
Submit
Still have questions?
magnify glass
imp
Related questions

Do samurais speak Thai?

No. Samurais are from Japan, not Thailand. They Speak Japanese.


What kind of weaponry do Samurais use?

Samurais are most noted for their katana use. Samurais are most skilled with the katana. Samurais also carry a backup weapon called a wakizashi. Both the katana and wakizashi are forms of a sword. Some Samurais also use a bow known as a yumi.


How long do samurais have to serve?

As long as they still alive, they are still consider a samurais


Who would win in a fight Vikings or samries?

Vikings are much stronger, but Samurais are faster. Also Samurais aren't afraid to die so probably Samurais.


What are some interests of samurais?

They kill any people they want, and people are scared of the samurais!


What were samurais required to do?

This link will provide some good information on Samurais. http://www.asianartmall.com/samuraiarticle.htm


Who is better Ninjas or Samurais?

History tells that ninjas used to be farmers, who defeated the samurais for revenge.


Are samurais flexible?

Are samurais are flexible especially for the female ones which are trained well.


What did samurais do daily?

Mostly Samurais in training practiced calligraphy, practiced the rituals of tea ceremonies, wrote poetry (usually haikus), practiced swordsmanship and archery, and occassionally had lessons on seppuku and Bushido.


What do samurais live to do?

samurais were when japan was in the feudal system- they were hired by their lords to protect them from attackrs, and they would be given land in exchange


What were a samurais duties for their masters?

to listen


When did samurais live?

696700 BCE