Where did the "humble martial artist" myth came from??
I mean,i guess we all have enough experience to know that some martial arts practioners are anything BUT humble. And,if you look at history and martial arts legends and tales,its not something recent. So,when did people started to associate martial artists with "higher moral and spiritual values" considering that,more often than not,that was not the case?
The origin of martial humility
Some of it is also an artifact western translation - the Bible exalts humility (Toward the scorners he is scornful, but to the humble he gives favor. Proverbs 3:34) and the humility is often a characteristic of chivalry in Knights. There's also the Confucian subservience to the ruler, which feeds directly into Bushido - this is the gateway for what most Western practitioners take as the 'warrior's code' because wude in CMA isn't as explicitly described in a single treatise.
What most mistake for humility in the martial arts, is really just prudence.
Quote:
Originally Posted by
sanjuro_ronin
Why would you need to be humble if you sucked?
:p All the more reason. It's those sucky boastful types that lead so many astray.