My sensei used to tell me that if you live life with the guidance of the Dojo Precepts you'll be hollier than the pope. It was a joke at first, but I realized later on that with all the hardships on life, the bull going on everyday, living life in accordance of the Dojo Kun sure is hard. So tell me guys, how do you get along with life? Edit: Watch your language please
It's hard but I get through it. Not at all how I wish it was. I'm currently reading many-MANY text books and am looking for the Do-jo Kun in a store around the main city near me. From what few things I have read about it- sounds like the best lifestyle to live by. In fact I just remembered that the magazine "Classical Fighting Arts" just printed out a whole thing talking about it. Maybe I'll post the section tonight or tomorrow.
I know I've ref-ed Rob Redmond's site before, but thats because its so good! See his section on the dojo kun http://www.24fightingchickens.com/mu/dojokun/index.html Its interesting that TKD have a similar set of precepts called the tenets. Some might argue that they originate from the Japanese dojo kun, introduced during the Japanese occupation of Korea. http://www.itatkd.com/tenets.html - tenets of TKD CKD (Choi Kwang Do) has a "pledge" which is similar to the dojo kun also: To set positive goals and strive to achieve them To apply self discipline to further my personal development To stand for justice and honour my word To promote friendly relationships among all people To use what I learn in class in a constructive manner I guess like most of these sorts of mantra, its just a set of values to strive to acheive.
Life is hard, this we all know. So how do we use the martial arts to help us through our daily lives? Bushido. It's not just the name of our judo school, it's the way we try to live. Honor. Respect (to self and others). Humility. Purity. Discipline. Dilligence. The morals we try to live by is a long list. To live a true life dedicated to martial arts, all aspects of your life must be clean. You can't get go into the dojo and be a good black belt without taking some of these concepts off the mat. When life gets hard, you can't give in and take the easy, immoral way of dealing with things. If you live your life right, you will know what to do. If you're ever in despair, if you don't know what to do, life is so bad you don't know what's going to happen, my personal advice would be to go train. The word "dojo" means "place of enlightenment." I have had many more spiritual revalations on the judo mat or the karate dojo than I have had anywhere else. Through martial arts comes a moral life. I have seen more upstanding people with good moral character in the martial arts that I have seen at any church I've been to.
Personally, while the Dojo Kun is good, I tend to prefer Musahi's 9 rules of Heiho from Book of Five Rings: 1. Do not harbor sinister designs 2. Diligently pursue the path of Niten Ichiryu 3. Cultivate a wide range of interests in the arts. 4. Be knowledgeable in a variety of occupations 5. Be discreet regarding ones commercial dealings 6. Nurture the ability to perceive the truth in all matters 7. Perceive that which cannot be seen with the eye. 8. Do not be negligent, even in trifling matters. 9. Do not engage in useless activites. - Matt
