Living the Martial Way

[Guest]

Greetings to all. I am a senior in high school, and have recently had a falling out of my previous plans for a lifelong pursuit and career. I am attempting to come to the full realization of how i might live doing what I really want to... living with great knowledge in philosophy, science, healing and martial arts... naming key subjects. My search focuses in one aspect on my secondary education; what I can hope to accomplish as a means of living, and what I should be looking for in a college or as a substitute to traditional college. I have considered things such as majors in philosophy, east asian culture, anthropology... and I know vaguely of the existance of colleges of martial arts, but there are things i cannot find at those that would be missed from typical colleges... at least as far as I know. I wish to learn a great deal of swords, and their use, the world over, as well as other Hand to Hand combat weapons and techniques. Generally aiming for the Scholar-Warrior... an ideal life with many paths within itself. However, I'm obviously at a loss for how it can be done. I need resources on higher education on all these things... the typical college majors don't include many of them. Thus I am here. All input on all related information would be gaciously accepted. Thank You.

[TimSheetz]

I have only a few suggestions.

Accept that you will never "arrive" in the journey you are contemplating. It is, after all, about the journey and not the destination.

Always question. Never be intimidated by professed "Master" status.

[Guest]

Agreed. Thank you.

[Gene Tausk]

You've asked a very profound question which leads me to two general answer for you
;

I don't mean to sound like your parents (since I am not one myself), but it is true that you are 18 and just beginning your adult life. No matter what major in college or path on your life you have chosen, you will probobly change your mind several times before you choose the one you want, if you ever do. Most people in life just keep searching.

That said, if I understand your question correctly, you are asking what can you do with your life when you have an interest in (according to you): philosophy, east asian cultures, anthropology, martial arts, science, healing and obviously history. Quite a list. Here's the free advice (and since it is free, you debate what it is worth). If you are going to college, make certain it is a large school that offers a variety of programs and majors you can sample. Three that come to mind are Ohio State, University of Texas and University of Michigan. If you go to a small school with limited options, you may never get to experience a little bit of everything.

Then again, be advised that going to a large school usually means (unless you are in an honors program) that you may be stuck in freshman classes with 400 people being taught by a T.A. since professors can't waste their valuable time teaching peon freshmen.

If you really want to be intellectually stimulated and want a real challenge (and if your H.S. grades are good enough to get in), check out the Great Books program at St. John's college. Their are two St. John's colleges, one in Santa Fe and one in Annapolis but they both have the same program.

good luck


--------->>>>>>>>>>>gene

[Randall Pleasant]

Kyle

If you really want to follow a Scholar-Warrior path then I would highly suggest that you follow a path similar to that taken by Major Tim Sheetz (U.S. Army) and other ARMA scholars who are part of the U.S. military. Anything else is most likely just playing at being a Scholar-Warrior.

Regardless of what path you take I can assure you that few weapons will serve you better than a high quality liberal education in which gives you good knowledge of business, management, history, art, language, economic, finance, science, health, sociology, anthropology, philosophy, mathematics, engineering, law, politics, etc., etc. If you want to take an active part in making the world go round then you have to learn about the things that make the world go round.

Keep the mind in motion, the body will follow.

[Randall Pleasant]

Gene

Very, very good advice. Since Kyle lives in PA., I would also suggest that he look at The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. CUA is small, 3000 undergraduate &amp; 500 graduate students, but it is an extreamly high quality school. And you don't have to be Catholic. <img src="/forum/images/icons/smirk.gif" alt="" />

[Guest]

Mhmm,
since the world is dominated by random odds, you better get accustomed to accept the results of dice throwing, as what you have the opportunity to do does rarely reflect what you are.
I wish you the best, but learn humor, it saves minds in spite of careers <img src="/forum/images/icons/wink.gif" alt="" />
I graduated in philosophy specializing in logic and probability with almost full score, from which I'll get no opportunity I'm told, have almost 20 years of experience in building toy and practice swords despite being 29, currently I'm trying to convince toy swords makers to employ me (without much success)... see the point? First come opportunities which are governed by chaos (and believe me, you have more opportunities than the average European), second comes what you are able to do.
So, whant to live martial way? Learn martial arts, cultivate the martial spirit in your own time, study some useful thing you like, or the one you dislike less. There are good martial artists among businessmen, lawyers, engineers, programmers, teachers, workers of any kind.
Carlo

[Jared L. Cass]

Also, don't forget about travel (more specificly: international backpacking). There is nothing, IMO, which gives more vast/hands on experience in real life. By working hard to save up a nest egg of travel funds and then leaving everything you've ever known, you are forced to learn about your own limitations, other cultures, finances, logistics, interpersonal relations, the good and the bad in life, ect. If you hold yourself to a very strict budget and think creative, you will be able to experience all that life is about. It won't always be pretty, but it will be real.

Upon your return, you will be a different person that views life in a very different way compaired to 99% of your peers. You will have experienced more than many will in a lifetime.

Plus, the experience of leaving all that is familier to you and growing as a person is what all the great "warrior scholors" throughout history and legend have in common.

Just an option,

Jared L. Cass, ARMA Associate, Wisconsin

[Patrick Hardin]

I think it was Musashi who said that the warrior's is the twofold path of sword and pen, and he should have a taste for both. Kyle, I understand the situation you're in, because I'm in a similar one myself. I graduated from college last Spring, and I guess I can offer a little advice.

First of all, concerning the debate over small or big schools: I think it all depends on what kind of student you are. If you're the kind who doesn't ask a lot of questions and doesn't spend much time with professors outside of class, then maybe a big school is for you. On the other hand, if you do ask a lot of questions in class, and consider professor-student interaction very important, maybe you should look at a smaller school.

As far as managing time is concerned, Sean made a good point. You don't find time, you make it, and you often can't do everything. Going to college forces you to learn to manage time efficiently, and sometimes you don't get as much free time as you want. But if you love something enough, you will make time for it. I would also add that it often takes a good bit of work and frustration to achieve something you really want. There's usually a lake of [censored] to swim through first. But decide what you want, and don't leave 'till you get it. But don't despair if you find that you can't do everything you dream of. Most people are still a bit idealistic at this stage in their lives.

All that being said, I would just like to make a little plug for my alma mater, Furman University. <img src="/forum/images/icons/grin.gif" alt="" /> Furman's not extremely big, but not too small, either. The school has a great reputation as a top-notch university. They have good history, philosophy, science, education, and music departments. (I majored in history at Furman, by the way.) Also, Furman has something that very few other schools can boast: a school-supported swordsmanship club. It's a student organization that I and three other guys started when we were sophomores. Then I joined ARMA, and ran the club ARMA style. Now I have an ARMA study group, but we still meet at Furman, and the school club will still be running under the direction of my brother, also an ARMA member, who starts at Furman in September. So, if you're looking to become a warrior-scholar, Furman may provide you with a step in the right direction. Take a look at the school, and give it some thought.

Patrick Hardin

[Webmaster]

As a proud graduate of the University of Texas, I should say something in defense of big schools. Most of the professors I encountered were happy to talk to students in their office, although some were hard to catch. Of course, some of that will depend on which department you spend most of your time in. I majored in geology, where the student to teacher ratio is pretty good, but even in my non-major classes most of the professors were helpful if you asked. It's also just naturally going to be tougher your freshman year in the large classes, but if you survive that, upper-division classes are usually much smaller as you get more specialized. Also, don't forget that you're paying a lot of money for the right to annoy the professor with questions, and you should feel free to do so. And as already mentioned, you can find almost anything you want to do at a big college. I took sport fencing and helped build a solar-powered car while getting a geology degree, and I can think of dozens of other things to do that I didn't have time for. I met people from more than a dozen different countries all over the world, and probably encountered more that I don't remember. It is possible to have a small-college experience at a big college, I believe, it's just all in how you approach it. Besides, nobody gets bored in Austin.

[Jake_Norwood]

I just graduated at a university with 30,000 students, and my experience was like Stacey's (webmaster). Plus, there's lots of potential training partners!

Jake

[Jaron Bernstein]

Hi there,

I am not going to suggest a particular school, although I am an OSU (go bucks!) alumni. I would tell you to learn something that will enable you to get "day job" that provides a decent living. Make sure your day job is something that you enjoy, because you will spending much of your waking hours for much of your life doing it. Then from that base you can pursue you varied and laudable interests for the rest of your life.

Secondly, before you have life responsibilities (family, mortgage, etc.) go out and do the fun and "adventure" things (travel, military service or the like) that might appeal to you but that require a greater degree of freedom than is allowed to those of us who are tied down.

[John_Clements]

On the About ARMA page we even state: Our efforts to combine academic and athletic rigor in this subject is a conscious following of the idea of the Renaissance man with his combining of liberal and martial arts. <img src="/forum/images/icons/smile.gif" alt="" />

There is definitely a longstanding Western tradition between "arms and letters."

JC

[JeffGentry]

Hey Kyle well i am slightly older than you i am 36 year's old. And have been many thing's in my short life i do agree with John . Don't be in to much of a hury to get into a career take your time you may consider taking some class's just a couple this summer maybe a foriegn language how many does John speak? it might be nice to read some old manual in the original language. you don't need to lock into a major right off the bat i have had a prettyful 36 year's have done alot of thing's was a U.S Marine for six year's was educational tried my hand as a rodeo cowboy for a bit again very educational went to college for a year was educational but not for me i love to read have been reading about sword's and old europe for most of life realy enjoy history military or other wise. Just find something you enjoy and learn as much as you can and that may just turn out to be your career. there is nothing better than getting paid to do what you enjoy.