What Does It Actually Take To Become A Samurai?

[00:00:00]What does it actually take to become a samurai?

[00:00:03]Age five. Your father places a wooden sword in your hands for the first time.

[00:00:08]It is heavier than you expected. You drop it. He picks it up and places it back in your hands.

[00:00:15]You do not [music] drop it again.

[00:00:18]Age seven. You begin formal training.

[00:00:21]You wake before sunrise every day.

[00:00:23]You practice the same sword stance for 3 months before your sensei allows you to move to the next one.

[00:00:30]You practice it [music] anyway after he leaves.

[00:00:33]Age 10. You study calligraphy, [music] poetry, and strategy alongside swordsmanship. A samurai who cannot [music] write is only half a samurai.

[00:00:43]Your calligraphy is terrible.

[00:00:46]You practice until [music] it is not.

[00:00:48]Age 13.

[00:00:50]Your first sparring match. You lose in 8 [music] seconds. You ask to go again.

[00:00:55]You lose in 12 seconds.

[00:00:57]Progress.

[00:00:59]Age 15. You receive your first real sword. The ceremony takes one full day.

[00:01:05]You hold the sword [music] and understand for the first time what you are being asked to carry.

[00:01:11]Age 17. Your lord assigns you to your [music] first post. You stand guard through the night in the rain. Nothing happens.

[00:01:19]>> [music] >> You do not move.

[00:01:22]Age 19. Your first real test arrives [music] without warning. It is over in 30 seconds.

[00:01:28]You do not freeze. [music] Your sensei sees it. He says nothing.

[00:01:33]You understand.

[00:01:35]Age 22. You are a full samurai. You have a lord. You have a code. You have a sword. Everything you own fits in one bag. You carry the sword [music] separately. You do not mix them.

[00:01:49]Age 30. Your lord asks you the hardest thing he has ever asked you.

[00:01:53]>> [music] >> You do not hesitate.

[00:02:07]>> [music]