Close your eyes and imagine you are in a beautiful, Japanese garden. You see a small stream leading to a calm pond covered in bright pink flowers and water lilies. The green grass around you is cut short and all of the plants and shrubbery are neatly trimmed. Flowering trees are above you. You see a wooden footbridge and cross the pond to an open area with a grand temple in the middle. It’s designed in Japanese fashion with a peaked roof. Surrounding the temple are men and women holding wooden swords. A teacher is showing them how to use the sword, swinging it upward and then down. They all follow his instructions at the same time in a coordinated dance. Then they kick and swing the swords again. Past them, in the temple, you see a group cross-legged and meditating. You suddenly realize you are observing a group of Japanese samurais in training.

Have you ever heard of a “samurai”? A samurai was an ancient warrior in the country of Japan. You could compare them to the knights of Medieval Times, because they were warriors who wore armor, fought in battles, and lived a code of honor. But they were also different from knights in other ways which we’ll talk about today.

If you saw a samurai today they’d be wearing armor, a helmet, and carrying a long sword called a “katana.” They were known for their great strength and skill and speed and their incredible use of the katana sword. The first Samurai fought on horseback. For a long time, the soldiers in Japan were peasants – simple people who farmed the land and weren’t trained to fight. So when they fought in a battle, they weren’t very effective because their job was normally farming not fighting. At the time in Japan, some of the wealthier citizens had horses and decided they might be better warriors than the peasants. Horses gave them an advantage and using a bow and arrow from the back of the horse, these wealthy Japanese became very dangerous fighters. Soon, instead of peasants fighting, more and more of the soldiers became Samurai, fighting with swords and bow and arrows from horseback.

As the samurai trained harder and from a young age, they became known for their excellent skills with the katana sword. They disciplined themselves. Discipline means to have self-control. Daily they practiced riding horses, using the katana, and doing things that were very hard but made them stronger because they pushed their body and mind to their limits. They were similar to Spartan warriors in this way, too.

Some of the legendary samurai were women, too. Tomoe Gozen fought bravely during the clan wars. She was a skilled archer and swordsman, “a warrior worth a thousand” the legends say. She was a strong horseman and could ride down steep hills. In battle, she was sent out as a captain in the best armor and the best weapons to lead the other samurai – and “performed more deeds of valor than any of the other warriors.” 

Another well known general at this time was female samurai Hangaku Gozen. Female foot soldiers were also known to fight alongside the men during clan wars.

In the Pacific Ocean, Japan is an island located off the coast of China. At the time, a powerful people called the Mongols ruled China and wanted to rule Japan, too. In 1270 A.D. Kublai Khan, the leader of the Mongol army,  decided to attack Japan. He sent 40,000 soldiers and 90 ships to invade the island. But for many years, the Japanese Samurai had been preparing and training to defend their country. When the Mongols invaded, they were met by the fast and powerful Samurai who used their skills to defend Japan and stopped the invasion. 

For a time, Japan was also divided into power clans, or groups of people sort of like small cities or towns. The clans were ruled by a leader called a “daimyo” (dime-yo). The daimyo hired samurai to protect their clan. Often clans fought against each other for more land so many of the samurai battles over the years were between competing clans. Samurai became distinguished for their honor in battle. Honor meant their commitment to the samurai code or set of rules known as the “bushido.” They strictly followed the rules of a samurai or “bushido” which included courage, respect, self-control and righteousness, which means doing the right thing. In battle, the Samurai were taught to never surrender or back down, to continue fighting even when they were losing and to have courage even in the most fearful moments.

In 1582, a man named Oda Nobunaga was born to a powerful daim-yo in the Owari region. Growing up, Nobunaga was trained as other samurai to fight with the bow and arrow, sword, and learned to discipline himself after the “bushido,” the way of the samurai. After his father passed away, Nobunaga and his brothers fought to rule the clan and Nobunaga became the new leader. But he wasn’t content leading one clan, he wanted to grow the clan’s power and began conquering other clans nearby. He was a skilled military leader and organized his soldiers and samurai in a way that continued to win until he ruled many other clans. Nobunaga also made alliances with other powerful clans. An alliance is an agreement that they will work together. And eventually Nobunaga’s clans and alliances brought all of the clans together. Nobunaga eventually became the leader of half the clans in Japan, also called a “shogun.” He built a beautiful castle on a lake and lived there during his rule. From there he continued to organize and strengthen his armies and make laws that he believed were in Japan’s best interest. The rule of a powerful Japanese leader was called a “shogunate” and his rule was followed by powerful leaders such as Toyotomi Hideyoshi and Tokugawa. Under Hideyoshi, all of Japan was united under a single leader or “shogunate.” This led the way for a unified Japan up until the single country it is today. 

Back to the samurai – with Japan united, the different clans and their dime-yo leaders no longer fought for control. Because there was peace between clans, the samurai weren’t needed for fighting. Also, gunpowder and guns were introduced to Japan, so the army became made up of regular soldiers and swords were replaced with guns. The samurai became workers for the new Japanese government. They still followed the code of the Samurai but weren’t needed for battle and taught others about the “bushido” code and how to have self-control and respect for others. 

Some of the samurai who didn’t want to become peaceful government workers and who no longer were needed by the clans became leaderless. These wandering samurai became known as “Ronin” (row-nin) who often became bandits or soldiers for hire. In one of the most famous Japanese stories, 47 of these Ronin lost their master after he was murdered. They band together and seek after his murderer until they get revenge. This legendary story was made into plays and later movies and comic books called “47 Ronin.” 

As we’ve mentioned before, the way of the samurai, the special code they followed that made them samurai was called “bushido.” Without bushido, they wouldn’t have had the discipline to train and act with courage during the toughest moments of battle. Even though you aren’t a samurai, you can take the best things from the bushido code and apply them to your own life. As we talk about the principles of bushido, think about how you might use them each day.

The first principle of bushido was rectitude or justice. This meant to act in a way that made sense, was rational, even when it was very hard to do so. Also, to treat others with fairness and honor.

The second principle was courage, which means acting on what is right even when it is hard. A samurai was determined to act even under difficult circumstances. If you’ve ever done something hard, when it wasn’t easy, you’ve demonstrated courage. And courage doesn’t always come easy, it takes practice! Next time something challenging comes your way say to yourself, “I can have courage, I can do it!” With each courageous step you take, it can become easier.

The third principle of bushido was mercy. This means showing love to others and being able to forgive.

Fourth, politeness. To treat others with respect, have good manners, and say kind things. 

Fifth, honesty. We all know what that means. Telling the truth even when it’s not easy.

Sixth, honor. This meant showing personal respect. Respecting yourself and having patience. This means taking a deep breath when you might get upset and finding ways to work through problems by keeping a cool head, rather than getting angry and losing ones temper. 

Seventh, loyalty. To the samurai this loyalty to their leaders, usually the daim-yo. For you, this might mean listening to your parents or sticking up for your family, siblings, and friends, and being there for them when they need your help.

Finally, eighth, self control. One of the most important because it helps with all of the other principles. This means being able to manage your wants. There might be something you really want, but you can ask yourself if you really need it. It’s important to be able to tell the difference between wants and needs. Needs are things you do need, like good food and sleeping each day. Wants might be a toy or watching a movie, which can be fun at times but aren’t really necessary all the time. Next time you want something, but don’t really need it, try saying “no.” And you’ll find each time you strengthen that part of your brain that has self-control. Also, eating healthy and getting good sleep help with self-control. 

Those are the principles of bushido, the way of the samurai. Like I said, think of ways you can incorporate these good teachings and others into your own life to have the strength of a samurai!

The post History of the Samurai for Kids appeared first on Bedtime History: Podcast and Videos For Kids.

The year is 1955 and you live in Hong Kong.   You are a teenage boy and everyday, you study hard in school and then go to the Kung Fu training centre and practice Kung Fu for hours and hours.  Your dream is to become the best Kung Fu master in the world and your coaches are telling you that you are on the path.  If you study hard and practice hard, you may be a Kung Fu champion.  You are Bruce Lee, the most famous Kung Fu master in the world in the 1960s.  You don’t know it yet, but you will go on to become a movie star in China and then in America and around the world. 

Jun Fan (Bruce) Lee was born on November 27, 1940, in Chinatown, San Francisco, California. His father was a famous Chinese opera star.  He often toured around different countries with his opera. On one trip, Bruce’s dad took his wife on tour and while they were in the United States, she gave birth to a son there. 

Bruce was a happy and active baby.  According to the Chinese Zodiac Bruce was born in the hour and the year of the dragon. The Chinese Zodiac is an ancient system Chinese people used to predict the future. In traditional Chinese culture, that Bruce was a dragon was a strong and fortuitous omen.  An omen is an event that is meant to be a sign of things to come.

Bruce and his parents returned to Hong Kong when Bruce was just three months old.  His father’s opera tour was finished, so Bruce and his family moved back to Hong Kong to be near their family.  At the time, China was at war with another country called Japan, so Chinese people did not get out to do many fun activities.  However, after the war, Bruce’s dad continued to work in opera and also started to work as an actor in movies.

Because Bruce’s dad was an actor, he tried to help Bruce get in films as well.  Bruce was successful as a child actor.  He appeared in over 20 Chinese films. Bruce liked being in movies, but he also liked studying dance and kung fu.  

When Bruce was a teenager, he started to get into a lot of street fights.  Because a lot of teenage boys in China studied Kung Fu at the time, they would often try to fight each other in the streets to see who was the best.  Bruce Lee was a very good fighter, so many other teenagers wanted to challenge him to a fight to try to beat him.

During the street fights Bruce’s parents were worried that he would get hurt so they continued to encourage him to study Kung Fu so he could defend himself.  Bruce became a very good fighter and in 1958, Bruce won the Hong Kong school’s boxing tournament. There he knocked out the previous champion in the final fight.

When Bruce was 18, he got into another street fight in Hong Kong, and the police were called. This scared Bruce’s parents and they decided that Bruce should leave Hong Kong and move to the United States so that he could have a safer and happier life.

Bruce moved to the United States and at first, he went to stay with his older sister, Agnes Lee, who was already living with family friends in San Francisco. Bruce lived in  San Francisco for several months and then he moved to Seattle so that he could study at the University of Washington in Seattle.  In order to help pay for his education, Bruce worked as a waiter in a Chinese restaurant.  He also lived in the back room of the restaurant for free.

In 1964, Bruce met an American woman named Linda Emery and fell in love.  She was a fellow student studying at the university to become a teacher.  They got married and the next year, Linda gave birth to their son, Brandon Lee.  They later had a second child, a daughter named Shannon.

Two years later, in 1966, the Lees moved to Los Angeles and Bruce started to try to be in movies.  Like his dad before him, Bruce had decided that he wanted to be an actor.  One of Bruce’s first acting roles was on the tv show The Green Hornet (1966-1967), where he played the Hornet’s sidekick Kato. 

Bruce found that he was often being cast as a sidekick, because at the time there were not a lot of good roles for asian people in Hollywood movies.  He heard about how popular martial arts movies were becoming in Hong Kong and this was more interesting to Bruce than staying in Hollywood.  He was excited about the idea of being the star in movies and so he decided to return to Hong Kong.

Back in Hong Kong, Bruce began to get a number of great movie spots because of his acting and amazing kung fu skills.  He also started writing movies so that he could act in them.  And once he got the money to make the films, he would direct them too.  This included the movies The Big Boss (1971) and The Way of the Dragon (1972). These movies were very popular in Asia and they also started becoming very popular in America and around the world.

Bruce’s next film was called Enter the Dragon, and it was released in the United States by Warner Bros., which is one of the biggest Hollywood movie studios.

Unfortunately however, Bruce Lee died one month before Enter the Dragon was released.  Bruce never got to see himself starring in a Hollywood movie even though he had worked so hard to achieve this goal.  He was only 32 years old.

Enter the Dragon was a big hit though and it made a lot of money.  After Bruce died, he continued to be very famous as a movie star in America. After Americans saw Enter the Dragon, they wanted to see more of his films so they started watching the movies that he had made in Asia.

Bruce Lee is still remembered as an amazing athlete and actor who changed the way that people around the world looked at Asian people. 

Bruce also taught many people to love kung fu and martial arts.  He inspired people who saw his films to want to be good at kung fu like he was.  And while he was alive, Bruce opened a martial arts school and taught people who wanted to learn.

Bruce Lee is thought of as one of the most influential martial artists of all time and a pop culture icon of the 20th century. 

Is there a sport or hobby that you would like to be good at?  Do you have a vision of yourself as a famous actor or being able to travel the world sharing a particular skill?  Like Bruce Lee, you can find success at the things you are passionate about. The most important things you need are a vision of what you want, hard work and the ability to be adaptable.  Adaptable means to be able to change as things around you change.

Bruce traveled from Hong Kong to San Francisco when he was only 18 years old.  He had to learn a new language and a new culture.  Culture is the way people behave and do things in their part of the world. Bruce had to work very hard to make money and he continued to practice kung fu and work on his vision of becoming a movie star.  He was able to accomplish so many things in his short life due to his dedication and drive.  Bruce adapted to life in America and was flexible enough to move back to Hong Kong when he could see that it provided a better opportunity for himself and his family.  

We can all learn from Bruce Lee about the power of having a dream and working hard to make that dream a reality.

The post The History of Bruce Lee for Kids appeared first on Bedtime History: Podcast and Videos For Kids.