What does it mean to be a good warrior? Courage, justice, wisdom, benevolence... These are a few of the virtues of the ideal warrior or martial artist. But from whence do these virtues arise? Are they inherent, or can they be cultivated and taught? if so, how? Martial Virtues explores the place of the martial arts in the development of moral character. It focuses on the spiritual aspects of martial arts training, attempting to answer the question of what it means to be a good warrior. In this ground-breaking analysis, Hackney draws from the psychological literature on the development of positive character traits and from the lives and experiences of admirable warriors of fact and fiction, and analyses how the virtues of ancient and modern warriors can be developed by practicing the martial arts. Using examples from such wide-ranging sources, from the ancient Greeks to the Samurai practitioners of Bushido, from Confucius all the way to Bruce Lee, the author develops a list of virtues for the ideal warrior or martial artist. Hackney scrutinises such virtues as courage, wisdom, justice, and benevolence in turn, employing the lessons of modern psychology to understand how these virtues can be cultivated within ourselves and in others.