With the origins of Karate being Okinawan, but having a Japanese influence, I want to know how much influence the ideals of Bushido have had on your training and lives.

For me the answer is a little obvious. I live my life by a modified Bushido, adding some western principles (such as individuality) where appropriate.

I myself live the same sort of way as do many karate practitioners. i have a few books that mostly pretain to the way op the samurai or bushido that you should read:
-hagakure
-book of five rings
-shogun(its long and takes a bit to get into it but it was probably the best book ive ever read)
-zen and the art of street fighting
a good movie on modern day bushido is "ghost dog" it has a corney name but an awesome movie-awesome soundtrack as well, all done by rza and a bit of killah priest both from wu-tang clan.

I seriously doubt that many modern MA-ists live their lives by the code of Bushido. Remember, Samurai (a less accepted term in old Japan) literally means "one who serves". Americans & other industrialized people are too "entitled" to serve (they want to BE served). This attitude is contrary to Bushido.

How many of you have argued w/ your boss, parents, sempai etc.? Unacceptable for Samurai.

How many of you would die for your boss even if you knew he would provide for your family?

How many of you would kill another person (right or wrong) on the order of your boss?

How many of you would kill yourself by disemboweling & decapitation for bringing shame upon your company resulting from a mistake?

I'm sure there might be members of special forces that have chosen this way of life but to the rest of us, it's simply a romantic notion, fantasy @ best. There's no room for "individuality" because then it changes everything - from "others-centered" to "self-centered".

To me, you might as well pretend you're a Jedi fighting the Dark Side - it's just as valid.

Owari