Meiyo: Honor

Meiyo is one of the cornerstones of Bushido, which is the code by which Japanese warriors lived. As of late I have been looking at the 8 tenants of Bushido and really seeing the connection to Karate and the practice of the fighting arts, and more so how modern training and traditions (I am looking at you MMA) is devoid of these tenants and actually how many modern Martial artist are not taught these, or don’t exhibit them in their daily lives.

               Funakoshi Sensei is famous for saying “Dojo nomino Karate to Omou na” or “Karate goes beyond the Dojo> This means that Karate and the behavior of the artists that train in the Dojo must go outside of the dojo. The honor, respect and traditions must seep into your daily lives. This is why we get upset when students misbehave outside of the Dojo as much as we do when they act poorly inside the club.

               It is equally as disgusting when you see instructors use their “powers” or “position” to do things that they should not be, or act ways that they should not be acting. I hate when people don’t own their misbehavior and or have excuses built in for their poor behavior. Some will look at the behavior and say “well that’s just Don” or “that’s just his way”. No, its not….Don is  a jerk (not all Dons, just that done…you know the one acting like a jerk).

               The laws of Bushido were the “unwritten” kind for many years. The Nobility sort of knew what was expected of them and they behaved as nobility would, to extremes sometimes mind you but hey that’s nobility for you (See built in excuses).  When Bushi finally started to write out the virtues and discuss them in training they came up with several “Ideals” of what they needed use to affect how the powerful were acting to both keep the peace and also bring a certain responsibility to the noble warriors.

               The virtues that were put forwards in the end all of them were geared towards behavior and how a warrior must conduct themselves. All of them are still pertinent and should be adheared to by Martial arts students and instructors and used as a guide for selecting Uchi Deshi and general students. Some are harder to gage in others, but things you have to think about in yourself.

               Meiyo or Honor is a very personal thing and reflects directly on the individual but also their club and instructors. How one carries themselves, reacts and interacts with others are all reflections of the persons character. Honor is one of those things that is judged by many  who interact with you but true honor is only owing to one judge, the self. How you do things, how you treat others, how you behave are all part of Meiyo and reflect your true inner character.

               Webster’s Dictionary defines Honor as “A keen sense of ethical conduct: Integrity”. Honor and integrity are closely connected. Honor is one of those things that can be faked. I have met a lot of people that laced integrity or Honor as they told lies or found excuses for their actions and hid behind them not wanting to tell the truth. They lacked honor and were cowardly.  Personally I have had to apologize for my actions in the past, but I own them. I feel that this is my way of expressing my honor. I have made big mistakes, honest mistakes and when I found out about them….if I felt that I was wrong…I issued an immediate apology. Others will push past mistakes, blame others, lie and deceive themselves to avoid taking ownership of their issues. This is a total lack of honor!

               As a martial artist I have accidently hurt other people, or inadvertently done something that harmed someone, like trying a Shiho nage on a friends kid as a “Funny thing” and hurt their shoulder. I was showing off a bit and hurt him. I immediately felt bad and apologized a for the injury (it was minor but I was very upset with myself). However I also use the Shinai and sometimes a Bokken to correct people and on occasion I will swat someone’s butt with it if they are not fast enough, or inadvertently nick them with the stick. I have never hit anyone hard enough to leave a mark as that is not the point of correcting with these. The one time someone complained about it to me (through someone else) I apologized that they felt that way, explained my thinking and then said to the person I will continue to do this however as it is part of teaching Karate! I have the integrity to admit that it may have shocked or upset someone, but equally I have the integrity to let them know its not about to change.

               Meiyo is personal to an extent. Only you should internally judge yourself, when others judge your honor it is false for the majority of the time. They are judging your actions externally and most of the time they don’t know what is going on in your head, why you reacted that way on that specific occasion, they are judging the act not you and confusing the two.

               Honor is one of those things that you should strive to correct, forge, polish and reinforce as often as you can. Its about learning how to treat others, how to react properly and how to live your life morally and with integrity both inside and outside of the Dojo.