Dec 22, 2014 - A BRIEF LESSON ON A WARRIOR’S MENTALITY by Damon Corrie

I think there is a big difference between a warrior and a person with a weapon they know how to use….the cowards who attacked that school in Pakistan were not warriors – but they did technically know how to use the weapons they used, they were able to kill 148 people after all…but a WARRIOR would never attack someone who has no chance of defending themselves, where would the honor or ‘bragging rights’ be in slaying defenseless others? At 6 feet tall if I beat up a midget who attacked me – I can’t tell my sons about it and expect anything but embarrassment and shame from them, if I was the midget who beat up a 6 foot tall man who attacked ME – THAT I could brag about!

If you are a militant anti-government fighter – then attack Police Stations, Army bases, Police or Army patrols etc, ‘armed enemies’ that at least have a CHANCE to kill you as well (not politicians or other unarmed civil servants)….there is no honor in a one-sided victory (like dropping smart bombs – or remote controlling drones from the safety of 20,000 feet up in the sky or at a desk on the other side of the world) , but if I can attack armed enemies IN PERSON who outnumber me and outgun me – and STILL defeat them, then I have just earned the eternal respect of my peers – and my name lives on in history for ever.

We look at the Great Apache Chief Geronimo for the examples I speak of here, he literally would ask other Apache warriors to join him to attack the enemies of their people who were planning to attack the Apaches, on 2 occasions – because the forces approaching were more numerous and better armed – NO other Apache warrior volunteered to join him….Geronimo did not decide ‘not to bother’ because no-one was willing to take the risks he was…Geronimo went by himself and attacked them ALONE! He survived these attacks and few of the enemies he took on all by himself – escaped alive, very few human beings on Earth have the true fearlessness of this Great warrior, a man who if he had to – defended his entire tribe ALL BY HIMSELF! This is the attitude we need to promote, one person CAN make a difference, do not depend on others to do what needs to be done….have confidence in yourself – and YOU take the lead.

Geronimo was a TRUE warrior, and he was NEVER defeated by the USA Army, for many years in fact – 25% of the ENTIRE American Army at that time (approximately 5,000 soldiers) was hunting for Geronimo and his few dozen warriors to capture or defeat him….yet they never did….the Apache defensive war led by Geronimo against foreign invaders of Apache territory ONLY ended because Geronimo decided to stop fighting – because his last 22 Apache men with him were homesick to see their wives and children again after over 20 years of Guerilla warfare against the American AND Mexican Army (both armies had slaughtered Apache men, women & children and provoked the Apaches into justified defensive war in the first place).

In most Amerindian cultures a warrior earned the MOST respect and bragging rights by confronting an enemy that had a greater chance of winning the battle than himself…such as ‘counting coup’ – in which one would strike one’s enemy (from another tribe) with a stick – letting your enemy live instead of killing him, because HE would be shamed and ridiculed by HIS fellow warriors for being humiliated publicly by me…it was more honorable to show a tribal enemy that you could have killed him – but decided to spare his life instead….I wish other cultures thought the way these Amerindian cultures did – when it came to physical conflicts.

It is an old Lokono-Arawak tradition (that most young Arawaks do not know the history of today) to inform someone in advance – that if they do certain taboo things – you WILL kill them in the future, it is a polite form of advanced warning, no-one is offended by this, it is perfectly normal…let me give you a few examples, my younger sister-in-law Juanita told me and all her brother’s-in-law years ago: “If you ever beat my sister – I will kill you and bury you in a shallow grave on our tribal lands”….why would that offend me? If any of my future son’s-in-law beats my daughters I would kill them as well, it seems fair enough…no woman (or man) should be a doormat or punching bag for anyone else….and that is why I too will tell each of them: “If you ever abuse my daughter I will either kill you myself, or pay someone to kill you, or make my sons give me a deathbed vow to kill you for me after I die”……and if my own sons become wife-beaters, I already told them that I would have no choice but to kill them as well (their wife’s parents have the same rights for their daughter to be treated with respect that I will enforce for their sisters)…certain things that were never done by my ancestors – will not be tolerated by me either, and hopefully my descendants will keep this standard upheld into the future.

In another example one of my brother-in-laws was on a Wabani (ambush) against some enemies, and a friend with him got scared – and a coward can cause the death of the brave through his acts of fear-driven stupidity…so my brother-in-law put a knife to his throat and told him: “Do NOT make me nervous – or I will kill you myself”….I see nothing wrong with that, suppose the idiot broke ranks and made a dash for perceived personal safety – and thereby exposed the positions of the rest of us? Then we all got killed due to his stupidity?

This is why many tribal peoples ASK for volunteers to go to the front of any combat action…’brave hearts to the front’ is the usual translation….occasionally you get an idiot like this fellow who just want to ‘be seen to be brave’ – but are really chicken hearts…and it is very dangerous to have people like that at your side when you face combat situations….and this is why NO ‘conscript’ Army does well on the battlefield – unless by sheer numbers as cannon fodder depletes the enemies ammunition supply – thereby allowing for ‘victory by attrition’ (as Russia achieved in World War 2 – and China achieved in the Korean War)….but generally, one brave soldier can face 100 fearful enemy soldiers without losing any confidence of his eventual victory….and you can apply this saying here: “It is not the size of the dog in the fight – but the size of the fight in the dog!”

Another true saying comes from Ghengis Khan who said: ” An army of donkeys led by a lion is better than an army of lions led by a donkey”. You only need ONE great military genius to lead a rag-tag army to victory, but the most well-equipped troops on Earth – if led by a fool of a General – will ALWAYS be defeated.

You may enjoy watching this movie about the life of Geronimo:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1PEofDeyquk