Why is it that Americans will think the Samurai as the strongest warrior in the East back then?

I would say is the monks from shaolin temple. They train from they r kids. Their training is very disciplined and tough. The know how to use a whole arsenal of weapons. They train so hard...the concrete ground actually lumps in after years of stomping on the same spot! How can a samurai stop a monk who is spinning a spear head attached to a rope 180 miles/hour? Watch Kill Bill 2? Shaolin monks and other masters of kung fu toys with samurai's skills.





But Americans in general like Samurai (ex: the last samurai). Why is that?





If it's about their lifestyle then please realize that the lifestyle resembles the ones of monks in shaolin, just no women.

Why is it that Americans will think the Samurai as the strongest warrior in the East back then?
Those monks can do some amazing stuff. But they weren't in actual wars as often as samurai were. Japan was under constant civil war in the golden age of Samurai, and they saw plenty of action.





I think Americans emphasize most with the Samurai because of how similar they are to European Knights. We're very familiar to the idea of knights being brave and strong heroes, not so much with the warrior-monk concept.
Reply:1- the monks are overrated- this comes from chop socky flicks.





2- the samurai are overrated- this comes from anime.





3- your knowledge of weapons and how they are used is sorely lacking. I'll bet you actually think jet li was using that spear properly and wouldn't have been killed in one scene against that cavalry officer in fearless.
Reply:LOL BLUTO!!! I said that exact same thing when we watched fearless!!!! I said that he would have been owned seeing as he did NOT beat him..... the guy had him dead to rights....





its people like this.... that watch tooooooo much anime and way too many movies.
Reply:Romanticism and the movies!
Reply:OK,


1 weapons experts say that a beginner to intermediate swordsman in the Chinese way will beat a beginner to intermediate Japanese swordsman. how ever when one becomes a master at the sword the scale tip dramatically. the Japanese were by far the fastest with swordsmen ever. other weapons. the naginata is by origin the Japanese. a swinging spear is easily cut. the katana is the lightest, sharpest, and strongest sword.


2 samurai were also trained as children. they were sent to schools to learn every single form of martial art known to japan, with heavy training in the sword and naginata. sai's and nunchaku took a smaller percentage of there time.


3 they never fought and if they did it would have been the bloodiest war of all time, so I'm happy the did not.


I do not care which is better I simply like the simplistic Japanese styles more.
Reply:Monks aren't soldiers. In the grand scheme of things, they matter little in terms of warfare. Samurai was a class of elite soldiers with social standing, economical status, and martial measurements associated. The Chinese didn't have distinct and easily identifiable elite soldier classes through out history. Soldiering didn't measure high on the list of Confucian values. Mostly, war was dirty work, and it just had to be done by the drafted poor. While there were elite fighting units in China during various periods, none of them is as enduring as the Samurai class of Japan.





Many martial artists in China would argue that Shaolin monks are far from the best practitioners China has to offer, empty hand or weapon-wise. While Shaolin monks supposedly wield one mean staff/bo, the best spear and saber work were in the army (where if you fail you die,) and the best straight-edge sword play are from Taoist disciplines.





Rope darts in movies are just plain bad. In reality, they are small darts that were meant to be hidden on the body to save your life. Surprise is its biggest advantage. You don't just brandish the dart at the first opponent you see and expect the next guy to fall for it too. It shouldn't come out until you are running away for your life. It's an one shot last resort, not a weapon of mass destruction.





Do not base an argument on what you saw in a movie, especially Kill Bill. This is exactly why Americans worship Samurai. Real weapon work isn't flowery. The very effective Chinese Dadao/Kandao has only 8 simple moves and was the only consistent battle proven counter to the Katana short of a gun.
Reply:Let's take movie hype out of the equasion.





Both monks and samurai trained from childhood, and remember that thier life span was vastly shorter than ours today. In both cases, individuals and individual schools/temples specialized in different weapons. It is rare for an individual monk or samurai to be an expert skilled in many weapons. Both were warriors of a type: the samurai were soldiers serving their lord, the monks fought to protect their temples and rights to worship.





Americans idolize the samurai... possibly they do. Anime is popular now. For years, the monks had the public eye via TV.





Personally, I think the thing Americans find most attractive is the philosophy attached to these groups. The concept of living your life to the fullest and being willing to die at any moment portrayed with the samurai is appealing. The willingness to put your life on the line for your beliefs like the monks is also appealing.