14th January 2005, 6:07 PM
The Samurai were taught just about everything that the ninja were and then a whole lot more. They were warriors, soldiers of the Japanese Empire for hundreds of years and were the most disciplines martial artists in the country, learning everything from kendo and jujitsu, to ninjitsu and karate, just to name a few. During the Tokugawa Era (approx. 1603-1868) when many Samurai were lest masterless (they then became Ronin), it was the wandering Samurai that was most feared/saught after (by both the Yakuza and the Daimyo, among other groups of people who needed protection or muscle); not the Ninja. In real life there would be no contest whatsoever.
The Ninja were assasins who had to stay in the shadows in order to be effective. They were popularized in the United States because of their appearance and by countless horrible tv shows and movies, and most people (in the U.S.) are unaware of their inferiority to the Samurai. In Japan, the jidai-geki (period drama) and chambara (sword-fighting) are among the most popular and oldest genres of television and cinema. Some of the oldest and greatest Japanese novels are also about the Samurai (Genji, Musashi Miyamoto). In terms of film, there are maybe a handful of decent Ninja movies out there, but literally hundreds of good-to-superb Samurai movies (among which is Seven Samurai, widely considered to be the greatest film ever made).
So yeah the Samurai are a hellovalot better. :)
The Ninja were assasins who had to stay in the shadows in order to be effective. They were popularized in the United States because of their appearance and by countless horrible tv shows and movies, and most people (in the U.S.) are unaware of their inferiority to the Samurai. In Japan, the jidai-geki (period drama) and chambara (sword-fighting) are among the most popular and oldest genres of television and cinema. Some of the oldest and greatest Japanese novels are also about the Samurai (Genji, Musashi Miyamoto). In terms of film, there are maybe a handful of decent Ninja movies out there, but literally hundreds of good-to-superb Samurai movies (among which is Seven Samurai, widely considered to be the greatest film ever made).
So yeah the Samurai are a hellovalot better. :)