What is a Samurai Warrior? How do they see the world and their role in it? What are their belief systems surrounding life? How do they practice physical discipline in everyday life? What is the history behind the Samurai?
These questions have come to mind more recently, credit to my son. I couldn’t be prouder!
My husband and I have always been fascinated by various cultures and ways of life…the Samurai reserving their place at the top of the list. (It should be of no surprise that our child has begun to travel a similar path of exploration and fascination, as we have).
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The things we all find the most thought provoking and intriguing about the Samurai, relate to balance of mind, emotions, and physical discipline.
Foregone Conclusion…
In all honesty, my husband and I knew as soon as pregnancy was confirmed, that our child was going to be involved in some sort of self discipline/defense, at some point in life if we had the ability to make that happen. We just didn’t quite know how that would come to be.
Let’s face it…The world gets stranger and more dangerous, day by day. The Mainstream Media News loves to remind us of that.
Aside from that, we wish our boy to be as prepared to handle adult life as possible, with every single tool we can provide him with.
That includes self discipline and yes…there may come a time where self defense comes into play.
(At the end of the day, you can only control your own actions. You can not anticipate the actions of anyone else. You can only be prepared to react in a sensible way.)
In any event, by the time our son turned 7 years old, we hadn’t yet gotten him involved in any kind of martial arts. We then moved to another state and focused on the new school, settling into a new environment, etc.
It so happens not long after we moved, our friends from our previous home town, signed their daughter up for Tae Kwon Do. (Their daughter and our son were besties at the time, same age). We began seeing posts on Facebook of the little one in class, getting awards, next level belts, etc.
We thought, “Ok, maybe our son is old enough to begin some sort of training.”
So, we began investigating.
(Truth be told…we were also a bit jealous we hadn’t thought to do it sooner, like our friends.)
When we did get around to making phone calls and sending emails for information, we discovered not a single place within 45 miles of us, would take our son on for training. There are indeed lessons available within that driving range for anything from Tae Kwon Do and Karate, to Jiu-Jitsu and basic street based self defense.
Yet, none of them would provide training to anyone under 16-18 years of age.
Favorite Samurai Books
Alternative Solutions…
Know what my son did? He started paying attention to youtube videos and tutorials on how to practice The Way Of The Samurai.
It started with Anime (Supervised, of course). It led to him asking for a Katana for Christmas. He got 2 (a wooden and plastic version) for training purposes. It then led to him going outside and practicing the techniques he had learned online.
It was just Random. We looked in on him in his room one day, and he was gone. Never said a word. When we saw him, he was right outside..in a full on meditative stance, taking slow, deliberate swings at the air with a Katana.
So Proud.
Who needs those instructors anyway? The internet is a huge library of various resources.
While the practices and motivations of the Samurai have changed a bit over the years and have developed into smaller factions, the overall fundamental beliefs remain the same…
Courage
Integrity
Benevolence
Respect
Honesty
Loyalty
My son seems to have come up with his own set of training rules, taking specific ideas and beliefs from various samurai and other teachings he has encountered.
I wouldn’t call him a warrior by any means, exactly… not in mentally speaking overall. He is quite the gentle soul, with a heart of gold.
(More often than not though, some of the best warriors I’ve ever seen, never showed their true skills until it was required of them. I can only pray that never comes to be for my kid, as many of us do.)
Way Of The Samurai From A Teenager’s Perspective..
While my child is fascinated by a myriad of things, his interests do mostly revolve around the arts of some sort. The Samurai teachings are one of many. It is super beautiful to watch a child of a young age, navigate through life with an understanding that not everything has to be about negativity. There is Beauty everywhere you look if you are willing to see it. Navigating through the murky bits simply requires thought, wisdom and discipline.
Now that I’m almost done bragging about my wise son, here’s just a small list of his basic beliefs about life…we could all learn something from it! I know I have, just by observing!
Tips To Becoming The Modern Samurai Warrior, from a teenage perspective:
1. Be The Neutral Observer
This means…Don’t get emotionally involved at all times. It means separate yourself from the outside world so you may view a situation from all points of perspective.
2. Bravery
Realize no matter what, things will happen as need be. Ultimately, you have no control over anything but yourself. You can only face it, accept it, and do your best to conquer the bad in life.
3. Honor
Approach life in general, with respect. Hold yourself with great esteem, as well as others. Life in all forms, is sacred. Don’t be flippant about it.
4. Personal Loyalty
Above all, be loyal to yourself and your own personal values.
5. Harmony
I think we all know what this one means. No drama. The desire to enjoy life and experience happiness as opposed to turmoil.
6. Virtue Is Based On Knowledge
Knowledge is required in order to become truly virtuous.
7. Acceptance
We can only change what is within our control. It takes great courage to accept what is outside of our control. Acceptance is not always easy to achieve, but it is necessary.
8. Forgiveness
We all have our faults. No one is perfect. Sometimes, we feel hurt by others and can’t immediately see a way past the situation. Sometimes, we hurt others too and can’t see why. Without a forgiving nature, no one can co-exist.
Questions…
While we can see our son actively practicing discipline when it comes to mind, body, and spirit, he still does have questions. He doesn’t quite understand why it’s so hard for others to want the same…neutral perspective, bravery, honor, loyalty, harmony, acceptance, forgiveness, etc.
He is also still working on that acceptance part, as we all are.
Uh…I think it’s also safe to safe he doesn’t necessarily believe one’s life is less sacred than bravery, honor, and loyalty (as traditional Samurai have been known to believe). I think he actually cherishes his life in that way! LOL.
We are proud nonetheless, that he even considers such lofty ideals.
When it comes to watching him practice with his Katana, I see a certain meditation technique happening. My “Samurai in training”, is slow. He is Focused…Aware…Deliberate. He is in his own world completely. (Reminds me of Arya with her Water Dancing.)
Based on what we have observed, our young son may well be on to something here. It seems his self training when it pertains to approaching the real world (the unknown), is a combination of Zen, Confucianism, and the mastering of self defense.
He wants harmony above all. He wants to educate himself. Dedicate time to himself. Become a better person. He strives to learn from observing the words and actions of others.
As mentioned before, sometimes that observance gets to be confusing. He is still in training, after all. Well, aren’t we all in some way?
Getting To The Point…
In conclusion, I am not entirely sure why I decided to write this article. I suppose…I was observing my son when I sat behind my computer that day, and it inspired me.
In all honesty, it took me two weeks to get back to it! I had 800 words already down and not a clue where I was trying to go with it. A fellow blogger actually inspired me a bit yesterday when I read her article.
I think my main point does come down to the one thing we all do want to achieve in life…Harmony. Happiness. Peace.
More than anything, we want harmony with our own mind, body, and soul. We hate to feel down, lonely, angry, etc. We only want to live our best lives with what we are given.
In today’s world, it takes a lot of courage to get out of bed and face the day head on, sometimes.
It is difficult to know you may someday face a dangerous situation and not have a clue as to how you would survive it.
In today’s world, Acceptance of a different opinion, way of living, understanding of life, etc. isn’t practiced as often as should be.
In today’s world, it is not easy to feel genuinely accepted.
Personal loyalty is extremely hard to balance. You face times where your own beliefs are questioned. You have to make a choice between you and another. It is not easy.
Religion & Spirituality…
I wouldn’t consider myself religious, per se’.. What I do believe is that all life is precious, right down to the tiniest of ants in your backyard that you don’t even think about. (Not to say I don’t crush the little shits when they are swarming my drink! That’s different.)
What I have learned is when you take yourself out of the adult world for only a half a second, you will maybe come to rediscover things you have long since forgotten about…such as peace and harmony.
I know what it means to meditate. I have my own version. Sometimes, it involves my simply sitting outside in the gazebo and watching the squirrels at play.
Sometimes, I will pick up a stick as my son does, and deliberately swing at that air in a slow, focused stance.
At other times, I will study…whatever comes to mind at that moment.
And sometimes, I will just see a lady bug on the window sill and stop everything. I scoop it up and walk it outside to a plant it will enjoy.
I think at the end of the day, all of these various lessons apply in some way. It often seems to come with the same basic rules.
While you may not always have the answers to life’s questions, your soul will provide those answers in time. It takes patience, faith, and the knowledge that you will always be given what you need, at the time is needed.
If a 13 year old child (and younger!) can learn these ways of living, why can’t adults 20-30 years older and more, catch on?
So, What Does It All Mean?
So, what does it mean to study the Samurai? It means understanding perspective. It is craving knowledge of nature, humans, and the world in general. Trying to understand all of it and Accepting all of it at the same time, is a thing to be mastered. It requires separating yourself from the world at times, so you can make decisions that are right for you. It means forgiveness. Sometimes, it means Bravery and courage, even when you don’t feel it. It means Wisdom, Respect, and Honesty. Ultimately, it means that you treat others as you wish to be treated. It means Harmony.
So, yes…my son is learning to be a Samurai on his own terms. He is learning balance between his own emotions vs others. He does know how to defend himself without agression.
Shouldn’t we as adults, strive for such things?
At the end of the day, I think I’m just going to sit back…observe my son…learn…and revel in the fact that at least one more human is out there that may change the world later in life for the better.
He is the exact thing I would expect from a Samurai.
Loyalty, Courage, Bravery, Acceptance, Persistence, Honor, Virtuous, Forgiving, and capable of observance.
This is very developed and well thought out. I come from a rural community and not much was offered. I love how your son sought out different resources and developed his own set of training.
Thank you! I’m glad you enjoyed!