The Way of the Warrior | ||
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War
Lao Tzu wrote that war is no cause for celebration because people are
dying. Hurting others should be avoided whenever possible.
In the martial arts world the ability to inflict pain is the subject of
great study and practice but it is not a matter to take lightly.
You must take responsibility
for your conduct.
Conflict
Conflict arises through resistance.
When one position meets with another and
yielding does not take place then
conflict occurs. Opinions and beliefs are the usual source of conflict.
From argument to brawling to wars, our world is filled with disagreement.
The student of tai chi seeks to resolve their inner conflict and avoid outer
dispute.
Bushido
In ancient Japan, the warrior caste were called 'samurai'.
Samurai means to serve.
Since it is easy for a person with martial skills to abuse and
bully others,
the samurai created a code of ethical conduct called 'bushido'.
Bushido called upon a student of warfare to discipline themselves through
strict adherence to the behavioural guidelines.
The samurai code of conduct applies to anyone studying a
martial art,
whether in ancient Japan or today.
It is a form of self-regulation.
He who fights with
monsters should look to it that he himself does not become a monster.
When you gaze long into the abyss, the abyss also gazes into you.
(Nietzsche)
Professional soldiers
Modern warfare does not involve soldiers
fighting soldiers.
Instead, it uses an approach called 'total war' in which war is waged
against soldiers and civilians alike.
This is not bushido.
There is no honour to be found in destroying non-combatants, property and
animals.
Samurai were professional soldiers and they only waged war on other samurai.
The bushido code
Bushido literally means 'The Way of the Warrior' and comprises the following
elements:
Rectitude
Courage
Benevolence
Respect
Honesty
Honour
Loyalty
Two additional qualities were implicit within bushido:
discipline and restraint.
Rectitude
Rectitude means right action,
appropriate conduct or sincerity.
It is uprightness as a consequence of being
honourable and honest.
The term also implies that doing the honourable thing is difficult.
Someone who is displaying rectitude is not only acting honourably, but is
also willing to suffer the consequences of acting honourably.
When a samurai has said he will perform an action, it is as good as
done.
Nothing will stop him from completing what he has said he will do.
He does not have to give his word.
He does not have to promise. Speaking and
doing are the same action.
Courage
A samurai must have courage.
Courage is the ability to confront fear in the face of pain, danger,
uncertainty or intimidation, to rise up above the masses
of people who are afraid to act.
It is risky and dangerous.
It is living life completely, fully, wonderfully.
Courage is not blind; it is intelligent and
strong.
The precise view of what constitutes courage not only varies between
cultures, but between individuals.
Some people define courage as lacking fear in a situation that would
normally generate it.
Others hold that courage requires a person to
experience fear and then overcome it.
Perhaps the paradox of The Art of War is its opposition to war.
And as The Art of War wars against
war, it does so by its own principles;
it infiltrates the enemy's lines,
uncovers the enemy's secrets,
and changes the hearts of the enemy's troops.
(Thomas Cleary)
Benevolence
Through intense training the samurai becomes
quick and
strong.
He develops a power that must be used for the good of all.
He has compassion.
He helps his fellow man at every opportunity.
If an opportunity does not arise, he goes out of his way to find one.
To be kind, helpful and giving is the easy part of benevolence. The harder
component is to be without conceit.
If a person performs a benevolent action and is then impressed with their
own conduct or expects gratitude, then the deed is tainted by their
self-consciousness, the need to be rewarded.
Benevolence cannot have a motive. It must occur naturally and spontaneously.
Respect
Samurai have no reason to be cruel; they do not need to
prove their
strength.
A samurai is courteous even to his enemies.
Without this genuine show of respect, we are nothing
more than savages.
A samurai is not only respected for his
strength in battle, but also by his
dealing with other men.
The true strength of a samurai becomes apparent during difficult times.
Respect means consideration, to take into account another person's feelings.
The Christian expression: "Do unto others as you
would have them do unto you" is found at the heart of almost
every world
religion and is one of the hardest maxims to follow.
Adherence requires tremendous
sensitivity, courtesy and the willingness to
listen to what others are saying.
Treating other people as you would want to be treated is the very heart of
the word 'respect' and can be applied to people, animals and the planet
itself.
Confronted
by limitations of effectiveness, the martial arts of the West responded with
a continuous crafting of superior equipment. Confronted with similar
limitations, the Asian warrior responded by fashioning a better self. The
Asian warrior turned not to technology in making his sword a better tool for
fighting. Influenced by contemplative aspects of Taoism and Buddhism and by
the self-discipline of Confucianism, he turned inward. He fine-tuned his
body and mind in order to better manipulate his sword.
(Dave Lowry)
Honesty
Be acutely honest throughout your dealings with all
people. Believe in justice, not from other people but from yourself.
To the true samurai, there are no shades of grey in the question of honesty
and justice. There is only right and wrong.
Honesty is not the same as accountability or 'telling the truth'.
It is about remaining true to yourself, not lying and making excuses, accepting all aspects as being part of the whole.
The word 'integrity' helps to explain the meaning of honesty since it is
concerned with bringing separate parts together, of balance and harmony.
Honour
A true samurai has only one judge of honour, and this is
himself.
Decisions you make and how these decisions are carried out are a reflection
of who you truly are.
You cannot hide from yourself.
Honour is about having good character.
It is not about reputation or receiving praise, as those are just
measurements of your conduct applied by other people.
Being honourable requires an inner strength, a moral
commitment to doing
what feels appropriate and right.
It is about what you do, not how you seem.
Loyalty
For the samurai, having done something or said something, he knows he owns
that thing.
He is responsible for it, and all the consequences that follow.
A samurai is immensely loyal to those in his care. To those he is
responsible for, he remains fiercely true.
Unlike nationalism or patriotism, loyalty is not about allegiance to an idea
or a boundary marked on the map.
It is about fair treatment of other people.
Loyalty is concerned with how a person behaves relative to others, it is
about trust and dignity.
Were you to betray somebody and they did not find out, you would know.
It is not about whether the person finds out or not, it is about how you
treated them.
Loyalty is about word and deed becoming one.
Discipline
In bushido, discipline is self-imposed - a samurai
follows the code from choice.
He is responsible for his own conduct.
A samurai has an obligation to master his art and should
practice with this
in mind.
Restraint
A samurai must learn not to
fight. Not many situations require the use of
violence. If it is safe and appropriate to walk away, you should do.
This is the most important quality for a samurai to possess.
It is the
supreme virtue. It takes courage not to fight, to
"turn the other cheek".
You will only feel like a coward if you are insecure and have something to
prove.
Better a coward than a bully.
Remember: bushido is not concerned with how the other person behaves.
Be responsible for your own conduct.
You have no control over the conduct or behaviour of another.
Balanced
Taoism embraces all sides of our character; recognising that people are both
good/bad, strong/weak and so on.
We cannot be one without the other. The key is to find balance.
A harmony of apparent opposites.
Deng Meng-Dao wrote about being a warrior in his book 365 Tao:
To be martial requires discipline,
courage, and perseverance. It has nothing to do with killing. People fail to
look beyond this one narrow aspect of being a warrior and so overlook all
the other excellent qualities that can be gained from training. A warrior is
not a cruel murderer. A warrior is a protector of ideals, principle and
honour. A warrior is noble and heroic.
A warrior will have many opponents in a lifetime, but the ultimate opponent
is the warrior's own self. Within a fighter's personality are a wide array
of demons to be conquered: fear, laziness, ignorance, selfishness, egotism,
and so many more. To talk of overpowering other people is inconsequential.
To actually overcome one's own defects is the true nature of victory. That
is why so many religions depict warriors in their iconography. These images
are not symbols for dominating others. Rather, they are symbols of the
ferocity and determination that we need to overcome the demons within
ourselves.
Page created
18 April 1995
Last updated
16 June 2023
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