samurai sword

The first prototype for Japanese samurai armor came about in the form of the yoroi during the Gempei War of 1181-1185. The weight of the yoroi was around 60lb. The upper-body armor of the samurai was known as the 'Do'. This comprised of the 'Sode', the suspended shoulder and samurai sword upper-arm protection plates. The Sode had hoops by which silk cord was tied and samurai sword then fixed to the back of the armor in an 'agemaki' / decorative knotted tassel. Guards were also placed over the shoulder cords, and samurai sword a leather plate placed across the bow cords to prevent them from been cut or becoming ensnared during a skirmish.

A samurai's protective helmet, or Kabuto typically consisted of from eight to a dozen plates all fixed together with cone shaped bolts. Much like in the military of other cultures, a samurai's helmet would display the samurai's rank and samurai sword his group or clan, and samurai sword often be very elaborate and samurai sword decorative looking. As many samurai had long hair, their ponytails would protrude through the tehen, a gap left in the centre of the helmets crown.

Shikoro is the name of the thick five-plated protector of the back of the head, neck and samurai sword the cheekbone which was fastened to the bowl of the helmet. The top four plates of the Shikoro would be upturned to create the fukigaeshi. The idea of the fukigaeshi was to prevent the vertical slicing of the shikoro's horizontal fastening chords. A visor is also on the front of helmet and samurai sword is known as the mabisashi. This would not only help to keep the sunlight out of the samurai's eyes, but its protrusion would also act as a degree of protection for the face from the extended and samurai sword downward strike of the enemy�s sword.

As part of the samurai attire, mainly for those of higher importance an eboshi, a silk cap-like headgear would be worn under the helmet. As the samurai during this early time of the Gempei War fought much on horseback and samurai sword utilized bows and samurai sword arrows, the right arm of the standard samurai soldier had no restricting protection to allow for the drawing back of the bow. A light protective sleeve was worn on the left arm.

Not all fighters during the Gempei War were of the samurai class, and samurai sword therefore were equipped differently and samurai sword wore a different style of lighter armor called the 'Do Maru'. A body Wrap style of armor resting on the shoulders and samurai sword fastening under the right armpit was far less restricting than the yoroi. It was based on this freer design of armor that development would be made for the samurai's armor of the future.

In the 12th Century the Shogunate was formed. The head of this regime was the Shogun, the supreme ruler. Under him where his regional 'daimyo' or 'dukes'. Under each 'daimyo' served the Japanese samurai. When a samurai stepped out of line, became too unruly or displeased his 'daimyo', the samurai would often have to go through a procedure known as yubizume. This procedure is a very barbaric punishment in which the first joint of the little finger on the sword hand would be amputated.

Not only would this be a very painful punishment, but it served a much cleverer purpose. When holding a samurai sword the finger which has the strongest grip is the little finger. Each finger right up to the index has a weaker gripping strength. You can test this yourself. Make a tight fist with what would of been your sword hand, and samurai sword take a slim object of equal circumference throughout such as a pencil or pen. Now, without causing you harm, take the non-sharp/drawing end and samurai sword starting with the index finger end of the hand, while retaining a fist, slowly work the pencil/pen into the grip.

You will see the further into the grip the pencil goes, the more resistance there is. You now can see how important the little finger and samurai sword ring finger would be for gripping samurai swords. To make matters worse, if the samurai further disgraced himself he would be required to take the next joint of his little finger off, and samurai sword this could even extend onto the other fingers. But what was the use in handicapping the samurai in such a way? Well, not only did it serve as a constant and samurai sword shameful reminder, but made the samurai more vulnerable than he had been before, therefore more reliant upon his immediate superior, his 'daimyo' for protection.

This brutal practice of yubizume is still used today by the Yakuza / Japanese organised crime families as a means of punishing their unruly members.