Reflections on what "True Warrior" Really is.

[The Willow Sword]

Taking references from BUDO and the thoughts of master Ueshiba Morehei, and my own.

What the principles say is that in order to be a true warrior you must be in harmony with the heaven and earth,,,water and fire,,,light and heat,,,,yin/yang etc. The principles also state that you must be just, compassionate,,and peacfull. We learn these combative arts so that we can better understand ourselves as human beings and also to better understand what our relationships with others are as well. Can we really blend the art of peace with the art of hurting mameing and killing another? Since the philosphies of Budo and zen stem from the apparant hardship and atrocities of conflict,,war and death by violent means, can we as new people who do not experience this violence and war first hand,,TRUELY UNDERSTAND and master the essence behind the arts that we practice?
I meditate alot on this concept,,,,for i do not consider myself an inherently violent man,,but definately one capable of such violence. in related posts i have put down and spoke out against sporting events involving fighting(ufc,etc.) For to me and what i have been taught over the years,,that THIS in it of itself is wrong and a waste of time and energy. I get heated responses from those who participate or endorse such activity.
I feel it to be vital to our survival as intellectual and rational thinking beings that we heed the teachings and warnings of such masters that have gone through the realities of war and destruction and seek to steer us away from that path and lead a more peacefull life. To only use your abilities for the life/death situation,,and for healing.
I write all this and i REALIZE the contradictions that i make for i have issued challenges in the past,,,wanted to fight, and hurt seriously, members of this board who would insult me,,and in the past with whom would insult my teachers and system. i have met a challenge and lost. am i walking the path of a true warrior? are you? are any of us?
i would like to think that these arts of combat and philosophy serve to a better end other than to hurt and kill another.
there was a time when i wanted to enlist in the military,,,and experience for myself what these masters experienced so that i could truly understand where they were coming from. i then looked back on my own life and the violence that surrounded it and i thought to myself, " i have gone through my own war, a personal one involving family." "i wonder if this be as great a tragedy as fighting in a war.?"
without this becoming a "lets bash willow sword thread"
i would like to read others views on the concepts i have discussed. i hope that in THIS thread we can actually exchange thought and opinion in a peaceful way.
Many Respects,,,The Willow Sword

[Dreadnaught]

I think my life experience is much different from the practitioners of martial arts in ancient Japan for sure. For instance instead of having to deal with violence, war, loss of family/loved ones, starvation, power hungry warlords etc. I deal with the mind numbing boredom of my day job. yarrrgh.

so while i do believe in complete and utter non violence to the highest ideal, I can see why sometimes in our society we feel the need for "controlled" violence. (ie boxing, ufc, football).

I think my own personal approach to the martial arts is more in the scholarly vain than the warrior vain.

[Dreadnaught]

http://www.darkzen.com/Articles/zenholy.htm

this is a book review on a book that discusses zen and war.

[No_Know]

A coin needs both sides to be. Fighting is the method by which peace is achieced or kept.-ish

When you fight enough you don't want to fight any more.~ Hence peaceful.

Peaceful people have enough time on their hands to explore their humanity or themselves. They find doubt and the curious/competative nature along with assessment of Self by perceived social acceptance causes the testing aspect. Therefore the taunting to produce an adversarial situation. Some experience it in doses. Some perpetuate it (a need~ to feel alive). Those who explore their humanity find a strong aspect which is aggressiveness. The lower the book learning and perhaps something else at least themore agressiveness is explored by fighting-related things.

There is yin in yang and yang in yin.

[SanSoo Student]

I think a true warrior is not a person that has been in lots of fights. Anyone can fight and win, but the true warrior knows where his strengths and weaknesses are. A true warrior is one that will not abuse the power he/she has. Many people train for great speed, power, and techniques; however they do not become a true warrior. The most important aspect to becoming a warrior is to know and master yourself. Once you have the power to look inside of you and change youself, then you can call yourself the true warrior. It is so hard to control yourself, being humble and nonviolent is harder than it seems, well those are my flaws. Everyone knows there own flaws, a should fix to control them. In my young days of impetuous youth I have engaged/started my shares of fights when I was living in Thailand. These experiences of such hate and carnage are good teachers in life, these teaching of avoiding violence can be spoken; however, nobody ever listens to them until they have experienced it. I feel that to be considered a true warrior you must have experience. Experience can calm a person down, that is why you see much difference in the seasoned practioner, and the young novice. The young novice is clouded with the illusions of achieve power and great strength through destruction. The older, wiser person knows that the true path in MA training lies within. Now when I have become somewhat experienced in Kung Fu SanSoo, I learned the techniques of combat and killing. I learned how to kill a man in 2-3 blows, even with that power why would you abuse it? If you were a true warrior, you would not want fight unless necessary. You learn to fight to not fight; those are words from a true warrior.

[Repulsive Monkey]

According to Carlos Castaneda Don Juan Matus was a true Warrior.

[guohuen]

I'd agree with that.