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- Sep 20, 2006
I was watching the History Channel this afternoon, and saw this special on Shinobi or Ninja. That got me thinking about how sick it would be to have atournament of historical fighters. CONSIDER THAT NO WEAPONS ARE ALLOWED. Here are just a few contestants I would like to see compete.
Ninja - also known as shinobi, was a class of warriors who usually originated from lower levels of society. They equaled to our-days spies and were inservice of Japanese land lords (daymio) and samurai. Still, they were feared even by those who hired them for certain missions. Ninja were consideredprofessional assassins and mercenaries.
Viking refers to a member of the Norse (Scandinavian) seafaring traders, warriors andpirates who raided and colonized wide areas of Europe from the late 8th to the 11th century.[sup][1][/sup] These Norsemen used theirfamed longships to travel as far east as Constantinople and the Volga Riverin Russia, and as far west as Newfoundland. This period of Viking expansion is commonly referred to as the Viking Age of Scandinavian History.[sup][2][/sup] While once thought to be part of the "barbaric North", with traditionally acceptedideas of Viking culture remaining in popular culture even today, the historical image of the Vikings has evolved somewhat to show the Vikings as sophisticated,technologically advanced peoples, proficient sailors, ship and town builders.
The Spartan Army was the military force of Sparta, one of the leadingcity-states of ancient Greece. The army stood at the centre of the Spartan state, whose citizens' primary and soleobligation was to be good soldiers.[sup][1][/sup] Subject to military drill from infancy, the Spartans were one of the mostdisciplined, well-trained and feared military forces in world history. At Sparta's heyday in the 6th to 4th centuries BC, it was commonly accepted that"one Spartan was worth several men of any other state".[sup][1][/sup]
The Aztec armed forces were typically composed of a large number of commoners (yaoquizqueh[sup][1][/sup]) who possessed only basic military training, and a smaller but still considerable number ofprofessional warriors belonging to the nobility (pipiltin [sup][2][/sup] ) and who were organised into warrior societies and ranked according to their achievements.The Aztec state was centered around political expansion and dominance of and exaction of tribute from other city states, and warfare was the basic dynamicforce in Aztec politics. Aztec society was also centered around warfare: everyAztec male received basic military training from an early age and the only possibility of upwards social mobility for commoners(macehualtin[sup][3][/sup] ) was throughmilitary achievement - especially the taking of captives (maltin [sup][4][/sup] ). The sacrifice of war captives was an important part of many of the Aztec religious festivals.Warfare was thus the main driving force of both the Aztec economy and religion.
Sumo (相撲, sum
Ninja - also known as shinobi, was a class of warriors who usually originated from lower levels of society. They equaled to our-days spies and were inservice of Japanese land lords (daymio) and samurai. Still, they were feared even by those who hired them for certain missions. Ninja were consideredprofessional assassins and mercenaries.
Viking refers to a member of the Norse (Scandinavian) seafaring traders, warriors andpirates who raided and colonized wide areas of Europe from the late 8th to the 11th century.[sup][1][/sup] These Norsemen used theirfamed longships to travel as far east as Constantinople and the Volga Riverin Russia, and as far west as Newfoundland. This period of Viking expansion is commonly referred to as the Viking Age of Scandinavian History.[sup][2][/sup] While once thought to be part of the "barbaric North", with traditionally acceptedideas of Viking culture remaining in popular culture even today, the historical image of the Vikings has evolved somewhat to show the Vikings as sophisticated,technologically advanced peoples, proficient sailors, ship and town builders.
The Spartan Army was the military force of Sparta, one of the leadingcity-states of ancient Greece. The army stood at the centre of the Spartan state, whose citizens' primary and soleobligation was to be good soldiers.[sup][1][/sup] Subject to military drill from infancy, the Spartans were one of the mostdisciplined, well-trained and feared military forces in world history. At Sparta's heyday in the 6th to 4th centuries BC, it was commonly accepted that"one Spartan was worth several men of any other state".[sup][1][/sup]
The Aztec armed forces were typically composed of a large number of commoners (yaoquizqueh[sup][1][/sup]) who possessed only basic military training, and a smaller but still considerable number ofprofessional warriors belonging to the nobility (pipiltin [sup][2][/sup] ) and who were organised into warrior societies and ranked according to their achievements.The Aztec state was centered around political expansion and dominance of and exaction of tribute from other city states, and warfare was the basic dynamicforce in Aztec politics. Aztec society was also centered around warfare: everyAztec male received basic military training from an early age and the only possibility of upwards social mobility for commoners(macehualtin[sup][3][/sup] ) was throughmilitary achievement - especially the taking of captives (maltin [sup][4][/sup] ). The sacrifice of war captives was an important part of many of the Aztec religious festivals.Warfare was thus the main driving force of both the Aztec economy and religion.
Sumo (相撲, sum
