Common convention takes culture to mean:
reading, poetry, writing verse, mastering calligraphy,
and having a soft, refined personality.
Warriorhood is taken to mean:
learning shooting, riding, arts of war, military science,
and having a fierce and stern personality.
Both are approximate but inaccurate.
Culture and warriorhood are a unified character,
not separate things.
Culture without warriorhood is not true culture;
warriorhood without culture is not true warriorhood.
Indeed, culture is the root of warriorhood,
and warriorhood is the root of culture.
Since warriorhood is in the service of culture,
the root of the warrior's war is culture.
Since culture is for governing with the threat of armed action,
the root of culture is warriorhood.
(Notes on an essay by Nakae Toju [1608-1648] found in 'Training the Samurai Mind: A Bushido Sourcebook' by Thomas Cleary)
