How the Samurai Shaped Martial Arts
SAMURAI COP 2: OFFICIAL TRAILER
Hired Mercenaries - Feudal Japan (1185-1600)
The samurai, who were warriors for the daimyo or warlords, played pivotal roles in wars and in Japanese history entirely from the Heian Period (794-1185), the last period of Classical Japan (537-1185), to the end of the Feudal or Medieval Japan (1185-1600). Within these period samurai who were also bushi (warrior) developed military fighting systems collectively generally known as 'bujutsu', 'budo' or 'bugei'.
SAMURAI COP 2: OFFICIAL TRAILER
Unlike the way you often picture the samurais, they obtained with the yumi (bow) and arrow for their main weapon and mainly mounted on horseback in their o-yoroi armour. They eventually became headhunters who ran far from battlefields after slaying their opponents to collect their reward upon presenting the heads of their enemies, as payments were made upon proof of kill. They grew disloyal for their warlords as they switched from warlords to warlords, or rather reserved no loyalty to begin with, like how modern career men switching from companies to companies.
From Warriors to Practitioners - Edo Period (1603-1868)
The Edo Period (1603-1868) was the age after Feudal Japan became peaceful prosperous and unified ruled with the Tokugawa Shogunate. This became the setting for most samurai movies, TV shows and Anime where society was separated into four classes based on Confucianism: samurai, farming peasants, artisans and merchants.
Samurais comprised only 7-8% of the population along legal rights to carry the katana (long sword) along with the wakizashi (short sword) and to cut down commoners who compromised their honour. Despite their weaponry rights, that they had no military significance and served only addressing class rather than for combat, and were limited from owning land. As opposed, peasants, merchants and artisans owned land, produced goods and income, paid taxes for the daimyo, but were outlawed from carrying weapons. Commoners grew wealthy even though the daimyo collected taxes and paid their samurais a stipend. Even though some samurai were aristocrats and remained their relationship with their lords, masterless samurai became known as ronin.
With no rights to land and a lot of free time, the skills from the samurai were preserved being a form of discipline and warrior-like art instead of for actual combat use. It was also in this time that the warrior code of ethics and chivalry, Bushido was formalised.
From Practical Skill to Philosophy - Meiji Period (1868-1912)
With the introduction of Bushido, the samurais 'officially' transformed from murderous warriors to symbols of class, discipline and ethics by the end of the Edo Period. Since the last of the ronin disappeared from the face of the land with the rising sun, as being a mirage from the past, martial-art practitioners transformed from practitioners of killing arts and disciplines to practitioners of your way of life and philosophy inside the mid of the Meiji Period together with the introduction of budo.
The thing that was originally meant to be an efficient, effective fighting system and more importantly simple and quick to learn for military purposes put in complexity as it had been a form of physical discipline that takes lifetime to master. This physical discipline was philosophised and also to some extent mystified becoming a life-style for not just body, but mind and soul also. The popularisation of Bushido these days as an introduction to the West and revival to the East further promoted the thought of martial art as a philosophy and lifestyle as opposed to pure combat.