The Path of a Warrior

In ancient times, a warrior tried to live his life in harmony with the universe and to understand what path he must travel. Along the road he would have encountered many hardships and trials, but he would never succumb to these vicissitudes. Instead, he used them to develop his own budo path even further.

In everyday life, our actions will also show the warrior paths and the actions we take denote the truth in our lives. In order to teach we must understand; in order to understand we must feel; and in order to feel we must trial and live. These are my thoughts on warrior values. Through my life as a ninja warrior I have followed many paths and witnessed many lives being destroyed. Reflecting on these experiences has strengthened my understanding of my own budo path. I believe in the preservation of life, and yet in order to preserve the lives that I protected, I have had to face the demons that would destroy them. I have looked into the mouth of the dragon on three occasions, and each time my strength and belief in budo has brought me back from that barren wasteland and mouth of eternal destruction.

A true warrior understands the control he must exercise to show the qualities of mercy appropriate for a ninja or samurai. In combat, you have the chance to look into the eyes of your enemy and almost touch their souls. You have the ability to neutralise, but by showing mercy you start on a new path of enlightenment, and so the path of budo becomes more meaningful. To learn to forgive even the demon reveals a true warrior.

There may come a point when you must neutralise the threat, and how you choose to do this reflects your own spirituality. In the service and protection of others, one can argue that this is a necessary evil. Your martial path has now touched the elements of truth and distinguishes between those holy places heaven and hell – without them there would be no balance, no yin and yang, no understanding and no opportunity to better oneself through absorbing moral values. Although your parents will have taught you moral values, you have the freedom of free will to endure hardships to cleanse your spirit and to choose your own budo path.

This is one element of life that you must choose for yourself.