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The Nine Warrior Virtues​​
From the "Book of Kojosho"
The development of focused physical strength is the logical result of serious karate training. To attain this goal, martial artists forge an iron will which in turn forces the body to become strong and responsive, resolute and unyielding. The ability to endure hardship and to perform as required is the hallmark of a black belt, and action becomes the usual response to every situation. The trained reaction of domination and control becomes the instinctive solution to any dilemma. However, promoting physical training to the exclusion of total development confuses that which can be with that which should be. Success does not imply rectitude, nor does valor imply justice.
Power without discipline is brutality. Only nobility of purpose can justify the final recourse to violent action, and it is then that the warrior must carefully walk the narrow path of morality between insufficiency and vindictiveness. Senseless violence is the inevitable consequence of power without discipline, force without direction, or action without virtue. Any discussion which attempts to debate first causes or epistemology often degenerates into rhetoric. It is enough for our purposes to state that the warrior virtues can be shown to be of practical value to karate students and the natural result of proper karate training.
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The cultivation of the warrior virtues by karate students is totally pragmatic in its application and can be easily divorced from any philosophical ramblings about moral justifications. Since the study of the martial arts is not intrinsically valuable, its magnetism cannot be explained to the uninitiated. Therefore, the conscious act of lending personal worth to one's training is existential in its nature, and it is commitment which separates the dilettante from the martial artist. Making that free choice and accepting total responsibility for the consequences of one's actions must ultimately lead to a personal ethic. Personal behavior does not need to be dictated by concepts of right and wrong. Instead, behavior can be determined solely by practical considerations.
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Any act which diminishes individual worth is a perversion. Any limitation of personal growth is immoral. Indiscriminate restraints on self- determination are unethical. All of these statements are pragmatic definitions of improper behavior, and postulates of proper behavior can be determined by their converse. Instead of limiting self-expression and preventing further evolution, proper boundaries encourage personal freedom which results in the perfection of the individual. The warrior virtues are not so much a restriction of freedom or an adoption of moral standards, but an invitation to progress beyond the limitations of physical technique. To be valuable, karate training must be applicable to the real world. The warrior virtues encourage personal motivation, and it is motivation that determines the course of our lives. Each student's pursuit of perfection yields individual benefits which ultimately lead to the betterment of all karate.
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The warrior virtues are progressive in their application and cumulative in their impact. No one virtue should be thought of as more valuable than another. Although each virtue is discussed separately, individual virtues can never be isolated in an integrated person, because the warriors virtues are dependent on one another. Power without discipline is brutality. Quick perception without mannerly conduct is vulgar. Authority without sympathy for the governed is despotic. High ideals without faith in others is egocentric. And, motivation without stamina is impotent.
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To summarize, karate is a moral martial system and not necessarily an ethical martial system. Since the goal of the Art is the development of the individual student, and personal choice and the freedom to make mistakes is essential to the process of growth and maturity, each student must extrapolate a separate and private set of ethical restraints from the overall moral precepts of the Art. Only in this way will the student learn to speak from the heart instead of merely reciting by rote the common set of values already established by others. The karate instructor bears a heavy responsibility because the training process endows each student with combative capabilities which can be used for offensive or defensive purposes. Aggressiveness is certainly a necessary component of the martial spirit, but the instructor must ensure that militant tendencies are tempered and balanced by the forces of reason, integrity, and justice. The basic principles are already in place. Through the progression of belt ranks from white to black, the student is gradually taught that certain virtues are an integral part of the development of the warrior. These qualities which the Art identifies and esteems are the Warrior Virtues, and are used to stop the spear of aggression.
Courage
Courage is the very first virtue which must be learned by the budding martial artist. So necessary is courage to the martial artist as the initial step in spiritual growth and development, that courage itself is often thought of as synonymous with virtue. Cultivation of courage is as essential to the karate student as the domination of fear. Since fear is a hindrance to action, and karate training attempts to develop instantaneous action, there is no place for fear in the psyche of the martial artist.
To martial artists, courage is the ability to persevere in the face of adversity. Physically, it is the ability to summon dormant strengths and win when winning seems impossible. Mentally, it is the ability to still the inner voices of self-doubt and fear of failure and focus completely and unflinchingly on total performance. Spiritually, courage is the absolute commitment to order and perfection in a world too tolerant of relative values and the anonymity of mediocrity. Resolute and uncompromising, this is the world of the martial artist.
Courage is a learned process. Just as students learn to execute karate technique through training and repetition, they also learn to exhibit courage through a gradual process of discipline and self-control. Initially, students are given direction by lecture and example. The underlying premise of early training is that fear is a natural though unproductive response which can be utilized as a helpful stimulus when carefully controlled and effectively rechanneled. This process of domination and redirection is courage--the active creation of a resolute will.
Courage and karate training are inseparable. Karate students must be taught that courage provides the motivational force which, when coupled with properly directed physical force, allows karate technique to succeed.
Karate training must begin with courage. Courage is the underlying force which gives all other virtues substance and meaning.
Discipline
Every dedicated martial arts student reaches major decision points periodically during training when the choice must be made whether to continue the serious pursuit of perfection. The Way is necessarily difficult, and the temptation is great for the student to settle for less than perfection, embracing the easy path which can never be the true Way.
The pursuit of perfection is a conscious revocation of the comforts of mediocrity and a deliberate embrace of the paths of glory. Most people are content to live in the drab, colorless world of anonymity, willing to let others guide their footsteps, hesitant to take a stand. Fear of pain, fear of ridicule, or fear of failure saps their strength. The weak are incapable of functioning because they are unwilling to struggle and unable to believe in themselves. The uncommitted curse the world for their predicament, refusing to admit their troubles arise from personal inertia. On the other hand, the martial artist knows that the individual who shows strength at the proper time can make a difference. The martial artist who refuses to accept defeat must ultimately win or willingly die.
When students have learned this lesson well, the tendency is to believe that the display of strength, powered by courage, is the ultimate answer to every question. However, in the interests of spiritual harmony, power without discipline is brutality. Glory is not gained by conquest but is attained through self-control. Thousands of minor alterations which lead to the refinement of technique and hundreds of decisions to walk the narrow, rocky paths of personal development lead, inevitably to perfection. External strength is not enough. Internal strength is necessary.
This, then, is discipline, the outward manifestation of personal commitment which is the process of developing individual character. Courage is the dynamic force which motivates all martial artists. Discipline directs that energy and is the second warrior virtue which must be learned. Without courage we would not be martial. Without discipline we would not be artists.
Knowledge
It is natural and perfectly justifiable for dedicated students of a particular martial system to feel that their own system is superior to all other systems, but irreparable harm occurs when a spiritually small instructor engages in the spiteful and useless criticism of others. Any instructors who say unequivocally that their Way is the only Way and encourage students to follow their example are guilty of a monstrous conceit. Since martial arts are promoted as a path of personal development and are judged by the conduct of their practitioners, martial artists should eliminate every smallness of character in themselves and pursue instead the nobility of purpose they so ardently proclaim. Superior instructors treasure all martial arts and all martial artists, knowing that they are enriched by them all.
To discourage the pursuit of knowledge is immoral. Any deliberate limitation of personal growth is contrary to the spirit of the martial arts. Every student should be able to discuss rationally and intelligently the significance and merit of martial arts training by obtaining historical knowledge as well as personal insight. Western society generally perceives the martial artist to be a barbarian. If karate students are to alter that perception, persuasive arguments can only result from the knowledge gained through the study of other disciplines besides the martial arts.
Karate deliberately sets puzzles within forms to test students. Years of studying forms with thoughtful analysis reveals levels of meaning which are easily bypassed in superficial walkthroughs. Students who look but do to see beneath the surface are forever mystified by the passionate love of the dedicated student for forms. For maximum benefit, work forms slowly, methodically, and carefully, in silence and in solitude. After years of painstaking effort, a form gradually reveals itself. The knowledge gained from this study belongs to the student forever because it was brought from the darkness of ignorance and mystery into the light of understanding.
Courtesy
All societies have standards of behavior which enable their members to live in harmony, but in the microcosm of the karate school, rules of proper behavior should be viewed as rules of etiquette instead of rules of law. Both etiquette and law deal with the conduct of the individual in society. However, laws are authoritarian directives imposed on the individual from without and demand obedience through fear of punishment. Etiquette differs from law in intent and is essentially self-motivated. Laws prevent improper behavior by dictating rules of conduct, while etiquette promotes social harmony by idealizing proper behavior. Etiquette is the display of good manners and should be the spontaneous response of every karate student.
To attain this goal, students must learn that the motivation for proper behavior must come from within, and that family harmony is the result of cooperation and respect for others. Students first learn physical respect for their instructor's superior capabilities. As training continues, the instructor must teach students that harmony within any group depends on deference to seniors and consideration for peers.
One of the most meaningful lessons an instructor can teach students is the necessity of good manners and the importance of proper conduct at all times, especially when the karate student deals with someone outside the Art. To preserve the Art's reputation, karate students should not be accused of having bad manners. Students who act correctly bring credit to themselves, their instructors, and their Art.
Students are essentially children in the Art. The duty of instructors, is to teach students proper behavior by lectures and example. When instructors and students act with propriety, harmony exists within the group. This goal allows both instructors and students to practice their art with a minimum of disturbance. Only then can we all pursue our studies with the proper mental attitude.
Wisdom
After several years of arduous training, dedicated students finally reach a technical barrier which cannot be overcome by verbal instruction or by individual initiative. Although the students increase their efforts, training harder and longer, no apparent progress is made because the barrier cannot be breached alone. To break out of this quandary, students must develop the faith to place themselves unquestioningly in the hands of their instructors. Instructors and students must see each other clearly and understand each other intuitively as they enter into the master-student relationship.
The unintelligible phase of marital arts training is very confusing to students. Often, replies from instructors are evasive and curt, telling students that harder work and more effort will cause all things to be revealed. As students falter, instructors become more critical and less tolerant. The desire and dedication of each student is put to the test time and time again. Finally, discouragement reaches a critical point. At this time, all preconceptions have vanished, receptiveness is at a peak, and students are capable and ready to undertake further training because, at last, students understand that they understand nothing.
Since this training is directed toward the development of the intuitive processes, classes are now held in silence. Students are expected to know what is required without unnecessary commentary or external observation. Students must copy the instructor's motion as perfectly as possible, following a fraction of a second behind the instructor's movements, attempting to subordinate the self in the unity of the whole.
If this training is successful, students understand that nothing of any real importance can be held in the hand. Perceptive powers have been developed, and internal energies have been awakened. Students feel themselves enlarged by the experience, glowing and vital, possessing potential energy. Together, instructors and students have revealed new avenues for students' expression. As always, instructors only point the way, and students must walk the path.
Humanity
Years of martial arts training inevitably lead to feelings of self-confidence and self-reliance, and these pragmatic attitudes, which are necessary for success in every endeavor, continue to benefit and enrich the lives of all karate students both on and off the mat. However, those people who reach their goals at the expense of others and are unwilling to help those who follow have gained nothing but spiritual despair. Spare no effort to better yourself, but don't isolate yourself from humanity.
Form keeps the martial artist in touch with Humanity. The karate student who abandons Form also abandons the spirit of karate. A fighting system which touts practicality but does not also emphasize Form can never find approval in the eyes of the true martial artist or dignity in the eyes of the world. The Oriental fighting arts are unique because their aim is to promote spiritual harmony through the practice of combative techniques, and it is the civilizing and humanizing influence of Form which allows this process to take place. Karate training should exercise the body, stimulate the intellect, and uplift the spirit, and Form provides karate students with the self-awareness to seek those goals.
Humankind is both blessed and cursed with self-awareness, and therein lies its tragedy and glory. Animals live their lives simply and spontaneously as best they can, as they are moved by the whims of fate; but humans must forever live with the knowledge of what is not, but could have been. The cynics believe that humans are baseborn and doomed to reach but never to attain, and the Humanists argue that humans are innately good and capable of achieving self-fulfillment through reason. However, observation only reveals individuals who stand earthbound, with their feet in the mire and their heads in the clouds. Time and time again, martial artists must weigh personal desires and selfish interests against the welfare of others, and from this clash of ideals and motivations comes nobility or dishonor. In the end, what matters is the ability to give rather than take throughout our lives.
Honor
Look around your class sometime. If your fellow students are typical of other karate students in other karate classes, you will find one or two students who dislike what they are doing but cannot decide where it is they would rather be. Dissatisfied and uncommitted, they expend little or no effort in their training. On the other hand, most students are content to exhibit the minimum effort required, as they are alternately pushed and pulled up the ladder of belt rankings by their instructor's enthusiasm. Those few students who succeed do so because of hard work and determination, and because they refuse to accept anything less than success. Acceptance of failure is a luxury the martial artist cannot afford.
In this life, there are lookers, talkers, and doers. Lookers always find reasons not to start; talkers always find reasons not to finish; and doers accomplish the tasks they have set for themselves. For every thousand people who voice ideals or hope and dream, only one person is capable of transforming words into actions or dreams into reality. For that one person, final performance is the only measure of success. Each decision throughout a lifetime of choices gradually and cumulatively shapes our environment, until finally, the world becomes an outward expression of the inner self. Spiritual harmony depends on making ethical choices when those choices are necessary.
Although the world is full of people who voice ideals but lack honor, an honorable person never lacks ideals. Honor is the primary virtue which dictates ethical behavior. The great ideals of Truth and Justice derive their meaning only in the context of personal integrity. Talking about ethics and morality and doing the right thing no matter what the cost is easy, but acting in accordance with these ideals is infinitely harder when the price demanded begins to rise exponentially. Honor only arises when a conscious choice is made to act in opposition to self-interest because personal integrity demands that kind of behavior. Honor is a rock in the temporizing world. Personal integrity can never be compromised because honor demands the absolute commitment to spiritual excellence.
Trust
Though many benefits are derived from the study of Asian combative arts, they are not combative in themselves. Karate training directly addresses the unspoken fear of one's inevitable involvement in conflict and has dramatic impact on the attitudes of its students. Karate students who are forced to confront conflict time and again, as they practice, learn that they, too, have abilities and skills that are unique to them, and they are not without self-defense capabilities. This understanding is not gained in a day but is slowly acquired over the years.
Beginning students are afraid of being hit. This reaction is natural but counterproductive, since it prevents any retaliation and eliminates further defensive possibilities. Knowing this, the instructor tones down personal aggressiveness in order to reduce the student's apprehension. Gradually, through the observation of other, more seasoned students and with increasing confidence in the skills of the instructor, each beginning student learns that success is not a matter of personal taste and desire but in the trust of the instructor to lead them through the maze of technique to personal mastery.
Karate training frequently calls for the exchanges of techniques between students. During these times, students must take care to behave predictably and perform as the instructor has demonstrated to avoid injury. However, students now have enough experience to know that the effectiveness of the karate technique depends on delivering powerful blows to vital areas. It takes conscious effort and personal resolve to stand without flinching and let other students attack when you are unsure of their skills. As students literally place their lives in the hands of their instructors and confront conflict time and again, trust between instructor and student grows, and a bond develops during this training, which, when nurtured, becomes the cement which binds them together for life.
Loyalty
The first loyalty students learn is to their instructor. The student naturally looks up to the instructor in admiration and tries to emulate the instructor's skills. The instructor reinforces this behavior by establishing goals for the student. Instructors regard acceptable performance with approval and identify unacceptable performance through the postponement of promotion. Students unconsciously learn loyalty in their desire for promotion and in continual attempts to please the instructor with their performance.
Gradually, the student is taught loyalty to the group. An instructor, as the leader, verbalizes this concept, telling students that they are essential in the growth of the group, that without beginning students there would be no masters. As students continue training and spend hours practicing with fellow students, a bond inevitably emerges from within each student. The instructor encourages these emotions by treating the class as a unit, making the individual students feel responsible for each other.
Loyalty to the Art is the final step in the student's learning. As students work Form in solitary training over the years, they will find that Form will talk to them. This dialogue will establish a rapport between the students and the Art. The Art will take on a personal worth to the students, and the students will fell responsible for its continued welfare and growth.
One of the precepts of karate is that students must teach if they are to progress in their development as a martial artists. A time will come when students who teach must find within themselves the strengths of conviction and commitment. Students, as teachers, are forced to wed themselves to the principles of the Art. Once the student-instructor has made this necessary commitment to the Art, the evolution of the student-instructor into an instructor will begin, as the circle of loyalty continues to turn.
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