Time to Cowboy up!

“According to a certain person, a number of years ago, the late Matsuguma Kyoan told this story:

In the practice of medicine there is a difference of treatment according to the Yin and Yang of men and women. There is also a difference in pulse. In the last fifty years, however, men’s pulse has become the same as women’s. Noting this, in the treatment of eye disease I applied women’s treatment to men and found it suitable. When I observed the application of men’s treatment to men, there was no result. Thus I knew that men’s spirit had weakened and that they had become the same as women, and the end of the world would come. Since I have witnessed this with certainty, I kept it a secret.

When looking at the men of today with this in mind, those who could be thought to have woman’s pulse are many indeed, and those who seem like real men few. Because of this, if one were to make a little effort, he would be able to take the upper hand quite easily. That there are few men who are really able to cut well in beheadings is further proof that men’s courage has waned. And when one comes to speak of kaishaku (the assistant at seppuku, Ritual suicide, who administered the coup de grace by beheading the condemned man), it has become and age of men who are prudent and clever at making excuses. Forty or fifty years ago, when such things as matanuki (a practice of piercing one’s own thigh with a sword or some sharp object as a demonstration of courage) were considered manly, a man wouldn’t show an unscarred thigh to his fellows, so he would pierce it himself.

All of man’s work is a bloody business. The fact, today, is considered foolish, affairs are finished cleverly with words alone, and jobs that require effort are avoided. I would like young men to have an understanding of this.” – Yamamoto Tsunetomo, The Hagakure

NOTES: I too would like men to understand this. After watching the opening ceremonies in Beijing China for the Olympics and witnessing the discipline of the Chinese people, I started to wonder about America and its youth, especially the young men. How many know discipline? How many know pain and suffering? This is what makes a man, what makes a Warrior. To feel pain and be proud of it, use it motivate and help to push you beyond your own thought limitations. This cannot be taught in a video game or read in a book, it must be experienced in life, in reality. There a few men in our society and because there are few men and so many single parent families with women raising young men, the soul of man is changing. Young men are being taught to get in touch with their feelings, it’s ok to cry, be comfortable with your soft side, it’s acceptable to have alternative lifestyles but, these are the attributes of a woman and it is not natural for men to take on woman’s energy. This throws things out of natural balance and weakens the spine of American’s young men. We need to get back to the definitive line of men being men and women being women. It is ok to be a man and act like a man there should be nothing to hide or be ashamed of. Be rough and tumble, get dirty, skin an knee and rub some dirt in it (figuratively of course), suck up those tears and be a man. If a woman does not like that, it is ok, because she is a woman and does not understand.

Hoo Rah!!! – GhostDog