Having a Warrior Mindset in Modern Society

[peterb]

No offense, but when I hear someone talk about being a “warrior” I picture the kind of guys who can’t help reminding you how lethal they are. It gets old fast.

I think taking responsibility for your family’s safety is admirable. But as other folks have noted, there are many threats other than physical violence that would be irresponsible to ignore. Every hour, every dollar spent training for combat has an opportunity cost. Is the extra hour at the gym better for your family than an hour spent reading with your kids? What happens if you get hurt when you’re training/playing? Is it really for the family, or is it all about you?

It’s hard figuring out how to allocate your resources. How do you balance preparing for something highly unlikely but potentially devastating against things that are less severe but more likely? How much is enough? It’s good to be prepared to defend your home against intruders, but if you’ve got a pallet of ammo and crappy smoke detectors you might want to rethink your priorities.

And if you truly think that violent attack is the most likely threat to your family, you might want to expend resources in moving somewhere safer.

On a more practical note, there are some concrete ideas here: http://www.corneredcat.com/Mindset/boundaries.aspx

[ubervic]

No offense, but when I hear someone talk about being a “warrior” I picture the kind of guys who can’t help reminding you how lethal they are. It gets old fast.

I think taking responsibility for your family’s safety is admirable. But as other folks have noted, there are many threats other than physical violence that would be irresponsible to ignore. Every hour, every dollar spent training for combat has an opportunity cost. Is the extra hour at the gym better for your family than an hour spent reading with your kids? What happens if you get hurt when you’re training/playing? Is it really for the family, or is it all about you?

It’s hard figuring out how to allocate your resources. How do you balance preparing for something highly unlikely but potentially devastating against things that are less severe but more likely? How much is enough? It’s good to be prepared to defend your home against intruders, but if you’ve got a pallet of ammo and crappy smoke detectors you might want to rethink your priorities.

And if you truly think that violent attack is the most likely threat to your family, you might want to expend resources in moving somewhere safer.

On a more practical note, there are some concrete ideas here: http://www.corneredcat.com/Mindset/boundaries.aspx

Excellent questions and suppositions.

When I was young and single, the notion of being a 'warrior' was very different for me than it is today, now that I've become a husband and father, not to mention a suburban Harry Homeowner.

In all honesty, the idea of taking down another human being absolutely makes me want to puke-----and the only thing worse would be seeing my wife or one of my beautiful kids being taken down when I could potentially stop it. This is the reason that I acquired my CHP and it's the reason why I study and train, when I can (when I'm not teaching/guiding/loving/enjoying my family), on how to use the tool that I carry at 4:30 position with optimum safety and efficiency.

I train so that I may utilize this tool with confidence and accuracy if/when necessary; I also hope that I will never actually have to use it. That's my idea of today's warrior.

[BWT]

I think the truth is, most of us don't want to hurt anybody, I don't particularly enjoy it.

I've played Football (Pure Warrior in the Defense line, I'm kidding, incase the humor doesn't translate), etc, etc.

Where you needed to overcome an adversary, now, that was a sport, a hobby, yeah people got hurt and yeah I hurt some of them.

The truth is there was a belief system, lifestyle, social class, and profession in being a Samurai.

It was kind of like being nobility, they didn't have 9 to 5 jobs, their job was being a Samurai. Their Social Status in life (and there was a class system, I think it might be hard to fully understand that or appreciate it as much as they did, but it was a Noble position, there were farmers that worked in the fields, etc, and there were Samurai that protected them, much like knights, etc, they lived in the service of a Lord, etc.)

They were pretty much Soldiers/Policeman/Knights/Nobles/Private Military Contractors.

You know what caused the revolution (that the U.S. had no involvement in, in reality, that the movie "The Last Samurai") in Japan amongst the Samurai? When they tried to take that title/authority from them.

Truth be told, I thought really, really hard about what I was willing to do to protect my family, my self and society, and the truth is, I want to do everything I can. I made that decision before I got my CWP.

I've had that discussion with everyone I've ever talked to about buying a firearm for self-defense, when they say something like "Oh I want one, but I don't want to keep it loaded, you know, just in case someone breaks in, etc, I don't feel it's safe" or something like "I'll shoot to wound." I've explained to them that they need to be prepared for the worst if they're going to use a firearm or really any tool/weapon for self-defense.

I'm a Computer Repair guy for a living, and I feel it's necessary to say that before I say this, I don't think you should get your CWP or buy a firearm for self-defense (Self-defense, not recreation, hunting, collection, whatever, two different things), if you don't think you're okay with taking a life when other lives, maybe your own, are at stake.

That's really it. I think the "warrior mindset" boils down to two things, the willingness to take action, doing what's necessary when the time comes, and the extreme desire to not be a victim. The rest boils down to competency with said weapons system, an individual needs to come to terms with that possibility and make a decision before they end up in that circumstance what they will do. I think that's a necessity, because honestly, if not, I think they'll probably do more harm than good.

The reason I would not consider myself a Warrior is, frankly,

a person engaged in, experienced in, or devoted to war

I hope I haul around 2-3 lbs of lead, steel, copper and polymer for years and never use it.

I think I'd classify guys who use weapons for a living could classify themselves as Warriors.

But we also aren't as fixated on honor, glory, etc, such that, if we disgraced ourselves we committed suicide to preserve the honor of our family. ETA: (I forgot to finish that thought, I think most of the guys who qualify, are pretty humble about it, and don't care to distinguish themselves with that title, I might be mistaken, but that's what I've observed).

We're a bit more humble of a society. For instance, you could be killed for disrespecting a Samurai if you weren't another Samurai, etc, and even then, they might fight to the death.

I mean how many guys carry short swords for when they don't make the Expert category for the FAST drill to preserve their family honor?

ETA: I also thought about it last night as I lay trying to fall asleep, there is a heavy religious/spiritual aspect to being a Samurai as well. It was much more than just a job.

I'm not the kind that knows that much about their culture either, I'd really consider myself an absolute novice, but that's what I do know.