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In Japanese tradition Bushido is a term which translates
"way of the warrior". Many samurai devoted their lives to bushido, a strict
code that demanded loyalty and honor to the death. If a samurai failed to
uphold his honor he could regain it by committing seppuku (ritual suicide).
Bushido is a particularly internally-consistent ethical code. In its
purest form, it demands of its practitioners that they look effectively
backward at the present from the moment of their own death. As if they were
already, in effect, dead. This is particularly true of the earlier forms of
Bushido or budo. Of later forms, traditionalists would scoff, "they reason
with staying alive kept clearly in mind."
There are seven virtues associated with Bushido:
- 義 - Gi - Rectitude (Right Decisions)
- 勇 - Yu - Courage
- 仁 - Jin - Benevolence
- 礼 - Rei - Respect
- 誠 - Makoto - Honesty
- 名誉 - Meiyo - Honor
- 尽忠 - Chugi - Loyalty
Important figures in the development of Bushido:
- Miyamoto Musashi
- Yamamoto Tsunetomo
Bushido was also a spiritual basis for those who committed kamikaze
attack during World War II. For this reason many of the martial arts that
are rooted in bushido were banned by the occupying Americans during the
post-war occupation.
The modern sport of kendo takes its basic philosophy from bushido, in
particular, the theory that the entire purpose of the sport is "one cut, one
kill". Unlike other martial arts extended contact or multiple strikes tends
to be discouraged, in favor of clean single strokes on the body or the head.
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