Define "Warrior Spirit"

(I love these definition threads, always have.)

Many of us have probably heard the expression "Warrior Spirit" a few times, and I suppose many also have a vague idea of what it means. What do I say, vague? A quite clear idea, probably, but who of us can really put it into words? I know I can't. So, being the nasty one that I am, I'll leave it to you to try and define this wonderful term. Fire ahead! There's no wrong answer here.

Warrior spirit to me means many different things. It can of a physical, mental or spiritual nature.

Physical: One actual fights for ideas with physical force. Just because this warrior has sufficiant might does not always make him right.

Mental: This warrior fights with words and ideas, without the use of physical. His weapons can be verbal or written words.

Spiritual warrior: This warrior uses the power of prayer to fight. It can open prayer with many, or behind closed doors on his own.

The spirit part of this basically as the Guardsman said- the willingness to put forth the fight for convictions, beliefs and others who cannot fight.

~~juls

When I think of someone having a warrior spirit, I think of them as someone who is willing to fight full heartedly for the things they believe in. I guess I just think the strength of a warrior... so the spirit of a warrior would be made up of the qualities that a warrior would possess?

And... that basically sums it up for me. There goes my ability to ramble.

A warrior spirit is a person with that particular mindset, as Phil would put it.

Of course, only training and physical skills won't get you there. You need mental training too. The one with the right mindset will eventually win against their opponent, so it makes all the difference.

Interesting thing about mindset is that it is a very accurate term -- indeed, you can set your mind. You can set it to be fit to fight for ideas, for freedom, for faith. Sometimes it can take a lifetime... But a true warrior spirit won't budge before any obstacle.

As for the spirit part, I do believe there is some kind of spiritual heritage we carry within our soul. If you believe in reincarnation, it would make all the sense to have certain spiritual baggage you carry with you throughout all your lives.

The soul is here to learn. It picks up valuable lessons, and carries on to the next life... So, a warrior can actually be one who has been one for longer than it seems.

I believe that Raider fully described one aspect of the warrior spirit, but there is much more than that, specially in traditional martial arts such as karate.

MA teaches you to fight, correct? but what does the word fight cover?

It can refer to self defence and related issues; It can also mean fighting for what you believe in or fighting your problems to be able to survive in the harsh and cruel world. But I believe that not all enemies are outsiders. You could fight yourself! You could fight your bad traits and this, in my opinion, is the most important thing! Fighting yourself in order to become a better person!

I've got to go now! I'll come back and write more on the subject some other time.

Welcome Plata,

Well, of course you need to constantly work on yourself to improve.

Warrior Spirit is not a philosophy or a religion.
It is (a major) part of the character and personality, which of course makes you see things from the point of view of a warrior.
Warrior Spirit influences greatly your life philosophy; however, it is not the philosophy itself. And therefore, it doesn't give an answer to WHY and WHAT FOR to fight.

"Fighting yourself in order to become a better person!" is not part of warrior spirit, but it's one answer of many to the question of why and what to fight for.

Thank you Raider. You seem to have much more experience in martial arts than I have, but with due respects, I have to say that I don't quite agree with you. Of course, all MA aren't exactly the same in philosophy. Specially the modern ones seem to be centered mostly on the physical aspects, which is understandable. So much violence in the modern world! But my information is mostly about my own style ( karate or shotokan to be more specific) and what I write here is based on that information. Gichin Funakoshi's twenty precepts of karate are an obvious example, one of which is :

The aim of karatedo lies not in victory or defat, but in the perfection of character of the participants.

Humility, for instance, is a trait that you see in most karateka and one that is automatically developed in a dojo through constant hard training, severe rules and punishments, etc.

Still, this may not have been an appropriate reply, because I'm not sure if I understood your point very well

Hi Plata,

That is philosophy; Karate-Do has it's own philosophy. Many martial arts do.
However, philosophy and warrior spirit are two different things. They influence each other, but they are not the same.
Warrior spirit describes not a philosophy but character traits (which lead to certain attitudes on some things, and therefore do influence philosophy).


P.S.: Humility is another topic which can be argued about. My personal opinion/philosophy ( ) is, that there is no need to humiliate students. Respect is needed, yes, but from the teacher as well as from the student (don't get me wrong, there is a hierachy of course; though, not a humiliating one). The teacher is higher skilled and experienced, however, this doesn't make him a superior human being.
Therefore, I refuse to humiliate myself, and I do not humiliate my students.

But that is my personal opinion, there are others too.

Hi again. Let's enter the topic of humility then shall we?!

It is one of the traits that a martial artist must posses for in the lack of it he would be an unpleasant and unpopular character, boasting about his skills and picking fights only to demonstrate them! But this doesn't mean that the instructor must humiliate the student. In a MA class there is certainly respect, which is a two way thing. The instructor has no right to insult the students, but it is his duty to teach them to be humble and respectful in their encounters, not through word but through actions! He must try his best to train better humans as well as better fighters. Am I not right?

Hi,

Humility is too extreme. Respect is what is needed, no humility.
Someone who gives respect is not an unpleasant, fight-picking character, but without thinking low of himself (have you noticed that successful fighters have a lot of self confidence? ).
Oh, and the main problem of people who pick fights to show off is not a lack of humility, but a lack of self confidence.

Perhaps you're right. I give up, though not totally convinced

There, there, convincing, giving up, winning, losing, that's not what this place is about. Maybe we should try to get back into the discussion again.

One point I've come to wonder is this: Martial arts are often practised as either sports, or a bit like meditation; both of which moves the actual fighting out of focus at least a bit, which is of course neither a good thing nor a bad thing but solely depends on what you hope to gain from the MA you're training.

Maybe that is what leads you to different views upon what warrior spirit is or isn't. The question is though - can you use this expression 'warrior spirit' if your focus lies anywhere but on the aspect of combat? Is 'warrior spirit' even a useful category at all when talking about philosophy or sports?

(Did I make sense? )