-Ghandi
Normally I wouldn't write about anime- don't get me wrong, practically every morning I wake up and listen to this audio on repeat as I work out, alongside it others;
To put it simply, yes I am an anime fanatic.
But my love of animation aside, I am writing about the movie Sword Of The Stranger. Fantastic movie; not only for its visuals and the amazingly well done fight scenes, but moreso its story of honor. But I won't go into the plot and risk spoiling it for you.
Here it is in full;
Honor.
It's such an important word to the martial artist, and one largely ignored these days. And even worse, many who claim to have it misunderstand what it is.
Honor is something which can only be seen tangibly in the actions of others. People have died in the past to preserve it, either their own, or another's.
Knighthood, Samurai, aristocracy throughout the ages; all have claimed ownership.
Yet honor is not some kind of systemization of conduct and moral codes to adhere to.
To put it simply honor is keeping true to yourself.
Cultures differ, and throughout the ages what has been honorable to one, such as suicide for a knight, to honorable in another, such as the Samurai. Even in certain religious circles, such as Jainism ritual suicide has been seen as honorable, where the same would be deplorable in western culture.
It's just a fact; what is honorable to one will not be to another.
And while many might agree on certain aspects concerning their beliefs on what they define as honorable, it is not always the case.
So this is why uniform codes, such as Bushido came to exist and be widely held, but it was still and always will be a very personal choice to follow such a code. No different than if you were to compose one for yourself.
Honor, to me, is to do what you believe is right. Whether guided by intuition, emotion, or logic, upholding one's sense of self, their duty in existance to be, is what determines the quality of their honor.
And honor is very complicated. Sometimes doing the right thing isn't honorable in terms of what society would uphold. Justice for example is associated with honor, yet at the same time 'justice' is as grounded in a motive for revenge and compensation as it is to right a wrong. And it is only the latter which is honestly honorable in a sense of rightness for a situation.
Let me give you an example; say somebody came into your home and attacked your family. It is honorable to defend your family and stop them. Some would even say you should kill that person.
Yet let us tweak the situation slightly; your family is evil, doing wrong (this is just a hypothetical to make a point) and this person is attacking them to stop what they are doing. Is it still honorable to defend a group of people who are doing wrong?
Some would say yes, some would say no. It will always depend on the context of the situation, and where you stand perspective-wise concerning it.
To put it succinctly, to carry honor is to carry a sense of what is right. And you are only honorable when you are upholding what you believe to be right.
Honor should be engrained in the martial artist; it is reserved humility, and we practice it everytime we bow or thank our teachers, but also those who are our peers. This is why the school I attended where every black belt was expected to be bowed to, from white belt to other black belts even higher ranked- it was a mark of respect and acknowledgement. It was little wonder then this school instilled great moral character in its students, through a myriad of different methods. This is just one example.
Honor is tantamount to respect, and without respecting what you believe in, and working your hardest, devoting yourself to fulfilling those beliefs in action when the opportunity occurs, one cannot say they are living honorably.
It is not so simple as right or wrong, a system of ethics. Morality and ethics changes from person to person, culture to culture, and even situation to situation.
So those who walk around claiming to have a code of honor but do not follow it do not have honor in my book. If it is a part of your system of belief and honor to not steal, yet you still steal, then you are without honor for you are not being true to yourself. It is a part of my system that if I am training with someone of lesser ability, experience or skill, I will not abuse being better. That I will work with them at their own level.
And of course I cannot always do that; one occasion comes to mind where I was sparring somebody where they just kept going more and more agressively, and if I did not do o as well I would become injured. I ended up having to actually go at my ability and kick them hard enough in the head to stun them to de-escalate. I would not say that was honorable- but it was necessary for me to avoid injury. In that instance I did not follow my code of ethics, and I acted dishonorably in my own eyes.
That is what is more important than conveying honor to others, but ensuring you carry that honor within yourself and feel that, that feeling is deserved.
That is what the story of the Sword Of The Stranger spoke to me, and why Nanashi is a great example of one with honor; we can be cold, but if we enjoy life, even the little things, and never forsake what we believe is right, then we can say with honest truth to ourselves we are living with honor.
It's up to you though to determine those things, and keep yourself in check to follow those principles. That is the meaning of honor- staying true to what you believe is right. It's something you will work on your entire life, but a life with honor is far better lived than one which isn't.
"A true martial artist in my book, is someone who is going to do the right thing and lead by example."
-Duane Lugwig.
"Honor is integrity tied to action."
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