Why is a moral foundation necessary?
It provides a framework for appropriate application of the skills we develop. Hatsumi sensei often says that “The purpose of martial art is to live”. This can be taken on different levels: staying alive through physical danger, or as a path through which one can have a vital and satisfying existence. The Bujinkan approaches the study of actual feudal battle skills (bujutsu) as a spiritual life path (budo). In the Saskatoon dojo we begin with the premise that the most basic value is life, without which nothing else is possible. This value manifests biologically in the natural drive to protect oneself (and one’s family, etc.) from harm. This in turn means that actions one takes to preserve one’s own (or another’s) life in the face of something directly and immediately threatening it are among the most fundamentally moral human acts. It is this “dual life (protection of self and others) value,” rooted in natural law, which sanctions and sanctifies the warrior’s training.
It provides a framework for appropriate application of the skills we develop. Hatsumi sensei often says that “The purpose of martial art is to live”. This can be taken on different levels: staying alive through physical danger, or as a path through which one can have a vital and satisfying existence. The Bujinkan approaches the study of actual feudal battle skills (bujutsu) as a spiritual life path (budo). In the San Francisco Dojo we begin with the premise that the most basic value is life, without which nothing else is possible. This value manifests biologically in the natural drive to protect oneself (and one’s family, etc.) from harm. This in turn means that actions one takes to preserve life (another’s or one’s own) in the face of something directly and immediately threatening it are among the most fundamentally moral human acts. It is this “dual life (protection of self and others) value,” rooted in natural law, which sanctions and sanctifies the warrior’s training.
