The samurai maintained their elite status into the mid-1800s, when Western influences began to take hold ... sword-slashing warrior of yore abandoned his neatly kept ponytail for a shaven head ...

“Educated to be equally skilled in the ‘ways of the pen and the sword’, they ... challenge of a skilled samurai named Moroshige Onda, unhorsed him, and took his head with one clean stroke.

When police arrived at the scene, they encountered a woman on the street with blood on her legs and arm holding a sword, according to KTLA5. Upon seeing the police, she laid down the object and ...

Samurai culture taught that "as soon as the sword is gone from the scabbard, you are defeated," Cleary said. "As soon as you draw your sword, it is already too late. The more highly developed the ...