Questions on Warrior Archetype

[Jay585]

I recently finished Musashi: An Epic Novel of the Samurai Era and it raised some thoughts on warriors, warrior-scholars, and “everyone else”.

In the book there are two “top tier” warriors – Musashi and Kojirō with (to my understanding) Musashi being more the wandering warrior-scholar (a Ronin - a samurai with no “paycheck”) and Kojirō who gets hired to teach fighters for one of the lords.

Kojirō only wants fame and recognition and has the natural talent to attain it. He cares about public perspective. Musashi is more interested in the journey of learning and perfection of all aspects. He is falsely slandered several times but stays on his path. Musashi fights to test his progress whereas Kojirō fights to prove himself to others. This is my interpretation and I could be way off base.

I see similarities between clout-chasing Instagram shooters and the ones more interested in an exchange of information/application of skill/skill on demand.

As I read this book which has story lines of merchants, bandits, farmers, etc I wonder to myself about these various characters “why wouldn’t everyone want to be a swordsman, ronin or not?” and it made me reflect on all the different types of people out there and the levels they (and I) am at. Being a shooter is not necessarily analogous to being a warrior but those of us who go about daily life carrying defensive tools (ranging from pistol to pepper spray) are more warrior-slanted than those who do not.

What is it about us that makes us fighters? Why do some people not have that trait?

Those who do have some element of the warrior trait: why is it that some work at being skilled while others care only for being heard & seen and perceived as “right”?

[Le Français]

Being a shooter is not necessarily analogous to being a warrior but those of us who go about daily life carrying defensive tools (ranging from pistol to pepper spray) are more warrior-slanted than those who do not.

What is it about us that makes us fighters? Why do some people not have that trait?

I don’t know. But, I would say that carrying this stuff doesn’t make people fighters. I’ve spent time with people who own guns for self defense, and armed professionals, who are definitely not “fighters”. I would more readily rely on my octogenarian grandmother in a crisis, because she would have the mindset to take decisive action.

Those who do have some element of the warrior trait: why is it that some work at being skilled while others care only for being heard & seen and perceived as “right”?

Those differences, I think, have to do with personality and general approach to life. The ones who want to be seen and adulated for their skill at arms, let’s say, want attention for themselves in other areas too. I wouldn’t say that’s necessarily a bad thing, in moderate doses.

[Welder]

I would say briefly that I think there are a lot of reasons people carry, and not all are altruistic or on a higher level. For example(s), some view a gun as a talisman, some carry "at" others.

Similar to above, I would take any one of a number of men, unarmed, that I've worked with into a rough situation before I'd take 70% of the people I know who carry.

[Trooper224]

"Warrior" is a term that's bandied about so much these days that it's become a cliche.

Carrying a gun doesn't make you a fighter anymore than driving a car makes you Dale Earnhardt.

Unless an antisocial cave dweller with lousy hygiene is who you want to emulate, I'd stop with the Musashi bullshit if I were you.

[MickAK]

All the warriors I know work for private military contractors and I don't envy their lifestyles.

Most of the other people, skill with arms is just a necessary part of the job they wanted/ended up in.

[WobblyPossum]

I don’t know. But, I would say that carrying this stuff doesn’t make people fighters. I’ve spent time with people who own guns for self defense, and armed professionals, who are definitely not “fighters”. I would more readily rely on my octogenarian grandmother in a crisis, because she would have the mindset to take decisive action.

Carrying a gun doesn't make you a fighter anymore than driving a car makes you Dale Earnhardt.

Bingo. The majority of people who own and carry guns are just that, people who happen to carry a gun. They aren’t people who meet anyone’s definition of the word warrior and aren’t going to be particularly useful in a fight.

[MickAK]

I guess 'Aware-of-the-possibility-of-being-suddenly-murdered archetype' doesn't really have the same snap.

[nalesq]

When I think of “warrior,” I think of characters like Achilles or Agamemnon, killers who loved war and were primarily motivated to conquer by a desire for personal glory and honor, men who “craved slaughter and blood and the choking groans of men.” Men who believed that what was best in life was, as Conan put it, “to crush your enemies, see them driven before you, and hear the lamentations of their women.” And not just in some metaphorical sense.

Almost no one (except maybe for some types of criminals) thinks like this any more in the civilized western world, and frankly the world is better for it. I think “warrior” as it is used by many contemporary people has been diluted to meaninglessness.


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[SCCY Marshal]

...Unless an antisocial cave dweller with lousy hygiene is who you want to emulate...

My dream retirement.

[Suvorov]

"Warrior" is a term that's bandied about so much these days that it's become a cliche.

Agreed. The definition of Warrior is complex and has been trivialized. On one level, every Combat Arms soldier is a warrior. By extension anyone in the military and paramilitary can be seen as warriors but may be nothing more than clerks in a uniform. But within those ranks are people who exude certain mindset and skills that set them apart from others. Add to that skill with a weapon does not make one a warrior, but it does seem that in many/most, a love for violence is common.

I think of Band of Brothers. Captain Speirs was a warrior by all accounts and was cut from the same cloth as many warriors of lore. Major Winters eschewed violence, but who was a more effective soldier?

Maybe I had a different outlook when I was in the Army and in my youth, but I do not view myself as a warrior today nor would I like to. I am a family man and a struggling Christian who does not like nor seek violence, but also a realist who accepts that even the most peaceful of men must be ready to do violence to protect that what we hold dear.

Tangential to this paradigm is the whole “Meat Eater vs Grass Eater” banter that is thrown about (although maybe less today than during the GWOT). While I realize that guys in certain units need to pump up themselves I always thought the saying was silly. Not a single lion on the savanna wants to tangle with a healthy male Rino.