Musashi's Dokkodo (The Way of Walking Alone)

Warrior:
I’m going to come right out and say I don’t agree with Musashi on
this precept. However, it does appear that Bruce Lee at least read
these precepts a time or two. In the book The Art of Expressing The
Human Body, compiled and edited by John Little, it states, “Lee
made the following annotations about consuming only the calories
your body actually needs, rather than simply indulging yourself in the
culinary pleasures: ‘when you are a martial artist, you are a nut; you
go to extremes to improve yourself as a martial artist. And one way
is to eat only what your body requires and not get carried away with
sensual [eating] pleasures.’ Lee also noted: ‘When you are a martial
artist, you only eat what you require and don’t get carried away with
foods that don’t benefit you as a martial artist.’”
While Lee believed in staying away from foods with empty caloric
content and little nutritive value, according to Little, he didn’t actually
give the subject of nutrition more than a cursory investigation. And
according to Lee’s wife, Lee enjoyed Chinese food over Western
food as he felt the latter was rather monotonous, even though he
was fond of Western steak and even ate at McDonald’s from time to

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time. And note that Lee didn’t say not to pursue the taste of good
food; he just said not to get carried away with sensual eating
pleasures. There’s a big difference in the two.
I’ll be the first to say that we shouldn’t take the gluttonous path of
over indulging in high fat, high sugar, non-nutritious junk that has
contributed to what the media calls an obesity epidemic. However, I
think we should pursue the taste of “good” food where good is
defined as healthy and nutritious; and I don’t believe we have to
completely omit the pursuit of good food where good is defined as
tasting great even if not quite so good for you. Maybe on this topic
we should listen to the founder of Aikido, Morihei Ueshiba (1883 –
1969), who wrote in The Secret Teachings of Aikido, “Food is a gift
from the universe. No, in a sense food is the universe.”
When we take this as meaning to pursue the taste of good food, as
in food that is healthy and nutritious, it is easy to agree with me and
disagree with Musashi. We want to eat foods that nourish and
energize us, while avoiding those meals that make us feel tired and
sluggish. We also know that conditions like hypertension, heart
disease, certain cancers, diabetes, osteoporosis, and osteoarthritis
can be attributed to diet. It only makes sense for a warrior to
consume foods that will keep him or her as healthy, fit and strong as
possible. And when I was in the Army, this meant large quantities of
any food I could obtain. And you can bet that all of us preferred and
pursued better tasting food than the MREs we had to eat in the field
whenever we could.
[25]
But, what about the interpretation of this precept that we shouldn’t be
pursuing foods that taste good but are not healthy for us? One could
agree with this and say that it is good advice to follow. Nevertheless,
I’m still going to disagree. I know that M&Ms, milkshakes, French
fries, the skin of fried chicken, biscuits and gravy, ice cream, and
mashed potatoes and gravy are all high calorie foods with minimal
nutritional value compared to the calories. I’ve eaten them in the past
and I’m going to continue to eat them in the future. Why? Because
they taste good and I like them.

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I don’t believe a warrior, or anyone else for that matter, must live the
life of an ascetic. Just as I stated under precept 12 that there is
absolutely nothing wrong with wanting to own a nice home and
possess luxurious things, there is nothing wrong with the pursuit of
eating fine meals that you enjoy. Yes, the warrior must be disciplined
and ensure that he or she maintains a high level of health and
fitness, but that does not mean you can’t look forward to and indulge
in a treat once in a while.