The Warrior’s Guide to True Manliness
March 4, 2008
Editor’s Note: This is a guest post from Evan and Spencer Burton. They author the blog Living Indubiously.
It was not long ago that men were born to be warriors and had no other obligations than to uphold the warrior code and to pass it on to their offspring. It was only during the past 500 years that man forgot this way of life and replaced it with a complacency seemingly suited for a new world of convenience. The time that has passed since we have forgotten our warrior days has been a mere fraction of the entire existence of humans, meaning that this warrior instinct is still entirely intact and awaiting to be awoken in the lives of all men.
A Warrior’s life was driven by his own survival instinct and his fear of death. It was this fear that drove him to persevere and constantly improve himself. After all, survival of the fittest was in full effect at this point. Without this fundamental understanding about life’s impermanence and an obligation to achieve greatness, we become complacent and unmotivated in life. If it is true that nothing defines manliness more than a motivated and inspired individual who lives with a quiet confidence and a zest for life, then the lessons we have to learn from warriors of the past will get us far on the path to Manhood.
It is only until after a life changing event that most of us have this warrior instinct woken within us. For many it is the call to overcome adversity through a circumstance in their lives that requires a warrior spirit. For Teddy Roosevelt it was his childhood illness that gave him his first mountain to conquer, as well as his first taste of success. For Lance Armstrong it was his battle with cancer that gave him the strength to achieve his unprecedented success. For Martin Luther King Jr. it was the racist, segregated world that he was born into that lead him to become a force for change in the civil rights movement.
It is through the understanding and application of the following ideas that you too can achieve true warrior status and get on the never-ending road to greatness.
Master Your Body. Although most people associate being a warrior with fighting and hunting, these are the most basic principles through which a warrior’s strength is expressed. It is the mastering of your intention and strength to find discipline and power in every aspect of your life that distinguishes the warrior from the common man. The first conquest for any man should be the mastering of his body. For a warrior this was a necessity for survival due to the extreme physical demands placed upon him. Today’s man should always strive for this goal for a number of reasons. The cause and effect of hard work and muscle gains is a microcosm of the bigger picture in life in which hard work is the only catalyst to success. Another important reason to push your body to be its strongest is the long list of physical benefits such as hormonal regulation, mental clarity, and the general feeling of well-being that will all combine to improve your life physically, mentally, and spiritually.
Use Death as your Guide. We all could die at any moment. It could be today, tomorrow, or next week. You could go and visit your dying friend in the hospital and then get hit by a bus the next day. Whether or not you have an existing condition is of no importance in your actual mortality. If this was the common outlook of today’s man, do you think we would sit around watching cable TV and spending our time worrying about how to afford the next big thing in consumer electronics? Hell no! We would go out today and start doing the exact thing that we have always wanted to do (our purpose) while not wasting any of our time on the petty, pointless things. After all, there is no better a teacher in time management than having death knocking at your door.
Choose the Path with Heart. All paths are the same. They lead absolutely nowhere. At the end of your life you will be in the exact same position except you will be able to look back with either regret or satisfaction on the choices you made. It is the path that is important, not the destination. It is better to have a followed a path in your life that brought you happiness in the moment, than to have followed a path that promised happiness at your destination. Using death as your guide will promote a distinct change in your level of presence and naturally lead you to living in the moment and choosing the correct path. The warrior who chooses his highest calling is also the one to achieve the greatest success, further strengthening the chance of the survival of his bloodline.
Fight Every Battle as if it was Your Last. If you are using death as your guide and living in the present moment then you will naturally fight every battle in your life as if it was a defining moment to make or break everything you have worked for. When you have this mentality you are naturally doing your best at everything and your chances for success are greatly improved. This is the type of performance that we have come to expect from our great leaders and role models so why should we sell ourselves short of realizing such greatness? It is through this concept that you will truly be living to your full potential and increasing your likelihood of being the man that others look to for inspiration.
Through the practical application of these ideas into your everyday life, you will begin to see a change in the outcomes of your goals and experiences. You will also take on leadership qualities as you start to embody the very essence of what every man secretly strives to become. You will switch from being a victim of circumstance, into being a master of intention. Living indubiously and confidently, you will begin to manifest the conditions that will transform yourself from weak to warrior.
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Using death as your guide reminds me of the commencement speech that Steve Jobs gave -
He said that when he wakes up in the morning he asks himself that if he were going to die that day, would he still do what he is about to do?
If the answer is ‘no’ for too many days in a row, then something needs to change.
By and large, this is a crock. Most men in most places have been farmers, not warriors; warriors have in general been a parasitic class on the farmers. The choice of a (fake) Spartan for your image is a case in point — the citizens of Sparta were all non-productive warriors; the productive work that fed them was done by helots (serfs). See this fascinating article.
A real man fights when he has to — against warrior parasites.
It is not just that this is a crock. The premise of the article is not. What’s happening here is an article made with cookie cutters and a heaping serving of bromide, cliche, and blather.
Get better writers that do more than fill out a check list of self-help and lard the prose with “You’s”
I’d take issue with the point about fighting as well. Fighting every single moment of your life like a maniac is a sure way to wear yourself out and end up frustrated and bitter. The best fighter knows when it is time to dig deep, and when it’s time to avoid an empty or Pyrrhic victory.
Yeah i don’t think this article really has the same idea of manliness in mind as the rest of this website. This article seems to believe in a more stereotypical brute man as the epitome of manliness while the rest of the website is based more around the virtuous, sharp dressed gentleman.
I disagree with equating virtuous manliness and cultivating a warrior “instinct.” Since the writers mention Theodore Roosevelt, here is a quote: “War is a dreadful thing… Every honorable effort should always be made to avoid war, just as every honorable effort should always be made by the individual in private life to keep out of a brawl, to keep out of trouble; but no self-respecting individual, no self-respecting nation, can or ought to submit to wrong.” That is, avoid a fight, but in the face of injustice, fight to win.
As a Cherokee decendant, I take mild offense to the notion that warriors are parasites. A true warrior stands up for, not to. They protect. Otherwise they are just a bully, or worse. Perhaps that is what the Spartans were, IDK. And he didn’t say fight every minute of your life, he said every battle. He said this to help you guarantee victory. If it’s a battle that you don’t ‘have’ to win, then maybe it’s more of a diversion than an actual battle. I grew up in the projects, and I won many battles by running faster than the 5 guys chasing me. It was like my life depended on it, but not theirs.
I’m thinking a lot of you are missing the point of their post. The article doesn’t mention once about physically fighting or engaging in violence. It’s about taking an attitude of a warrior (courageous, vigorous, ect.) and applying it to your life. It’s about not taking on a victim mentality, but rather taking full responsibility of your life.
As Brett said, this post is not about literally being a warrior and spoiling for a literal fight-it is about having a warrior MINDSET. That is it say, to become men who are brave, persevering, tenacious, and tough as nails.
The brothers who wrote this post both live with cystic fibrosis. Yet they have decided that instead of wallowing in their disease and its possible limitations, they are going to attack life straight on like warriors.
@Seven Samurai-Actually throughout history battles were fought largely by citizen-soldiers. They were farmers AND warriors. Which is why wars were often conducted during the off seasons for planting and harvesting. Yes, Sparta was an exception as you pointed out. But everyone would do well to stand their ground in life the way the Spartans stood in that pass at Thermopylae. There was nothing parasitic about it. It was selfless duty.
Also, as Wayne points out, warriors were highly honored in ancient societies. Not because they went out looking for a fight, but because they were protectors. Yes, some societies had slaves, but many worked the land themselves and it was the warriors who protected the fruits of that labor. They were indispensable.
I think one of the best description’s of the warrior ethos is found in Black Hawk Down when “Hoot” (Eric Bana) describes why he does it:
“When I go home people’ll ask me, ‘Hey Hoot, why do you do it man? What, you some kinda warv junkie?’ You know what I’ll say? I won’t say a damn word. Why? They won’t understand. They won’t understand why we do it. They won’t understand that it’s about the men next to you, and that’s it. That’s all it is.”
Being a warrior isn’t about a thirst for blood or a desire to kill, its about the guys next to you and the fact that you’re willing to give your life for them and know they’re willing to do the same for you.
I think a lot of you are missing the point of this whole post. Keep it coming Brett!
-Cameron
Hey
Trying to download your free e book but keep getting a 404 error. Tried to let you know via your contact form but that appears to be broken also?
Help!
I cant download the e-book either, the link is broken 404′d.
Also, the contact page just goes blank when i submit
Greetings everyone. Im Spencer, one of the authors of this article, and co-author of livingindubiously.com.
Let me clarify and say that this post is not about spartans, or fighting, or a warrior history lesson. Its about realizing your true potential as a human, and facing every “battle” (a metaphor for events in your life) as your life depended on it. It is very much an inherent part of manhood to be responsible, to persevere with confidence, and to consciously attain the conditions you desire in your life with unwavering intention.
We aimed to illustrate that men are only as good as they believe themselves to be, in every aspect of their lives. That through a quiet confidence in ones abilities, and through a humbled gratitude and respect for the mortality of one’s life, he can build a “warriors mentality” ( a attitude of supreme self confidence, NOT an angry spartan).
Well, Spencer, that just confirms my earlier sense that the whole thing is sloshed with lame.
I think you’d better check your six on being a stand-up guy. This is just fluff. The same old “realize your potential” mantra with a little salt on the side. Not impressed.
Well, Vanderleun, that just confirms my earlier sense that you’re a complete d-bag who goes around trying to pee on people’s dreams who are out there writing interesting, inspirational articles in order to feel better about yourself.
I would have felt differently if I went to your website and read anything insightful or original, but it was a bunch of very poorly written political BS.
Stolen!!!!
All of this is plagiarized from Carlos Casteneda’s book “Journey To Ixtlan.”
Read it. It’s a good book.
And it’s not stolen.
i second “hank chinaski”.
digg bait alert.
give credit where it’s due, ya lit thieves.
I really liked the article
http://www.cruelbreed.com/forums
I would like for you to find one sentence that is plagiarized in this article.
This is a completely original article written by me and my brother.
And the Carlos Castaneda book that talks about the way of the warrior is not Journey to Ixtlan, its Teachings of Don Juan: A Yaqui Way of Knowledge. Good try though.
-Evan from www.livingindubiously.com
Nice blog
and that picture is hilarious <3 the movie 300 lol.
I hear the part about spurring yourself on to the things you wished you’d do by facing the impermanence and fragility of life.
Although, I heartily agree with the comments that you Have to pick your battles. If you fight every single thing like it’s your last day, you end up frothing at the mouth.
A good dose of Sun Tzu (yes, I have actually read the book) would help balance this post a bit more.