They were a warrior class in Japan in the mid-12th century for more than 600 years.
They gained worldwide fame for their skills in handling weapons, especially the sword.
Their name comes from the verb ‘samburo’ which means ‘to serve’.
Their history began when wealthy Japanese people wanted to protect their land and people.
For this reason, they followed harsh training in martial arts and learned to love their honor more than their lives. Those who violated the code of conduct had to follow ritual suicide to preserve their honor.
There were foot and mounted samurai. The armament consisted of a katana sword, bow, helmet, breastplate, epaulettes and armbands. Their clothing was a silk kimono.
There were also female samurai.
[Source: el.wikipedia.org]
