Of the seven virtues of Bushido, Loyalty may be the hardest to contemplate. Blind loyalty can be foolish, yet anything less than complete loyalty is not loyalty at all. Hmm. There have been countless anecdotes of blind loyalty with the most infamous being the; “I was just following orders,” excuse Read more…
Politeness. Seems like a pretty innocuous idea, but when you’re in a hurry, when you’re upset, when you’re just plain riled; it can go the way of the dinosaur pretty quickly. So, what is politeness. Some would quote the golden rule; “do unto others as you would have them do Read more…
Truthfulness has become such a strained virtue! The media prints stories that are so slanted that they are often false. Politicians lie outright. Worst of all, people lie to themselves. The samurai was known by his word. He never had to promise. If he said something would be done, it Read more…
Courtesy in the code of bushido begins and ends every session in Martial Arts. The classes begin and end with a “rie” to the kami za and between the students and the teacher. Many define “rei” as a bow, however; it actually means respect. The students are not bowing to Read more…
The dictionary defines humility as having low self worth. The Bible, however; defines it more like the code of bushido. To have courteous respect for others. At the same time bushido would define it as recognizing one’s self worth without being boastful of it. i think that deserves exploring. As Read more…
The next virtue of Bushido is courage. This can be as simple as living life fully and not letting the little annoyances of everyday life turn into crippling obstacles. It can, also, mean a willingness to do what others fear. I don’t mean reckless thrill-seeking. That is not courage, that Read more…
Last week I wrote about one of the seven virtues of bushido. I’d like to continue in that direction. Another virtue is honor. Honor can be defined in several different ways. Honor is to hold in high respect, perhaps to be deserving of such. What do we do to deserve Read more…
The modern hakama, the riding pants worn by many martial arts practitioners has seven pleats. This is to remind the wearer of the seven virtues of bushido. Those virtues are very similar to the Boy Scout code and bear thinking about. The seven are Rectitude, Honor, Courage, Humility, Politeness, Veracity Read more…
The concept of Motion and Stillness as one can seem perplexing at first consideration. An object in space is either still, or moving. A still object has to break inertia to move. That, right there, is the crux of the problem for many martial artists. To break inertia takes time. Read more…
Many articles on self defense talk about one’s posture. Someone who walks with confidence and looks healthy is less likely to appear to be an easy victim. This is, of course, very true. However: this is just the beginning. Good posture has overall ramifications in one’s health that should be Read more…