On the other hand, lower-ranked nobles whose function was to be skilled in the military arts had also developed their own family characteristics specialized in the military arts, and such families were called "tsuwamono no ie" (literally, "soldier family"). Subsequently, some of such families began to play a key role as the military elite at the dawn of samurai.
武芸を職能とする下級貴族もまた、「兵（つわもの）の家」として武芸に特化した家柄を形成し、その中から軍事貴族という成立期武士の中核的な存在が登場していった。