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The Way of the Modern Warrior: Living the Samurai Ideal in the 21st Century
Learn how to apply bushido philosophy and long-standing samurai strategies to your modern-day practice -- and lifestyle -- in this guide from a former soldier and martial arts expert.
A warrior is anyone who applies their energy and creativity in support of a cause or ideal through creation or conflict. Real warriors have an ethos, a guiding belief that provides him or her with a clear purpose for their actions and an understanding that the battle in which they are engaged will have results that lead to a higher good.
The Way of the Modern Warrior is an explanation of the samurai philosophy, or Bushido, of Japan's fiercest warriors, practiced for over 1,000 years. The author, Hanshi Stephen Kaufman, has been a warrior for 50 years, first as a member of the military, then as an advisor to the military, and finally as one of the world's most distinguished martial arts philosophers. In his years of experience, he has collected the wisdom that comes from lessons learned and lessons taught.
The 55 precepts in his new book are the result of those years of experience, and these samurai strategies will guide the modern day warrior as they devote energy and creativity to their practice. These principles and philosophies, drawn from samurai history, include Kaufman's insights The Way of the Modern Warrior is an essential handbook for the 21st-century samurai warrior who lives by honor, duty, and service.
A warrior is anyone who applies their energy and creativity in support of a cause or ideal through creation or conflict. Real warriors have an ethos, a guiding belief that provides him or her with a clear purpose for their actions and an understanding that the battle in which they are engaged will have results that lead to a higher good.
The Way of the Modern Warrior is an explanation of the samurai philosophy, or Bushido, of Japan's fiercest warriors, practiced for over 1,000 years. The author, Hanshi Stephen Kaufman, has been a warrior for 50 years, first as a member of the military, then as an advisor to the military, and finally as one of the world's most distinguished martial arts philosophers. In his years of experience, he has collected the wisdom that comes from lessons learned and lessons taught.
The 55 precepts in his new book are the result of those years of experience, and these samurai strategies will guide the modern day warrior as they devote energy and creativity to their practice. These principles and philosophies, drawn from samurai history, include Kaufman's insights The Way of the Modern Warrior is an essential handbook for the 21st-century samurai warrior who lives by honor, duty, and service.
- GenresMartial Arts
128 pages, Paperback
First published November 10, 2012
About the author
Stephen F. Kaufman
45 books15 followersStephen F Kaufman is an acknowledged master speaker and educator, and a teacher of ancient wisdom made practical for contemporary global society. He is the author of "Sun Tzu's Art of War" and "Musashi's Book of Five Rings."
An authority on negotiation, management, motivation training, personal development, and spiritual ascension technique, he provides functional solutions that empower audiences to turn all challenges, real and imaginary, emanating from the worlds of business, military, and personal endeavor into viable opportunity by demonstrating definitive working techniques that bring about advantageous results.
An authority on negotiation, management, motivation training, personal development, and spiritual ascension technique, he provides functional solutions that empower audiences to turn all challenges, real and imaginary, emanating from the worlds of business, military, and personal endeavor into viable opportunity by demonstrating definitive working techniques that bring about advantageous results.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
March 18, 2013
“The Way Of The Modern Warrior: Living the Samurai Ideal in the 21st Century” by Stephen F. Kaufman is a short and simple book, but one with important thoughts that if pondered upon can have a deeper impact than they might first seem. This book is Kaufman's attempt to help answer what it actually means to be a samurai and maintain the attendant bushido, “way of the warrior,” mentality. It's Kaufman's way of sharing the discipline of living a life of morality, courage, and integrity.
While the book is 126 pages, the fifty-five lessons or precepts presented in this text are less than fifty-five pages of reading. Each of them takes up two pages of book, but with the white space before and after, they could each fit on one page. This means the entire book could be read rather quickly, but I don't recommend that. I recommend reading each of the lessons and then thinking about them a bit before moving on. If you read through too quickly, you won't get everything that Kaufman hopes you gain from reading this little gem. He himself even says that you should consider the implications of all examples and think about them. He also reminds us to remember to place no value on things of no value – such as words of wisdom.
It's basically a collection of thoughts from a man who has trained and lived as a warrior for over fifty years. Kaufman has learned a lot in those years, and his thoughts and reflections will not only teach, but allow you to think about things in your life and how the wisdom in this book might apply. That is, if you take the time to do so. And I'd encourage you to do so if you want to get something out of reading this book.
At times I wanted a little more, and I wanted Kaufman to explain in more depth what he was getting at. I supposed that would have taken more space and pages and would not have fit in the format of this text. Or maybe it wouldn't then allow the reader to delve into the topic with his or her own experiences and figure it out. Maybe both.
According to Kaufman, anyone who creates and maintains any higher ideal in and of his or her own self may be considered a samurai. A samurai, male or female, devotes their life to a perfection of their own higher self and does so for the benefit of all concerned, with themselves as the progenitor of the ideal, whether they are conscious of it or not. I like that way of thinking, and I like this book. I encourage all martial artists and those who want to follow the way of the warrior to read it and think about the messages it contains. They can help you better yourself, and that is what I like to call living with the warrior's edge.
While the book is 126 pages, the fifty-five lessons or precepts presented in this text are less than fifty-five pages of reading. Each of them takes up two pages of book, but with the white space before and after, they could each fit on one page. This means the entire book could be read rather quickly, but I don't recommend that. I recommend reading each of the lessons and then thinking about them a bit before moving on. If you read through too quickly, you won't get everything that Kaufman hopes you gain from reading this little gem. He himself even says that you should consider the implications of all examples and think about them. He also reminds us to remember to place no value on things of no value – such as words of wisdom.
It's basically a collection of thoughts from a man who has trained and lived as a warrior for over fifty years. Kaufman has learned a lot in those years, and his thoughts and reflections will not only teach, but allow you to think about things in your life and how the wisdom in this book might apply. That is, if you take the time to do so. And I'd encourage you to do so if you want to get something out of reading this book.
At times I wanted a little more, and I wanted Kaufman to explain in more depth what he was getting at. I supposed that would have taken more space and pages and would not have fit in the format of this text. Or maybe it wouldn't then allow the reader to delve into the topic with his or her own experiences and figure it out. Maybe both.
According to Kaufman, anyone who creates and maintains any higher ideal in and of his or her own self may be considered a samurai. A samurai, male or female, devotes their life to a perfection of their own higher self and does so for the benefit of all concerned, with themselves as the progenitor of the ideal, whether they are conscious of it or not. I like that way of thinking, and I like this book. I encourage all martial artists and those who want to follow the way of the warrior to read it and think about the messages it contains. They can help you better yourself, and that is what I like to call living with the warrior's edge.
September 16, 2023
read the daily stoic instead
February 13, 2015
In general I like Stephen F. Kaufman's work. I also have his interpretation of the Book of Five Rings. I thought this books was okay. I would like to say that I read books like these in light of my Christian world view so I read quotes with a grain of salt. I agreed with certain passages and disagreed with others. I will say that the author was honest saying the book should not be taken as doctrine as you can accept or reject as you see fit. I read the book in just about an hour and a half. It's a good read but not better than the Art of War or the Book of Five Rings.
June 15, 2016
Just so-so. It's a self help/inspiration book supposedly based on Samurai code of conduct. Although the author already tried to de-Zen-ify the text, it still feels cryptic from time to time. It's not entirely bad, there are some practical nuggets and wisdom, but it didn't blow me away.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews