Simple Lessons:
Short, concise lessons and concepts helpful to students
and teachers
Gi - The Bushido Concept of Righteousness, Justice or Morality
By Terry Bryan
”It is not so much what you believe in that matters, it's more
the way in which you believe it and proceed to translate that belief into
action." *Lin Yutang {1895-1976 Chinese Author}
The Samurai listed seven virtues of bushido, or “the way of the
warrior” (the ethical code of the Japanese Samurai)..
The first trait is “gi” or righteousness, justice or morality.
Jhoon Rhee says it as “Might For Right” and whether you are
talking about combat, running a successful business or having a quality
life because of quality relationships, doing “the right thing”
is very important. Here are a few examples of doing the right thing.
Practice Intellectual Honesty Realism is a form of intellectual honesty.
The realist insists upon seeing the world as it really is, not as he wishes
it were. This objectivity, this refusal to engage in self-delusion, is
a mark of the true leader. In combat underestimating an opponent is deadly
and in business it can bankrupt your company if you make decisions based
on faulty information. Personal relationships can be equally destructive
if honesty is not one of the key principles.
Don't Trust To Luck Those who exhibit the quality of honesty in themselves
- do not trust to luck, hope for miracles, pray for exceptions to basic
business principles, expect rewards without working or hope that problems
will go away by themselves. These all are examples of self-delusion, of
living in a fantasyland. True warriors know that success is totally dependent
on themselves and their actions.
See Things As They Are The true warrior insists on seeing things exactly
as they are and encourages others to look at life the same way. As a motivational
leader, you get the facts, whatever they are. You deal with people honestly
and tell them exactly what you perceive to be the truth. This doesn’t
mean that you will always be right, but you will always be expressing
the truth in the best way you know how. As a senior instructor in the
martial arts, or a business person, the most powerful strategy you can
ever adopt is to surround yourself with people who you trust will tell
you the truth. I think that is the real power of a mastermind.
Refuse to Make Excuses The opposite of accepting responsibility is making
excuses, blaming others and becoming upset, angry and resentful toward
people for what they have done to you or not done for you. Honesty starts
at home and being truthful about who is in charge is a good place to begin.
About the Author:
Terry Bryan is the former General Secretary for the USA-NKF
(National Karate Federation), the official governing body for
the sport of karate with the US Olympic Committee. He currently
is the Executive Director for the American Black Belt Academy,
a 501c3 non-profit organization located in Colorado Springs.
His column, Simple Lessons, regularly appears on FightingArts.com.
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