Thursday, March 18, 2010

Honourable Men of Days Old Past...

Student of this course, whosoever ye be, of whatever country, creed, or color, you are under an obligation to humanity at large, as well as to me, the humble medium that conveyed the knowledge, never to use the power you have acquired in a dishonest or dishonorable cause, or for a selfish purpose.
Let these exercises train not only your bodies, but also your chivalrous instincts, your sense of honor.
Though they give you the ability of a knight of old to rely on and use your own good right arm, they will fall short of their purpose if they fail equally to train you in the ethics of the knightly code – to battle for the right, and to defend the oppressed.
For the enemy of society at large, the Apache [e.g., an urban thug], the cutthroat, the assassin, we have in reserve tactics which will help to level the odds, since he is armed, and we are not.
In an unhappy struggle with those from whose opinions we differ, but who are actuated by motives as honorable as our own, defeat would be preferable to using foul tactics. This is simply the application of the larger rule which has actuated all good men, patriots, soldiers, citizens, throughout the ages: "Death before dishonor."
"It isn’t whether we win or lose, but how we play the game."

(Written by Captain Allan Corstorphin Smith, U.S.A., 1920)

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