On Bushido - Part II

Blog Article/Post Caveat (Read First Please: Click the Link)

I wrote some stuff on this thing we all call, “Bushido,” and here is a link to search results on the subject at my primary karate and martial art blog: http://isshindo.blogspot.com/search?q=bushido

In a recent article that followed up a previous article by the same author where the concept of, “Bushido,” was once again addressed in what I see is an effort to convey a more truthful and factual understanding of this most often misunderstood Japanese concept called, “bushido.” 

It comes down to the human brain’s pension to create stories to support things we perceive as we travel through this very difficult life we live. If you want to know more about the brain’s work in our lives and how we live it according to that matrix called, “The Brain,” then read the book, to start, titled, “Incognito by David Eagleman.” 

This recent article will tell us that how we understand bushido and its connections to historical Japanese feudal era samurai stories (hint: strong emphasis on the term stories). It turns out that the creation of bushido is very much a modern thing and that it is more a propaganda effort to get a populace behind a mind-set leading to war, WWII to be exact as well as other skirmishes of the late 1800’s and early 1900’s, 

I quote, “Japan needed a way to stir up its people, to engage them in a dream of conquest and expansion, one fueled by the burning coals of their own righteousness and ‘specialness.’ The gas for this fire was, ‘Bushido.’” 

Bushido is a modern term to my understanding and its first real presence came when the first book was published on the subject that gave the Japanese the very thing they wanted to, “Stir up its people, etc.” The articles author actually spent a good number of years training in Japan and tells us that he had never once heard reference to the term and the author was studying the older more traditional, “Koryu,” martial arts where you would expect to hear the term if it was that important. He stated, “In the classical martial arts, bushido is never mentioned, because bushido does NOT really mean anything. It’s a vague term, like ‘Patriotism,’ that has emotional value but not much in the way of a rational definition.” 

Then there were one or two other things within the story that got my attention and one is our belief system that the peasants, etc., created empty-hand and farm implement tools to weapons for protection against samurai, etc. It appears historically speaking that samurai vs. peasants didn’t really spur on the need for empty-handed and/or kobudo like implements created from farming tools. It appears they didn’t actually need it and I quote, “Commoners could and often did stage strikes, even rebellions, usually over taxes (sound familiar). And armed with rakes and hoes, they nearly always defeated the samurai if things got violent.” 

It appears more and more that in truth things like their, “Confucianism,” belief in unquestionable loyalty toward interdependency was, like most things turned to the benefit of the Japanese leadership, was perverted to gain them what they wanted - just like any other human who takes actions either good or bad to get what they want. 

It appears that those in charge created and pushed myths and propaganda to, my words here - brain wash the people to achieve certain political goals, etc., to conquer others and so on. 

Now, our karate and martial arts are based on what the Okinawan and Japanese teachers passed on to their students and to us, the military occupiers. We need to remember that, “our teachers and our teachers teachers were all young men growing up in the prewar era of Japan and Okinawa and then the war time era that followed. The myths and propaganda, in strong likelihood, brainwashed them as well including the effort to “Institutionalized karate and martial arts into its educational systems.” 

The author continues to let us know that the modern dojo was effected by this mythical and propaganda driven effort more so that any so-called historical connection of samurai and confucianism, etc., that meant one who practiced and trained would have, “Bushido spirit,” and that they connected historically to some sort of samurai status more from stories of a mythical nature rather than reality. In truth, the author states, “In reality, much of the spirit of the dojo has more to do with the imperialistic goofiness of Japan’s fanatical military of the 20th century.” 

Misunderstanding, misconceptions, teachings based on myths and propaganda and other such nonsense have pretty much obscured the real spirit of budo. I also liked another martial artists who trained for a long period in Japan who said his Japanese sensei told him upon leaving to return home to America something like he is American and should teach as American’s teach rather than attempt to teach Americans in a manner like how Japanese teach. It makes sense. 

Bibliography (Click the link) + Lowry, Dave. “Karate Way: Another Look at the Historical Meaning of Bushido.” Black Belt Magazine. February/March 2016.