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 for absolutely abominable actions on behalf of one’s superiors. A true warrior should know when an order must be questioned, and be willing to accept 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 unto you.” Well, that’s not a bad start. I know that I like to be treated nicely, and I don’t mind being nice to others. 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 was. In a society where life could be in jeopardy at any moment, one had to be able to depend on their compatriots. To 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 show the teacher as more important, nor the teacher to the students. Both are showing respect to one another. This is courtesy .Courtesy goes much 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 we train and practice in the Martial Arts we gain skills that can give us power over less skilled people. We gain skills that allow 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 is just fun. I mean the police officer who runs towards the sound of gunfire to save life without regard to his own. Many people 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 the honor of others and of our own self esteem? To live a life of good example may not be enough, but it is certainly 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 and Loyalty. Over the next few weeks I’d like to discuss each and I’ll start with Rectitude. This means correct judgement, or doing the correct 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. If an opponent is already moving, that could be time one does not have. The first thing to consider is; you are not an object. 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 considered. I, too often, see young people who walk with their head forward and down. This is the first step in bad posture. The head Read more…