Warrior’s Code Of Ethics – Great Values To Live By
A few months ago I began taking a Shaolin Kung Fu San Soo martial arts class that is being taught at my local gym. This is not a formal class where belts are awarded, but is somewhere I can go to gain confidence, knowledge in self-defense, and self-discipline. The classes are challenging, as they should be, and have helped me increase my strength, stamina, precision, speed.
I did find this Warrior’s Code of Ethics online and wanted to share it because I found it to be an excellent code to live by. I am copying it from the Shaolin Tiger Kung-Fu site as I couldn’t have said it better myself.
“As martial artists we must strive to uphold the ideals of humanity: justice, courtesy, wisdom, trust, goodness, virtue, loyalty, and courage, as well as, endeavor to incorporate these ideals into our daily lives in order to attain perfection of character. For example, we must strive to make courage mean more than simply never retreating in the face of the enemy. Courage not only pertains to fighting, but also to our jobs, our homework, or the way we conduct our personal and professional lives and relationships. It is action when action must be taken. The Nine Codes of a True Warrior are:
Courtesy – A true warrior always attempts to practice the following elements of proper etiquette:
- He or she promotes the spirit of mutual concessions;
- He or she will be ashamed of one’s vice, contempting that of others;
- He or she will be polite to another martial artist, regardless of rank or skill;
- He or she will always encourage and uphold justice; and
- He or she will treat all people on an equal basis and not hold any arguments against another.
Honesty – A true martial artist will be honest. He will answer questions truthfully to those that are due an honest answer. He will not steal or keep items that do not belong to [him]. “Honesty is the How to construct great arguments best policy” is a good rule to live by. However, you are not required to be honest to one who you believe would abuse any truth you would tell him or her. For example, if you were a soldier in a time of war and were captured, you are not required to [tell] your captors anything. Anything that you tell your captors would be used by them to hurt you and others. Honesty works both ways, but that does not mean that you can lie. Lying is wrong, but it can be justified to a small degree in certain situations. Remember this.
