Spartans are superior to ninjas.

In fairness of the debate, I will not respond to Con’s rebuttals because he will not have an opportunity to respond and really just gives me an extra round of rebuttals. I will only respond to his arguments in the previous round (2nd round) and offer my concluding arguments. Objections to the armor argument One of Pro’s arguments consists of the protection of the Spartan’s armor. As he cites, the Spartans wore a Corinthian style helmet, but it is important to know the limits of this protection; namely, does it leave even a little exposure to the neck area and eyes? Of course Spartans didn’t have the benefit of eye protection that would completely seal them, which means something like metsubishi powder is within range of momentarily stunning the Spartan if he corners a ninja. One of glaring disadvantages the Spartan has is the lack of protection on the back. Although Pro reassures us that the Spartan’s shielding can account for this, I would argue that this poses a threat to the Spartan because he has the burden of wielding the shield quickly to his back before a hidden enemy like the ninja can attack with some sort of projectile like a poison dart. As I mentioned in my arguments, ninjas have a fukiya or blow gun, which is very silent. The Spartan in order to protect his exposed back region must be aware that if he somehow even hears the dart coming he can still react quickly enough to protect himself. Can the Spartan act quickly enough within that small window of time (from hearing the dart coming to turning to cover his back with that heavy shield)? Of course there is a huge “If” component in this. That Corinthian helmet may protect the Spartan but this helmet (depending on how heavy , dense, the size, etc. ) can put the Spartan’s senses at a disadvantage. Would the Spartan even be able to hear the ninja’s projectiles coming if they are behind him where he is most exposed? Objection to the Spartan’s mentality Pro notes early on that the reason a Spartan didn’t have much back armor was because they never retreated. Although this seems admirable and honorable, can this philosophy be its own downfall against the ninja? The ninjas did operate, at least historically, on certain honor codes; however, they were also very pragmatic. A parallel to the Spartan in Feudal Japan may have been the samurai and ninjas often defeated them while stealing their weaponry, namely carbon-steel swords which could penetrate the thickest of armor at the time(1). Like the Samurai, Spartan’s acted on a code of honor engrained into them since their tough childhood. The ninjas however have been linked with “guerrilla” warfare techniques inspired by Sun Tzu’s Art of War(2). The Spartan lifestyle may limit itself to the virtues of what a good warrior can be while the ninja thrives on deception, putting oneself in the best possible position even if a few rules have to be bent along the way. Concluding Remarks Although the Spartan and the ninja were perfect for what their task was, the ninja possesses more skills (espionage, stealth, trained in various deadly martial arts, among other skills) that Spartan either doesn’t have or doesn’t have as well developed as the ninja. Fundamentally, they differ in their approach to combat (the Spartan will live and die by honor, but the ninja will do whatever it takes to come out on top). Although the Spartan strikes fear into most of his enemies, it seems like the ninja would be a formidable foe and even superior to the Spartan. I thank Pro for proposing this creative debate and had much fun participating it. I hope to debate you again in the future. Thank you to those who took the time to read this debate. (1) . http://www.entertheninja.com... (2) . http://wayofninja.com...