What was the Bushido code exactly?

by sammyjamez

So I have been doing a bit of research about the philosophical foundations of martial arts (mostly Eastern) as I have always been a fan of martial arts and philosophy too and how they both are entangled with each other and how most martial arts taught and practiced that it can be implied in all aspects of life.

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(and interestingly, despite how Eastern martial arts seem to be very similar to each other especially in terms of their philosophies, they are actually quite distinct in certain details. There is a difference between a Buddhist monk who practices Shaolin Buddhist martial arts, and the actual Buddhist warrior monks, known as the Sohei or the Ikko-Ikki. This also applies to other martial arts and their sub-disciplines that how they are taught such as Tae Kwon Do, Hapkido, and Hapkimudo (the "mudo" means "mu" - "warrior" and "do" - mind) and the "traditional" or "soft" practice of Tae Kwon Do that focuses more on self-control, respect and so on, and the more "modern" Tae Kwon Do that focuses more on (controlled) aggressiveness, physical fitness and fighting and competition (which is the one that you see in martial arts competitions)

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From my research so far, most Eastern martial arts are originated by the Bushido code, sometimes known simply as Budo or Bu, which has deeply philosophical-religious-spiritual ties with Shinto whose concepts and teachings are difficult to explain concretely (like the emphasis on "ki" or "chi" which are basically spiritual life energy that is defined as the essence of everything and every living being and can be controlled and exerted to your will if controlled correctly. Basically it is like the Force from Star Wars) where the Bushido code have been a very strict, yet also general code for the samurai to follow that focused a lot on integrity, honour, courage, self-control, and respect (there is a general criticism nowadays that modern martial arts focused too much on the competition and little on their connections with Bushido).

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However, despite that the samurai have been a very respected social class in Feudal Japan for centuries, there were many conflicts in Feudal Japan and there were even different kinds of Samurai like pirate samurai ("Wokou"), masterless samurai ("Ronin") who were treated with a status that was similar to criminals as they were treated as people with shame and dishonour (mostly for not committing the seppuku after they lost their master), there were even black Samurai ("Yasuke").

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Because of this, I am assuming that not every samurai followed the Bushido code to the rule and considering that Feudal Japan experienced changes throughout history too, I am assuming that even different samurai had different codes of their own too (like the pirate samurai or the ronin)

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So what was the Bushido code exactly?

ParallelPain

Sorry to disappoint you, but while general warrior cultures and lifestyle existed, a unifying code of Bushido did not. At least, not in the time period you are thinking of.

See Was the way of Bushido ever documented in a book, if so what should I read?