Book Review: The Ethical Warrior: Values, Morals and Ethics – For Life, Work and Service

I have been a fan of Jack Hoban’s books for a couple of decades. Before his books, I read his articles in various martial arts magazines. From 1999 to 2005, I would drive six hours to train with him once a month. It was during this time I was introduced to the idea of being an ethical warrior. In his book, The Ethical Warrior: Values, Morals and Ethics – For Life, Work and Service, Hoban shares his research and insight to this very important topic. With the number of killings at the hands of the police, it is a book every person who wears a badge needs to read.

I found The Ethical Warrior to be an interesting book because it not only addressed the topic, but it also outlined Hoban’s journey to understand the topic. In the book, he primarily focuses on the mentorship of two key figures: Robert Humphrey and Masaaki Hatsumi. Humphrey was his college instructor who had also served as a U.S. Marine Corps officer on Iwo Jima. Hatsumi is a 34th Grandmaster and head of the Bujinkan.

The Ethical Journey is 310 pages long with two parts and nine chapters. Here is the organizational structure of the book:

• Introduction: Setting the Stage
• Part I: The Dual Life Value
  • Chapter 1: Life: the Greatest Value
  • Chapter 2: The Nature of Values
  • Chapter 3: Self and Others
  • Chapter 4: All Others
  • Chapter 5: Respect
  • Chapter 6: The Theory
  • Chapter 7: Ethics
  • Chapter 8: Activating the Ethic
• Part II: The Ethical Warrior
  • Chapter 9: Sustaining the Ethic
• Afterword: Kill Socrates

Having trained with Hoban directly for six years, I felt the book was talking directly to me. Yes, I am taking the admonishments seriously. I plan to see you soon, Jack 😉

At the core, this book is about the preservation of life and respect. A life is only taken when there is a risk of more lives being taken. This is what troubles me about our current times. Lives are taken too easily. Law enforcement must train more to de-escalate situations rather than immediately apply maximum force. They have to learn to be professionals who can dislike the deed but respect the person.

“If life is such a universal and obvious value, why do we humans kill and disrespect each other constantly?” (Hoban, 2012, p. 21)

In the book, Hoban talks about values, most importantly the value to protect life. Right now, as I look at the world, I believe our moral compass is off track. There is a segment of the population that vilifies people who are not like them. In the news, you hear the top office of the nation degrade others. As Hoban noted, the dehumanizing of people puts them at risk.

We have a segment who values money over life and is putting the world into a tailspin. Each day greed is causing more pollution. We are ruining the capability to survive.

According to Hoban, “A lack of respect for Human Equality often leads to conflict, then violence, and then killing” (Hoban, 2012, p.68). An ethical warrior recognizes when immoral acts are occurring and speaks out for justice or intervenes.  I have never been as concerned for the future of this nation as I am now.

An ethical warrior is a protector of life, not a killer. Unfortunately, you may have to take a life to save more. Taking a life should not be the first and only option. I think Hoban does a great job addressing this in his book. He uses many stories, which I have heard orally, to illustrate his points.

I honestly believe everyone should read The Ethical Warrior. I believe it is a great book to help center your moral compass.

Additional Reading

• Book Review: Beyond Band of Brothers: The War Memoirs of Major Dick Winters
• Book Review: The Protector Ethic: Morality, Virtue, and Ethics in the Martial Way

Photo by Igor Ovsyannykov on Unsplash

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