These days, there is a lot of cynicism around being a good person. Often the people we admire disappoint us. The inconsistencies of people in sticking to their values are rubbed in our faces daily. It’s depressing.

Embedded in the martial arts is a pathway for character development that is both fundamental and realistic. It recognizes that we are imperfect creatures with positive and negative qualities and requires that we see ourselves clearly. We are urged to see others as we see ourselves. The emphasis is on the will—on choice—and on taking responsibility for the consequences of our actions.

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Universality of Martial Values

Recognition of a warrior class is a human universal. The simplest definition of a warrior is “one who wages war.” To be a warrior is fundamentally harsh and even brutal, yet most cultures strangely ascribe almost spiritual qualities to warriors.

What do you really think of this? Is there truly a spiritual component to fighting, or is it all just brutality? Why do warriors exist in the first place? Are they good people or not? What function do they serve? Are they pawns of the military-industrial complex or protectors of their communities? How does the concept of the warrior relate to you, your life, and what you consider important?

Why are there so many warrior heroes in our mythos? Here are some of them:

Achilles, Brer Rabbit, Galahad, Jason, Penelope, Sigurd, Aeneas, Robert the Bruce, St. George, John Henry, Perseus, Sinbad the Sailor, Ajax, Paul Bunyan, Gilgamesh, Kokopelli, Prometheus, Sunjata, Aladdin, El Cid, Hector, Lancelot, Quetzalcoatl, William Tell, Antigone, Coriolanus, Hercules, Maui, Rama, Theseus, King Arthur, Davey Crockett, Hiawatha, Odysseus, Robin Hood, Ulysses, Beowulf, Cuchulain, Hunahpú, Oedipus, Roland, Yu, Daniel Boone, Finn, Xbalanqúe, Orpheus, Samson.

Why does the way of the sword fascinate so many of us?

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Worldview

A martial worldview appreciates goodness but acknowledges the potential for trouble. Most of us have been confronted with someone or something that has risen to stand before us, wishing to do harm. Sometimes the opponent is a person; more often, it is something larger than ourselves.

The martial worldview encourages strength, resilience, preparation, and taking responsibility.

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The Dark Side

Martial arts exist in the context of a dualistic world where conflict exists and violence can be a means to an end. The label warrior (which, in deference to those who have served, should really describe only those who have been through an actual war) is neutral and does not designate any particular morality. A warrior can be good, bad, or a combination of both.

The capacity for violence seems to be a prerequisite for the warrior. Is it possible to be a warrior while rejecting violence? Is violence just a synonym for action? Can violence be inherently good or bad?

The warrior archetype carries images of rapist, pillager, and destroyer of peace, as well as hero, protector, and defender. Why such a dichotomy? Is it always true that one person’s hero is another’s villain?

What happens when people are given power while too young or too zealous, lacking the moral authority to bear responsibility for the consequences of their actions?

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Knights

Knights have appeared in nearly every culture throughout the ages. They were a special category of warrior, though sometimes the term was used simply as a synonym for warrior, soldier, or fighter. What makes knights different in our mythos and imagination?

To complicate matters, there were knights who were real villains. But the idea of a special kind of warrior has persisted. We still want to believe in knights.

What makes a knight stand out?

There are two qualities central to being a knight. The first is prowess—a high level of martial skill. This skill provides precision and control over the opponent, the environment, and the self. A knight ought to possess both the capacity for action and the skill to execute it.

The second quality is character. Knightly traditions include a code of honor that supports martial prowess. According to Geoffroi de Charny in The Knight’s Own Book of Chivalry, it was unusual for a knight to excel in all the character values of knighthood. These impeccable people, if they ever truly existed, were rare and special.

Prowess and character blend in this archetype, bound by discipline and austerity. What follows is a poem from Japan about the qualitites of discipline.

I Have No Parents

I make the heavens and the earth my parents.

I have no home

I make awareness my home

I have no life or death

I make the tides of breathing my life and death

I have no divine power

I make honesty my divine power

I have no means

I make understanding my means

I have no magic secrets

I make character my magic secret

I have no body

I make endurance my body

I have no eyes

I make the flash of lightning my eyes

I have no ears

I make sensibility my ears

I have no limbs

I make promptness my limbs

I have no strategy

I make “unshadowed by thought” my strategy

I have no designs

I make seizing opportunity by the forelock my design

I have no miracles

I make right action my miracles

I have no principles

I make adaptability to all circumstances my principles

I have no tactics

I make emptiness and fullness my tactics

I have no talents

I make ready wit my talent

I have no friends

I make my mind my friend. I have no enemy

I make carelessness my enemy

I have no armour

I make benevolence and righteousness my armour

I have no castle

I make immovable mind my castle

I have no sword

I make absence of self my sword

Anonymous Samurai, 14th Century

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Existential Quests

Perhaps you think character values are lofty, unrealistic, or overly philosophical. That’s fine. By practicing earnestly, however, you may discover that the character values of martial arts are realistic, pragmatic, and experientially derived.

Practicing martial arts encourages you to explore two existential quests. The first is to face your fears. The second is to face yourself.

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Facing Fears

My teacher, Mr. Ohshima, distinguished between two kinds of fear: natural and unnatural.

Natural fear arises in response to real danger, like standing too close to a cliff edge. It heightens awareness and quickens resolve. You can begin by facing natural fears one by one.

Unnatural fear arises from beliefs, images, and memories based on past experiences or those of others. It attacks the core, manifesting as deep shame or irrational anger, and can freeze or debilitate you. These must also be faced.

This quest is never complete. By facing fears, you can learn to distinguish between natural and unnatural fear in the moment and potentially clear away the unnatural fears. Courage, bravery, discipline, and tenacity develop through this process.

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Facing Yourself

Facing yourself means understanding the choices you make and the context in which you make them. Initially, you may not like what you see—layers of unnatural fears influencing your actions, or a dark, monstrous part of yourself born of adversity that once protected you but now causes harm.

Inaction or excess caution may have held you back when you should have acted. Recognizing and embracing these aspects allows them to serve you. By facing yourself, the monster within can become a protector. Accepting your darkness and taking responsibility for it frees the good in you.

This clarity builds humility and integrity. Humility leads to reverence, benevolence, and kindness. Integrity leads to trustworthiness, loyalty, honesty, and honor.

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Giving Back: The Warrior Creed

Robert L. Humphrey was stationed on Okinawa in the aftermath of World War 2. He was given the job of keeping the peace between the occupying forces and the Okinawans after the war was over. The Okinawans were small people and many were simple farmers. Humphrey had quite a time of it. The American soldiers had a lot of anger towards their enemies. One story was regarding a Minnesotan farm boy who was reputed to bully the much smaller Okinawans. Humphrey took the soldier out to meet Okinawan farmers as they worked. Upon seeing the farming operations of the Okinawans the young soldier became interested and began to ask questions. By that afternoon he began to see the farmers not as “other” but as part of his tribe…a tribe of farmers with the same sort of lives, problems, and issues that he had back at his farm in Minnesota. He wrote the following:

The Warrior Creed by Robert L. Humphrey

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Martial Arts as a Path to Peace

Everyone has imbalances. We begin life relatively unscathed, but sooner or later some injustice occurs, and one way or another we contend with it. Perhaps we learn to supplicate and yield; perhaps we learn to be bold and to fight. Our background stories and early traumas, as we resolve them, shape belief systems that serve to defend us. This is right and good.

As we develop into adults, however, our stories change. The presuppositions that once served as guardians can now be triggered by even minor provocations.

Most people begin practicing martial arts after their initial worldview is already set. When they walk through the door, they are often imbalanced—either too fierce or too meek. You can see this imbalance when they spar and in how they handle harsh practices. They may resort to avoidance and blame, or they may respond with anger and aggression when things do not go their way.

Sometimes, when a student succeeds in striking another person for the first time, they experience waves of apology and guilt. Others respond too enthusiastically, slipping into unnecessary roughness or even bullying. The first time they are struck may evoke shame and inadequacy—or it may provoke rage.

In this way, practice becomes a laboratory for chaotic events, a microcosm of life itself and of how you generally behave within it. Practice offers an opportunity to observe these reactions. You begin to recognize the background presuppositions that may once have served you well but no longer do. You also begin to understand that others carry similar presuppositions, and from this realization, benevolence can grow.

Ultimately, the martial way can lead to calmness and clarity, even in dangerous and chaotic situations. This is you at your best. No one acts with this level of impeccability all the time, but through practice you become capable of seeing yourself—and your own foibles—clearly, and of making redress when you are wrong. In the midst of disagreement, you are not threatened by what others may say, because you are capable of examining your own errors.

Ultimately, martial practice builds stability in individuals. Such people influence others more through example than through diatribe. When it is time to act, they do so with clarity and humanity. This, at least, is a central aim of martial arts: to build knights rather than bandits, sheepdogs rather than wolves.