[hitaEtela]

If the Knight is in full armour , the Samurai ( purely speculative) would use the terrain or the weight of the armour against the adversary.. Either tire the Knight or lead him to unsteady ground. The English did it to the French winning the Battle of Agincourt (1415 AD) when outnumbered 3-1. History said it was the longbow , historians now say it was the mud that slowed the knights and the bowmen finished the job with knives in hand to hand.Thus lightly armoured foot soldiers beat heavily armoured knights.
The other point to bring up would be the fact that if a Knight was mortally wounded but killed the Samurai in the battle , the fight would be viewed by some Samurai as a victory ( going by historical texts) . Not a European way of thinking but a victory none the less.

P.S. as I said this is purely and highly speculative . I also have very little knowledge of Knights etc so I can only go on the little info I have read and seen.

cheers Michael