The Honor Code

The honor code. It's a code that's been around for centuries. A code that only the most upright and legendary warriors carried with them and was the foundation that they stood on. A code that the noble samurai carried with them at all times and that they held with the strictest honor, which include disciplinary action or even death if the code was broken and it was required that they were to pay that penalty. The code of the warrior was 1 that wasn't broken or taken lightly back in those days. Oh to be living in that time...

Nowadays, it's EXTREMELY, HIGHLY UNLIKELY, and damn near IMPOSSIBLE to see the honor code being carried out in these times. It seems as though no man can truly understand what these values are and how important they are. Seems like nothing is cherished or appreciated anymore. That goes for possessions and also for the people that are in your life, be they man or woman. Nothing is respected anymore. Relationships don't stand for what they used to be back in the day. To put that simple, the definition of a relationship in society's mind today is the acquiring of a new copulation partner. Kinda sad when you come to understand that they mean so much more, but hey, that's how it is in society today.

I can genuinely and honestly say that I'm 1 of the last few of men who carries the code of the warrior and the honor code extremely close to my heart. Anybody can vouch for that and 1 especially can tell you that if anybody embodies those codes, it's definitely me. I live by the code of Bushido, the code of the warrior, and also the honor code as they all pertain to me and if you knew me intimately, you would also know that the things listed in them are me down to a T. So with that being said, let's break each of the codes down and also know that some of them intertwine with the others.

The Code of Bushido

This code is the 1 the ancient samurai warriors in Japan used back in the day and they held it dear to their hearts and also with their lives. Each point states:

• Rectitude - I will use correct judgment at a time where judgment is called for. I will strike when it is the right time to strike. I will do the right thing at the right time. Crooked ways and unjust actions are lowly and inhumane

• Courage - Courage is a virtue only in the cause of righteousness. Sacrificing safety for an unworthy cause is stupidity. I will admit my mistakes. I will sacrifice myself in order to save someone from despair. I will stand on my right decisions.

• Love - Love, affection for others, sympathy, and an excellence of mind and character towards other people are the highest attributes of the soul. I will use love and benevolence to strive for supreme virtues and princely acts. (in my case, kingly lol)

• Respect - Politeness, courtesy, and excellent manners will be a part of my life. Politeness is a poor virtue if it is only actuated by a fear of offending. It must stem from a sympathetic regard for others.

• Veracity - Lying is a cowardly, dishonorable act. My word can be taken as a guarantee of truthfulness.

• Honor - The honorable person is the humble person. Without honor, there is no respect and without respect, there is no honor. Honor is like a scar on a tree, which time only helps to enlarge.

• Rectitude - I will be loyal to my family, my teachers, my fellow students in the art and to those who teach me outside the dojo. I will never forget the teachers who labored for me.

And there you have it. The code of Bushido. I take this very seriously as it has traits about me that are very close and HUGELY important to me and that I uphold with the highest integrity and honor. But that's just the code of Bushido. Let's now look at the next 1, The Code of the Warrior.

The Code of the Warrior

• A warrior always heads into battle with dignity and honor, never with an ego which can cause him shame, embarrassment, or dishonor.

• A warrior always tries to diffuse a problem or potential battle with diplomacy first. Seeking to find peaceful ways to end a confrontation rather than heading foolhardily into a battle.

• A warrior never enters into a battle that he knows that he cannot win. He only stands and fights when there are no other means of escape.

• A warrior shows humility and honor after a battle.

The code of the Warrior. Things that most niggas nowadays cant or wont even attempt to understand because everybody is gassed up on peer pressure or feel that they aren't "man" enough to walk away from a fight and that they will be labeled a "bitch." You're only a bitch when you don't have to fight and choose to anyway because of the fact that you gave into peer pressure which means that you were a follower and not a leader to begin with. There's actually more in this code, but those are the most important things. Knowing when to pick and fight your battles saves you energy, time, blood, and unnecessary anger brought on by what The Boondocks put best, "a nigga moment."

Now at last, we come to the code that I uphold and cherish the most. The honor code.

The Honor Code

• Loyalty - Being able to stand true to someone regardless of what they put you through or will put you through in the future. Tests and all.

• Respect - being able to put aside differences with those who don't agree with your opinions or those that you might not even like and be able to find a common ground with on a mutual level of respect.

• Honor - Always upholding the morals and the virtues that you were either blessed with, gained through upbringing, or that you had to learn on your own. To be understanding and respectful of those who are in relationships, woman or man, and be able to put aside your own feelings to be what's rare in this world now, a genuine friend. To have enough respect for you and yourself to not run interference to a person who's in a committed relationship or marriage.

• Love - the unconditional ability to love when loving is at it's hardest. To forgive, when forgiving the most unforgivable actions calls for it. To love, in spite of what's happened to you and still be able to be there for the 1 you love and cater to their needs and wants. To stand until the very end with your partner when you wanna give up.

• Patience - The 1 thing that's key to honor. When times are tough, you wanna give up, you wanna break down, you wanna say forget it. Having the patience to just wait and keep on pushing, regardless of the obstacles, of the pain, of the heartache and anguish. To know that everything will be better in the end and that just having patience with the problem or your partner would have been worth all of the tears and heartache.

It's 3 codes I hold true and those that I never will break. But living in a world like this, it makes me wonder, why in the hell do I still hold on to them? Why do I still continue to try and be an honorable man when it does nothing but get me spit upon, left in the dust, hurt, heartbroken, and sometimes broken and the ones that aren't honorable at all get all the breaks, get the women they want, get all that they desire, and everything works out the way they want it to? I stop to think that every time I see it in my face and currently as it happens to me, but then I stop to think about it. I shouldn't worry about it because of 1 person. God. He created me this way for a reason, and it's because I am an honorable person that I can still keep striving. Keep pushing. Keep going through this storm to see the sunshine that lies over the horizon. I'm dangerously close to it because I can feel the enemy turn up his attacks on me and when that happens, I'm usually close to a breakthrough, if I don't give up.

These codes drives my inner fire. They have instilled in me the right morals, values, and virtues that I need for my future. A lot of folk can say a LOT about me (at least in terms of the past anyway). But 1 thing that they can say about me that neither of them can doubt, even if they denied it then. EVEN my adversaries can say this about me. I'm an honorable man to do the things that I can do. My name and what I stand for have been dragged through the mud. I've been lied on. Things have been said that I've moved on with my life. I'm fucking some other broad now. I have a new girl. I got this. I got that. I'm doing this. I'm doing that. Speculation on the fact that it ruins the chance to keep the hold or get the hold. Whatever it is that's being said about me. Keep saying it. Be my guest. Does nothing but make the power of the lie that much weaker. Anybody who knows me knows about my integrity and knows that if I give my word, I'm gonna keep it, by any means necessary.

Say what you want about me. But you cant doubt this 1 thing. Out of all the things anybody can say. Look at their actions, from past to present and then look at mine. 1 of the only words you will be able to come up with is...honorable.