Also important to remember in single combat, it is not about trying to predict your enemy's movement, but rather rely on instinct. "Let your body be like water" as they say. "Be fluid in your movements" and the state of mind being empty of all thought and emotion - leaving behind only pure, implacable focus.
Martial Arts calls this "Mushin", which means "No-Mind". Let your mind be unclouded by anger or pride. Haste will only confuse you and give your enemy an opening. Remain calm and focused.
Fighting multiple opponents is like trying to multitask. You will fail unless you are of exceptional skill and extremely disciplined mind. In order to defeat the enemy, you must not fight at their level. You must lure them into a battlefield of your own choosing - and one where you know the terrain and the layout.
Further, you must remember that all weapons have their place on the battlefield. The sword may be a powerful tool, but it pales at range compared to the naginata or the bow.
I like how Uijo bowed to him at 2:10 as a sign of respect, instead of raging because he didn´t win. Obviously there´s much to culture in the world we still have to learn...
What Algren is imagining is extremely difficult to do. I say this after playing Kendo for years. However, we should not forget that his character was a battle tested military officer who had used a sabre for many years. Were there a belt system in military swordsmanship he would have been at a very high level. I am not skilled enough to know if the styles were transferrable. I don't like to play the game of martial art comparison. I believe that any style requires bravery and demands respect.
@Noren1260 I'll say this openly, sword training (sabre, in this case) at the time of the Civil War had greatly deteriorated. The firearm was king, and the sabre was relegated to increasingly obsolete cavalry and ceremonial purposes. Battlefield sabre had a few moves intended to hew infantry from a raised position. Note, sabre FENCING was very complex, but the majority of those techniques would have been battle-ineffective. That's not disrespectful to Western martial arts, that's just how it was.
oh freelancer117 what ever the fuk ur name is bokkens are usually made from oak my bokken made from red oak in japan used especially for making bokkens but not all bokkens are made from oak
amazing film but in a real fight ujio would win nathan algren would never draw with samurai in all the film he is there for a month and he can draw with a samurai who trained the whole of his life wouldnt happen oh and just in case some fuckin idiot decides oh wait look wat hes put and puts h8 comment saying u dick head it is tom cruise , well ur fukin wrong the character in film is nathan algren actor is tom cruise
I'll play the troll here and point out that the man who's actions this movie are based on (however loosely) was French, not American. And its easy for an American to tie a lifelong Samurai when the fight is CHOREOGRAPHED.
@ the fools below me who've never been in a real fight trying to discuss battle strategy
defeating multiple assailants has little to do with training if you approach (so much irony in such a little word) the battle properly. If you are outnumbered you retreat. You run away your opponents assume you are a coward they give chase. One of them is faster than the others and will catch up to you sooner; kill them and keep running. Rinse and repeat. An intelligent warrior ONLY fights one on one.
@z3r0t0l3r4ns An intelligent warrior knows when he can win and when he cannot. Do not rely on sheer millitary force to be victor as a well trained determined army will thrash anyone else.
@z3r0t0l3r4ns even better is to make note of ones surroundings, in a smaller confine, it is less likely for them to easily attack you more than one at a time, or at the very least strains their mobility while yours is still fairly free. There is no "foul play" or "cowardice" in a battle to the death, there is no honor to be had in combat, the honor is to be had in protecting that which you hold dear.
@z3r0t0l3r4ns at a certain level of strategy it is possible to deal with multiple people at once, this is true for business as well as combat. In theory and in practice. Positioning and movement allow one movement to deal with many. Alignment of attackers allows one attacker to block the other, body shielding with other attackers, allowing two attacks to collide, with more than two variable attackers the possibilities become endless....it's just a matter of knowing them, then practicing them...
@cesarag0723 This is true, but the goal of all of those strategies is to is to isolate the opponents. You can only win when you're fighting one-on-one, so even if it's for a few seconds, the moments when you strike are when you are only facing a single opponent.
@z3r0t0l3r4ns You wouldn't pass the Randori in Aikido. Sometimes "running away" isn't an option. You try to single out mutiple attackers as best you can. However, life doesn't always go according to plan. If it did, you wouldn't find yourself out numbered.
@z3r0t0l3r4ns "The spirit of defeating one man is no different then defeating ten thousand men. When battling multiple enemies draw both swords chase them from right to left, driving them onto awkward ground and uncomfortable places" Miyamoto Musashi 1645
yeah right... do you have any experience in fighting multiple assailants ? Did you ever fought for your life ? You CAN'T choose how much people you fight, because if you are surrounded, ther is no way you can retreat and kill people one on one.
wouldnt it be more practical to practice on field battle tactics, and not just an art form? in other words practice application for skirmishes and not just one on one? samurai would fight more than one opponent at times and one on one is impractical for moments like that.
@hommnigritts While it is true that in battle you are normally fighting more then one on one, it is also important to train for one on one. Sometimes in the battles, you would have one on one duels, and off the battlefield as well. In order to fight many, you must learn how to fight one first. A step, punch, or block, is the same if it is against one, or many. The sequence and which you use are what change as the situation changes.
@tomcat2222 Another thing to note is that you can't defeat multiple enemies at the same time, that is holy wood, you must defeat your opponents one at a time, regardless of the shortness of the intervals between their defeats on a large scale battle field. and so they train one on one.
@1169Timothy Very true, except, from having seen real life situations (but not participated) you can defeat multiple enemies at the same time. Maybe I just misunderstood what you said. If so, sorry.The difference, or ability to do so, lies in your training. If your skill level is much higher then theirs, or you have been trained for such a situation, and they have not, you can win. I like that scene for just this reason. If you note, the many men are being very careful not to slice eachother.
@1169Timothy Part two, when I use multiple enemies, I mean four (ultimately, four or five is the number that can "comfortably attack" you (that is, anymore then this, and it becomes so extremely crowded, that their movement is very constricted. Successive waves of enemies can bring you down, but only because they get to time their assautl. In a case like this, at worst the scene is plausable (a general statement, not one aimed at you,), more likely, this is very accurate, touched by hollywood.
@tomcat2222 And to ruin your arguement, it was dishonourable to gang up on someone. They would all attack one at a time, so five samurai could bring down one hundred, if they are trained well enough.
@tomcat2222 What I mean is, the enemy always attacks with one soldier at a time. In other words, they are always one on one. They fight one on one, one dies and another comes along until either side has no troops. There is never five on one.
@mryoubar Again, evidence? Peasantry played by different rules then Samurai. They were more likely to fight more then one on one, on account of knowing they would lose in a one on one (due to lack of training). Even Samurai fought more then one on one in pitched battles. More or less, my latest comments were not detailed with the battlefield at the forefront of thought, so much as the type of battle displayed in this video.
@mryoubar@mryoubar ? I am confused now. What do you mean to argue? You cannot attack perfectly, in a group. The little time differences between attacks allow one to fight many. Five can take one hundred, if the five have good armor, and the one hundred have none. Skill and training can defeat numbers of poorly trained men.
Come on guys, isn't it an easy to slip to make? Japan, wooden swords, stopping the fight after the first hit or so. Not everyone has the same level of Japanese military history acumen.
I'd personally like knowing what the two on the sidelines were saying. As far as I figure they were betting on how many strikes Aldren would get in before getting beat, which is touching since the gruff guy in front's always ragging his "ugly form", yet sits here and looses 10 bucks betting IN his -favor-.
Pity there wasn't any iaijutsu (quick-drawing of the sword) in this, beyond the failed gang ambush scene, and that was, unfortunately, rather badly done..
This is indeed Kenjutsu. Kendo is the "do" form of Kenjutsu. Samurai did only practice jutsu forms at that time. All the cognate "do" forms were established long after the Samurai period of the Edo restoration.
I'm confused. Didn't Cruise's character kill over half a dozen samurai with his saber, a bayonet and a spear before he was captured?
NOW he's supposed to suck and need training?
captainkommando 1 week ago
@captainkommando them before - they were all low lvls. yet he is facing 80+
1butterfly4free 1 week ago
Also important to remember in single combat, it is not about trying to predict your enemy's movement, but rather rely on instinct. "Let your body be like water" as they say. "Be fluid in your movements" and the state of mind being empty of all thought and emotion - leaving behind only pure, implacable focus.
Martial Arts calls this "Mushin", which means "No-Mind". Let your mind be unclouded by anger or pride. Haste will only confuse you and give your enemy an opening. Remain calm and focused.
NicholasGeschke 2 weeks ago
Fighting multiple opponents is like trying to multitask. You will fail unless you are of exceptional skill and extremely disciplined mind. In order to defeat the enemy, you must not fight at their level. You must lure them into a battlefield of your own choosing - and one where you know the terrain and the layout.
Further, you must remember that all weapons have their place on the battlefield. The sword may be a powerful tool, but it pales at range compared to the naginata or the bow.
NicholasGeschke 2 weeks ago
I like movie :))
Sannyuu 1 month ago
Maybe they'll produce my film, it's called the Last Nigga on Earth starring Tom Hanks, how bout that?
cryjesuscry 1 month ago 2
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@cryjesuscry, "Hollywood is crazy. Last Samurai starring Tom Cruise? whats next, Last Nigga On Earth starring Tom Hanks?" - Paul Mooney
necessaryevil101 1 month ago
@cryjesuscry AHAHAHAHAHAHAH
bullmeatt 1 month ago
@bullmeatt paul moonie's joke not mine
cryjesuscry 1 month ago
@cryjesuscry mooney damn it
cryjesuscry 1 month ago
@cryjesuscry Fuck you, you made me laugh non stop -* -HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH
KilledInAsia 1 month ago
@KilledInAsia pal moonie check him out
cryjesuscry 1 month ago
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I used to be good with a bokken like that, then the director changed camera angles and I took a bokken to the knee.
jawofthedog 1 month ago
よわい
GomattiQuRi 1 month ago
Kenjutsu.
89Obscure 1 month ago
the last samurai, starring...tom cruise?
brohan914 2 months ago
I like how Uijo bowed to him at 2:10 as a sign of respect, instead of raging because he didn´t win. Obviously there´s much to culture in the world we still have to learn...
TheAvatar15 3 months ago 2
What Algren is imagining is extremely difficult to do. I say this after playing Kendo for years. However, we should not forget that his character was a battle tested military officer who had used a sabre for many years. Were there a belt system in military swordsmanship he would have been at a very high level. I am not skilled enough to know if the styles were transferrable. I don't like to play the game of martial art comparison. I believe that any style requires bravery and demands respect.
Noren1260 3 months ago
@Noren1260 I'll say this openly, sword training (sabre, in this case) at the time of the Civil War had greatly deteriorated. The firearm was king, and the sabre was relegated to increasingly obsolete cavalry and ceremonial purposes. Battlefield sabre had a few moves intended to hew infantry from a raised position. Note, sabre FENCING was very complex, but the majority of those techniques would have been battle-ineffective. That's not disrespectful to Western martial arts, that's just how it was.
ContradictoryNature 2 months ago
oh freelancer117 what ever the fuk ur name is bokkens are usually made from oak my bokken made from red oak in japan used especially for making bokkens but not all bokkens are made from oak
xXLIAMxTHExNINJAXx 3 months ago
amazing film but in a real fight ujio would win nathan algren would never draw with samurai in all the film he is there for a month and he can draw with a samurai who trained the whole of his life wouldnt happen oh and just in case some fuckin idiot decides oh wait look wat hes put and puts h8 comment saying u dick head it is tom cruise , well ur fukin wrong the character in film is nathan algren actor is tom cruise
xXLIAMxTHExNINJAXx 3 months ago
is not kendo is Bokken
smicijuci23 4 months ago
@smicijuci23 bokken is the weapon they are using, it is a wooden sword.
Drako377 4 months ago
@smicijuci23 u do no bokken is a wooden sword & kendo is the japanese art of using a sword
trisword01 4 months ago
I'll play the troll here and point out that the man who's actions this movie are based on (however loosely) was French, not American. And its easy for an American to tie a lifelong Samurai when the fight is CHOREOGRAPHED.
TmoneyKA79 4 months ago
A win is a loss and a loss is a win.
philanthropy2015 4 months ago
Darkxmatrix thanks for an excellent quality scene. I wish all the last sumurai on the tube was as good!
hackedoffable 4 months ago
Of course, the AMERICAN hero will defeaf a Samurai with a life long of experience. Hollywood+American ego = The Last Samurai.
Ryokushindo 5 months ago
@Ryokushindo 1 it was a draw 2 the 'american" is also a warrior of his own kind -.-
LlednarJediMaster69 5 months ago
too many openings...
johnsonspirit 5 months ago
I wonder of what kind of wood these bokken are made
Destrillion 5 months ago
@Destrillion Find a martial art shop in your neighbourhood and check :)
Maverick65a 5 months ago
@Destrillion oak wood
magasking 5 months ago
@Destrillion - Those were made buy a company called Kingfisher WoodWorks. You can order their bokkens online.
They use Appalachian Hickory.
PierreCarette 5 months ago
@ the fools below me who've never been in a real fight trying to discuss battle strategy
defeating multiple assailants has little to do with training if you approach (so much irony in such a little word) the battle properly. If you are outnumbered you retreat. You run away your opponents assume you are a coward they give chase. One of them is faster than the others and will catch up to you sooner; kill them and keep running. Rinse and repeat. An intelligent warrior ONLY fights one on one.
z3r0t0l3r4ns 5 months ago 35
@z3r0t0l3r4ns Yeah finally, an intellegent person! Sun Tzu's art of war, page six.
TheFreelancer117 5 months ago
@z3r0t0l3r4ns An intelligent warrior knows when he can win and when he cannot. Do not rely on sheer millitary force to be victor as a well trained determined army will thrash anyone else.
MemoriesofIreland190 4 months ago
@z3r0t0l3r4ns rurouni kenshin??? hahahaha, i know u got that idea from it
shortyorty 4 months ago
@z3r0t0l3r4ns even better is to make note of ones surroundings, in a smaller confine, it is less likely for them to easily attack you more than one at a time, or at the very least strains their mobility while yours is still fairly free. There is no "foul play" or "cowardice" in a battle to the death, there is no honor to be had in combat, the honor is to be had in protecting that which you hold dear.
Drako377 4 months ago
@z3r0t0l3r4ns Ha ha, for you Anime freaks out there, Himura Kenshin suggested this technique as well :3
SyaoranXSakuraTC 3 months ago
@z3r0t0l3r4ns at a certain level of strategy it is possible to deal with multiple people at once, this is true for business as well as combat. In theory and in practice. Positioning and movement allow one movement to deal with many. Alignment of attackers allows one attacker to block the other, body shielding with other attackers, allowing two attacks to collide, with more than two variable attackers the possibilities become endless....it's just a matter of knowing them, then practicing them...
cesarag0723 3 months ago
@cesarag0723 This is true, but the goal of all of those strategies is to is to isolate the opponents. You can only win when you're fighting one-on-one, so even if it's for a few seconds, the moments when you strike are when you are only facing a single opponent.
ContradictoryNature 2 months ago
@z3r0t0l3r4ns true words my friend!
bolacapoeira 3 months ago
@z3r0t0l3r4ns You wouldn't pass the Randori in Aikido. Sometimes "running away" isn't an option. You try to single out mutiple attackers as best you can. However, life doesn't always go according to plan. If it did, you wouldn't find yourself out numbered.
CoolLikePenguinNuts 2 months ago
@z3r0t0l3r4ns a clever hawk hides its talon, heh?
nice words...
its true that fighting while you are outnumbered only get yourself killed...
but, an intelligent warrior won't run from an outnumbered fight...
because he already won the fight before even he were on the battlefield :D
but still, a warrior does not seeks fight...
warrior seek peace within the soul, the mind, the heart
once found, then shared to the world...
yinyangwzrd 2 months ago
@z3r0t0l3r4ns Musachi!
beckerqueiroz 4 weeks ago
@z3r0t0l3r4ns "The spirit of defeating one man is no different then defeating ten thousand men. When battling multiple enemies draw both swords chase them from right to left, driving them onto awkward ground and uncomfortable places" Miyamoto Musashi 1645
KillerWulf777 3 weeks ago
@z3r0t0l3r4ns
yeah right... do you have any experience in fighting multiple assailants ? Did you ever fought for your life ? You CAN'T choose how much people you fight, because if you are surrounded, ther is no way you can retreat and kill people one on one.
Mombasaification 2 weeks ago
wouldnt it be more practical to practice on field battle tactics, and not just an art form? in other words practice application for skirmishes and not just one on one? samurai would fight more than one opponent at times and one on one is impractical for moments like that.
hommnigritts 6 months ago
@hommnigritts While it is true that in battle you are normally fighting more then one on one, it is also important to train for one on one. Sometimes in the battles, you would have one on one duels, and off the battlefield as well. In order to fight many, you must learn how to fight one first. A step, punch, or block, is the same if it is against one, or many. The sequence and which you use are what change as the situation changes.
tomcat2222 6 months ago
@tomcat2222 Another thing to note is that you can't defeat multiple enemies at the same time, that is holy wood, you must defeat your opponents one at a time, regardless of the shortness of the intervals between their defeats on a large scale battle field. and so they train one on one.
1169Timothy 6 months ago
@1169Timothy Very true, except, from having seen real life situations (but not participated) you can defeat multiple enemies at the same time. Maybe I just misunderstood what you said. If so, sorry.The difference, or ability to do so, lies in your training. If your skill level is much higher then theirs, or you have been trained for such a situation, and they have not, you can win. I like that scene for just this reason. If you note, the many men are being very careful not to slice eachother.
tomcat2222 6 months ago
@1169Timothy Part two, when I use multiple enemies, I mean four (ultimately, four or five is the number that can "comfortably attack" you (that is, anymore then this, and it becomes so extremely crowded, that their movement is very constricted. Successive waves of enemies can bring you down, but only because they get to time their assautl. In a case like this, at worst the scene is plausable (a general statement, not one aimed at you,), more likely, this is very accurate, touched by hollywood.
tomcat2222 6 months ago
@tomcat2222 And to ruin your arguement, it was dishonourable to gang up on someone. They would all attack one at a time, so five samurai could bring down one hundred, if they are trained well enough.
mryoubar 5 months ago
Comment removed
tomcat2222 5 months ago
@tomcat2222 What I mean is, the enemy always attacks with one soldier at a time. In other words, they are always one on one. They fight one on one, one dies and another comes along until either side has no troops. There is never five on one.
mryoubar 5 months ago
@tomcat2222 Grr, again that stuffed up. The chinese armies found it dishonourable to gang up on one person.
mryoubar 5 months ago
@mryoubar Again, evidence? Peasantry played by different rules then Samurai. They were more likely to fight more then one on one, on account of knowing they would lose in a one on one (due to lack of training). Even Samurai fought more then one on one in pitched battles. More or less, my latest comments were not detailed with the battlefield at the forefront of thought, so much as the type of battle displayed in this video.
tomcat2222 5 months ago
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@mryoubar @mryoubar ? I am confused now. What do you mean to argue? You cannot attack perfectly, in a group. The little time differences between attacks allow one to fight many. Five can take one hundred, if the five have good armor, and the one hundred have none. Skill and training can defeat numbers of poorly trained men.
tomcat2222 5 months ago
Come on guys, isn't it an easy to slip to make? Japan, wooden swords, stopping the fight after the first hit or so. Not everyone has the same level of Japanese military history acumen.
I'd personally like knowing what the two on the sidelines were saying. As far as I figure they were betting on how many strikes Aldren would get in before getting beat, which is touching since the gruff guy in front's always ragging his "ugly form", yet sits here and looses 10 bucks betting IN his -favor-.
HotaruZoku 6 months ago
Pity there wasn't any iaijutsu (quick-drawing of the sword) in this, beyond the failed gang ambush scene, and that was, unfortunately, rather badly done..
Barricade 7 months ago
This is indeed Kenjutsu. Kendo is the "do" form of Kenjutsu. Samurai did only practice jutsu forms at that time. All the cognate "do" forms were established long after the Samurai period of the Edo restoration.
larbo1616 8 months ago 23
@larbo1616 indeed =)
anormaluser 2 months ago
Kendo is the fencing form, similar to what Western fencing is to actual combat with rapiers and sabres. This is kenjutsu, military swordsmanship.
TheGreaterGood80 10 months ago 4
This is Kenjutsu
0Fingolfin0 10 months ago 2
this is not kendo but Kenjutsu!
doracron 10 months ago 3