Are there any Militaristic cultures left?

Question

Or has the world just gone soft?

So many societies had a great warrior traditions, have they all simply gone soft? Are there any cultures left that teach martial skills as their traditions?

There is a difrence betwen VIOLENT societies and militaristic, look it up.

they are called books, you read them... you don't burn them.

And yet it is thanks to those military traditions you have the freedoms you have today... how ironic.

Militirism is barbaric? hmmm guess you never fuigured out the computer your on was originaly created to help fight a war... the meds people use to save lives were perfected in war. modern medical procedures... Again perfected in war... yeah barbarism at it's best.

What I am asking is, is there any cultures left that still have martial traditions instilled in them from childhood.

Not, Are there violent societies?

Not, Hey! War is cool! lets party!

are there any cultures left that instill the old militiristic ideals and traditions, or has every one become "word warriors"?

Thank you smoking dragon... thats more along the lines of what I was looking for.

Answer 1

Yes.
The Gurkas.Those little brown Killing machines from Nepal.
They are Still as well trained and taught from birth as they ever were.

Answer 2

Yeah, guns have made hand-to-hand combat an after-thought. But look at China - People's Liberation Army, 2.3 million troops strong, the largest standing army in the world. 1 out of 10 members of China's Congress are members of the military. Though the communist government have eliminated many of the traditional martial arts, the most basic and effective combat techniques are still taught. And still defending its Militaristic traditions, with strong stance in denying independance to Tibet and Taiwan. Don't know any other culture so powerful, so unwilling to bend, and uses military might so effectively.

Answer 3

Ooooh, a sociological question. It seems to me that militaristic societies of the past were smaller parts of larger societies that didn't have that total focus. My buddy Tom is Swedish and is of the opinion that he has Total Viking Power, though he has extensive trigger time in some ugly places, so he may have something there. He says the great Vikings were just farmers who were large because of their diet, and had to supplement their income with raiding because the soil in Scandinavia isn't particularly rich. They were tough and pragmatic, and didn't all have swords 'cuz they weren't rich, and didn't fight on horseback. The Spartans were tough and cool, and all that, and all adult male citizens, all Peers, practiced only war, but that was made possible by having a female populace that controlled much of the mundane tasks of operating a city-state, including business, and by having enslaved an entire other group of people (Messenians) to do the scut work. In feudal Japan, one samurai retainer= 100+ peasant farmers. It's like the predator-prey pyramid. To maintain x number of troops, you need a productive society of 15x or 20x other workers to produce not only for themselves, but to keep a surplus economy to fund the very consumptive, very expensive proposition that is war. Most martial cultures were microcosms, and only supportable in that way. Even the fabulously rich US, with a population of 280+ million, finds it expensive to expand the permanent number of the Marine Corps by another 5 or 10 thousand, because we are equipment heavy, war is pricey even when we're not fighting it, and most of our money is spent on pay and benefits. Even the two million people under arms at this moment are not all spear carriers. Many of them are water treatment specialists and civil affairs troops, pay clerks and dental assistants. Necessary, but they're not shooters. A bunch are force-multipliers, like the mechanics for Apache helicopters. Believe me, the Apache is better than a hundred knuckleheads whooping with rusty rifles. And more expensive.

Answer 4

You glorify Militarism?
Great warrior traditions?
Perhaps Hitler is a great warrior according to your description.
Or Perhaps Dumbya the cowboy is your idol?

Savvagery and violence days belong to the dark ages...

Answer 5

Um, have you been watching the world lately? Every culture has it's own militaristic traditions, including America. Just because YOU'RE soft in suburbia doesn't mean all of us are.