Musashi's Dokkodo (The Way of Walking Alone)

Warrior:
As I pondered this precept, I couldn’t help but think of one of my
favorite Native American warriors, Chief Crazy Horse. This leader of
the Lakota has been a favorite of mine ever since visiting the Crazy
Horse Memorial in the South Dakota Black Hills a few miles from
Mount Rushmore when I was young. Crazy Horse (1840 – 1877)
was a leader of the Oglala Lakota (Part of the Sioux Nation) who
took up arms against the U.S. Federal government to fight against
encroachments on the Lakota territories that included leading a war
party to victory against General George Armstrong Custer at the
Battle of the Little Bighorn in June 1876.
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The reason this precept reminded me of the great Lakota chief was
because of something I read about Crazy Horse in The Code of The
Warrior: In History, Myth, and Everyday Life by Rick Fields. He
wrote, “As Crazy Horse gained experience in fighting the white
soldiers, he realized that the Indians would never be able to win if
they continued to fight in the old ways. Bravery alone was not
enough against the superior numbers and firepower of the whites,
and so Crazy Horse became a skilled strategist.”
Even though Crazy Horse wanted nothing to do with the white’s
civilization and wanted the Lakota to be able to live as their fathers
did, and as their forefathers had done, the famed warrior realized
that he and those that followed him must fight and engage in battles
differently than they customarily had in the past. The ability to adapt
and overcome, regardless of the obstacles before him is a trade
mark of the warrior throughout centuries. I believe Chief Crazy Horse
would understand what Drill Sergeant Hernandez meant when he
said during my basic training, “I can roll left, I can roll right, I can low
crawl up the middle.” Warriors, even those who honor tradition, will
shun customary beliefs and methods if there are new and better
ways to accomplish the warrior’s objectives. The warrior will roll left,
roll right, or low crawl up the middle, whichever is necessary to win
the battle.
Crazy Horse did whatever he needed to win battles, and he won
many, even though he eventually lost the war as the superior
numbers of white soldiers were finally too much for the Sioux nation.
But while he was fighting, Crazy Horse’s strategy contained
campaigns that involved using decoys to lead the white soldiers to
ambushes, a strategy that didn’t always work, but it certainly did
against the arrogant and ambitious Lieutenant William J. Fetterman
(1833 – 1866). Fetterman had boasted that he could ride through the
entire Sioux Nation with eighty men. Against strict orders not to
pursue the Indians, Fetterman gave chase to Crazy Horse and his
decoys. Fetterman and his eighty two men were wiped out in what
became known as the Fetterman Massacre because Chief Crazy
Horse learned from past attempts to use decoys and his willingness

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to look past customary beliefs and act in accordance with what
would defeat his enemy.
To use an overused cliché, I believe this precept was Musashi’s way
of saying, “Think outside the box.” One shouldn’t just follow
customary beliefs for the sake of custom. With each new war,
technological and strategic advances are made, and it is critical that
the warrior stay ahead of these advances with forward thinking
strategy and leadership. Following customary beliefs just won’t get
you there.