NationStates Jolt Archive

They are both cool, and I just would like to hear public opinion.

They are both cool, and I just would like to hear public opinion.
As usual, I'll side with the swords even though the guns are rather more effective.

Gunfighters can be just as deadly as any trained swordsman. A skilled shootist may take years to master their reflexes, train their eyes, and understand the bullet itself.

Samurai.

I don't really like guns... swords, on the other hand...

It's easier to become famous if you kill people with a samurai sword than with a gun (judging by media coverage of crimes in Britain, at least).

The cool thing about true Samurai (and I'm not talking about any modern guy who picks up a replica sword), is that the blades would seldom meet. A fight would last a few seconds, or a split second, depending on who was more accurate.

Guns achieve the same effect, but it is a bit more awesome when done with human physical movement and force.

Gunfighters are cooler for one simple reason, the finishing blow.
Which is more coolly bad-ass? To calmly shoot the other guy in the head, and then watch his brains spatter the opposite wall?
Or to have to swish at him and hope, because accidents happen, that this will actually finish him, instead of just knocking him down and forcing you to strike again?
Gunsman > Samurai, its that simple.

Gunfighters are cooler for one simple reason, the finishing blow.
Which is more coolly bad-ass? To calmly shoot the other guy in the head, and then watch his brains spatter the opposite wall?
Or to have to swish at him and hope, because accidents happen, that this will actually finish him, instead of just knocking him down and forcing you to strike again?
Gunsman > Samurai, its that simple.

Accidents do happen. Shooting someone in the head does not automatically mean they die.
Severing someone's head, however, does.

Accidents do happen. Shooting someone in the head does not automatically mean they die.
Severing someone's head, however, does.
You're alot more likely to kill someone with a single bullet to the head (provided you aren't using some crappy toy pistol) then you are to decapitate them with one strike.
There's alot of bone and crap in the a person's neck, and chopping through one with a single stroke is a hell of a lot harder then you might think.

They are equally cool. In fact, cinematographically speaking, they are one and the same. The solid proof of that is the fact that "The Magnificent Seven" was based very closely on Akira Kurosawa's "Seven Samurai". Another proof is that John Woo explained in more than one of his interviews that he directs the gunfighting scenes in his movies by the same techniques as the swordplay scenes in the martial arts movies are usually directed.

Gunslingers

Steven King's "The Gunslinger" nuff' said...

Gunslingers

Steven King's "The Gunslinger" nuff' said...

That is an awesome series.

In spite of that... swords > guns

Well neither is the correct answer.

The obvious answer ( and you all out there should know this) is that neither a gunslinger NOR a ninja is cooler/would win in a fight. However...

a PIRATE would kick both of their asses!!!

You're alot more likely to kill someone with a single bullet to the head (provided you aren't using some crappy toy pistol) then you are to decapitate them with one strike.
There's alot of bone and crap in the a person's neck, and chopping through one with a single stroke is a hell of a lot harder then you might think.
Dude....


...I'ts a freakin samarai...

Well neither is the correct answer.

The obvious answer ( and you all out there should know this) is that neither a gunslinger NOR a ninja is cooler/would win in a fight. However...

a PIRATE would kick both of their asses!!!
I care to differ. I pirate IS cool, but a flintlock vs. a revolver...a cutlass vs. a katana... Pirates are generally just guys who want money, and will kill for it. Wheres a samurai is a honorable and trained warrior. A gunfighter will not just run into a fight saying "YO-HO!!!!" A proper gunfighter has nerves of steel, and, as Wyatt Earp did (AND he wasn't a gunfighter in the true sense of the word) will stand within three meters of his enemy while being shot at, and take aim (hey guns were inaccurate then).

Gun-Fighter-Samurai-Ninja-Pirate-Zombie-Robots!

The cool thing about true Samurai (and I'm not talking about any modern guy who picks up a replica sword), is that the blades would seldom meet. A fight would last a few seconds, or a split second, depending on who was more accurate.

You should have a look at some European swordsmanship styles as well, the similarities in terms of speed of the kill is suprising considering the usual 'myths' that are concerned with european swordsmen (i.e. big heavy swords, can't get up in armour, yada yada yada....).

yeh im a hack n' slash man!:D

You should have a look at some European swordsmanship styles as well, the similarities in terms of speed of the kill is suprising considering the usual 'myths' that are concerned with european swordsmen (i.e. big heavy swords, can't get up in armour, yada yada yada....).

=> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fechtbuch

swords cuz long story short anyone can pick up a gun and use it with fairly good reults but in a sword fight you must either have skill or talent to be effective, that and guns are ranged and well I can't respect someone who doesn't have the guts to walk up to their opponent and challenge them instead of just blowing their head off with a highpowered rifle.

=> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fechtbuch

Indeed, a few other places such as

http://www.thehaca.com/

http://www.ehcg.net/

www.swordfourm.com

and

www.myArmoury.com

might be interesting...

Gunfighters.
"The Man With No Name" series.

It doesnt get any cooler than that.

Gunfighters.
"The Man With No Name" series.

It doesnt get any cooler than that.
Mmmmm Spagetti

Mmmmm Spagetti

Not to mention the soundtracks kick ass as well

This thread is just begging for an anime reference, so I'll present the impending argument between fanboys of Vash the Stampede (gunfighter from Trigun) and Kenshin (Samurai, Ruro-Kenshin)

FBV4$h: omg vash pwnz kenshinnn!1! lol
FBK3n: wtf noes, kenshin is teh rox. vASSh cant even hit em coz he's sooooo fast!111! ahaha
FBV4$h: shaaadap. vash is uber quick draw!
FBK3n: lol kenshin just cuts his pistol w/his sword
FBV4$h: if ur samurai's soooo kewl wtfs he doin w/a reverse-blade sword!??!?!!?1!
FBK3n: rofl, no1 can pwn kenshin if he haz his sword. vash get sworded!11!
FBV4$h: STFU - vash just use his l33t angel armz and PWNZORS teh shit outta Kenshin!11!!!

This has been a production of leetspeak Inc.

Anyone who thinks they are tough because they have a big gun is just a coward. Samurai's are strange and foreign. My favorite would be a street fightin' man who doesnt use weapons besides their fists.

Anyone who thinks they are tough because they have a big gun is just a coward. Samurai's are strange and foreign. My favorite would be a street fightin' man who doesnt use weapons besides their fists.
They're not foriegn if you live in Japan, and they aren't strange if you live on Earth. Instead they are teh second most annoyingly overplayed and worthless anachronism from Japan's feudal period. (Ninjas are the first).

well, a samuraui with a gun could probably beat a gunfighter with a sword.

A samurai with a gun is the best. And don't believe the lie in "The Last Samurai" that true samurai never used guns. Samurai were not idiots; they used whatever available resource that was most effective, i.e. guns starting in the 16th century.

The epitome of gunslingers (in video games at least).

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/2/2c/Revolver_Ocelot_2.jpg

He understands the bullets you see...He'll fire a bullet at beam above your head, ricochet it around, and have it puncture your left nut.

That's just how good he is. Could a samurai do that...? No...

Clearly 50 cent is the greatest gunfighter ever.

http://cache.eonline.com/Features/Features/Heatwave2005/Gadgets/Future/Images/50cent25.jpg

http://a248.e.akamai.net/f/248/5462/2h/images.gamezone.com/screens/26/0/21/s26021_xb_1.jpg

Clearly 50 cent is the greatest gunfighter ever.

http://cache.eonline.com/Features/Features/Heatwave2005/Gadgets/Future/Images/50cent25.jpg

http://a248.e.akamai.net/f/248/5462/2h/images.gamezone.com/screens/26/0/21/s26021_xb_1.jpg

You are being sarcastic, ja?

You are being sarcastic, ja?
He has been shot multiple times, stabbed, and he built a large rap empire in New York City before ever signing a major record deal.

from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/50_Cent

He got shot at in NJ once, but the shooter missed.

Now I don't know if he's ever shot anyone, people who stay out of prison don't usually brag about that, but it seems likely. I guess that might qualify him as a gunfighter.

from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/50_Cent

He got shot at in NJ once, but the shooter missed.

Now I don't know if he's ever shot anyone, people who stay out of prison don't usually brag about that, but it seems likely. I guess that might qualify him as a gunfighter.

There are alot of things I can say about 50 Cent...but that would take up too much of my time.

Wasn't this solved right about the time that Samurai's started carrying guns?

This post would have been cooler if I knew exactly when that happened...

Wasn't this solved right about the time that Samurai's started carrying guns?

This post would have been cooler if I knew exactly when that happened...

Samurai with guns...kind of an oxymoron.

That's almost as wierd as Ninjas fighting in giant robots.

The samurai's code of honor, and life long dedication to honor and training gives the samurai the edge over the gun slinger.

The samurai's code of honor, and life long dedication to honor and training gives the samurai the edge over the gun slinger.
The honor part counts against you in a fight. Honor is what keeps people from throwing sand in the other guy's face, kneeing him in the balls, and then biting his nose off.

Samurai with guns...kind of an oxymoron.
I'm afraid that I'm at work right now, so I'm away from my home machine with the pics I took of the rather large gun collection inside Matsumoto Castle that cronicles the devlopment of firearms and their uses by samurai leading up to and through the begining of the Edo period. But I'll post some when I get home if you'd like.

Oh yes, they did use them. But the enforced peace of the Tokugawa shougun dropped the need for gun devlopment. That, and Tokugawa realized that guns could indeed level the playing field between the commoners and the samurai. About the time he kicked all westerners out of Japan and sealed it off from the world, he also forbade any new devlopment or use of guns.

Ironically, that came back to bite them a few centuries later when the black ships under the command of Commodor Perry showed up. The degraded guns that the samurai had and the wildly inacurate cannon were no match for the weapons carried aboard ship and the guns of the US Navy.

creepy... me and a friend are having this same discussion, except that its



Samurai
VS
Ninja

The honor part counts against you in a fight. Honor is what keeps people from throwing sand in the other guy's face, kneeing him in the balls, and then biting his nose off.

Death before dishonor is a concept that would greatly help modern society.

I'd rather have some badass cowboy dude from out west watch my back rather than some badass samurai dude. I consider them equally cool, but because a gunslinger kills a samurai, the gunslinger gets my vote.

Death before dishonor is a concept that would greatly help modern society.
Yeah, so would all the other anachronisms, like abusive theocracy and the bubonic plague.

Yeah, so would all the other anachronisms, like abusive theocracy and the bubonic plague.

Well, abusive theocracies abound in the middle east, and the bird flu pandemic is coming

Well, abusive theocracies abound in the middle east, and the bird flu pandemic is coming
We've also got a system where powerful individuals channel supprt to governments in return for favours, so all that's left is for Jerry Falwell to march out to the Mid-East to get his crusade on and we can be rolling back the clock!

I have a question?

well several.

from what period in their history?

samurai were originally kinda mounted archers who later became more sword and foot orientated, then later they became stuff like accountents and officers in the army.

gun fighters are we talking 19th century america, european duelists, the 18th century herders in wales?

and pirates (not in the topic but have been mentioned) from when they've been around for a very long time (ceaser was kidnapped by them at one point) and still exist so when?

Sword is better than a gun for two reasons...

1.) It's easier to kill someone quietly with a sword... a silenced pistol sacrifices power, and a sword is always a sword.
2.) You don't have to reload a sword... you can kill a virtually unlimited number of people in the span of a few seconds, provided they get within sword's reach. Furthermore, a sword doesn't jam at the worst possible moment.

2.) You don't have to reload a sword... you can kill a virtually unlimited number of people in the span of a few seconds, provided they get within sword's reach. Furthermore, a sword doesn't jam at the worst possible moment.
Seconds? Methinks you overdramatize a bit. Further, swords may not run out of ammo, but they do break depressingly often, and (in the process of a fight) can become dull and ineffective. Furthermore, a sword does jam. You stick it in something/someone and it can get stuck, and then you're screwed.

I'd rather be a gunfighter, if only because I would have superior range. As long as I'm using a piece that doesn't require reloading with each shot, Mr. Samaurai should be the one with his brains on the ground at the end of the encounter.

Samurai...their adherence to the Bushido was almost otherworldly. Their skill with the sword was deadly too. :D

Bah. By the time the pre-Tokugawa generation was dying out, there were already complaints that the samurai class had turned into a bunch of lazy softies. The exemplary adherants of bushido existed primarily in dramatizations and novels. The samurai's main purpose was civil management, not actually martial duties.

Gunfighter.
WHy?

Clint Eatswood and cowboy films

Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark.

Enuff said. Guns everytime.

Gunfighter pwn Samurai.

Ninjas pnw Gunfighters.