It’s all a matter of opinion. Just be the person you think you should be.
What war would that be that you have TWS?
ewallace???
i dont understand the ? elaborate.
Nevermind. I was looking at the first three items in this quote. You said you had three, and now that I look at it you probably meant the last three at the bottom.
First a warrior needs a war to fight in.
Although he cannot, he must be ready to die.
He must be willing and capable of killing.
Must he walk whatever this so-called vague thing TWS likes to talk about so much ‘the [martial] path’ ? No. All he needs is a rifle, a pair of shoes, and some rice and bread.
Ah yes… the good old “walk the path of the warrior” post.
Utter bunk. I’ll settle for being a responsible adult, who happens to train. We’re a nation, for the most part, of desk sitters whose mightiest battles are with the copying machine. In fact, the “warriors way,” isn’t just bunk now, it’s always been bunk. We’d have been better off demonstrating how to live as a respectful and respected adult, rather than building a warrior mystique–not that it didn’t serve the same purpose, but it’s sure elitest crap. I mean “we” as in the human race.
Who was it that said they’d never seen a glorious battlefield death… they all tend to be a little on the messy side?
yes
i should have been a little more specific,yes i do have a rifle a pair of shoes and there is more rice and bread in my fridge than i know what to do with.
MRTWS
Like I said I think there needs to be a very big distinction between a warrior and a martial artist. They are not the same.
I’ll be up there at six. Make sure the bread is warm and the rice is spicey. And don’t forget the sun tea.
I suppose to answer the question of what a true warrior really is, you would need to address the concept of “warrior spirit”, and whether that spirit can be cultivated without the experience of conflict, or if it even exists at all.
There’s plenty of examples of men who were new to war outshining the veterans in their leadership and bravery. However, were those cases of true warriors, or were other factors involved?
It seems to me that war is a natural practice of humans. This being said, there are likely humans well suited to the conditions of war even though they have not yet experienced those conditions. Training can bring them much further. However, once they are involved in war, they will need something to allow them to go on once they realize that the men they are killing are more like themselves than the generals they take their orders from. Then comes the idea of the warrior spirit, and the morality of arms, and codes of honor, and such.
Once they convey their ideas to others, the ideas may turn into ideals held by non warriors for different reasons.
I’m really not sure what my point was, but it made me forget about my paperwork for a minute, which was good.
I’m not afraid to die, but paperwork scares me.
ewallace
LOL:D you know i actually make a lot of sun tea.
i make alot of tea in general,,,Green tea to be exact. i drink that stuff like it is going out of style(hmmm i dont think it ever was,,,My god what am i doing????:eek: )
MRTWS
This is exactly the boring crap that keeps most Martial “Artists” from getting laid.
Alot of people have already said Martial arts does not make a warrior. To the point, 'nuff said.
Yenhoi isn’t being naive for saying that warriors kill. It’s what war’s about.
Chivarly was introduced to stop the knights from raping the maidens and murdering the peasants. Jigoro Kano created Judo to get the youth ready for war. Ueshiba was no nice guy either. He was fond of the challenge. Heck, he had his “enlightenment” after fighting with a kendo guy. The Samurai modified and adopted buddhism because they were impressed by the monks ability to disregard death. WWII Nanking China–Bushido code at it’s best.
“Way’s of the Warrior” are apologetic atempts to rationalize a desire to fight.
The only true Martial Artists are the ones with the balls enough to step into the ring. The biggest fear isn’t losing. It’s the fear of being wrong. “Oh, I’m invincible because I studied this and meditated on that.” Yeah whatever.
You join MA to learn to fight. For whatever reason, it fills a void. Mostly because most martial artists are just a step above devout D&D players on the social pecking order. So you go to a dojo, kwoon, gym, and you learn to fight. You invest time. Sometimes that investment is wasted because you learnt bunk. So reasons are invented for learning that bunk. It’s super spiritual this and karmic that, but try using it and you get your arse handed to ya. That’s what a true martial artist knows. These are the guys with the kajones to step into a san shou or NHB ring. They put aside their fears and test their assumptions. Sometimes they find out they were wrong. But now they know and they can do something about it. The other guys will rationalize why they lost with meditative bullpucky. The true martial artist will realize that time spent learning BS is wasted and that more sweat in the gym means less of their blood in the ring. And believe me, if it don’t work in the ring that it don’t mean a thing- got lost on a rhyme, but, if it doesn’t work there, then it definitely won’t work on the street.
Put that in you collective pipes and smoke it.
The B
I’m not so sure about that Mighty B. I think you are pretty close but NHB and san shou usually contain professional fighters.
As far as putting your skills to the test in one kind of format or another, I definitely agree.
TWS:
Made of code of ethics, etc.
I am saying that ethics, morality, etc, things of a similar nature are literally made up. They do not exist. They are usually JUST concepts used to convince people of one culture or sub-culture or something or other, that they are in some way superior to another culture or sub-culture or group of people. That allows for other justifications etc etc.
Say, lets go LIBERATE the holy lands from the pagans, anyone?
Martial “Path.”
I see you posting often about walking some sort of path, that you sometimes call the martial path. I have yet to see any real meaning in this metaphor.
I do not consider myself a True Warrior. A Martial Artist, maybe, almost. Generally, true warriors rarely find themselves as “nice guys who simply love to train.” Some do, I think your aikido hero did.
I would be truely sorry if i found myself in a situation where I had to dispatch death, not for my own survival, but because of what ‘side’ of the ‘war’ i was on. I wouldent be so arrogant as to say I am ready to kill, because I am not, and hope to never be ready. I am also not about to ascert that I am ready for death, because I will never be ready to die, but I am not afraid of death, or spiders, or the dark.
Me neither but Rosie O’Donald neked scares the bejesus out of me.
mighty b
excerpt by Kisshomaru morehei(ueshibas’ son and successor) from the book BUDO, teachings of the founder of Aikido.
" In the spring of 1925 Morihei met a naval officer and master of Kendo. He accepted the officers challenge and defeated him without actually fighting, because he could sense the direction in which the blows could fall before the officers wooden sword could strike him. Immediately after his encounter Morihei went to a well to wash where he experienced a complete serenity of body and spirit."
his enlightenment came with the actions he took against or rather with the officer,,he was ABLE TO DEFEAT HIM WITHOUT ACTUALLY FIGHTING.
know your history before you quote it to me,,,,,i too know a thing or two about history. especially Osensei Morihei.
i so far like everyones posts,,,i get to see the perspectives of those who train in martial arts and who, whether they know it or not,,DO follow a warriors path,,,,,but not necessarily a soldiers path.
i do not believe that a warriors path be that of a path of war. Warrior to me is a deeper meaning than that of the literal one of the word itself. As will many who have written texts on the subject believe.
MRTWS
Mighty B-
I summarize what you just said:
“The most important skill a warrior must have is a sense of humor.”
LOL Fu Pow! 
wow - does that mean i am a warrior? :eek:
david
No.
ewallace, I’ll give you a kung fu example.
I (and you) practice kung fu. We don’t TALK about it, the way that troll on the “Internal” forum “Nick Lo” does.
Because I practice real kung fu for a living day in and day out, I’m not afraid to lay it all on the line when an immature idiot like Lo starts flaming me. He thinks I’m a fraud, I’ll agree if he can face me straight up and PROVE IT without shooting or stabbing me.
A warrior in life, be it kung fu or otherwise, is willing to put his ability and reputation on the line when trolls or challenges come his way. Some days he wins, some days he loses. ALWAYS he gets back up for more.
I hope that’s clearer for you, ewallace.
Yawn.