M10: A Class in Samurai School!

     On this mission Lola, Ella, and I are travelling to medieval Japan. On of my favorite subjects about the Japanese culture was the period of the samurais. We decided to go to Kyoto, Japan and visit a samurai school to see how they train and learn to become a samurai. I decided I wanted to take the Bentley instead of the jet for time travel. We got there at like 5 in the morning. When we got there I saw that the samurais were already in class. I thought that was really cool how they devote so much time to there training and education. The next morning I went to the center of town and met with the city correspondent so he could show us around Kyoto.
     The city correspondents name was Arata he showed us around the marketplace and the schools were the samurais trained. I sat and watched about 2 hours of their training, most of it was mental training. They had to think as if they were already dead, so they would not fear death. The next day I came back and they were working on developing a 6th sense which was to sense danger coming, it would help them with quick reactions. The samurais also trained in their full uniforms which had 17 layers consisting of robes, padding, armor, gloves, hats, and shin guards. But I also noticed they could move very freely and quick with all of the layers on. When I spoke with Arata and he said that unlike any other army the samurais were highly trained in the art of calligraphy.
     At this time period the shogun was Minamoto Yorimoto, he was the very 1st shogun. The shogun was the head of the government. I had done some research on the history of the Shoguns, but a while after Yorimoto the power shifted so a group of daimyos (local warrior lords) helped the Shogun. The Shogun often rewarded the Samurais with appointments to office, and grants of land. But the samurais had to pledge to protect the Shogun before he rewarded them.
     When Lola and Ella and I went back to the samurai school all of the samurais were training with bows and arrows on targets. There were arrows flying everywhere, but I could see that almost every arrow was aimed perfectly at its target. Although most of the samurais were practicing their arching skill, I saw some setting snares and testing them out. They also fought in battles with spears, swords, and often on horseback. The most difficult in my opinion was watching the hand-to-hand combat and how strong they were. Apparently they were trained to many levels of martial arts. I tried to talk to one of the older samurais about his experiences, but his hearing was getting bad and it was frustrating me.
     On the last day in Kyoto, we learned about the samurais self control. Arata told us that some went days without eating, some marched barefoot in the snow, and others held stiff posture for hours without moving. A lot of the samurais were Zen Buddhist, sometimes they meditated for in meditation gardens with rocks and sand. The rocks represented the islands and the sand which had a wave like pattern was the water. The meditation helped the samurais focus and overcome death. This was a really exciting trip to Kyoto, Japan and I hope we can come back here again. I knew that the period of the samurais was interesting, but I didn't know about all the aspects of training they needed to become a samurai.