Samurais and Knights

            There would be no point in having samurai and knights if there were no weapons. The samurai used many weapons as did the knights. Weapons used by both groups were very similar. One thing similar is their main weapon, the sword.
             Samurai carried two swords: a long sword called the katana, and a smaller sword, almost a dagger, called the nagita. The two swords were light and thin and designed to take off heads. These weapons were carried by samurais in every day life. Samurais used bows, guns, and spears. Archers, a subclass of samurai, were trained in the art of archery, the use of bows and arrows. Sometimes archers practiced on dogs. Arquebusers were trained to use the arquebuse on old fashioned gun. Arquebusers held fire in battle and shot all at once executing a deadly assault. Pikemen used a spear called the ashigaru. The point of the pikemen was to take out enemy horses. All of these jobs and weapons were important to success in battle.
             Weapons were equally important in the warfare with medieval knights. Swords were also the most used and important weapon of the knight. However, the knights" sword was not made light and thin; it was made big and heavy to cleave through enemy armor. A very important tool but not necessarily a weapon was the shield. Knights also carried a mace. With a close relation to the hammer, the mace was made to knock out an opponent. Knights also used bows. Knight archers wore little armor and were generally stationed in the castle. Knights did not use guns, but made an advanced bow called the crossbow, named for its shape. The crossbow was held like a rifle. The trigger would release the string and provide a much more powerful shot than a normal bow. The main .
             requirement to being a knight was proficiency with weapons.
             Strategies were capable of completely turning the table on the outcome of a battle. Knights had many battle strategies which helped them win battles as well as wars.