[bamboo]

Opa's blog got me thinking- short of becoming a soldier and going to war, can you really live the "martial way"?

[Triple T]

Originally Posted by bamboo

Opa's blog got me thinking- short of becoming a soldier and going to war, can you really live the "martial way"?

yes. Even if you think of soldiers and war, most members of the military nowadays do not see combat. They still march, they still drill, they still go through the same mental programming and live the same lifestyle. It's a certain perspective, it's a lot of discipline but most importantly it's something that "normal" folk just don't get.

That being the case, the same thing can be said about any genuine committment to a specific lifestyle: religious life, married life, operating your own business, involvement in charities, coaching a sports team, etc.

[bamboo]

Interesting response TTT. I was actually stuck thinking about more "period" soldiers and never really looked at it from the perspective of a modern mindset and now am rethinking the entire issue.

Hmmm, now I have to respond later, reschedule my entire day. geez..


-bamboo

[Gazelle]

How would one define 'the martial way', exactly?

[bamboo]

Ahhh- Thats the question really. How would you do it Gazelle?

[nbotary]

Honestly, I think it all falls back on one simple notion - common sense. Common sense tells you to treat others how you want to be treated, know right from wrong, etc. If you read any philosophy books on martial arts in depth, you will see that everything strives for "harmony in nature". The thoughts and ideas of all martial arts are pretty much the same, have the same core concepts and rules or tenents to living ones life. Ironically, these are the same tenents found in organized religions.

In a nutshell, common sense should just tell you to try and be a good person. If you're doing that, you're living the "martial way".

[bamboo]

Originally Posted by nbotary

In a nutshell, common sense should just tell you to try and be a good person. If you're doing that, you're living the "martial way".

Does "martial" living really mean being kind to others? Perhaps that may be included in the "ethics" of some systems but are soldiers going to Iraq told- "Kill with compassion"?

To me, living a more "martial" lefstyle includes training and regularly "fighting" but more importantly operating day to day in a very aware stae of mind. Always knowing the openings of myself and the people around me, knowing my surroundings and behaving accordingly.

This of course borders on the paranoid since I leave in a peaceful suburb of a peaceful city in a peaceful country.

-bamboo

[Triple T]

I suppose - and this is the evolution of what amounts to a brain hiccup - that there is a difference between a martial way of life and a combat mentality. For instance, what separated the Mogol horde from the gentleman knights of Europe and their Muslim counterparts during Ghengis' conquest? What separated the Germanic barbarians from the Roman legions? Without journals or biographers of the common soldiers in these campaigns, anything we could say would really just be conjecture, but bear with me here.

We always imagine barbarians, Vikings, the Mongols, the Huns, etc. as bloodthirsty, storming the castle walls for the excitement of it, the spoils behind them, or some other fairly mundane objective. Then we always hear of "civilized" soldiers, professional combatants, adopting strange lifestyles and philosophies which somehow make the act of killing or dying in battle akin to spiritual advancement. The Crusaders were told that for every day they served in the fight against Islam, they would spend one less day in Purgatory.

My personal exposure to any kind of "martial way" didn't start until I wrote an essay about the Knights Templar in my freshman year of high school. I had trained in two different martial arts by this point in time, but none of them tried to cultivate any kind of lifestyle. They merely wanted me to throw pretty roundhouse kicks and stand in rigid stances. And while I agree with Botary's post, I also feel like there are certain groups - much like "esoteric" religious groups - who use the martial arts not as the backdrop of a code of ethics, but as a method of self-improvement. That is, by dropping into a rigid stance, we learn to strengthen our resolve. By executing flawless technique, we demonstrate our committment to perfection.

Understandably, actual fighting very rarely comes into play with such a perspective.

[zefff]

Maybe my mood is affecting my focus but I didnt get the point of that last post???

TBH I dont see any 'martial way'. There is only one way - The way. Its the same if you are a baker or a soldier. Both have successes and failures in their practice and both live and die.

Also, 'soldier' is not a black and white thing. What is one soldiers battlefield is the holiday vacation of another? And why cant the baker be a soldier?

[zefff]

Hmm, no takers? I need to know if I am wrong or not.

To answer the question in the first post, yes I think you can live 'the way'.

Wether it is healthy or unhealthy to do so is another matter.