A Warrior’s Virtues

In last months “On the Path” I mention that at a young age I was influenced by a television series called “The Samurai” and that I had wanted to be just like its main character “Shintaro”, a dashing stalwart of the seven Samurai virtues: honour, courage, loyalty, rectitude, benevolence, courtesy and honesty. These virtues were the basis for the Samurai code of conduct that was known as Bushido the “way of the warrior”.

Images of the Samurai such as Shintaro or the legendary Musashi are seen as the paragons of the true warrior with their martial prowess, their regal bearing, their unwavering devotion to duty and selfless heroism. So what was it that set the Samurai apart as warriors? It wasn’t just their martial skills, many cultures had developed armed and unarmed conflict to an art form, and it can’t have been their bearing, as historically there has been many a member of Aristocratic military classes that have been anything but warriors, so what was it that made the Samurai the grand knights of Asia. It was Bushido and its concept of correct behaviour.

To me there are three of the aforementioned virtues that truly set the scene for my image of a warrior; these are courage, rectitude and honour.

The Samurai concept of courage was influenced by Buddhism with its laws of karma and reincarnation. This gave the Samurai their infamous detachment to death, they believed that an honourable death would bring you reward in your next life, thus they believed you could face death without fear. Once the fear of death was removed then you removed the fear of danger, and with the fear of danger removed, you remove doubt and indecision, with doubt and indecision eliminated it was believed you eliminated mistakes that could cost you your life. This state of being was referred to as Jikishin “Immediate mind” a mind that reacts to a situation immediately and directly without the hesitation of fear.

Rectitude was defined by one Samurai as, the power of resolution; “Rectitude is the power to decide on a certain course of conduct in accordance with reason, without wavering; to die when it is right to die, to strike when to strike is right.” During the years of peace that the Tokugawa Shogunate brought to Japan, the Warrior class began to pursue many of the gentler arts at the expense of their martial training. At this time the term Gishi “a man of rectitude” arose, this implied a man of resolve, someone that made a discission and stuck by it no matter what the outcome, a man willing to die for his beliefs. To be Gishi was considered to be far superior to any title bestowed for academic or artistic achievement.

To the Samurai honour was paramount, and was also influenced by Buddhism, as it was not only an honourable death but an honourable life that gained merit in both this life and the next, thus the concept of being dishonest in word or deed was loathsome to a Samurai and the “Bushi no ichi-gon” or “the word of a Samurai” was considered to be more binding than any written contract. Honour was the cord that bound Bushido together; it underpinned all thought and action giving reason to all the other virtues.

For the Samurai the creed “Death before dishonour” was not merely an idle notion, but a literal reality, as any infringement of Bushido, any dishonourable deed could require a Samurai to commit Seppuku “ritual suicide” by Harakiri or “belly cutting” the act of self disembowelment, an act that I believe would have taken a great deal of courage and rectitude.

Most martial artists think of themselves as modern day warriors, but many do not understand the fullness of this concept, The Overlook Martial Arts Dictionary states of Bushido: “…..Bushido’s ethical basis is applied in modern martial arts through the endorsement of virtues such as pride in duty, discipline in conduct, and humility in oneself.” And while we are no longer required to die for our Lord or atone for our indiscretions by publicly exposing our entrails the path of the true warrior can only be walked by those who have the discipline to live by a self imposed code of conduct holding high the virtues of courage, rectitude and honour.

Copyright 2003 Wayne Hanley, Kokoro Ryu Martial Arts, Australia. www.kokororyu.com