Musha shugyō (武者修行?) is a samurai warrior's quest or pilgrimage. A warrior, called a shugyōsha, would wander the land as a ronin, practicing and honing his skills without the protection of his family or school. Here we use 'warrior' two ways. As a set of skills, physical, emotional, intellectual, and otherwise, to enable a man to defeat his opponents and be fearless. Also as someone who penetrates the limits of his worldview, and learns to think differently.
You are either on a pilgrimage or you are going "nowhere", very much like a steer eating grass until it goes to the feedlot is going nowhere, or the average TV watcher following the lines and obeying the signs. Without the pasture and feedlot the steer would avoid castration and become a wild bull, even as a man who had to make his own way would be more noble as he respected the efforts of others, for having made his own.
For most of us, life is relatively easy, and to find the challenges which would develop us, we must search. It's as if a falcon had a lifetime supply of food, and it might never leave the nest. It would have to purposely choose to stand on the edge of the nest, then cast itself off into the void.
Musha Shugyō provides the resources to equip you for your quest. To provide you with an easy to grasp metaphor we will begin with The Matrix. It is imperative for the Ronin to grasp that his "feedlot" is his worldview, so we will provide examples of worldview, and the tools to enable you to construct your own. Without character, its all bullshit. So we will present those aspects of martial arts that you can weave into your daily life.
Without motivation nothing happens. You have to have an inner nagging, a doubt, an itch, and a lack of satisfaction with your impending castration to make the leap into the void. Still inspiration helps and in the examples and words of others the Ronin gets a boost. I will use as many videos and quotes as possible to make up for my poor writing. All or some of these should empower you.
The warrior quests for the ability to be able to devote the totality of his being to his purpose unhindered by fear, ego, doubts, or laziness. You accomplish it not just because it is important, but because it's important to be able to.
When we see this heroism in others, our respect is aroused as is our admiration. We wish to follow such people and emulate them.
To become such a person should be the purpose of your pilgrimage.
