Musha-Shugyo

In long ago ages, a samurai would depart from family and from the protection and tutelage of his ryu to wander the world.  He would test his mettle and his skill in duels and acts of noble chivalry.  On the solitary path of "musha-shugyo" the samurai would travel, through sweltering heat or bitter cold, through driving rain and biting snow.  He would endure the onslaught of nature, brute creature, the corruption of man, and perhaps the supernatural.  In the end, the warrior would know the breadth and depth of his spiritual and physical capability. 

In this age, the warrior class is an endangered species.  The rough and ready men of the past are not likely to be seen in modern urban centers, where soft half-men are in abundance, richly festooned in effeminate costume.  But, the modern samurai must, nonetheless, undertake his "musha-shugyo" as his forbearers did and test his spirit in a lonesome waste inhabited by the elitist fop and effete.  The warrior presses onward though solitary paths, in a self imposed pilgrimage of discipline and honor.  As in ancient times, the way is uncertain and fraught with difficulty and conflict.  But, in the end, when the spirit is tested and shown to be pure, and when battle is enjoined and quitted with honor, the modern warrior will know, as his ancient brethren knew, that to endure is the essence of victory.