Hello Tiny,
I think the crux of the issue is that a great many people who shouldn't be parents, are.
Unfortunately, that appears to be the case all too often.
Subsequently, other individuals (oddly enough I find that many of them are in the martial arts), due to an increased awareness, or possibly just level of intelligence, feel a burden of responsibility and act accordingly. Hero archetype or complex, call it what you like, but it's there. Not surprisingly, such efforts often go unnoticed, totally unappreciated, or in rare circumstances, cause a backlash from ineffectual so-called "people."
I'll confess that I've always tried to combine my martial arts training with a distinct moral code. I'm honestly not trying to romanticize the past; we are today often shocked and disgusted by human behavior that was frankly much more common in Ancient, Medieval, & Renaissance times, all over the world. Modern martial artists are often keen on emulating some sort of bushido code or chivalric ideal--systems of conduct that were in fact adhered to comparatively rarely by the majority of samurai and knights, in centuries past. However, those ideals
did exist back then, and there
were some warriors who lived up to those concepts as much as possible.
So yeah, I can say that I'm a fan of folks like Marcus Aurelius (the follower of the Stoic tradition who was the last of the so-called "Good Emperors" of Rome), the Seigneur de Bayard (
le chevalier sans peur et sans reproche--?the knight without fear and without reproach"), Jose Rizal (the Filipino hero who was both a man of the sword, and a man of letters), GM Leo Giron (the WWII eskrimador who became one of the first to teach FMA to the public, after the 1966 murder of 8 nursing students in Chicago), and the nameless wandering Ronin who, when offered food by frightened villagers who really had none to spare, pulled out a toothpick and claimed he had already eaten (even though he hadn't).
At any rate, I can't tell you how many times I've done something honorable only to end up swearing that it's the last time I'm ever going to help anyone.
I hear what you're saying, and I know what you mean.
Thought some thoughtful response to this was in order given replies by "guests."
It's much appreciated.
It's an interesting question though: how many MA-ers have a greater sense of social accountability, or feel as though no one else on the planet appears to be paying attention?
All I can say is that, in general,
not enough people pay attention. Too many folks just don't seem to care about... anything.
Is martial training psychological linked to a sense of responsibility?
I feel that, at least on the higher levels, it most definitely is. Again, the old chivalric ideals are concerned with such things. For example, Medieval Europeans had some rather interesting and charming notions about the elephant, which were incorporated into the knightly code. It was believed in Medieval times that the elephant used its trunk to blow ants and other small animals out of its path, so that it would not step on them when walking. The elephant was thus seen as the physical manifestation of "the non-abuse of great power"--a concept which the knights themselves struggled with. Some were more successful than others, in that struggle.
Is "Tiny" just full of sh-t and a source of endless rhetorical questions?
Hardly, sir. You bring up issues which should be of greater concern to everyone, IMO.
Thanks,
David/Spad/TFS
