Originally posted by dadudemon
Indeed. He killed freakin' Kojiro with a wooden stick! That's just insane. That was such a high caliber/important duel that it's highly unlikely that that was embelished. Suck it, Kojiro. 😈Well, it could be Kojiro that I'm thinking of. They were known as the most deadly duelist, racking up the most kills of any duelists (not the philosophical version, lol) in all of recorded history. That can't be Musashi.
Seriously, I can see the old Japanese drawing of this duelist in my head right now. He was like a half breed Japanese or something. His hair was a bit reddish in color, etc.
I really suck with names. I'll try to find who I'm talking about later. I'm at work.
But, yeah, guys like that are awesome to read about.
And most duels last mere moments. Blaxican is right. Katana's and all their incarnates are excellent human killing weapons. I don't remember the name of the show (It was on discovery), but it was over war crafts (the craft of war, not the game series from Blizzard.) deadliest weapons. I think they measured and decided on the katana as the best killing weapon. One good slash from a very practiced and strong katana duelist could be enough to cut most men clean in half. (I highly doubt the guy on the show was as skilled as some better katana users in 1600s Japan.)
On another note, I know tons of things about the US and it's history. I've studied it for a long time and I feel rather versed, especially for being a virtual history layman. However, Japan has established and documented states for thousands of years. I barely know anything (relative to my US history knowledge.) I keep reading and researching and reading, and it only becomes more and more daunting as I keep learning about Japan's history. It's so unique and has tons upon tons of history. It's kind of depressing knowing that I will probably only see the tip of the iceberg, even with professional education on Japanese history. The same can be said of other great past and present states. However, Japan's history is the only place I've run into so far that made me seem so ignorant.
Yeah the battle of Ganryu something. Musashi arrived like 3 hours late to the battle and eventually killed him with the paddle for his boat.
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Oh and samurai wins hands down agility vs heavy weapon wins every time.
I'd like to contribute a few things, and I'll be back later for my assessment.
It's in my opinion that the Spartan will be physically superior to Samurai. Extensive physical exercise was central Spartan life as Herodotus points out. Now, Herodotus tends to embellish things a bit, along with Homer, but Polybius backs up the idea when he points out that Alexander's soldiers trained with weighted hoplons and swords just like the Spartans. I believe the extra conditioning could be a deciding factor if the fight plays out longer than the Samurai would like it to.
The Spartan will be more heavily armored than the Samurai. This might not be too much of a factor, as one blow for either fighter could end the fight, but extra armor could turn a devastating hit into a glancing blow.
The Spartan's shield offers him huge protection and allows him to deliver strikes while remaining relatively protected. I personally believe that the Spartan's use of his shield will give him the win in this fight.
I believe the Samurai's only advantage in this fight his superior weaponry. Everything else is heavily debatable.
tl;dr?
Spartans armor > Samurai's armor
Spartans physical training > Samurai's physical training
Spartans weaponry < Samurai weaponry
In accord with history, spartan used xyphos only during war battles mainly, but also the falcata. One on one, hand to hand, they used the falcata "always" (guards, etc.) . Both swords were made from iron, except the grip, although sometimes even the blade were made from bronze (but this was less common). Spartans had many battles with different armies from different countries, including the Midwest army, and they won. Now, tell me only one battle that the samurais won against any different army than themselves. Samurai sword cannot go throughout the spartan shield, neither the helmet, or any armor from the spartans. However, xyphos cannot go throughout either, but the falcata can. It is very hard to see how a samurai army, or one samurai versus one spartan will win. The samurais were fast with exceptional technique with the katana, also the spartans, plus they were physically categorized as athletes.
Originally posted by hist99
In accord with history, spartan used xyphos only during war battles mainly, but also the falcata. One on one, hand to hand, they used the falcata "always" (guards, etc.) . Both swords were made from iron, except the grip, although sometimes even the blade were made from bronze (but this was less common). Spartans had many battles with different armies from different countries, including the Midwest army, and they won. Now, tell me only one battle that the samurais won against any different army than themselves. Samurai sword cannot go throughout the spartan shield, neither the helmet, or any armor from the spartans. However, xyphos cannot go throughout either, but the falcata can. It is very hard to see how a samurai army, or one samurai versus one spartan will win. The samurais were fast with exceptional technique with the katana, also the spartans, plus they were physically categorized as athletes.
I'm for one pretty certain that the Samurai sword will be capable of cutting through the bronze in the armor and the combi of wood and bronze in the shield without to much difficulty.
Originally posted by Utrigita
I'm for one pretty certain that the Samurai sword will be capable of cutting through the bronze in the armor and the combi of wood and bronze in the shield without to much difficulty.
Odd considering that a katana's were only designed to get through really shitty armor.
Does the Samurai get his horse and his bow for this fight? If so then he wins:
1) More advanced weapons
2) More advanced (although not necessarily thicker/stronger) armor
3) Training puts more emphasize on 1 on 1 fighting, whereas a Spartan is trained to fight with other Spartans as a unit.
4) Bow and arrow
5) Is mounted
Originally posted by Hewhoknowsall
Does the Samurai get his horse and his bow for this fight? If so then he wins:1) More advanced weapons
2) More advanced (although not necessarily thicker/stronger) armor
3) Training puts more emphasize on 1 on 1 fighting, whereas a Spartan is trained to fight with other Spartans as a unit.
4) Bow and arrow
5) Is mounted
You could just read the first post.
Originally posted by dadudemon
Cept the discovery channel doing tests with various bladed weapons and literally proving that it could cut straight through a peron's torso. It got the "nod" for the best bladed weapon.
Really? That's pretty cool.
I still doubt the blades would penetrate Greek armor or shields very easily.