The Seven Virtues of Bushido – Honesty
The intent of our Seven Virtues of Bushido series is to examine these qualities with a martial perspective. Telling the truth is instilled since we had to start taking accountability for our actions (Who Stole the Cookie from the Cookie Jar, etc.), and doesn’t need to be touched upon. Honesty (makoto) is not as facile as simply not lying when challenged; it’s so much more.
Truth is not always what people have been conditioned to expect. There are daily avoidances of honesty that occur without noticing. Example: Your day has been terrible. Nothing has gone right. How will you respond when a “how are you?” is asked, with the lukewarm, knee-jerk reaction of “I’m good, you?”, or with an authentic response? It is unfortunate that not everyone expects authenticity in daily discourse.
One can’t be untruthful to themselves. As put by Lao Tzu, “At the centre of your being, you have the answer. You know who you are and you know what you want”. In a world where we cannot expect transparency from leaders or media, it is one’s own responsibility to keep honest with themselves and with others. Personal meditation is paramount in the pursuit of what is true. What else is there to grasp? You have nobody to answer to but yourself, no social or political influences, nothing but an affirmation of the way life has to be lived, which is simply and honestly. Going forward and being personally honest, one lives a life of constant improvement and rediscovery.
Take Ippon Kumite, an exercise in pre-arranged sparring. Unlike the spontaneous nature of jiyu kumite free sparring, Ippon is a sincere agreement between partners with an expected result. The practicality of the exercise is in its honesty and sincerity; a partner executes an attack towards their partner with full commitment. The uke (recipient of the technique) must block, leading to a counter and so on. The sincerity of Ippon Kumite practice develops a student’s intent to defend; if they do not block sincerely, they risk being struck.
Such training, like all facets of dojo study, translate to outside of our school. Ippon kumite: “I will do this with commitment and conviction, and you can reciprocate the same sincere effort. No grey areas.” That seems like a good social contract to have with people in everyday life, right? It’s transparency that helps us to progress together.
Honesty is a delicate virtue. Although truthful and non-truthful words are black and white, one has to remain tactful and sensitive in some situations. To be “brutally honest” is a lazy handling of word and thought, and when approaching the ideal of graceful interaction, anything brutish will not do. This, of course, is not to say that one must hold their tongue in the face of injustice, it’s far too often that people do not say what needs to be said. It does come down to establishing what is right and just, and when the time comes, expressing; this ties in with Rectitude and Courage.
It is my duty (and pleasure) to continue providing insight on all these varying topics of martial culture, so next week, please stop by for a look at Loyalty and Duty.
Until next time,