I have been thinking about what it means to be a warrior for a long time. Before I get to how this ties into the martial arts, let me give you a quick overview of my background.
My brother joined the Marines when I was about 13, and to me it seemed quite glamorous. Snappy looking uniforms and shiny medals called to me. I began to formulate a plan that would afford me the same opportunities for glory and adventure.
Inspired and encouraged by my brother, I joined a group called the Young Marines when I was in 7th or 8th grade, and when I got to high school it was a natural extension to join JROTC. Sometime around my freshman year, I also began training in the martial arts.
In 1990 at the age of 17 and with my mother’s signature, I enlisted into the Army. Anything to get the hell out of Phoenix, although it was by no means a rash decision. Having spent the previous four years in JROTC, the transition from civilian to soldier wasn’t as stressful as it might otherwise have been.
My first job in the Army was Armor Crewman (MOS 19E). It was a dream come true to be able to drive a tank and shoot the 105mm main gun! Two years later I switched jobs and became an Artillery Forward Observer (MOS 13F). The job of an FO is to direct artillery and air dropped munitions onto the enemy.
My military career began with Tanks and Artillery. These two branches, along with the Infantry and Engineers, make up the Combat Arms ground forces of the Army. The warfighters. The ten percent of the Army that actually closes with the enemy in battle.
I learned about warfare by being the tip of the spear. I spent two years in Germany with the Third Infantry Division, ostensibly facing down the Red Horde; our mission was to stop them at a place called the Fulda Gap. 3 U.S. Divisions facing down 30 Russian Divisions. From Germany I volunteered to serve in Korea with the Second Infantry Division, where I spent a year north of Seoul waiting for the spark that would light the Korean peninsula on fire. Working in the Target Acquisition Battery, I would have been the first to know about a North Korean attack.
In total I spent ten years in the Army, always volunteering for the tough duty assignments. Like so many young men before I felt the need to prove myself. I eventually picked up a third job – Interrogator. The Combat Arms jobs were losing their charm and I wanted to try a different kind of challenge. My military career afforded me the opportunity to serve all over the world. In 2003, I even spent a year working for the government doing Intelligence work in Iraq as a civilian with the Iraq Survey Group where I participated in 23 combat missions.
I mention all of this by way of establishing my credentials. When I ruminate on being a warrior, it comes from a position of actual experience in combat and years living with the idea that my job was to destroy my country’s enemies on the field of battle.
In the martial arts, there is a lot of talk about being a warrior. Many martial arts call themselves “combat” martial arts. I sometimes wonder what they are actually referring to. There is no army on the planet that desires its soldiers engage in hand to hand combat with the enemy.
When I was serving, the Army’s hand to hand combat program was a holdover from just after WWII; they had not yet put together the Army Combatives Program. Even so, these programs are really about fostering a combative spirit in the soldier and not really about self-defense or technique. The First Objective of the Combatives Program is to disengage with the enemy to create enough distance so the soldier can use his or her primary weapon – their battle rifle.
Many of the situations described by martial artists as self defense I would argue are really more accurately described as a duel. Where both parties knew that a fight was about to go down and voluntarily participated in it.
Real self defense is more akin to waking up in your own bed with a stranger holding a knife to your throat. Where only one party knew that something was about to happen.
As a martial arts teacher I think about this a lot. The role played by the martial arts in the warrior archetype. What does it mean to be a warrior? Clearly the killing of our enemies in hand-to-hand combat on the field of battle is only applicable to a narrow group of students – mostly military, and even then, based on the Army’s own objectives, might not be a particularly relevant skill.
Most of what people train as “self-defense” probably isn’t an actual skill either. Not to say that it isn’t worthwhile for other reasons. It is. I simply am arguing that the thousands of regurgitated repetitions we all do of the “someone grabs you from behind” scenarios aren’t necessarily going to work the way you think they will.
So again, what does it mean to be a warrior?
Is it getting in the ring and pummeling your opponent with safety gear and rules? Is it learning how to kick and punch? Is it memorizing forms or katas?
Maybe. Or at least maybe those are part of the equation.
In the kung fu I teach, our forms all have a lesson that goes along with the physical techniques. The lesson from our dragon form is called “Spirit of the Warrior”. I have spent a lot of time pondering this and talking with the students at our school.
My current belief is that we are to consider the ideas of the Medieval knight or the code of the Samurai – Bushido. Intellectual and spiritual pursuits, where the journey is about the cultivation of intangible traits – courage, humility, wisdom, compassion. Ironically, I think the goal of a true warrior is to not fight. Anyone who has seen battle can attest to the horror and devastation war brings. Any warrior who has been in battle will tell you that you never want to go through that. The scars you carry will haunt you for the rest of your life.
Unfortunately, violence is sometimes necessary. But it should be righteous violence. It should be violence in defense of the weak and helpless. It should be in the promotion of justice. It should be a tool of last resort.
The warrior can’t let injustice go unchallenged. The racist tirade on the bus. The bully in the school yard. Opportunities to cultivate the spirit of the warrior abound.
Every time you step out of your comfort zone gives you the opportunity to embrace being a warrior. All humans will experience the fear of the unknown, but a warrior will take action in spite of that fear. This is the very definition of courage.
How does one walk the path of the warrior? Training and self reflection. We train the body to develop physical confidence and competence. More importantly, we learn that real strength comes from inside – not your muscles. It is the biggest reason why we have the students break bricks. The bricks can teach the student things that no instructor ever can.
Our training is challenging specifically because we want to the student to really get to know their physical limits, and then push past them.
Ultimately, we walk the path of the warrior to uplift the human race. We seek to cultivate ourselves so we can better serve our fellow humans. We learn about violence so that we can stop it from happening, hopefully before it begins.
Finally, we walk the path of the warrior to set an example for our communities. To show that there is another way, a better way. A way to go through life without fear.
Daniel Cashman, EAMP, MS (AOM)
Military Awards and Medals: Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal, Army Commendation Medal (w/ one Oak Leaf Cluster), Army Achievement Medal (w/five Oak Leaf Clusters), Korean Defense Service Medal, National Defense Service Medal, Good Conduct Medal (w/one Knot), Army Service Ribbon, Overseas Service Ribbon (w/ Arabic Numeral “2”), NCO Professional Development Ribbon, Cold War Service Certificate
SAMMA-Dan 