Budō Humility

The longer I practise Budō, the more I believe that one of its most important lessons is humility.

Budō gives us a framework to examine ourselves. It asks us to think about our own character, integrity, discipline, respect, loyalty and behaviour.

But I don’t believe that gives any of us the right to judge another person’s Budō.

After more than five decades of training, I have met and trained with many martial artists from different styles, organisations, cultures and generations. We don’t always agree. I don’t always agree with my own teachers, friends or students.

That’s okay.

Two sincere Budōka can face the same situation and make very different decisions. One may believe that loyalty means staying with an organisation. Another may believe that integrity means leaving. One may believe strongly in preserving what they were taught. Another may believe they have a responsibility to develop and grow.

I don’t think one decision necessarily makes someone a better Budōka than the other.

As we become more senior, we accumulate years of training, rank, titles and experience. We teach more people, and people may listen more carefully to what we have to say.

But perhaps this is exactly when humility becomes even more important.

There is a big difference between saying:

“This is what Budō has taught me.”

and saying:

“This is what Budō means, and therefore I can judge your Budō.”

Rank gives us greater responsibility. Experience gives us perspective. But neither means that our understanding of Budō is the only understanding.

For me, the principles of Budō should make me look more closely at my own character, my own integrity and my own behaviour.

They should not give me a reason to judge someone else’s, and vice versa.

Perhaps that is one of the challenges of practising Budō for a lifetime. The longer we train and the more senior we become, the greater our responsibility to remain humble.

We bow to our teachers. We bow to our students. We bow to each other.

None of us owns Budō.

Osu!