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Old 03-09-2011, 07:38 PM   #90
graham christian
Dojo: golden center aikido-highgate
Location: london
Join Date: Oct 2010
Posts: 2,697
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Re: Fighting Mind vs Warrior Mind

Quote:
Alex Lawrence wrote: View Post
Actually I was going to bring up Masai warriors. I doubt most of them have actually spent all that much time in combat but who would argue with them being defined as warriors?

Traditionally warriors are a part of the tribe that lives slightly appart and has it's own traditions and codes of conduct and ethos and they spend their whole lives like this; they're not paid to do it, it's who they are. They're naturally inclined to that kind of way of life.
Cf to a modern soldier there are simularities but we don't expect total dedication to a martial way of life from a soldier. At most we expect him to maintain fighting skills and fitness for about twenty years. He is what he is because he's paid to be that way often he's there because of socio-economic factors.

In really serious times everyone becomes a soldier via conscription and at the end they all cease being soldiers. Ex-soldiers do not usually seek to maintain their fighting skills though. They have no use for them in civil society and they discard them and learn new skills; they blend back into society.

But for a warrior these skills are integral to who they are and they find value in them outside of their immediate application. So a warrior IMO is simply someone who practices and prepares for conflict because it is part of their identity and because they find personal utility in doing so.
I like it. Well put.

Regards.G.
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