Here is the English language version of the El Budoka article
A Warrior Rises Above
“Be grateful even for hardship, setbacks, and bad people. Dealing with such obstacles is an essential part of training in the Art of Peace.” - Morihei Ueshiba
The coronavirus has created a unique situation that is impacting all martial artists the same regardless of style, border or nationality. What the adversity of the pandemic is a gift which is revealing our true character or lack there of.
Regardless of the art, all warriors or martial artists follow a Way or do (道). The Way is a set of principles which guide every aspect of the warrior’s life. Author, Nitobe Inazo outlined the Way as Eight Virtues: Righteousness (Gi 義), Courage (Yu 勇), Benevolence (Jin 仁), Respect (Rei 礼), Honor (Meiyo 名誉), Honesty (Makoto 誠), Loyalty (Chugi 忠実) Self-control (Jisei 自制). However, on paper and our lips, these are just words because without action, they are meaningless.
Following a Way necessitates that the warrior be a righteous person. Righteousness are the rules which govern our actions and it is something that we cultivated through training. Every budo has kata (型) or “predetermined forms.” These “models” are the rules which govern our movements but they also hide within them mental and spiritual teachings. So, in a sense, budo training shapes the person that we are inside and out. Righteousness doesn’t begin and end at the door of the dojo. It is in everything we practice at the dojo from cleaning and bowing to the way we defend ourselves and eventually these practices become part of everything that we do. Practicing righteousness enables us to improve the quality of our daily lives. Also we are only able to follow the virtues of budo because we are righteous.
The famous Zen quote, “fall down seven, get up eight” typifies the courageousness of a warrior. Typically, a person has to be brave in order to even start a martial art. Courage is put into practice many times a day in class when our partners attack us. With every technique and each block, punch or throw, we are learning to stand our ground in the face of adversity. In the beginning it can be hard to keep going especially when things get hard or are overwhelming, but the warrior inside us says, “Be brave and do it again.” It takes courage to keep going when adversity rears its ugly head.
The greatest strength a warrior can have is to be benevolent. It doesn’t require any training to hurt or kill another - anyone can do it. That is why in the martial arts, they say, “true budo does not kill” or “shinmu fusatsu” (真武不殺). Budo training is about developing the strength of character to be kind. The more one trains, the gentler we become because we realize the fragility of life and lethalness of the art we wield. It takes a tremendous amount of inner strength to not give in to the desires of our egos. True inner strength is not demonstrated in what we can do, but in what we choose not to do. There is a famous Japanese proverb which illustrates the strength of benevolence, “Nasake ni hamukau yaiba nashi” (情けに刃向かう刃なし) or “There is no sword which can oppose kindness.” Anyone can kill but only a select few can choose to be kind.
There is a saying in budo, “Everything begins and ends with respect” (礼に始まり礼に終わる) or “rei ni hajimari rei ni owaru.” Conventionally speaking, most think this about bowing as a gesture of respect towards one’s opponent and that is ostensibly true. However, the respect that we are actually cultivating when we bow is not only for our opponent, but for ourselves as well. The only truly way to have respect for others is to have respect for ourselves. Thus, in training, we learn to move with dignity and grace which comes with having self-respect. That is why the Japanese say, “Yaiba ni tsuyoki mono wa rei ni suguru” or “The best warrior surpasses all others in decorum.” To act with respect is to have self-respect.
A warrior is a person of honor. Having true honor is when our inner person matches our outer person. Some might call this integrity. Many of us say, but fewer actually do. For me, honor should be the last virtue because it is the virtue which ensures all others. There is no righteousness, courage, benevolence, honesty, loyalty or discipline without honor.
It goes without saying that all warriors are honest, but a warrior’s honesty goes further than just telling the truth. Honesty is about intention. Do we live a life similar to the Five Precepts of Buddhism of not killing, stealing, sexual misconduct, lying or intoxication. Our actions speak to our character. Thus, in training, honesty is really about the intention of our actions. When we are having a bad day, refrain from taking it out on others. When we are up against adversity and act this way, we aren’t aware of ourselves and thus not acting with an honest intention.
The best warriors aren’t always the loyalest. The movements of budo can be learned by anyone and so anyone can pretend to be or say that they are loyal. It is easy to do when others are looking, but the truest test of loyalty is when there is nothing to gain and when no one is looking. True loyalty reveals our true character and our real motivation.
The hallmark virtue of all warriors is self-control. All of these other virtues are just concepts which require self-discipline to carry out. Perhaps that is why self-control is the last virtue. True budo is about change, but not just the physical change. The change that we all seek in training is the realization of the self. Concepts are just words, but they are brought to life with diligence and that practice over time creates a change or self-realization. To follow the way of budo is hard and requires constant and consistent work. That is why in budo they say, “Living is hard, dying is easy.” In class, we learn the discipline to have self-control. Without discipline, words are just words. With discipline words help to guide our actions and help us reach our goals.
Adversity tempers the sword of our character. The pandemic is a test which reveals our true character. American author James Lane Allen said, “Adversity doesn’t build character, it reveals it.” The coronavirus forces us to look inward and ask the hard question, “Am I truly living the way of budo?” Regardless of the answer it reveals where we truly are and where the work needs to be done, physically, mentally and spiritually.
Warrior’s create their own destiny. The pandemic can either make us or break us. Regardless of the outcome it reveals who we truly are. An often used theme in Zen and the tea ceremony is nichi nichi konichi (日々是好日) which is intended to mean, “every day is a good day,” but it can also means to “Live meaningfully.” We cannot control what happens to us, but we are in control of who we choose to be and what we choose to do. A warrior rises above and does their best and leaves the rest to fate. We are warriors and people of true character, let the pandemic make you, don’t let it break you.