bushido code

I. Rectitude or Justice
Bushido refers not only to martial rectitude, but to personal rectitude: Rectitude or Justice, is the strongest virtue of Bushido. A well-known samurai defines it this way: ‘Rectitude is one’s power to decide upon a course of conduct in accordance with reason, without wavering; to die when to die is right, to strike when to strike is right.’ Another speaks of it in the following terms: ‘Rectitude is the bone that gives firmness and stature. Without bones the head cannot rest on top of the spine, nor hands move nor feet stand. So without Rectitude neither talent nor learning can make the human frame into a samurai.’

II. Courage
Bushido distinguishes between bravery and courage: Courage is worthy of being counted among virtues only if it’s exercised in the cause of Righteousness and Rectitude. In his Analects, Confucius says: ‘Perceiving what is right and doing it not reveals a lack of Courage.’ In short, ‘Courage is doing what is right.’

III. Benevolence or Mercy
A man invested with the power to command and the power to kill was expected to demonstrate equally extraordinary powers of benevolence and mercy: Love, magnanimity, affection for others, sympathy and pity, are traits of Benevolence, the highest attribute of the human soul. Both Confucius and Mencius often said the highest requirement of a ruler of men is Benevolence.

IV. Politeness
Discerning the difference between obsequiousness and politeness can be difficult for casual visitors to Japan, but for a true man, courtesy is rooted in benevolence: Courtesy and good manners have been noticed by every foreign tourist as distinctive Japanese traits. But Politeness should be the expression of a benevolent regard for the feelings of others; it’s a poor virtue if it’s motivated only by a fear of offending good taste. In its highest form Politeness approaches love.

V. Honesty and Sincerity
True samurai, according to author Nitobe, disdained money, believing that “men must grudge money, for riches hinder wisdom.” Thus children of high-ranking samurai were raised to believe that talking about money showed poor taste, and that ignorance of the value of different coins showed good breeding: Bushido encouraged thrift, not for economical reasons so much as for the exercise of abstinence. Luxury was thought the greatest menace to manhood, and severe simplicity was required of the warrior class … the counting machine and abacus were abhorred.

VI. Honor
Though Bushido deals with the profession of soldiering, it is equally concerned with non-martial behavior: The sense of Honor, a vivid consciousness of personal dignity and worth, characterized the samurai. He was born and bred to value the duties and privileges of his profession. Fear of disgrace hung like a sword over the head of every samurai … To take offense at slight provocation was ridiculed as ‘short-tempered.’ As the popular adage put it: ‘True patience means bearing the unbearable.’

VII. Loyalty
Economic reality has dealt a blow to organizational loyalty around the world. Nonetheless, true men remain loyal to those to whom they are indebted: Loyalty to a superior was the most distinctive virtue of the feudal era. Personal fidelity exists among all sorts of men: a gang of pickpockets swears allegiance to its leader. But only in the code of chivalrous Honor does Loyalty assume paramount importance.

VIII. Character and Self-Control
Bushido teaches that men should behave according to an absolute moral standard, one that transcends logic. What’s right is right, and what’s wrong is wrong. The difference between good and bad and between right and wrong are givens, not arguments subject to discussion or justification, and a man should know the difference. Finally, it is a man’s obligation to teach his children moral standards through the model of his own behavior: The first objective of samurai education was to build up Character. The subtler faculties of prudence, intelligence, and dialectics were less important. Intellectual superiority was esteemed, but a samurai was essentially a man of action. No historian would argue that Hideyoshi personified the Eight Virtues of Bushido throughout his life. Like many great men, deep faults paralleled his towering gifts. Yet by choosing compassion over confrontation, and benevolence over belligerence, he demonstrated ageless qualities of manliness. Today his lessons could not be more timely.

Recording of Bruce Lee

This is the only recording of Bruce Lee in a real MMA fight. He's fighting Ted Wong here, one of his top students. They are wearing protective gear beacause they were NOT ALLOWED to fight without them. Those were the state rules at the time. If not for those rules I can guarantee you that Bruce would have fought bare-knuckled. Footage is restored to 4K resolution. Enjoy.














credit https://www.youtube.com/user/TheAngryVideoEditor

What Is Best in Life?

There are somethings you have to be a warrior to find funny... or you must have seen, "Conan: The Barbarian," more than twice.

Absorb what is useful

“Not being tense but ready.
Not thinking but not dreaming.
Not being set but flexible.
Liberation from the uneasy sense of confinement.
It is being wholly and quietly alive, aware and alert, ready for whatever may come.”
― Bruce Lee, Tao of Jeet Kune Do

Fight

Water

Seattle State of Mind

I feinted left and went in with a right corkscrew punch. I connected solidly on the jaw. All my training had paid off.

This morning I when I slid from bed my left knee creaked and my head ached from a thorough workout the day before.

None of that matters in this zen like moment. In the presence of sparring, practice fighting, I’ve forgotten my body. All that lives is the desire to make contact.


 In this blog we will rarely, if ever discuss technique. The thing that is paramount over all technique is context. While fighting, while training, the question hangs, “What is my purpose?”

Your purpose, if you are persistent, will be rediscovered newly each time you train.
If you are lucky you will land on the same purpose every time.

 Purposes include:

To be a better fighter
To train myself on the path of being a warrior
To crush others
To protect those I love
To not punch someone at work, out of rage
Other

 Even if you think your purpose is hidden, I promise you, it is NOT. Your purpose is revealed in every practice and utterance of your art. No matter if your Spirit returns to the same purpose every time you practice, the meta-purpose is, that you PRACTICE, that you continue to inquire. That you continue you make your Self better. After all, how we practice is a microcosm of how we live.

 I fear not the man who has practiced 10,000 kicks once, but I fear the man who has practiced one kick 10,000 times. Read more at: http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/b/brucelee413509.html
- Bruce Lee

 This underscores what I saw in my practice today. I’m not as fluid as a long, limbed wolf, I don’t have the form and inquisitive nature of a devoted fox.

What I do have is that I return to practice each time, to grind out the learnings. To enter what is unknown to myself, and make my Self known, to myself and others, through practice.

Guro Bahi

 SEACA Systema In Seattle -  I started my martial arts journey in 1985. I have been a student of Tai Chi, Aikido, Capoeira, Escrima, Kali, and SEACA Systema. I have taken seminar(s) with Guro Dan Inosanto and students of Remy Presas. I am most at home teaching the Mariposa de Combate form of SEACA Systema.

I have been teaching SEACA Systema since 2003. As a Maha Guro Bahi I have taught students in Phoenix, San Miguel de Allende and Seattle. The founder and chief instructor of SEACA Systema is Manuong Gardea.