Japanese Samurai vs. Hokkaido Brown Bears: Did they actually fight them?

During the Edo period, I heard that Japanese samurai
would intentionally seek out Hokkaido brown bear habitats
to practice their swordsmanship.
They say they would try to fight them—was it Kenshin?
In movies or anime, it seems like old samurai lived a life
of lifelong training and swordsmanship; is it true that a single, precise strike
could actually take a brown bear's head off?